Racing doesn’ t get much better than the


vendeeSALTSPRING. It’s a single or double handed sail race in changing winds and currents around a spe c tacular 42-mi l e racecourse on July 2, 3 & 4, interrupted by great meals and generous hospitality. No wonder it attracts a full house each year comprising of many leading race boats and owners from such a wide area including Pt Roberts, Vancouver, Ladysmi th, Sydney, Victoria and the US, plus, of course, boats from Maple Bay Yacht Club and Saltspring Island Sailing Club, the joint host clubs. This year’s Swiftsure


a hard tacking duel in the new northeast wind around Vesuvius. Trading tacks up the Salt Spring shore to avoid the now flooding tide was the best strategy and the familiar tacking duels of the day before were now repeated to Southey Point, exciting stuff. Unfortunately the wind


The top double-handed and overall, Paul and Chris Jenkins in “Wave Reviews”, a tall rigged Haida 26.


winner, Ron Jewula in Kairos and Sigi Stiemer’s F-33 tri were the scratch monohull and multihull entries in a fleet of 33 boats. Everyone assembled at SISC on Friday evening and feasted on marinated coho salmon, rosemary potatoes, seasoned couscous, salads, strawberries and raspberries, coffee cream cake, and Harlan’s gelato ice cream. It was tough going! On Saturday morning, more


vendeeSALTSPRING 2010


sunshine than clouds created near perfect conditions. A wise five-minute postponement ensured a great start for all three divisions. The wind filled in and the 5-10 knot warm breeze made for close and exciting racing for the next 22 miles. Many similar rated boats raced in close company for long periods tacking right around Beaver Point and then raising their spinnakers just before Fulford for the run to Pillar point and then onwards through the contrary and challenging winds in Sansum Narrows. This year most boats were able to fly their chutes all the way through. Radient Heat had a huge hourglass, but then went faster with a working jib. Greg Slakov sailing Imp, a beautifully


rebuilt and maxed out Martin 241, traded tacks with the two J-30’s of Don Miller and Tony Brogan, Roger Kibble’s sleek Aphrodite 101 Electra and Nigel Martin’s Olsen 911 throughout the race. Just a little ahead of this group in Division 1 were Gary Robinson in Tracks (a Hotfoot 31), Interim Stewart Kilgour’s Ross 930, John 48° NORTH, AUGUST 2010 PAGE 52


Schnellback’s Olsen 30, David Jackson’s Mad Dash, Mike Woodward in Radio Flyer and Bob Jones impressively sailing his large Beneteau 41.The higher rated boats led by Paul Jenkins in Wave Reviews, the fast veteran Haida 26, and A Cappella, Lawrence Beek’s well sailed Columbia 36, were not far behind helped by a building following wind. It was good to see SISC racer Derek Emerson in his Hughes 31 single hand his way around. Bruce van Borstal, singlehanding his Corsair F24, Sea Puppy, used all his sails with great affect and showed his stern to his fellow trimarans. Ron Jewula in Kairos scored line


honours finishing in front of MBYC at 2:37 pm with most of the fleet finishing before 5:00 pm, an excellent day’s racing for everyone. Paul Jenkins in Wave Reviews showed


remarkable speed to win the coveted Yellow Jersey for the first day’s racing presented at MBYC by the vendee Race Director Roger Kibble and vendee veteran, David Wood. The wind filled in right on time for


the Sunday start in front of the MBYC with Bullet Proof, Imp and Electra leading the first start in a soft 5 knot N.E. breeze. The wind went light under the power lines and stopped much of the fleet that had opted for the right side toward Booth Bay. It filled in from Crofton and gradually all boats converged for


subsided in Trincolmali Strait and the fleet slowly floated to Fernwood picking up occasional puffs on the north side before the short course set at the end of Wallace Island was invoked to permit the fleet to motor home to SISC and enjoy the BBQ and awards ceremonies. Back at SISC, after downing


some cold ones and munching on lamb burgers, cake and more ice cream, it was Paul Jenkins in Wave Reviews who had clinched


the overall win. Tony Brogan in Radient Heat had captured the single-handed victory and Bruce van Borstal in Sea Puppy kept his winning ways to take the Multihull division. Mike Woodward in Radio Flyer won Division 1. Perhaps the most spectacular


performance was that of Eric van Soeren, winner of the most outstanding crew award, who while single handing his Hunter Legend 35, Paramour, climbed his mast while racing to retrieve and reattach a broken jib halyard thus emulating the stuff of world vendee racing after which the vendeeSALTSPRING is named. A much prized yellow jersey was


awarded to June Simmons who directed all the delicious food and many cheers went to the small vendeeSALTSPRING committee of Bob Jones, Greg Slakov, Gyle Keating, Derek Lundy, Lawrie Neish, Nick Sladen-Dew and three hardworking young daughters, Brian Farquar (MYBC, Roger Kibble (race chairman) and the other SISC and MBYC volunteers. So the vendeeSALTSPRING has


unstoppable momentum particularly when considering that so many regular SISC racers were away and the event conflicted this year with the SIN regatta in Nanaimo. It certainly is the circumnavigation for the rest of us! by Roger Kibble


photo by Derek Lundy


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