Alaska 1000 Cruiser Navigation Contest

Sunday July Fourth; After the Awards Banquet, Juneau – 2010 Alaska 1000

Hi All

I would like to thank all of you who have sent so many emails, calls and in person thank you’s to me and the others who have contributed to this “blog”. We know this has been of interest to so many interested in the progress of the fleet. I doubt if I will send any more of these so I wish you all adieu; until most of you get a regular IPBA email from me about the next race. Speaking of that, we do need 2 more contestants to participate in the NAI in Long Beach on August 7^th, and I will send a separate email about the NAI. With so many of the IPBA racers here in Juneau , we do need other NAI contestants. This is a unique opportunity and I encourage you to join us. Andy Gerde, who usually races with (Kent and Carol Soffel) would like to go to the NAI so if someone else does not have a teammate, Andy would like to race with you at the NAI. 

The Banquet at the Prospector Hotel last night was the usual mix of anxious participation and anticipation with a “glad it was over” satisfaction of having completed a 1000 mi race. The PR to Juneau Race and the overall Alaska 1000 Race were definitely wide open as even with the leaders announced before each leg; the 2 throw out legs were a wild card. i.e. The third place in the PR to Juneau leg was only in the top five once and that was early on.

Don Larson thanked all those who contributed to make the Alaska 1000 a success. The Commodore of Juneau YC greeted us and played a special part later. Bill Anderson made a report on these “blogs” and everyone welcomed Kent and Carol Soffel back to the fleet. Bob and Pat Johnson were recognized for their participation in 5 Alaska 1000 Races over a period of 35 years. The group gave a standing ovation to Don Larson for chairing the event with his year+ of planning and Don acknowledged his wife Carolee and his twin brother Ron for their help.

Scorer Fred Cole started the Peel off with a review of the scores from the Nanaimo to PR leg; and those full results are below:

Complete Standings Leg – Race #1 – Nanaimo to Prince Rupert

Place   Contestant              Boat Name              Club                    Score

1        Chuck Silvernail           Solmar                 Bremerton              0.82420

2         Don Larson                   Tewasi                 Port Orchard         1.26983

3        Owen Ritter                 Outbound              Bremerton             1.42466

4        Bob Gautschi               Sirena                  Airport, BC            1.59011

5         Ken Klett                     Klettitat                 Queen City             1.64545

6        Dick Timmerman           Vagabond              Queen City             1.78892

7        Gregg/Johnson           Noble                    Poulsbo                2.04643

8        Kent Soffel                  Windy-i                  Queen City           2.08982

9        Bill Rumbold                Sundance              Bremerton              2.19667

10      Fred Cole                    Mouse Trap            Port Orchard         2.33308

11      Jerry Downer               Norwester             Gig Harbor             2.35896

12      Doug Lightheart          Tewasi II               G of G                  2.39638

13      Bill Anderson                The Tillie               Queen City             2.40915

14      Mike Henry                  Peachy Kean          Bremerton              2.71035

Fred then went through a complete peel off of the PR to Juneau Race #2 from #14 to the winner. The excellent scores from all racers were a surprise to most with the top three under ½%. The winner even qualified for the 500 club with 0.46% before handicap. Nearly half the boats were under one percent. That is quite an accomplishment for a 125 nm race with large currents and with such large variations from the predictions.

Complete Standings Leg – Race #2 – Prince Rupert to Juneau

Place   Contestant              Boat Name              Club                    Score

