Vic Maui Racers Struggle Through Some Weird Conditions – Past Halfway Mark

The Vic-Maui Race is more than half done, but on the tracker there’s still everything to play for. As expected, Firefly and Joy Ride are out in front and it looks like an epic battle shaping up as the two near the finish. Gemini’s Dream retired and is headed back to the Northwest. We’ll start our coverage with an overview of the first half of the race using various edited versions of race committee reports and Facebook Posts. I just spoke to PJ Baker, who reports that her husband Brad (navigator onboard Firefly) was “totally stressing” about what were shaping up to be weird conditions. Yep.

David Sutcliffe has been producing a weather outlook called “The Weather Eye” that appears on the vicmaui.org home page. Also check out the tracker.

I’ll be searching high and low for info as things come to a close. I’ve been away from Internet the last two weeks (eek!) so I’ve got some catching up to do. While there was a somewhat disappointing turnout for this Vic-Maui, the sailors out there are having a wonderful adventure and a competitive race, even if it’s not racking up double digits under spinnaker.

And the early classes are off in Pacific Cup (CA-HI)  with some PNW boats scheduled to start tomorrow. Bruce Hedrick is doing a brief shortly and we’ll be reporting regularly on their progress regularly. -KH

 

The Race So Far

 

VM2018 Race Report Day 1 – Canada Day

by David Sutcliffe, July 1st, 2018

And they’re off!  At 10:00 am Pacific Time, the 2018 Vic-Maui fleet sailed through the start line outside Victoria Harbour, tacking into a stiff, building Westerly breeze. 

In the days leading up to the start, the sun broke out just in time for the fleet send-off Party which rocked the Wharf Street docks on June 29.  Transient orcas patrolled the entrance to Victoria’s Harbour on a damp June 30. 

Today, July 1^st – Canada Day – dawned sunny, breezy, and warm (if not exactly tropical).  

Firefly led the fleet across the start line, while Anjo went walk-about before starting five minutes back and sailing up through most of the fleet.  Kraken stayed on the grid and blog-sailed, or is that sail-blogged?  Salient and Turnagain exchanged pleasantries from too close range, and the red bunting flew on both boats. Joy Ride pressed hard through Race Passage and on west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  After a hearty cheer on World Cup breaking news, with Russia beating Spain, Victor Mushkatin’s team on Sérénité sailed with increased enthusiasm.  Geminis Dream worked their way up the course, shaking out reefs as they went.  Oxomoxo stylishly swanned their way through the waves. 

Day 2 – Past Cape Flattery and Onto the Rhumb Line

by Race Committee, July 2nd, 2018

After a great run down Strait of Juan de Fuca, most of the fleet rounded Cape Flattery before the sun set and got to see a sight that most people never get to.

After rounding Cape Flattery, the fleet has starting the sailing down the rhumb line. The fleet is relatively close together about 160 miles offshore of Ocean Park, Washington on Willapa Bay.

The weather pattern is setting up for boats to ride a path between the Pacific High hovering to the northwest of its usual location, and a low pressure zone along the Washington Coast that caused the cool weather and rain before the Start. If this weather pattern holds, it may result in a short, sweet ride to Hawaii. 

 The match race between the two performance boats in Racing 1 is a tight one with Firefly and Joy Ride taking turns with the lead. At roll call it was Firefly using its water line advantage to eek out a 10 mile lead. But leads are fleeting and it remains to be determined which has the right weather track.

Racing 2 is also close as the boats are evenly matched, even if there is disparity between their types.  Salient is sailing right on the rhumb line and has a course slightly east of the competition with a 5 mile lead on Anjo and Oxomoxo. But Kraken and Turnagain are only another few miles back. Anything can happen with this group.

A little further back are the Cruising Class boats with Serenite has moved to a significant lead over the all female crew on Geminis Dream. 

The next step for all boats is finding the sweet spot to stay in the wind that exists between the two weather systems – all the while knowing that sailing directly to Hawaii is rarely the path to first place.

Tracker lessons:

Lesson 1

Turnagain’s tracker stopped providing position updates early Monday morning. In a modern news cycle that likes to focus on bad things, some people lept to conclusions that something had happened to Travis McGregor and crew. But it was a simple matter of the tracker struggling with fixing upon GPS satellites to get a position. With some simple fixes aboard and by YB Tracking, Turnagain’s position had leap forward on the map by mid-morning. So don’t panic if a boat’s position does not update for a few cycles, and know that race committee is keeping a close eye.

