CYC Center Sound Series 2025
Hooligan on the way to the turn around Blakely Rock, with Kelly O’Neil’s flowers in the foreground
Seattle, WA, March 1st, 8th, and 22nd, 2025
Phillip Dean’s ‘Rush’ wins the ORC division and John Aitchison’s ‘Moose Unknown’ wins the PHRF division in the Corinthian Yacht Club - Center Sound Series
Short Version: Seattle sailors know that anything can happen in this springtime three race series, and this year it was not just anything but everything. Barely enough wind on the first race, more than enough on the second race leading to a dramatic rescue of sailors overboard, and light but delightful on the final race. Now spring has sprung and Seattle sailors are off to the races. CYC Race Results Website
The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle’s Center Sound Series declares the end of winter in the Pacific Northwest. As daylight savings time starts, the equinox passes, and the last nightly low in the 30s all occur in March, sailors finish their winter boat projects and call the crew back from the desert, Mexico, Hawaii, and the slopes.
Despite the promise of brighter days ahead, the CSS can be darker, colder, wetter, and wilder than anyone would design for shakedown races. Nevertheless, driven by a commitment to team-mates, or a hope for springtime, or an undiagnosed sailing disorder, sailors do show up! This year 70 boats and over 400 people participated in the three races.
These three “distance races”, the Three Tree Point Race, the Possession Point Race, and the Blakely Rock Race probably started with two sailors sitting in a bar. Naturally, one said to the other: “I bet I can sail around that rock and back before you”, and the other said: “Let’s go tomorrow!” Seattle Yacht Club records establish the first sailboat race was held on the 4th of July, 1879-- around Blakely Rock. There is no record of the winner, but 9 boats took part.
Bring any boat, fly any sails, have a big crew, small crew, or sail alone. If you can sail the distance, you are in the race. They are similar to marathons in length and time, the races are roughly twenty-something miles and last four to eight hours. These are not ocean crossing races, and everyone gets home by dinner, but they are not races around marks in front of the marina either. The races in the CSS are just right for shaking off the winter.
Not long after that imaginary challenge in the bar, handicap mechanisms were added so a winner could be determined among boats of all shapes and sizes. In this year’s races, boats ranged from 25 to 52 feet, with crews as few as two and as many as a dozen. Two different rating rules were used to determine the winners of the 2025 CSS, and within those rules, there were eight divisions. Math types will already have figured out that the rest of this article could drag on naming the top three finishers in each of the eight classes in each of the three races. We will leave that to the online scoring system and bring out some sea stories instead.
Two Sailors Rescued from 47 Degree Water in the Possession Point Race
The rescue of sailors lost overboard in the Possession Point race was the biggest news of the series. March 8th started off with a moderate wind forecast in the teens, but an hour into the race, reality was rapidly outpacing the predictions and causing multiple wipe outs and boat breakdowns. And then it happened. The rare and extremely dangerous thing sailors hope never happens to them -- two sailors were swept overboard. After what was no doubt the longest 45 minutes in their lives, they were rescued by another boat that had left the race to assist.
Rescue of Sailors Overboard Ends Without Injury or Loss
The mishap occurred when the boats were approaching the Possession Point turning mark at the south end of Whidby Island. Brent Cambell and Sheridan Ferguson, crewmembers on Ian Christenson’s Riptide 41 ‘Blue’, were swept overboard into the Puget Sound’s 47 degree water. Four boats stopped racing to assist in the rescue along with a Washington State Ferry and the Kitsap division of the Coast Guard.
Within 45 minutes the sailors were rescued by Tolga Cezik’s J/111 ‘Lodos’ while additional race boats ‘Smoke’, ‘Absolutely’, and ‘Freja’ stood by. The sailors were rushed to the hospital and treated for hypothermia and later released in good condition. The dramatic rescue was caught on video by Troy Hutt from his vantage point on board the ferry – which left its regular Edmonds to Kingston run to help. Later the TV news and the Seattle Times picked up the story.
Of the 23 big boats that started the race in the “ORC” division, six dropped out, and of the 33 smaller boats that started in the “PHRF” division, five dropped out. Considering the conditions and the extraordinary overboard and rescue operation, it was an impressive show of seamanship that only 11 of 56 starters were unable to complete the race.
The first boat to finish in just 3 hours and 27 minutes was Jonathan McKee’s Riptide 44 ‘Dark Star’ with Fritz Lanzinger, David Schmidt, Mike Leslie, Leif Hauge and Kira Blumhagen on board. Professional sailor and Olympic gold medalist, Jonathan McKee reflected that: “It was an exciting day in that it got a lot winder than the forecast had expected. Halfway down the run it got really windy and the boats ahead of us had issues. We took down early instead of gybing in over 25 [knots of wind], so we stayed in one piece, which was the lesson for the day. It was a war of attrition.”
Having sailed in extreme conditions the world over, McKee’s respect for the sea and focus on safety is ever present. “We were quite concerned when we finished and learned about the man overboard situation on ‘Blue’. We were grateful the sailors were recovered and that the safety training we all support paid dividends.”
Hooligan Celebrates Women’s Day
The ORC division winner on corrected time was Jay Renehan and Chris Lanzinger’s J/111 ‘Hooligan’ with Molly Lanzinger, Kate Lanzinger, Meg Lanzinger, AnaLucia Clarkson, Farzana Mohamedali, Eliza Crocker, John Renehan, Tim Scanlon and Chris Lanzinger on board. Chris Lanzinger recounted that “The crew was awesome. Everyone sailed extremely well. The one thing that I want to point out is that we sailed with six very competent women who handled the boat in some extreme conditions.” It was a great way to recognize International Women’s Day.
