LEG NINE - UCLUELET TO VICTORIA

June 24, 2005 - 11:10 hrs. The Cadillac Van Isle 360 yachts are currently tied up in Victoria amongst the tall ships and the sailors have enjoyed a very entertaining layday. The HMCS Oriole, a participant in the race and in the Tall Ships Festival withdrew from this leg in order to make it to Victoria in time to take part in the Tall Ships Parade. Lordelpus, skippered by Matt Wagstaffe, was still trying to finish the race off Ogden Point when he suddenly found himself being shot at by the HMCS Oriole's canon. When the skipper of the HMCS Oriole realized Lordelpus was still racing they quietly disengaged. Komera, the Mini Transat, finally came into his own on this leg, surfing past many of the larger boats in the fleet to nail first place by a healthy margin. This was a very popular win and gives a glimpse of what this boat is capable of off-shore. Winners on this leg were Div. 1: Time Bandit, Evolution and Karina. Div. 2 winners: Komera, Tryst and Hushwing and Div. 3: Cheekee Monkee, Dragonfly and Bad Kitty. Dragonfly currently leads the fastest elapsed time around the island by just under 8 hours, however leg 10 is where all this can change. The organizers and participants of the Cadillac Van Isle 360 were well looked after by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority who hosted the boat's moorage and the Tall Ships Society who included the Van Isle 360 in their event. The last leg of the race, leg 10, will begin off Brotchie Ledge at the entrance to Victoria Harbour at 1500 hrs. This final leg, through the Gulf Islands, has been assigned the highest scoring value due to the complexity of the course, the myriad of islands and navigational decisions to be made. June 23, 2005 - 10:41 hrs.Most boats finished during the night and early morning and are tied up in Victoria. The few remaining boats are struggling against a strong ebb tide. All boats struggled against a light south east wind to get into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where the westerly wind was late filling in. Once the wind filled in most boats reported a dream run down the strait and through Race Rocks in flat water. Dragonfly was the first to finish last night at 22:45 hrs with the next boats finishing an hour and a half later. More details later........... June 22, 2005 - 1220 hrs.