Shortly after the start in Deepwater Bay
June 20, 2007 - Somewhere on the Highway - 1300 hrs - Leg four of the Cadillac Van Isle 360 started in Deepwater Bay with a light south east breeze. Just prior to crossing the start line the HMCS Oriole popped one of their monster spinnakers, successfully blanketing the fleet. This tactic appeared to pay off as the Oriole went on to place fourth in her Division.
The wind increased over the day to about 12 knots which combined with the 4 knot current made for a very fast leg.
The Perry 65, Icon, set a new elapsed time record for this leg of 2 hours 49 minutes, breaking the record previously held by the Formula 40 catamaran,Dragonfly, by 15 mins.
The Oriole raced today with special guests from the Save On Foods Group who had an eye popping experience. The big ship heated it up (came closer to the wind) as she crossed the finish line under spinnaker in spectacular fashion - heeled over with her gunwales in the water.
The race committtee was double fisting the horns as the entire fleet crossed the finish line off Hardwicke Island in a short 45 minute span. Many boats finised overlapped in flukey breeze and interesting currents. Bob Davis, the race committee's official scorer said," I didn't even see the finish, I had my head down writing finishing times as fast as I could."
All 42 boats tied up at Marine Harvest's fish farm in Chancellor Channel. The 400+ sailors were treated to a fabulous sit down salmon bbq inside the farm's warehouse. More than 180 lbs of salmon was served courtesy of the BC Salmon Farmer's Association. Save On Foods supplied, salads, refreshments and desserts. Following dinner the HMCS Oriole hosted the fleet to an onboard cocktail party.
Division one winners ;White Cloud, Occam's Razor, Flash
Division two winners: Kairos, Merlin, Absolute
Division three winners: Tryst, Tracks, Betty Boop
Divsion four: Makika, Blue Lightning, Dan Gereaux
(R to L) David Lynch - White Cloud - 1st Place; Rick Reynolds - Occams Razor - 2nd place; Steve Johnson - White Cloud; Steve Travis - Flash - 3rd place
BC Salmon Farmers Association Hosted BBQJune 19, 2007 - 0830 hrs. - Leg four of the Cadillac Van Isle 360 gets underway today at 0900 hrs. in Deepwater Bay, 10 nautical miles north of Campbell River. The fleet left the docks very early this morning as they would be bucking strong current in Seymour Narrows on their way to the start line. Seymour Narrows has some of the strongest currents in the world.
The brisk south east wind means this should be a fast downwind run to Hardwicke Island. This particular leg of the race could best be described as a very deep river with sharp bends, mountains on either side and large trees right down to the water's edge. Truly spectacular scenery.
The fleet will tie at the Marine Harvest salmon farm in Chancellor Channel for the night.
As we are out of cell phone range and off the grid, further updates will be posted via satellite and may not be as frequent.
