Vic-Maui Race Departs Victoria
With the passing of Canada Day on July 1, the Vic-Maui International Yacht Race has officially gotten underway. As the skies cleared and summer arrived in the days before the race, a small but enthusiastic fleet of nine boats set sail from the picturesque Victoria Harbour and began tacking into a stiff westerly breeze. Sailing upwind through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the fleet has now passed Cape Flattery and made their hard turn to port and toward a Hawaiian arrival at the beautiful old whaling port of Lahaina, Maui.
At the head of the fleet is Bob Strong’s Morris 45 Firefly, which is scooting along nicely at around 9 knots in a stiff north-northwesterly breeze that is quickly propelling the fleet toward the tropics. On Firefly’s heels is John Murkowski’s J/122E Joyride, whose crew is almost certainly looking forward to reaching the trades and being able to take advantage of the quick J boat’s downwind surfing abilities. Clayton Craigie’s Point Richmond-based Beneteau First 40 Anjo is holding her own in a tight battle for third place as of this writing. Just behind Anjo, however, the race appears to have its first retirement as Travis McGregor’s Beneteau Oceanis 50 Turnagain has turned around and appears to be heading back toward Cape Flattery.
While the fleet has already cleared the Cape and hooked into solid northerly pressure, the run to Hawaii is looking anything but straightforward as a small low-pressure system is also making its way toward the coast and threatens to act as a roadblock for much of the fleet. Navigating this low pressure could prove to be one of the major navigational and tactical challenges of the race. With the potential for light winds and even headwinds before re-entering the traditional northerly breeze that will drive the fleet toward the trades, navigators are surely scratching their heads and preparing to hedge their bets before deciding where to enter this low-pressure system.
You can follow the race at www.vicmaui.org or on the Yellow Brick tracking app on your smartphone. Stay tuned to Latitude 38 for more updates on the Vic-Maui and this summer’s other three races to Hawaii.