On June 8, 41 sailboats set out from Nanaimo to circumnavigate Vancouver Island in one of the most illustrious, sometimes dangerous, races in the Pacific Northwest.
Aside from the possibilities of being caught in a hair-raising storm, hitting a whale, and running into a container or some floating debris adrift all the way from Japan, sailors in the Van Isle 360 will also have to face their most dreaded prospect: no wind.
Joined on the phone by WE Vancouver a few days before the starting flag was hoisted, Bob Davis, the skipper (captain) of Bad Kitty, could barely contain his excitement. I have been running in this race five times but Ive been involved in every Van Isle since the beginning, as competitor or as a race committee member.
The Van Isle 360 runs counter-clock wise around Vancouver Island and is divided into 10 legs, with a daily finish in communities dotting the island. Its really 10 mini races put together in a row, Davis points out. Every race is a new race. You can do well in one, poorly in the other but you still have a chance at the overall title.
What do I look most forward to? Davis takes a brief pause. The camaraderie. We all have to deal with adversity and we bond in the face of it.
He adds, You get to stop at night in different ports and connect with the communities, and we are doing this as a fleet. I like the social aspect of it.
Asked about the challenges of Van Isle, Davis admits, The Pacific side can be rough, no walk in the park. Some boats change crew in Port Hardy, before the open sea, and more experienced sailors get on.
Then there are weather changes. Its too little or too much wind. In 2001 we got caught in a big storm and had to turn back.
During that storm, one competing boat was capsized by a monstrous wave. The crew of four was eventually airlifted to safety.
You also have to keep the stamina and deal with sleep depravation, Davis adds. On the leg from Port Hardy to Victoria youll likely sail overnight.
The most challenging passage? 140 miles from Winter Harbor to Ucluelet with winds of 35 knots blowing on the nose...
Sponsored by Black Press, owner of WE Vancouver (proprietor David Black is himself a trans-ocean sailor), the Van Isle 360 was born in 1999 and runs every two years, on odd years.
The yachts range from 30ft to 70ft, split in five different categories, with some boats providing comfortable accommodations for several people, while some racing machines offering barely more than open-air hammocks and a rudimentary stove for coffee.
Because of a rating system, the first to cut the finish line isnt necessary the official winner. A slower boat with a handicap could win over a faster one because of corrected time at the end of the race. The system is controversial, Davis recognizes. Regardless, cutting the line first still provides bragging rights that we all strive for.
The race is spread over 14 days with an actual sailing time record of 80 hours.
As with many weather-dependent events, only the unexpected is expected. The first two days of the race seemed to fulfill that rule, with some contestants barely cutting the finishing line on time because of lack of winds.
To follow the Van Isle 360, see the interactive charts, learn about competitors and read daily results, log on to VanIsle360.com.
Update: with results from the first seven legs posted, Bad Kitty is in third place overall as of June 17.
