LEG 7 - PORT HARDY TO WINTER HARBOUR

June 19 - 2005 - 0730 - Winter Harbour, B.C. Sailors have taken the past day to enjoy the fabulous scenery, hike through old growth forests and make minor repairs to the their boats for the 140 nm race down the west coast to the Ucluelet. Gary Shoenrock, skipper of the 72 foot Davidson, Cassiopeia, had four new spinnakers flown in for the west coast section of the race and upon taking delivery stated, "I'm going to put them into a big box, and take them out like kleenex." The community of Winter Harbour, population 20, organized a fabulous BBQ for the hungry sailors under sunny, hot skies. Winners of this leg were: Div. 1 - Flash, skippered by Steve Travis, White Cloud, a Cookson 12 meter and Bob Brunius's Time Bandit; Div. 2 - Michael Kalahar's Myrrh was triumphant once again, the Aphrodite 101, Tryst placed second and Tir na n'Og was third. A very close race has developed in the multihull division with Cheekee Monkee and Dragonfly now tied for first place and Bad Kitty only 3 points behind. Weather forecast for leg 8 from Winter Harbour to Ucluelet looks benign with light southeasters predicted for most of the day, turning to light westerlies later this afternoon. This does not look like a record breaking day. June 18 - 2005 - 0900 hrs - Winter Harbour, B.C. Most boats have finished and are tied up in Winter Harbour. The race committee is still on station at the Kains Island lighthouse awaiting the few remaining boats, HMCS Oriole, Vitesse & Finesse and Carronade. Wind at the lighthouse is 9 knots from the southwest. Time limit for this leg is 1200 Noon today. Kains Island, which is only accessible by boat, is about 3 nm from the hamlet of Winter Harbour. June 18, 2005 - 2430 hrs - Winter Harbour Dragonfly was the first boat to cross the finish line at Kains Island at 20:08 hrs. Cheekee Monkee was the second boat crossing at 21:16 Sailors in Goletas Channel saw 16 knots from behind. Nawhitti Bar was a dead zone so much so that Cheekee Monkee crossed it sideways. Across the top, in Scott Channel, it was a 26 knot beat, and down the outside to the finish winds were 18 knots also on the nose. June 17, 2005 - 11:50 hrs - Port Hardy, B.C. At the 0800 skipper's meeting, skippers were briefed on several issues including finishing at night, radio check in protocols, safety issues and the logistics of mooring in Winter Harbour. At the end of the meeting Solla Sollew's skipper, Michel Bourassa, announced that they were withdrawing from the event. Michel expressed his appreciation for the moral support he received from the racers and that he intends to throttle back and enjoy a cruise down the west coast of Vancouver IslandBob Brunius, the skipper of the J120 Time Bandit, who holed a boat on this start line in the 2003 event, gave helpful advice on collision avoidance. Bob noted that with the large number of crew changes on many boats prior to the start of this leg that boats may not be running as smoothly as they have been, and perhaps now is the time to take a deep breath and reassess the importance of an aggressive start. The winds for the 1000 hr. start were light and fickle. Sid Halls, skipper of the Tripp 40, Tripp Tease nailed the start with a ballsy move - tacking onto port so close to the committee end that you couldn't slip a credit card between them and the 80 foot aluminum fish boat moored alongside. As the fleet worked their way out of the harbour the winds settled and strengthened from the south east and all boats hoisted spinnakers on their approach to Goletas Channel. If conditions remain stable most of the fleet should clear Nawhitti Bar with following winds and positive current. More updates to follow. Tripp Tease & Evolution at Start THE RACE OF THE ROADIES.....

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