(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)- Hosted by the West Vancouver YC,
the Southern Straits Race continues to gain momentum. Southern Straits
has earned its reputation as being one of the Pacific Northwest’s
premiere sailing events. 2015 marked the 47th consecutive start of this
WVYC flagship event, and what a weekend of racing it was!With 4 all new course options, this year saw 92 boats on the line with over 750 sailors on the water. The Medium Course turned out to be the most popular with 46 boats racing to Sister Islets and back.
We haven’t had a downwind start for years and the visual spectacle of nearly 100 boats setting off under spinnaker was quite something. A spectacular blood red moon lunar eclipse and good wind at the Finish Line at Pt. Atkinson made for an incredibly memorable event for all.
In
the Long Course race of 138nm, John McPhail’s J/160 JAM from Gig Harbor
YC managed a 5th in Division I class behind all the ULDBs. In the
Medium Course race of 98nm, the J/120 TIME BANDIT sailed by Bob Brunius
missed first place by a mere 13 minutes, having to settle for 3rd place
in Division 4 class. On the same course in Division 4, the J/109 DIVA
sailed by Jim Prentice from Royal Vancouver YC took fifth place and Ron
MacKenzie’s J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE placed 13th. Also sailing the same
course was Mardy Grossman’s J/30 DESPERADO, cruising into a well-earned
3rd in Division 5 Class.The new sponsor ePACT had plenty to say about their experience being associated with the Southern Straits event:
“Over Easter weekend we sat on the sidelines in awe, as we watched 92 boats take off from Dundarave Pier. The ePACT team is new to the sailing world, and we can honestly say that we were blown away by it all. From the infectious energy leading up to the race start, to the tight knit sailing community and the addicting SPOT tracker, the Southern Straits was an incredible event from start to finish.”
To bring you a recap of the race, we sat down again with Sonia Telford, Race Chair.
What were a few of the race highlights for you?
It has been a few years since we’ve had a downwind start, and the spectacle of 92 boats heading out of English Bay on their Southern Straits adventure under spinnaker was quite a sight. Eric Holden and his Open 60 “O Canada” was such a thrill to see. In addition, we had dolphins on both the start and finish line, and when you top that with good winds and a spectacular red moon lunar eclipse; I think we had it all!
How many boats and participants did you have out on the water?
This year we had 92 boats with roughly 750 sailors. We also had an amazing group of 92 volunteers who helped to pull of this fantastic weekend of sailing – we couldn’t have done it without you!
What was included in your safety/emergency plans?Each boat must satisfy strict safety requirements in order to qualify to race. New for this year we introduced pre-race safety inspections to ensure that the participants had the necessary safety equipment on board. With 18 first time Skippers racing this year, this was more important than ever before. In addition, each boat carried a SPOT Transponder which not only allows friends and family to watch the race from home, but also allows the Race Committee to monitor the fleet throughout the duration of the race. This was the first year that we implemented ePACT for our Crew Lists and having the information about who was on which boat in a secure, easy to use database was a great addition!
With so many moving pieces for the event, how did you keep safety top of mind for everyone?
Like any extreme sport, safety has to be top of mind and sailboat racing is no different. Leading up to Southern Straits, West Vancouver Yacht Club hosted 3 Tech Talk evenings with each one focusing on a different safety topic: Boat & Crew Preparation, Rig Maintenance, Man Overboard Recovery & Weather. In addition to pre & post safety checks for participants, each boat is required to “check in” with Race Committee at various points throughout the race. Not only does this confirm the boat location, it gives Race Committee the opportunity for on-site weather checks from each boat so that conditions can be monitored.
How was ePACT used during the race?
Traditionally for an overnight race, Crew Lists are submitted to Race Committee on a piece of paper prior to the race. Last minute crew changes or rushed handwriting have the potential to make the Crew List inaccurate and this has always been a concern.
This year, we made the switch to ePACT and not only was the information up to date, easy to read and secure, it lead to an interesting discussion throughout the sailing community about how critical this information is. For example, we had a competitor add 2 crew members to their boat the morning of the race start. Rather than scribbling out the names and contact information and stapling it to the original document, the Skipper was able to log in and make the changes quickly, while having peace of mind that the correct information was available in the case of an emergency.
I knew ePACT had been a great addition when several Skipper’s retained their boat account and are using ePACT for Swiftsure, Van Isle 360 and other overnight races!
Can you give us a sneak peek into next year’s events?
Well, I can tell you that Easter is early next year with Good Friday falling on March 25, 2016. This will definitely affect the number of daylight hours available which is a factor in an overnight race. The Organizing Committee is already at work planning the 2016 event, so you will just have to wait and see what we have in store!
A huge thank you to Sonia and the West Vancouver Yacht Club for having us as a part of the Southern Straits! To learn more about this great event, check out our Play of the Month and video interview with Sonia, or our blog, Introducing the Southern Straits Sailing Race! We’re already looking forward to the 2016 event. Southern Straits Facebook page For more Southern Straits Race sailing information
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