On Monday, July 3rd, Ryan and the rest of Blue Moves II left on their vogage to Maui as competitors in the Vic Maui Sail Race…
Every two years since 1965, men and women with a sense of adventure and a desire to test their limits navigate the 2300 nautical miles between Victoria, BC and Maui, Hawaii.
More than a 16-day voyage of discovery, for many it is an opportunity to overcome personal challenges, to test mental and physical limits, and to rekindle a belief in the importance of enriching one’s life with extraordinary experiences and challenges. This voyage, where Ryan and crew match wit and skill against nature, is not only a personal quest of each crew member but a chance to honour those who are facing one of nature’s cruelest challenges.
Multiple Sclerosis is like an unforgiving storm-force gale, lashing a body with unforgiving force and exacting both mental and physical toll that seems endless. Check it out at www.bluemoves2.com.
Follow the race and Blue Moves II progress on the Vic Maui website: www.vicmaui.org
A little bit of history about the race: The first Vic-Maui race was sailed in 1965. The race was a dream of RVYC member Jim Innes who at that time was a Captain for Canadian Pacific Airlines. Jim apparently talked incessantly about the idea of such a race originating in Victoria and ending some 2308 nautical miles away in Maui. He convinced three other skippers to start with him off Brotchie Ledge in 1965. With Jim in his Lapworth 36′ “Long Gone”, there was Lol Killam of RVYC with the 45′ sloop “Velaris”, Ron Ramsay of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club with the 45′ ketch “Norena of White” and Boo Paskel from Seattle Yacht club with his 73′ ketch “Tatoosh”.
The race and the weather were typical for most of the races to follow. Westerlies in the Juan de Fuca Strait, left turn down the coast to about the latitude of San Francisco followed by a right turn with the northeasterly trade winds filling spinnakers and the downhill sun run to Maui. Three boats finished the race some 15 days later at Kahalui Harbour on the north coast of Maui with the fourth “Tatoosh”, having used the iron spinnaker greeting the three arrivals with Mai Tais.
During their stay in Maui they met up with the originators of what would become the Lahaina Yacht Club. Upon returning to BC waters both Jim and Lol proceeded to convince the RVYC and the newly organized LYC to jointly sponsor such a race and thusly the Vic-Maui International Yacht Race was born. The first official race was in 1968 with some 14 boats entered. Bill Killam’s Porpoise III swept the fleet first to finish and first on corrected time. She took 17 days, 6 hours and 50 minutes.The race, heralded as a FUN RACE has encouraged both the ardent racer and the cruiser racer. It has been held every even year since 1968 with 2004 being our 19th race.
The number of entrants has ranged from 14 to 37 boats with 24 registered in 2002.Records have been broken many times since this first race of 1968. The current record holder is “Grand Illusion” skippered by James McDowell of the LYC who completed the race in 9 days, 2 hours and 8 minutes in 2000 beating out the previous record of 9 days, 19 hours and 36 minutes set by “Pyewacket” skippered by Roy Disney in 1996.
Jim Innes passed away on November 9, 2001 but the race goes on as part of his legacy.