Fog and Light Wind Prevent 18 Boats from Finishing the Three Tree Point Race
One week earlier on March 1st, the 33 mile Three Tree Point Race from Shilshole Bay south to Three Tree Point and back, was a slow moving affair. The start was delayed by fog and then light wind prevented one third of the boats from finishing the race.
The biggest boat, John Buchan’s TP52 ‘Glory’, finishing in just 3 hours and 14 minutes and correcting to sixth place in the ORC division. The ORC division winner was ‘Madame Pele’ a Davidson 29 with Tom Andrewes and Jon Anderson on board.
‘Blur’ Punches Above its Weight
The smallest boat in the fleet at 25 feet, ‘Blur’ hung in there for 4 hours and 49 minutes, but corrected to second place in the PHRF division after the handicap was applied, just four minutes behind first place finisher Brad Butler’s Siera 26 ‘Uno’.
Tom Perry, skipper of ‘Blur’, was a bit surprised at the attrition and said: “To say that I was stunned with the result is an understatement. We had finished that evening completely convinced that we were somewhere back in the middle of the pack. We had lost all sight of the competition and figured that they were all ahead of us. It turns out, they had all gone home.”
Almost Goldilocks Conditions on the Blakely Rock Race
After not enough wind in the first race and too much in the second race, a light and patchy southerly breeze and some sunshine for the 15 mile Blakely Rock Race on March 22nd was nearly just right. Anyone stuck in one of the many windless patches might contest the “just right” claim, but the third and final race of the series was a very pleasant day on the water.
Once again John Buchan’s TP52, ‘Glory’, was first over the finish line in 2 hours and 55 minutes. The TP52s usually have a difficult time under the handicapping corrections, often finding themselves well down the leaderboard. In this case however, ‘Glory’ corrected to 2nd place – only 5 seconds behind Phillip Dean’s Sunfast 3600 ‘Rush’ with Pete Dorsey, Christopher Butler, Patrick Gibbs, Elishia Van Luven, Brian Zumsteg and Alex Simanis on board.
Further supporting the Goldilocks claim was the lack of attrition. After 18 boats dropped out of the Three Tree Point Race, and 11 boats dropped out of the Possession Point Race, only one boat dropped out of the Blakely Rock Race.
Winners of the Corinthian Yacht Club’s Center Sound Series 2025
‘Rush’ wins the ORC Division
In the ORC division, the winner with 12 points was Phillip Dean’s ‘Rush’ who scored 9, 2, 1.
"The team on ‘Rush’ is a group of very good friends that have sailed many miles together through many boats. We always have a blast sailing together. We rotate jobs and do a nice job of taking care of each other, and taking good care of the boat. It is extremely gratifying to get a class and ORC win in toughest class in CSS! We are prepping for a Cal Offshore Race week, followed by Transpac. I feel extremely fortunate to be a part of this team. Cheers to all of the competition for pushing us hard, and way to go CYC for getting another stellar Center Sound Series off!" Said Alex Simanis.
Second was Jay Renehan and Chris Lanzinger on ‘Hooligan’ with a 2nd, 1st, and 13th for the record books. And third was Tom Andrews and Jon Anderson on the Siera 26 ‘Madame Pele’ scoring 1st, 10th, and 5th.
Jon Anderson, CYC’s Fleet Captain Race said: “Center Sound Series delivered yet again with some excellent racing in some challenging conditions. Multiple different boats enjoyed varying degrees of success during the series, from 35 knots to drifting conditions, showing that we are in for a fun and action-packed season across our fleets. We are also grateful to all our skippers and crews for prioritizing safety on the water and prepping their boats and crews to be ready for anything. 2025 is sure to be an exciting year with our largest J105 fleet turnout this season as they prepare for the North American championships in 2026 here in Seattle.”
‘Moose Unknown’ wins the PHRF Division
In the PHRF division, the winner with 22 points was John Aitchison on the J/105 ‘Moose Unknown’ who scored 3rd, 2nd, and 17th in the series. Skipper – John Aitchison (for 2/3 races) and Jack Aitchison (for Three Tree Point) and Leslie Aitchison, Sarah Aitchison, Lexi Collins, Chris Carter, Paul Olivier, Rebecca Hayoun, Zach Bailey, and Phil Bylsma had to work hard to stay ahead of 14 J/105s and 30 others.
Second was Dan Falk in the J/27 “LXIII” with a total of 24 (20, 1, 3). Dan, RS Aero World Champion, and RS Aero North American Champion and winner of many other Laser and Aero titles, and his crew of Jaime and Andy Mack and Keith Hammer (also decorated dinghy sailors), had a wild time winning the Possession Point race on their way to second in the series. Dan recounted: “Things got sporty for all of us in the last two miles to the mark. We ended up on our side when we had problems with our spinnaker douse. Thankfully, the team got things sorted out and we were able to fish the race.” In fact Dan and his team won that race.
And third was Ben Towery on Olson 29 ‘Sabotage’ also with a total of 24 (5, 15, 4) – who beat who in the last race is the tie breaker. CYC scoring website here
Next Up, the CYC Pacific Northwest One Design (“POD”) Regatta
Corinthian Yacht Club turns right around and hosts yet another event this weekend (March 29-30). This is a one design event where like boats race against each other without any handicap system. The boat on boat action is much easier to follow and the close quarters around a small race course provides for many passing opportunities. There are currently 20 boats registered and now that the Center Sound Series brought in the spring weather, everyone will be warmer and maybe even drier. Here is the link to the event website.