The 2011 TELUS Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race started June 4 in Nanaimo with a 12 knot westerly breeze making for a downwind start out of Nanaimo's beautiful harbour.
The second leg went June 5 from French Creek to Comox and started in a 15 knot northwest breeze with the line heavily favoured for a port tack start. Things got very interesting with lots of yelling and many near collisions. Fortunately there were no mishaps.
Flash, the OD 48, was over early, wound back around the pin and sailed off into clear air getting a great start.
Dragonfly, the Formula 40 Cat and Icon, a Perry 66 duked it out all day for a photo-finish across the line. Dragonfly snatched victory from defeat with a lucky lift, crossing 10 seconds ahead of Icon.
By mid day the breeze waned and by 1530 hrs many boats were struggling to finish. Clearly there were right places to go and wrong places to go and several divisions were turned upside down. Boats who finished in the back of fleet yesterday, found themselves in the front of the fleet on Sunday.
In Div. 3, California Girl, a Cal 40 from Portland Ore., moved up from the back to the front with a win and Ion, a Beneteau 43 from Nanaimo climbed up to 4th. For Karina II tenacity paid off as they squeaked over the finish line with only two seconds remaining on the clock.
In the Multihull Division, Dolphin Dancer, who was no where on Saturday, crossed the line in third place with kids jumping for joy on the trampoline.
In Division 2, proving that consistency pays, the C&C 115 Merlin and Bravo Zulu, a Beneteau 40.7 were tied for first place overall, while the J109 Diva took the win for the leg.
The Comox Valley Yacht Club and Comox Bay Marina did a great job accommodating and escorting all 41 boats into Comox Harbour.
The race resumed Monday with leg three, 28.2 nm to Campbell River. This is the eighth running of the biennial event. The Telus Van Isle 360 is a 580 nm. point to point race circumnavigating wild and rugged Vancouver Island.
Sailed in 10 legs, the course provides inshore, offshore and overnight legs through some of the most stunning and challenging waters on the planet. The race concludes June 18 in Nanaimo.
For the first time, the race is using Spot transponders to track the fleet. The system, which uses the latest satellite technology, will plot and track all 41 boats in real time onto one map. Viewers will be able to log onto the TELUS Van Isle 360 website (www.vanisle360.com) at anytime and see where each boat is.
鈥� Van Isle 360
