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Vic-Maui - On the Home Stretch to Victoria Starts! by Vic-Maui, July 2nd, 2016 Celebrating a Half Century of Vic-Maui, 1965 - 2016; Schedule cheat-sheet; Vic-Maui in Victoria - information, accommodations, moorage, send-off socials; Vic-Maui in Maui - information, accommodations, waiting wahine luncheon, awards banquet; New for 2016 - Maui Concierge Service; Featured Sponsor: Mustang Survival; Vic-Maui Official Merchandise; Vic-Maui on Facebook and Twitter Read 
by Race Committee, July 9th, 2016 The first seven boats of the 2016 Vic Maui fleet started their journey to Maui in a light easterly at 0930 local time in Victoria. The weather forecasters were saying light winds today and they were, unfortunately, correct. Read 
by Race Committee, July 10th, 2016 The clouds parted, the sun came out and Division 2 of 2016 Vic-Maui got underway. While there was a tantalizing breeze about 100 metres away from the Start Line, the curmudgeons on the Race Committee left the fleet to eke their way towards it after the starting horn. A "guns blazing" start it was not. Read 
by Race Committee, July 11th, 2016 At Roll Call today, the first sixteen boats are all off the coast of Washington and Oregon, or directly on the Rhumb line to Maui (Rhumb line = direct route on a map. All are facing challenging conditions in the form of headwinds with variable speeds and bad tacking angles. Funny how the race promotion brochure talks only about perfect reaching conditions all the way to the tropics. Read 
by Peter Salusbury, July 11th, 2016 The 2016 Vic Maui Race fleet features the largest and most diverse fleet of boats seen in decades in the running of this famous offshore yacht race. As a result of this diversity, there are some interesting storylines that promise to be captivating within the larger race being held this summer. One such story line hit the start line today. Read 
by Brad Baker, July 11th, 2016 I’m gonna lay it all on the line, I think this will be the year! The record will fall. OK, I know, now I’ve jinxed it right? Knocking on wood right now so as to undo the jinx. I’ll back up a bit. For my initial blog on Saturday, the weather models weren’t really showing a pattern conducive to shattering records. For the fast boats it looked like they might have light southerly winds coming out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the high pressure looked anemic and fairly far east. Read 
by Race Committee, July 12th, 2016 A number of Twitter followers have pointed out that the YB Tracker onboard Mountain has stopped working. In fact it has not – there is something blocking the GPS signal. The Race Committee has given instructions to Mountain to correct it. But Reed Bernard and Brian Vanderzanden are sailing 2-handed and answering email is not top of their priority list. But they will get the message later today at a minimum. Which all begs the Question – How do we stay in Contact with the fleet? Read 
by Race Committee, July 12th, 2016 The 4th day of Vic Maui saw several stories unfold. At the start line, the large fast greyhounds were unleashed to catch the fleet. Lighter conditions around Cape Flattery saw the new-school Longboard leg out on old-school Atalanta, The second start boats edged back away from the Rhumb-line as the wind forecast started looking sketchy, and the first start boats keep running south along the Oregon coast. Read _150.JPG)
by Race Committee, July 12th, 2016 It is not often you get pictures from the high seas in a long distance race. But Jason Rhodes on Valkyrie took this picture of Kinetic as the boats were beating up Juan de Fuca Strait. They are obviously close together and fighting a fierce battle to get to Cape Flattery first. Read by Race Committee, July 13th, 2016 Race Committee has received a couple of questions regarding hurricanes in the Eastern Pacific and their potential impact on the Vic-Maui fleet. These are both an important and an interesting questions. Hurricane Blas has already formed and dissipitated. And at Race HQ we pay attention to the National Hurricane Centre run by NOAA and it is tracking both Tropical Storm Cecilia and Tropical Storm Darby. Read 
by Race Committee, July 13th, 2016 As the arm-chair sailors wake up on Wednesday morning, it has been an interesting night for the Vic-Maui fleet. As forecast, the Pacific High is re-establishing itself and moving eastward toward the Oregon Coast. Its impact on the fleet depends on where boats positioned themselves. But it is starting to look like a traditional Vic-Maui, but more interesting things are still to come. Read 
Excerpt from the the Log of the Kraken by Mark Malacek, July 13th, 2016 Mark Malacek, skipper of the Beneteau First 40.7 Kraken, gives you his view of life on out on the high seas Read by Race Committee, July 13th, 2016 Several people have inquired about the VMG on the YB Race Tracker Leaderboard. Depending on how you push the buttons Kraken goes from 1st place to 7th Overall and Longboard moves up from 6th to First. And just what is this VMG anyway. Read 
