The Fastest and Slowest Protection Island Races
By Jay Leon, with help from Jack Christiansen, John Stanley and Nigel Barron
Crossfire setting the line honors record for the SYC Protection Island Race in 2018. 8 hours, 42 minutes, 59 seconds. Nigel Barron Photo.
The Fastest Time: Crossfire in 2017
Yacht racers have a deep and complicated relationship with the weather. The siren's call of the wind to a sailor is difficult to resist. Strangely, sailors don't need to be anywhere near Sirenuse and are often lured by the hope that some future wind might possibly call. It is the memory of that one day when the universe delivered the preferred amount of wind from the preferred direction, on the day of a race, when all of the other racers were there, that draws the sailors out even though it is cold and drizzly and does not look promising.
Almost all races have parts going upwind where progress is slow, the wind and sea spray colder, and the boat has to break through each wave. Fortunately they also have parts going downwind where the boat flies free and it is so warm the crew sheds layers and the world seems like a great place. On one Puget Sound spring day in 2017 with a fresh southerly breeze, the 40 mile downwind run from Shilshole Bay to Protection Island would have been exciting, quite comfortable, and just zip on by. The only bad part would be the knowing that like the crest to crest hike in the Grand Canyon, every easy step down must be matched later by a harder step back up. And 40 miles pounding back upwind to get home would easily take twice as long as the sleigh ride getting to the island.
So imagine how crazy great it would feel if while approaching the island the wind re-organized itself and started blowing from the other direction, setting up the shortest of upwind legs until the island and then another downwind fling back home. The only thing taking away from the euphoria would be that little voice saying: "this will never last"! So put yourself onboard 'Crossfire' in 2017 with owner Lou Bianco, Patrick Gibbs, Patrick Cook, Jeff Cordick, Fritz Lanzinger, Jack Christiansen, Scott Anderson, Bruce Dunn, Rick Donahue, Nigel Barron, Mike Stanley, Debbie Stanley and John Stanley as they blasted downwind past Port Townsend to Protection Island on their R/P 55 'Crossfire', and then did a few tacks upwind as the breeze reformed from the west and blew them downwind again, all the way back home, to record the fastest time ever for the Protection Island race: 8 hours, 42 minutes and 59 seconds.
Now that alone would be one of those unforgettable days. But there is more. John Buchan's TP 52 'Glory' finished just six minutes later, and Steve Travis' TP 52 'Smoke' just 12 minutes after that. And both of those times were faster than the second best "Line Honors" time in the record books of 9 hours 10 minutes and 31 seconds set in 2023 by Alan Lubner's R/P 55 'Zvi' -- the former 'Crossfire'.
That would have been a pretty fun day in 2017. 80 miles, 522 minutes, all downwind and the win by just six minutes and the line honors record that still stands today. Some years are just worth remembering.
The Slowest Time: Aquilla in 1908 (also the first time)
Photo courtesy of the Seattle Daily Times Archive, March 1, 1908.
The Seattle Yacht Club Centennial book records the first Protection Island race as 1912. After digging further into the archives of the Seattle Times, it turns out that the first race to Protection Island may have been held in 1908, two boats participated, the Aquilla and the Gwendolyn II. The race was started at one minute past midnight on Saturday morning, February 22nd, and Aquilla finished at 3:03 Monday afternoon - 63 hours and 3 minutes later. It was a drifter for sure with the boats having to anchor three times, and Gwendolyn II suffering even further when she snagged a cable with her anchor off of Point Wilson and had to monkey around with that. As it happens, also in 1908, the Gwendolyn II was the first boat to represent Seattle Yacht Club in the TransPac - where she finished in second place making two the Gwendolyn II's number in 1908.
It’s a TransPac Year
This year is a TransPac year. And if you check out the history page on the TransPac website and you will see our very own 'Hamachi' team accepting the King Kalakaua Trophy in 2019. Also in TransPac news, Philip Dean’s ‘Rush’ and Tolga Cezik’s ‘Lodos’ will be competing in the 2025 TransPac race starting on the 4th of July weekend and finishing at Diamond Head, Oahu, Hawaii about 10 days later.
About the 2025 Protection Island Race
This year Seattle Yacht Club will run the Protection Island Race starting at 9 AM, Saturday, April 26th. Three courses are offered: Long (80 miles), Short (40 miles), and Cruiser/Racer (30 miles) starting and finishing near Golden Gardens Park on Shilshole Bay. More than 40 racing boats and about 300 sailors are expected to participate.
About Seattle Yacht Club
Seattle Yacht Club is incorporated for the purpose of encouraging yachting and boating of all kinds, and the development of the recreational marine advantages of the Pacific Northwest.
Founded in 1892, Seattle Yacht Club has prevailed over the rough seas of wars and endured the battering winds of economic storms since its shabby beginning at a rickety boathouse dock. Along the way, the Club has adapted to our changing culture over the decades and centuries. Today, housed in its elegant Mainstation on Portage Bay, the Club is one of the premier yachting organizations in the world. Its Clubhouse and moorings, 10 Outstations, services, and social activities are second to none, and its financial position is strong. SYC is one of Washington State's oldest and most enduring institutions and in 2010, the National Register of Historical Places listed the SYC Mainstation as a historic resource.
For more information: Contact: Jay Leon, Press Officer, 206-909-4800 (Contact me if you want to tell your Protection Island Race story)