Crowley tugboat, Hunter, which has won the Class A Unlimited tugboat race at the Seattle Maritime Festival every year it has competed since 1995, won the Class A event again today, Saturday, May 14. The Hunter is considered the fastest tugboat on the West Coast according to its owner, Crowley Maritime.
Among the many guests aboard the Hunter were four winners of an eBay auction held by Crowley to benefit the Seattle-based not-for-profit Ryther Child Center, a leader in behavioral health services for Washington state children and their families. For more information, see http://www.crowley.com/.
Class A runners-up were Crowley's Protector and Dahl Tug & Barge's Triton.
The winner of the Class "B" race was Galene, a vintage Miki-class tug built for service during World War II in Quincy, MA. Sixty-one Miki-class wooden-hull 1200 hp tugs were originally built. Only four remain operational.
Prior to the tugboat races, spectators were treated to a tugboat ballet featuring numerous boats, including CFAV Glendale, a Glen class tugboat operated by the Canadian Navy. Canadian naval vessels use either "HMCS" (for "Her Majesty's Canadian Ship" or "His Majesty's Canadian Ship", depending on the gender of the current head of state) or "CFAV" (for "Canadian Forces Auxiliary Vessel"). Minor auxiliary vessels use the CFAV acronym. See http://en.wikipedia.org/.
The Crowley tug, Chief, dazzled onlookers with a series of 360-degree spin turns. The Chief is a 4800 hp tug powered by a Voith-Schneider drive that can be directed in any direction and thus eliminates the need for a rudder. The drive is highly efficient and provides extreme maneuverability, not to mention high entertainment value for those of us fortunate enough to be at Pier 66 for the Maritime Festival. See http://www.voithturbo.de/.
Kudos to the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station, Port Angeles, WA for the air-sea helicopter rescue demonstration performed earlier in the day. The HH-65 Dolphin helicopter is a twin-engine short-range recovery aircraft designed especially for air-sea rescue.
Thanks also to the Port of Seattle and Argosy Cruises for providing three free, one-hour, public tours on Argosy's Spirit of Seattle.
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