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Who Broke What, Who Beat Who

by Race Committee, July 25th, 2016



It was a madcap day that saw the finish of Expresso, Starblazer, Ion, Salient, and Miles this morning. The Pioneer Inn was full of racers, families, greeters, well-wishers and to top it all off, Elvis was in the Building at the Waiting Wahine luncheon.

First in was George Bishop's Express 37 Expresso at 5:01. Bob Hennessy's Frist 40.7 Starblazer followed at 6:53. Next was Expresso's Nanaimo Yacht Club rival - Bill Jones' Beneteau 43 Ion at 7:36. But the fun did not stop. Brad Marchant's First 40.7 Salient was a little bit behind Ion at 9:56 followed by Andrew Buttjes' Jeanneau at 10:30.

It was fun to hear the stories and tales of adventure and carnage. But fundamentally these production cruising boats weathered the days of 20+ kt winds quite well with minor complaints of broken halyards, sheets and disposable spinnakers. The boats performed well and appeared ready for the delivery home with a re-stock of food, water, fuel and fresh kits. More importantly, there were a lot first time ocean voyagers making up crews and despite travails most unhesitatingly say "absolutely" when ask about more ocean sailing.

There were lots of interesting personal stories as the skippers and crews leapt off their boats to the waiting arms of spouses and children. Interesting angles were the crew of Expresso - father, twin daughters, a newly minted son-in-law, a son-in-law to be in a few weeks and an old salty friend. Apparently the sons in law are going to stick around. There were tears of joy form the Hennessy family seeing Bob arrive - mother, father, spouse, kids the whole plane load. Mile was full of Buttjes family and even more crowded the dock to see dad and grandpa. Bill Jones was fresh off his birthday yesterday talking about how the departure present lucky rabbit's foot got them through. It was personally great to see Adam Thompson (whom Race Committee has shared many other adventures) arrive in good spirits aboard Brad Marchant's Salient.

And that is the tale of Vic-Maui. While the high performance flyers get the headlines, it is the emotional welcome of family after the adventure of a lifetime with all the challenge that good teamwork overcomes that is headline for most finishers. And the Mai Tais are not bad either.

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. For 40 years, Pacific Yachting has been the voice of boating in British Columbia. Good luck to all Vic-Maui participants!

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