Dilligaf, Betty Boop, Windchild
June 23, 2007 - Winter Harbour - Today was a layday for the 400+ sailors and road crews participating in the Cadillac Van Isle 360. Time was wasted trying to dry out in the continual drizzle. The skies eventually cleared and the sailors spent the rest of the day hiking the old growth forest, socializing, charging batteries and bear watching.
The community of Winter harbour put on a great chicken bbq and marshmallow roast that was well attended and very much appreciated.
Leg 7 Divisional winners were Icon, Flash and Capricorno. Div 2- Mad Max, Kairos and Time Bandit; Div 3 Betty Boop, Wind Child and Dilligaf. Makika won Div 4.
Unfortunately the Olson 40, Red Heather, has had to withdraw from the next leg due to rigging failure but hopes to catch up with the fleet for the last couple of legs. John Gugins and his crew are very disappointed to miss tomorrow's big leg down the coast.
At 138 nautical miles, tomorrow's leg is the longest in the race. Everyone hopes for a big westerly to allow them to surf their way past Brookes Peninsula to Ucluelet. Brookes peninsula is renowned for some of the worst storms on the coast. This is a place where weather stations get blown off rocks.
The forecast for tomorrow is light to moderate northwest winds, not exactly a sailor's wet dream but not a nightmare either.
June 23, 2007 - Winter Harbour - 0932 HRS. All boats are finished and tied up at the docks in Winter Harbour. The majority of the fleet were finished by midnight.
The Olson 40, Red Heather, retired from this leg due to a broken shroud and is currently at the dock.
Most sailors agree this was a challenging leg, with many sail changes and rain and hail so hard that it flattened the seas.
By the time the HMCS Oriole crossed the line at approximately 0430 hrs. on June 22, the wind had switched to westerly.
The sailors are currently trying to dry out in Winter Harbour. The community of Winter Harbour, all 19 of them, have organized a chicken BBQ and the fleet is looking forward to the bonfire on the beach.........more news to follow
Icon happy at the dock in Winter Harbour
June 22, 2007 - 2000 hrs. Winter Harbour - Jim Roser of Icon reported a 17 knot tailwind in Goletas Channel, a reach across the top of the island and a 25 to 30 knot headwind heading down the outside. "The seas were very lumpy.....it was a hard sail," he said. The crew were amazed to see the smallest boat in the fleet, Makika, even out there, let alone up there with them.
Makika, Blue Lightning, Flash and Capricorno are all tied at the docks.... More news to follow
June 22, 2007 - 1821 hrs - Dick's Last Resort, Winter Harbour - Icon has finished off the Kain's Island lighthouse at 1757 hrs. The F25C Makika is within sight of the finish line and Blue Lightning should be the third boat to cross.
More news to follow..........
June 21 - 1648hrs - Kains Island - Cadillac Van Isle 360 Race Committee, Don, Bob, Dave and Steve struggle to set the flag before the first boat crosses the finish line.
A Slow but steady start for leg 7 of the Cadillac Van Isle 360
