Turicum Races Against Deadline

by Greg Harms, July 8th, 2008

Vancouver's Warren Hale and his C&C 44 Turicum is expected to cross the finish line today, but only if the Wind Gods are kind and deliver some much-needed wind in the so-called Trades. To capture first spot in the fleet on corrected time, Turicum will have to cross the line by 10:12 HST and based on the current wind reports there's little likelihood this will happen. This is Hale's 5th Vic-Maui and 10th Pacific crossing including the return trips to Canada after each previous race.

Light airs in the vicinity of Maui continue to plague the competitors. The rest of the fleet is converging on Maui: Passepartout, Seeker and Black Watch from the north and Red Heather and Zulu (retired) from the east. Red Heather appears to be benefiting from her more southerly position, where a weak trade wind flow is better established. All the boats will be hoping to catch passing squalls to gain some boat speed and provide some sailing excitement in an otherwise dull day. The rest will be left to the imagination of the crews as they dream of cold beers, Mai Tais, family, friends and relief from canned spam.

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