Thursday, July 26, 2018

J/122E JOYRIDE Eclipses Vic-Maui Race!

J/122E Joyride wins Vic-Maui Race (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)- The Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race, hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and the Lahaina Yacht Club, got underway July 1st. The 2,308nm course went from Victoria, British Columbia to Maui, Hawaii.

The lone J/Crew sailing the race was the gorgeous J/122E JOYRIDE from Seattle, WA skippered by her owner- John Murkowski from Seattle YC. They are one of the most successful offshore racing teams in the Pacific Northwest.

In the end, JOYRIDE took not only Class I honors, but she also won the Vic-Maui Race Overall.  JOYRIDE finished at 0959 hrs in the morning of July 14th- Saturday; completing the course in 13d 2h 59m and corrected out ahead by 3h 6m. This was JOYRIDE’s first Vic-Maui and adds more silver to the trophy room after winning the Round Saltspring Race earlier this year!

J/122E Joyride crew swim celebrationIt was a gorgeous morning in Lahaina, and after hitting the dock to the traditional call of the conch shell and the welcome of their families.  The JOY RIDE crew then celebrated with a swim off the transom. It was all fun until one of the family threw in a bar of soap as a reminder!

“The trip of a lifetime and everything that was promised” is how John, navigator Bron Miller, and Alex Fox all described their first adventure across the Pacific.

The only negative came from Bron, who described the plastic littering the ocean as more intense than he remembers from past trips- a sad reminder to us all.   Follow the Vic-Maui Race here on Facebook  Watch “live” real-time tracker of the fleet here   For more Vic-Maui Offshore Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.