“Within the next two days, the fleet will be in. Not the Navy, haze grey type of fleet, but the go-fast sailboat fleet that will participate in an 18-year-old tradition called Whidbey Island Race Week.The five-day event has many fans on Whidbey: The sailors, who either compete or else follow the sailing action out on Penn Cove; the fans, who walk the docks at Oak Harbor Marina to ogle the race boats or schmooze with the crews; and business owners, who know when the fleet sails in, sales go up.Race Week organizer Stan Stanley said on average, each visitor for the event spends about $130 per day during the six-day sailing celebration. This year, 112 racing sailboats and 23 support boats are expected to pull into Oak Harbor Marina for Race Week. And according to Harbormaster Dave Williams, each boat will carry an average of seven crew members, not counting the friends and family members who will follow in cars and campers.What that means, Stanley said, is that as many as 2,000 people will converge on Oak Harbor for Race Week, boosting the local economy to the tune of about a $1.3 million bump. So where does the money go?A sizeable portion, say local hoteliers, goes to the lodging industry.It’s a big event for the community, Coachman Inn manager Randy Bradford said. It’s probably the only week during the summer when we consistently fill up, and it’s the single biggest impact area merchants see.Tricia Manning, office manager for the Acorn Inn, agrees.Every Race Week we’re full, we have a good clientele and most of them come back year after year, Manning said. Manning said a big benefit Race Week customers offer is time.They book a room for the whole week and most call months in advance, she said. Chrissy Hawkins, manager of For Pete’s Sake Restaurant, said a lot of area merchants look forward to Race Week. And not just for financial reasons.The bars do great down here, but it’s not only the money, it’s the atmosphere, Hawkins said. The town comes alive for once. And the energy these people bring here … I wish we could do it twice a year.Hawkins said the week-long sailing competition and celebration keeps Pete’s packed.We’re busy from Sunday night until Friday night, she said. But Saturday night when they’re gone, the energy level noticeably drops and it’s kind of a let-down.It isn’t just the hospitality industry that benefits, Stanley said. Hardware stores and grocery stores benefit as well.Barry Gregory, manager for Oak Harbor Safeway, said Race Week accounts for at least a 10 percent increase in sales. The store increases its food and beverage orders to accommodate demand.It’s something that we plan for, Gregory said. And in places like the deli department, bakery and beer and wine, we see about a 20 percent increase. It’s good for the economy all around.The same is true at Ace Hardware, where sporting goods manager Kevin Petersen said he sees a definite increase in sales.There’s a lot more people in the store and the marine aisle is very popular, Petersen said. I don’t know of a sailor who doesn’t like a hardware store.There is another group that benefits from Race Week, Stanley says, though their gains are not quantifiable in sales.They include all the service industry workers – bartenders, cooks and waiters who sign on to serve for the event.Rick Carlton was an Oak Harbor dentist and he said he could tell the people who were employed in the service industry around here during Race Week, Stanley said. Because afterwards, they’d bring their kids in for dental work.”