Lesson 2

You can look at the Leaderboard positions using VMG from Start or VMG Recent. This number is a calculation of how fast a boat is sailing directly to the finish. If pointed right at Maui, then VMG is the same as boat speed. If not pointing at Maui, you have to use your high school trigonometry. Luckily YB does it for you. VMG Recent is how fast the boat is going to Maui averaged over the last 2 hours.

Day 3 – Who Stole the Wind

by Race Committee, July 3rd, 2018

After a day and half of blast reaching in conditions best described as “not martini weather,” the fleet has hit the wall. A low pressure zone  has moved over the fleet substantially altering the weather and putting the brakes on the wind and boat speed.  

The relief from turbulent seas and stress on the boat is welcome – one boat reports that everyone is eating again and for a lucky few the daily constitutional has resumed. But having to fight their way through region of relative calm is not. 

At roll call, the boats are generally about 270 miles west of Tillamook, Oregon. If the wind stays light maybe they can go in for cheese.

The leaders in Racing 1 have slowed from 8 kts to 5 and the five boats in Racing 2 who are 40 miles behind have put the brakes on slowing to less than 2 kts. – OUCH.

In Racing 1 Bob Strong’s Firefly still leads John Murkowski’s Joy Ride. But while the lead had built overnight, it has now shrunk to 16 miles. The five boats in Racing 2 are essentially in a dead-heat with all within a few miles of each other. In cruising class, Geminis Dream plan to hold back is proving to work as they still have the wind and are closing on Serenite.

The next trick will be who is best positioned to get the wind first as the low pressure system moves toward the east and the prospect of wind filling in behind it. Will that be Firefly and Anjo who are positioned a bit to the east, or will be Joy Ride and the other Division 2 boats positioned well to the west of the rhumb line. And for the arm-chair sailors taking bets, it would be wise to consider that multiple winning navigator Brad Baker is calling the weather shots on Firefly.

The over-arching concern is what happens next with the experienced veterans knowing that the fastest route to Maui is not usually the straight line.

Oh and did we mention Hurricane Fabio? Fabio (who makes up these names) is churning away well south of Cabo San Lucas and is forecast to dissipate well before the fleet arrives. But big low pressure systems coming from the south usually disrupt the trade winds.

Whatever happens, the navigators and weather dudes aboard the boats are going to earn their keep this year.

 

Day 4 – What A Difference A Day Makes

by Race Committee, July 4th, 2018

The low that boats ran into around roll call yesterday has mostly moved to the east and strong northerly winds have filled in its wake. What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to see all boats moving quickly again. But the sustained winds of 20 kts or better is starting to take its toll on gear – Kraken reported an accidental gybe that blew their traveller apart. And taking its toll on people as even the seasoned veterans were calling last night “challenging”. At roll call today, the fleet was generally about 400 miles west of Florence, on the Oregon coast still more or less pointing straight towards Maui. And going fast.

The light airs and challenges after the low passed last night compressed the fleet together. In Racing 1, Firefly and Joy Ride split apart last night but are now approaching each other; both sailing over 9 kts. While 45 miles apart on the race course, Firefly’s lead (measured in distance to finish) has shrunk to less than 10 miles – pretty much a dead heat.

Racing 2 has also compressed with Salient, Turnagain and Kraken all more of less the same distance to Hawaii. Oxomoxo is about 35 miles back, but because of their time allowance, they are still very much in the mix. Anjo got caught being a little too far to the east, but have now moved back to the west where better winds are and making up ground quickly.

In Cruising Class, Serenite used the rules on running their engine in gear to good use during the lighter winds and are now only 25 miles behind Anjo as both move into stronger winds. The girls on Gemini’s Dream are now in the lighter winds that the others have moved out of. They report the easing came as a relief – but it looks like the relief will be short.

And the first fish was reported today on Oxomoxo with a tuna going straight from the line to the fry pan leaving a bloody mess on the deck. Kraken had company with a couple of Humpbacks for a while – that must be good luck after several gear failures. But Joy Ride had company with a Minke, a Humpback, and porpoises – perhaps even better luck.

Now the fleet is onto the next challenge – better described in today’s Weather Eye. How are the boats all going to manage crossing the “plateau” and be first into the trade winds. At least it looks like Hurricane Fabio will not be an issue as the National Hurricane Centre is reporting it is already weakening and will be a remnant low by Sunday, well ahead of the fleet.

