THE HALLOWEEN RACE AND BEST COSTUME WINNER (IT HAD TO BEE FAST COMPANY)

The latest buzz is that Fast Company took it all…

The Olson 30 crew dressed in bee themed costumes were spectacular. Tess Moeller dressed in a tutu with a crown on her head was obviously the Queen Bee (but we already knew that). Jakki Nelson very cleverly obtained a great bee keeper costume (although we all know that there was no way she could keep skipper Jim Saylor under control). Fast Company took first place in the race with a time of 47:46 and they also won for the best crew costume from the mole. Double Espresso with crew dressed as muscle men and women gave Fast Company a run for their money for awhile and they finished in second place with a time of 50:32. You don’t want to mess with Double Espresso who won for the scariest costumes as even the women had hairy muscular chest outfits. In third place was Papa Au with a time of 53:41. The lovely Sea Petersen was on the stern fabulously dressed as a lioness while “Rent a Ray” was on the foredeck as a male lion (who was that pulling his tail?). Skipper Jeff Olson was a zebra as was the cute little dog running around the deck. The rest of the crew were dressed as great white hunters.

Speedy took first place in club class with skipper Dick Olsen dressed as a pirate. Weatherly took second place and they won for the most original costumes which were orange shirts with Jack O’Lanterns hand painted by Astrid Andersson. (I called them the Smashing Pumpkins). The rumor is that the scowl on the pumpkin’s face that Astrid painted was taken from a pose by her father and skipper Carl Andersson. The young sailors on Weatherly gave Ozone fits throughout the race and in particular they covered Ozone tack for tack on the last leg, not missing a beat. Not only did they beat Ozone but it allowed Papa Au to sneak in and beat Ozone by 1 second on elapsed time. Ozone was thus dead last to cross the finish line, probably for the first time ever. Ozone did delight the other boats and the crowd on the mole by putting up their spinnaker sideways on the second downwind leg. Skipper Chris Jordan will vouch for the fact that this doesn’t make you any faster. The Ozone crew was dressed in shark costumes and they played the Baby Shark music as they passed the race committee. They won for the best costume theme. Although Iwa did not finish the race, their Greek outfits won for the funniest costumes.It was Toga! Toga! Toga!

Back at the clubhouse the party was sponsored by the crew of Ozone. The room was decorated with orange lights, pumpkins, spiders and hanging skeletons. A delicious dinner was catered by Mark’s Place. Halloween music and dance music was played by DJ Chris Fink. His wife Kay Haskell tended bar (both of them were high school classmates of Ozone’s skipper Chris Jordan). Sea Petersen took the lead on the dance floor whipping up enthusiasm with the other dancers who followed her moves. Charlotte Ross danced in her “Happy Days” outfit while her husband John Ross was “The Fonz” (and yes he did shave off his beard for this costume!). Doug Gibson was a terrific Popeye with his pipe and can of spinach. He was only outdone by “Olive Oil” his wife Sharon Gibson. They won for the best couple costumes. Ozone shark Chris Jordan was able to steal Olive Oil away from Popeye for several dances. Bev and Jeff Jakkus won best clubhouse costumes as “The Tourists”.

The Halloween Costume Party and Race is always a lot of fun. But in some ways it is sad as it is the last race of the year (it gets dark too early after work). So get out the sanding tools, paint and rig repair gear for the next 3 months. See you again in February for opening Day!

-Chris Jordan

Click here for complete results on the racing page and more photos from Charlotte and Pam