THE REWARDING RETURN OF
SOUTHERN STRAITS
• RAC E RE PORT • After a two-year hiatus, one of the Salish Sea’s classic overnight distance races, Southern Straits, was back in action for 2022. Even better, travel requirements eased between the U.S. and Canada, and that meant a fleet of American boats could make their way to West Vancouver Yacht Club for some competitive racing over Easter weekend. The forecast for race day didn’t look too inviting with rain, maybe snow, hours of no breeze, and cold temperatures. Ah, never trust a forecast! Yes, it rained a little, but it was also blowing 20 knots from astern at the same time, so we hardly noticed. There was a wind hole, but it was sunny, and didn’t last that long. Then, the forecast totally missed the big full moon and clear skies that made the night sailing just magical. Okay, there was snow just a few hundred feet up the mountains on both sides of the race course, but come on, how beautiful was that? For many boats aspiring to a Hawaii race this summer 48º NORTH
(Vic-Maui, Pacific Cup), Southern Straits is used as a distance qualifier and a crew/equipment/watch test for a longer race. Its reputation is worthy of the hardy Canadians who created the race more than 50 years ago, and there have been years where the breeze was nearly hurricane force (but without the tropical temperatures!). It’s always a race to watch and respect. Onboard Raku, our J/111, Chris and I had decided to tackle the 98 mile medium course doublehanded. We had considered racing the 145 mile long course with two of our J/111 sister ships, but the traditionally bigger fleet on the medium course appealed more to our competitive side. Aided by a 2 knot push across the start line, it was a quick exit from English Bay with most boats starting out with kites. Many boats ended up switching to genoas to hold the course under Bowen Island. We made the unpleasant call to do a bareheaded change from our big A2 to a much smaller A3. We still barely
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