Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Vic-Maui Race Update

(Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)- Sailors in the Vic-Maui International Yacht Race are experiencing similar conditions to their colleagues in the south sailing the Pacific Cup Race.  Up north, a “Zone of Death” materialized along the rhumbline squeezed between Lows and the Pacific Highs.  On Monday roll call, it’s apparent that the Class 1 boats, like the J/160 JAM, are moving well and are stretching south of the Zone of Death; finding the first zephyrs of the trade winds. They are reporting winds close to 10 kts and the tracker shows boat speeds of in 7-8 knot range. Nevertheless, they are still sailing south and Hawaii is southwest.

At this time, John McPhail's J/160 JAM from Gig Harbor Yacht Club on Fox Island, WA is sitting 3rd in its class, but the veteran team hopes to be a “first to finish” in the keelboat division.  One interesting statistic to monitor is the total distance sailed trying to get the best winds. If this was a prize, it would currently go to JAM, who is projected to have sailed a total distance of 2680 miles, quite a bit more than the rhumb line distance of 2308 miles!  Yellowbrick is providing the tracking.   For more Vic-Maui Race sailing information