Whidbey boats take top 2 spots in final Whidbey Island Race Week / Sailing

By Jim Waller • July 30, 2019 1:30 am

Only two local boats competed in the final Whidbey Island Race Week Regatta July 23-27, but the pair left a positive stamp on the event which is ending after a 37-year run.

Lemonade, skippered by Jason Polly, and Pearl JEM, with Larry Munns at the helm, finished 1-2 in their class, the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet Time-on-Time division.

In all, 59 boats over eight classifications competed.

Race owner Schelleen Rathkopf announced in March that she is moving the regatta to Port Roberts next summer.

Rathkopf said the lack of a working boat lift and the shallowness of the channel to Oak Harbor Marina prevented larger boats from attending the regatta. More than 100 boats often attended Whidbey Race Week.

Lemonade and Polly won their division by finishing first in three of the four races in their class over the course of the week. They took second in the other race and finished with a final score of five points.

Pearl JEM and Munns moved up the ladder each race, taking fourth, third, second and first over the four races and earned a score of 10 to nab second, three points ahead of the third-place boat, Teddy Bear, skippered by Gray Hawken.

Other Oak Harbor boats which raced in the regatta in the past missed this year’s event because of schedule conflicts, technical issues or retirement, according to Dave Steckman, Oak Harbor Yacht Club sail fleet co-captain.