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A game of contrasts


The great oceans of this planet invite us to sail great ocean races, with most having long and storied histories. In the Atlantic these include the Transatlantic, the Newport- Bermuda, the Route du Rhum and the Cape Town-Rio Race, among others. In the Pacific there are several, including the Transpac, Pacific Cup, the LA-Tahiti Race and various races to Mexico. Most of these are biennial and start or end in the southern half of North America. Yet there two other great offshore races in the Pacific that start (and one ends) in the northern half of this continent: the Vic-Maui Race and the Van Isle 360.


These are two very different races yet they both celebrate a rich heritage of Canadian yachting in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The Van Isle 360 is the younger of the two, in its 20th year this year, and has a fascinating format that is driving its growing popularity. Rather than being a point-to-point ocean race, this race is actually a tour and has its roots in a clever idea developed in 1986


74 SEAHORSE


Two classic races in the Pacific northwest that between them offer virtually every experience that the sport of offshore racing can deliver Above:


among some adventure-seeking multihull sailors who planned to race around Vancouver Island in eight legs. That event had a title sponsor, an entry fee of $1,000 and encouragement for teams to find sponsors to support them on this odyssey. The problem was that Corinthian attitudes prevalent in the hierarchies of the sport in this era were not yet ready to support sponsored sailing, so the event died despite having a respectable count of 25 entries.


Scroll forward to the more enlightened ‘90s and the event was reorganised, this time as the “Coast Hotels Around the Island Race” to test the viability of the concept and the racecourse. The 1999 Van Isle 360° International Yacht Race featured 14 entries and even with this modest start, proved the concept was a success. The race ran for three more years consecutively, growing in entries, media attention and supporters. After the race in 2001, organisers decided to revert to a biennial format, running on odd years


The Pacific Northwest is an amazing place to sail and thereʼs no better way to enjoy this land of epic extremes than to enter the Van Isle 360. A classic race around Vancouver Island, the Van Isle takes you north through the sheltered but tactically tricky Inside Passage, then out into the Pacific for a roller-coaster ride south to Victoria


to alternate with the transpacific Vic-Maui Race on even years. This helped bring the event to the attention of an interested crowd of boats from south of the border. The race boomed in size and popularity over the next few editions, hitting its limit of entries as early as January, but the lousy economy of 2008 weakened the entry count in 2009. Fortunately, 2011 brought new features such as race trackers and entries were back up in the 40s. The race in 2013 was popular, but a drifter, which naturally resulted in the 2015 race being a blast, literally, with four days of gale force winds in the Johnstone Strait that did not abate. The effect was to add another lay day to the schedule so that repairs could be made if this happened again, and if not, another day to enjoy the beauty of this remote area. A lay day added to the Port Hardy stopover allowed skippers to change out “inside crews” for “outside crews” in anticipation of the open ocean sleigh ride on the outside of Vancouver Island.


LINDA VERMUELE


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