 

Day 5 – The Middle Sea

by Race Committee, July 5th, 2018

Thank you to Kraken for the cool drone photo out on the Middle Sea.

Day 5 Roll Call finds the boats generally about 550 miles west of the Oregon/California border and the leaders are now about 1500 miles from Hawaii. But the winds are easing. This is definitely the Middle Sea and the most difficult part of the race to figure out. The fleet continues to chase the sweet spot between the Pacific High and low pressure trough well west of the rhumb line; with most boats 75 miles west of the direct route and Anjo and Serenite another 75 miles west of that.

The wind was generally strong overnight after the trough passed and most boats were beam reaching speeds of 8 kts or more. But the wind has now abated with most boats seeing wind from the NW about 15 kts, and speeds have slowed accordingly.

In Racing 1, the duel between Bob Strong’s Firefly and John Murkowski’s Joy Ride continues without a break. While Firefly currently has a lead of about 20 miles, at this point that is insufficient to make up the handicap difference. Both boats have top navigators aboard and Brad Baker and Bron Miller are focused on the best path to the next wind pattern – and keeping a close eye on each other through the YB tracker.

In Racing 2, the first 3 boats have spread apart a bit with Travis McGregor’s Turnagain eeking out a slim 7 mile lead, Mark Malacek’s Kraken, and Christof Marti’s Salient are very much capable of catching as the separation can produce rewards for those who get the line right and risks for those who do not. Doug Frazer on Oxomoxo is in the middle of the lines of the 3 leaders and now 50 miles behind as the lead three boats got the stronger winds sooner, but is  still capable of closing the gap and using his handicap to correct ahead. That leaves Clayton Craigie’s Anjo a bit behind and way to the west hoping that is the line that will propel him closer.

In cruising class, Victor Mushkatin and his Russian crew on Serenite is way out to the west keeping company with Anjo and staying in contact with the racing boats,; having used their engine (as allowed by the rules) to pass quickly through the lighter winds yesterday. Shannon Rae and her all female crew on Gemini’s Dream are the only boat on the rhumb line and might already be captured by the weak winds associated with the low pressure “plateau”.

The roll call notes indicate that the flurry of activity overnight in the higher winds took its toll on gear. Oxomoxo and Joy Ride are both having communication issues, Kraken sailed over a blown spinnaker, and Turnagain has noticed cracks on their steering quadrant in same place as a failure in 2016 (good thing they brought a spare this time).

The forecast shows more weakening and backing (that means moving counter-clockwise for the land-lubbers), causing lots of angst on all boats. They want to get to the next stage – the downwind sleigh ride on the warm trade winds to Hawaii. But that is still a few days away with a middle zone of “scooge” (a sailing slang term related to food debris falling out of the taco) to pass through. Who will get through the Middle Sea the quickest?

 

Day 6 – Window of Opportunity

by Race Committee, July 6th, 2018

Day 6 Roll Call finds the fleet well offshore and now about 750 miles off Cape Mendocino and still sailing west of the direct route to Maui. As the photo shows, there is a window of opportunity to get the course to Maui right.  But this morning’s Weather Eye lays out the myriad of issues facing the fleet as all boats look to pick the right weather route, with choosing the wrong window likely to be costly.

In the Line Honours race (first boat to get to Maui) Firefly leads the fleet with about 1450 miles to go, Joy Ride is 28 miles behind, followed by Turnagain (+75), Sailent (+82), Kraken (+90),  Oxomoxo (+154) and Anjo (+189).

Boats are reporting sailing in lighter conditions that yesterday. That is a good thing on Firefly who reported that yesterday they went from a missing gooseneck pin to a broken carbon fibre spin pole to a blown out jib top in quick succession. But the Tuna Challenge issued yesterday by Oxomoxo was answered on Joy Ride within minutes of putting out the lure – no word on how bloody the decks got. Also reporting tuna on board are Turnagain and Kraken again. And to show they are not left out of the damage from pushing too hard, Serenite reports a crack on their oven door from overuse delivering good food.

In terms of corrected time, the 28-mile lead held by Firefly is not that much when potential boat speeds and handicaps are considered and the most recent ETA puts Joy Ride only 30 minutes behind. With more than half the race left, it is still a dead heat.

