(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