Simple Equation: Better Wind = Better Speed by Race Committee, July 14th, 2016 With only a couple of exceptions, today's Daily Roll indicates that all boats were sailing in winds over 20 knots. The increase in windspeed has certainly impacted the boat speed visible on the Race Tracker. The bigger winds are pushing the big high-performance boats over 14 kts. and they are making big gains. Read 
Crossfire Announces Retirement from Race by Race Committee, July 14th, 2016 At 1729 HST (20:29 Pacific Time) Race Committee received a message from Crossfire, Lou Bianco's Reichel Pugh 55, announcing their retirement from Vic-Maui 2016 after a couple of gear failures. It was indicated that for safety reasons, it was their intention to return to Seattle under their own power. The Race Tracker shows Crossfire has turned around and is making 7 kts northward. More information will be provided when it becomes available. UPDATE at 0630 HST (9:30 am local) - Crossfire confirms that no one is hurt, all is well, and they are making good progress under sail home to Seattle. Vic-Maui wishes Lou and the crew godspeed and good fishing. Read 
Weather Routing Update from the Guru by Brad Baker, July 15th, 2016 THE SLEIGH RIDE BEGINS - First off my heart goes out to Lou and crew aboard Crossfire as they have retired from the race. I don’t know the details as to why beyond what was reported on the website, that they had a couple of gear failures. You can see on the tracker that they are now on starboard tack beating their way back home to Seattle. I hope that all are well on board and wish them a safe trek back.In the last blog I predicted a fast race, record breaking in fact. That is still very much a possibility, even with the fastest boat out of the mix. The weather models continue to show a high pressure system, which currently is around 1035 mb, to build to 1040 mb and obligingly move West and North for the fleet. Read 
by Race Committee, July 15th, 2016 The wind continues to blow and all boats are sailing in perfect Vic-Maui conditions. With winds over 20 kts, all boats have the spinnakers up and are broad reaching at top speed. Each boat seems to have picked a lane and all are pointing more or less at Maui. The trick will be staying in the correct lane, picking the right time to gybe and keeping the pieces together. Read 
by Race Committee, July 15th, 2016 At 1640 HST (730 pm local time) Reed Bernhard from Mountain, the J-109 from Sloop Tavern Yacht Club in Seattle, contacted Race Committee to inform Vic-Maui that they are retiring from the Race and diverting to Los Angeles. Read Insight into Crossfire's Retirement Decision by Kurt Hoehne, July 16th, 2016 Blogger Kurt Hoehne at sailish.com provides insights into decision making aboard Lou Bianco's Crossfire, courtesy of navigator Bruce Hedrick. Read 
by Race Committee, July 16th, 2016 Every boat was roaring along their own slot on the line to Maui. But the stronger winds have now veered to the west forcing boats into decision time on the fastest approach. Do you gybe early and take a southerly approach? Or do you ride out the changing wind direction and gybe late and approach from the north? Or do you stay in the middle and get lots of practice at doing multiple gybes throughout the night? Read |
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Featured Yacht Profile
Lurline (2022)
Type: Tripp 47Skipper: Gib Black
Port: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Blog: 1 articles posted
"Beginning with the first running of the Vic-Maui Race in 1965, I have followed the previous participants routing, finishes and associated weather components with great interest and intrigue. A few of my friends have competed and completed the race and all speak of the challenging yet gratifying conditions, tactics and not least, the great send off in beautiful Victoria B.C. The cold aspects of the race have previously kept me from entering the race at bay, having been raised in Hawaii and spending so much time there in the warm ethos. However, it is finally time to lean forward and enter the 2022 race and cast aside any trepidation. In the anticipation of finally participating in the 2022 race, this coming December and Christmas, Santa promises to bring me my first pair of sailing boots!
I believe my boat, a Tripp 47, is very competitive and embodies the synergy and nucleus of a formidable and capable crew. The crew have sailed thousands of ocean and inland racing miles and have earned my admiration and respect. The boat crews numerous completed Transpacs, PacCups and other offshore races that they have sailed with me on, is a testament to their determination and competitive nature. They deserve this new opportunity for an enhanced northern latitude to southern latitude race, and to experience the humbleness and satisfaction that this race has the potential to exude. My crew and myself are all looking forward with eager anticipation to joining our Canadian pals and accompanying esprit de corps, for the 2022 Vic-Maui Race.
Aloha,
Gib"