Look Out, Kraken is Coming Through

 

In Racing 2, the conditions allowed Kraken to launch their drone again with spectacular footage. Too bad none of their competitors are nearby to share in the media spotlight. While Turnagain is slightly closer to Maui, Turnagain, Salient and Kraken are all very close. And Oxomoxo is still hanging in based on time corrections. It all depends on who gets the wind at what time.

In cruisng class Serenite is now in full race mode and trying to catch Anjo who is only 18 miles ahead, while Gemini’s Dream is still in the heavier winds playing a bit of catch-up.

 

Day 7 – Warmer and Drier, with a faint whiff of Tuna and Gray Whales

by Race Committee, July 7th, 2018

Day 7 Roll Call shows the fleet still fairly tightly clustered, with one notable exception.

Geminis Dream has experienced mainsail furling equipment damage, has retired from the race, and has altered course. All onboard are reported safe and well. Race committee will stay in close communications with Geminis Dream until they reach their next port.

Firefly continues to lead the fleet South, with Joy Ride hot on her heels.  The next wave of boats includes three Vic-Maui veterans, Turnagain, Salient, and Kraken, followed by OxoMoxo.  A relatively short distance back, Anjo and Serenite are soaking down onto Salient’s line, and these three boats are farthest west.  The leaderboard is in a state of flux.

This afternoon, the fleet looks to be sailing on starboard tack with W-NW winds in the 7-13 knot range.  Barometric pressures reportedly range from 1022 – 1025, with some dubious outlier readings from boats whose barometer calibrations may have fallen off the pre-start job list.  All the boats appear to be navigating a fine line to avoid light air on their left (to the east) and to stay in pressure either ahead or to their right, on the slope of the High (to the west).

Conditions onboard the boats are reported as warmer and drier, with a more-than-faint whiff of tuna on some boats and gray whales near other boats.  It looks like tomorrow will be the half way mark for a number of boats; traditionally there are some wild and wacky celebrations which are sometimes akin to a sailor’s traditional equatorial crossing.  With the magic of modern wireless communications, photographs, including drone images, and stories have been coming ashore from the boats and appearing on blogs and social media including the Vic-Maui Facebook group at www.facebook.com/vmiyr/

Joy Ride Team Update: July 7th – from Facebook

Well here we are, a full week in and we have another 1100 miles to go. Foulies are off most of the time with day time temp at 73F/22C. The occasional squall with bigger winds and or rain make you want to put them back on. Skies are pretty with all sorts of cloud formations, the sea is a most amazing colour of blue. Both are hard to capture in a picture, I guess you have to come out here to see it.

The sailing has been a test of our patience with wind direction too far forward and too light to get exciting. We’re making ok progress though and the conditions allow us to continue to fix what is broken. Bron is very particular about all the chores on board showing us what good seamanship is about. And the quest for more of that delicious tuna is still on. We’ve had a bite but haven’t landed more fish so far.

 

Day 8 – Half Way to Maui

by Race Committee, July 8th, 2018

Most of the fleet reached the half-way point in last 24 hours, or will shortly. But it is also time to contemplate how far the boats are from anything – nearest land is over 1000 miles away. But from now on, the nearest land will be Hawaii – how good is that?

The weather seems to have improved and with boats now at the latitude of Carmel, it is certainly warmer and most boats report that the foulies are finally starting to come off. There are some complaints about the lack of spinnaker sailing (as promised in the brochure) with boats reporting they are close reaching with Code 0 sails in 10-15 kts of wind. And they could use more wind.

In the Line Honours race (first boat to get to Maui) Firefly leads the fleet with about 1048 miles to go, Joy Ride staying a consistent 27 miles behind, followed by Salient (+98), Turnagain (+111), Kraken (+134), Anjo (+208), Oxomoxo (+217), and Serenite (+253).

In terms of corrected time, the 28-mile lead Firefly is enjoying over Joy Ride at the moment is not that much when potential boat speeds and handicaps are considered. It is still very much a dead heat and both boats know it.

In Racing 2 Salient has managed to build a small lead over Turnagain and Kraken. Perhaps Turnagain is spending too much time fishing (crew member Vern Burkhardt is an inveterate fisherman and crews have been known to tie him into his bunk to keep him away from the fishing rods) and perhaps Kraken is falling too much in love with their drone photos. Oxomoxo is still working hard and hanging in the mix based on time corrections and Anjo has made significant in-roads on the gap and opened up a gap over Serenite. But Serenite is reporting better winds than the boats ahead and may turn that around.