1        Bob Gautschi              Sirena                   Airport, BC             0,29931

2        Dick Timmerman           Vagabond              Queen City             0.40038

3         Fred Cole                   Mouse Trap            Port Orchard         0.43765

4        Chuck Silvernail          Solmar                  Bremerton              0.65882

5         Don Larson                  Tewasi                  Port Orchard           0.77004

6        Gregg/Johnson           Noble                    Poulsbo                0.90586

7         Mike Henry                 Peachy Kean          Bremerton              1.10134

8         Bill Anderson               The Tillie               Queen City             1.12791

9         Ken Klett                     Klettitat                 Queen City              1.16343

10      Owen Ritter                 Outbound              Bremerton              1.25134

11      Jerry Downer               Norwester             Gig Harbor             1.47984

12      Andrea Schock           Schocking             Queen City            1.65238

13      Bill Rumbold                Sundance              Bremerton              2.16077

14      Kent Soffel                  Windy-i                  Queen City           DNF

The Overall Results for the Alaska 1000 used an average of the 2 races so one good race could easily be wiped out by a poor score on the other. It did take 2 good races to be the overall winner. Fred again did a peel off of all 15 racers, even though 3 did not get an overall score as they did not run all the races. Only one person in the room, besides Fred, could tell who won by doing the mental math but it was obvious in the end that Chuck Silvernail with his stellar performance in Race 1 stuck in there to win the Overall; despite a 4^th in Race 2. Bob Gautschi, who won the last Alaska 1000 race was only a sliver behind. Don Larson , the Race organizer came 3^rd.  

Complete Standings – Entire Alaska 1000 - Nanaimo to Juneau

Place   Contestant              Boat Name              Club                    Score

1        Chuck Silvernail            Solmar                  Bremerton            0.74151

2        Bob Gautschi               Sirena                  Airport, BC            0.94471

3         Don Larson                   Tewasi                 Port Orchard         1.01993

4        Dick Timmerman           Vagabond              Queen City            1.09464

5         Fred Cole                   Mouse Trap            Port Orchard         1.38536

6         Ken Klett                     Klettitat                 Queen City             1.40444

7        Gregg/Johnson           Noble                    Poulsbo                1.47614

8         Bill Anderson               The Tillie               Queen City             1.76852

9        Owen Ritter                 Outbound              Bremerton             1.79271

10      Mike Henry                  Peachy Kean          Bremerton              1.90584

11      Jerry Downer               Norwester             Gig Harbor             1.91939

12      Bill Rumbold                Sundance              Bremerton              1.92447

13      Kent Soffel                  Windy-i                  Queen City           DNF

13      Doug Lightheart          Tewasi II              G of G                  Race 1

13      Andrea Schock           Schocking             Queen City             Race 2

The awards finished with special awards. Andrea Schock with her all Lady crew received the sportsmanship award for first just making the trip as a tag along and then getting caught up and completing the second race. The antique racers award went to Bob Johnson and George Gregg on Noble; as our senior racers. The “Contribution to the local economy” award went to Kent Soffel for his extraordinary efforts to leave a bankroll in Wrangell.

The final award also went to Kent . The Iceberg Trophy goes to the largest screw-up during the race and the winner was obvious; though in second place was Dick Timmerman for putting water into a fuel tank and third to Bob Gautschi for letting one of his crew members fall through a hole in a floating dock. The Juneau YC commodore, Wayne, had driven out to the Mendenhall glacier a few miles past the airport that day and plucked a 20 lb block of ice which he gracefully presented to Kent . The 10,000 yr old ice block was clear as glass but cold as H---. Poor Kent held the ice block for nearly half a hour as racer after racer described Kent ’s ordeal, the race, the weather etc. until Kent cried “uncle” when the frost bite set in. Kent was last seen carrying the ice block to his boat in a plastic bag. I had told Kent I have chipped great ice chips for cocktails off similar iceberg blocks and he wasn’t going to waste good “old” ice! Kent , as all the other winners, will get their impressive and very valuable 82 year old trophies at the IPBA annual awards banquet on Nov 13 in Richmond , BC .

By the way, the never canceled 4^th of July fireworks last night were postponed until tonight; it has sure rained. The rain is lighter today and the usual activities like parades and BBQ’s are progressing. Most racers are partaking in some and I was told the parade was good. The fleet will now split up; Henry’s, Ritters, Rumbolds and others are heady off west to Icy Straits and the outside of Prince of Wales Island to fish; Tewasi is heading to Skagway; others going by ferry to Skagway to avoid the nasty waters in Lynn canal; Andersons, Kletts, Timmermans and others are heading to see the tidewater glaciers in Tracy Arm; but all will be back for the Stimson Race at SYC’s Port Madison Outstation on Sep 18.

Thanks for listening and reading.

Bob

 Robert W. (Bob) Lindal;    Lindal Cedar Homes Inc.,   206-892-1234