The trade winds and the promised spinnaker run to Hawaii are out there, but there is still a zone of changeable winds ahead that needs to be navigated. This race to Maui will be determined by who gets to those trade winds and hoist the spinnaker first.

Gemini’s Dream are making good progress towards home having rigged the trysail to replace the damaged main and have even had time for fishing themselves. They are about 400 miles from Juan de Fuca and working with race committee to find the best path home based on their reduced sail plan, available fuel, and weather forecasts.

 

Firefly Blog post #5 July 8 10:45

Mileage wise at 1800 we passed the half way point for the trip yesterday July 7 (happy b-day mom). To celebrate Master chef Tim prepared a slow cooked roast and root vegetables which were excellent though our dehydrated beef stroganoff from a few days ago were a close second for me. We cracked a nice 2011 cab I brought rather than going with the fine boxed wine-our first alcohol of the trip! 8 guys shared a bottle so we didn’t nor did we have any interest in going overboard in our sleep-deprived states. Spirits were high for all of us as we contemplated what we have been thru and the warmer weather and more pleasant reaches to come.
To date this has been an amazing experience for me, in part along the lines of what I expected in part more intense in both good and “interesting” ways. We truly have a wonderful group of people, some who know each other well and others not-all great guys. The sailing experience of those with lots in fact does rub off on the rest of us and the trip has been every bit as educational as I hoped with more to come.
Being in the middle of the friggin’ pacific on a sail boat is every bit as cool as I thought it might be. As noted so far we haven’t seen a lot of sun but it has warmed up and we have peeled a layer-even only shirts when the sun peeks thru. Lots of 50 spf and we are ready for the trade winds and full on sun. The sky, different sea states, wind, sailing and incredible vastness and soul of where we are all pretty great!
And today is Rueben day!! Bob out.

 

Day 9 – Stuck on Starboard

by Race Committee, July 9th, 2018

The trade wind run under spinnaker to Hawaii beckons, but more changeable winds are still in the way of the Vic-Maui fleet. The boats are stuck in a form of purgatory close reaching in wind speeds are fluctuating from non-existent to 12 kts – not exactly prime conditions for an ocean race. And the boats are soooo tired of seeing the white sails hoisted on a perpetual starboard tack and are getting frustrated by the time it is taking to make southing to the trade wind latitudes. And they are getting nervous as everyone has now figured out that the boat that finds the right path to the trades will likely win the race.

And they are now clearly in the North Pacific Gyre (aka the Garbage Patch) with Joy Ride quite surprised by the amount of plastic garbage floating by. With Salient also report seeing lots of whales, you have to wonder how our leviathan friends are faring in a sea of fish nets, plastic cups and other urban detritus.

At roll call Firefly is 901 miles to the finish. Joy Ride +22, Salient +84, Turnagain +115, Kraken +1034, Anjo +190, Oxomoxo + 224, Serenite +278

In Racing 1 Firefly has increased its lead over Joy Ride by 5 miles over yesterday’s report. But the last 24 hours has been a game of snakes and ladders as one boat, then the other, loses wind pressure and finds it again. This will likely be a dog-fight right to the finish.

In Racing 2, Breaking News ….. at 1515 HST Salient just raised their reaching kite – a change is as good as a rest. But at roll call Salient had also increased its lead by over Turnagain by 18 miles and by 14 miles over Kraken since yesterday. But all boats have lost distance over Anjo who is coming up from behind. But this has also been a game of snakes and ladders and as the first 4 boats have very similar time allowances, the battle for first to Hawaii is also a battle for first place, corrected time.  And don’t forget Oxomoxo who the other boats owe roughly 17 hours on corrections. Serenite, in a battle to keep up with the Racing 2 boats, lost a little distance overnight and has dived east to try something different.

The crew on Gemini’s Dream, still disappointed that boat issues have stopped their adventure to Hawaii are making good progress and now about 350 miles from home motor-sailing under jib and trysail.

 

Joy Ride Team Update: 9th July 15:00

The latest quest is the Rubik’s cube – oh and cribbage. We’re doing some intense racing here. All fans in the boat are on (Bron installed 7 of them) to keep the air moving. With the temps going up the salty, sweaty air needs some help. All in all this is some luxury sailing we’re doing; we’re ready to take it up a notch when the wind kicks in 🙂

Weather conditions are the same as the last few days, we can’t seem to shake the edge of the high or the jib/code zero set up. We remain hopeful, make the most of the windspeed and keep watching the grib files. We all take turns driving; which keeps us focussed.