Sunday, June 17, 2007

View from the Shore - Cadillac Van Isle - leg 2

The second leg of the Cadillac Van Isle 360 ended in Comox. Kairos improved significantly on the previous day taking 1st place in Division 2.

For me it was a fairly easy upwind run along highway 19A, with time for a lunch break at Qualicum Beach. After a couple of shopping stops (on requests of crew), I pulled in to Goose Spit earlier than expected.

A good wind and a great view of the fleet through binoculars from the Goose Spit Beach. Another lazy afternoon listening to the VHF radio as the fleet did the one hour check-ins, and read a book.

We've had a great welcome in Comox, a fantastic banner created by our hosts John and Robyn Dickinson (whom we are staying with in style - our last luxury as we head into terra incognito north of Campbell River).

Tomorrow sees the first of a series of early starts. The race starts at 8:00am, but it takes an hour to reach the start line across Comox Bar from the marinas.

Full race results are at the Cadillac Van Isle website at http://www.vanisle360.com/

Kairos

Kairos is an Aerodyne 38 based at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. She was recently brought to the west coast via a three-month trek from Stamford Connecticut, up to Nova Scotia, PEI and through the St. Lawrence to Kingston. Some of the crew couldn’t wait for her to get here so they joined the boat for part of the journey; Maureen and Marion sailed on the east coast, and April joined the boat in Vancouver for the final leg to her new home port in Victoria.

The name Kairos, is taken from Greek mythology and represents opportunity, the brief moment when things are possible

The Crew:

Returning crew

The crew on Kairos have raced together previously on Ockham’s Racer. The crew has waited patiently for two years for Ron to acquire a new boat and is now anticipating the adventure of the Cadillac Van Isle 360. Joining Ron for this year’s race are Maureen, Marion, Heather, April, Charlotte, Rose, Louise, Nigel, Dennis, Geoff, Curtis, Bert. The crew’s experience, ranging from a seven-year sailing journey around the world, to local and international racing, is varied and well suited to the variety found on the Cadillac Van Isle 360 Race.

Years doing the VI360

Ron and many of his crew have raced in all but one Cadillac Van Isle 360, and was one of the 14 boats that set sail in the original Cadillac Van Isle in 1999. This is truly one of our favourite races due to the variety of conditions and the people involved in the race.

Cadillac Van Isle 360 success

Ron has had success coming in second, first and second in division 2 during the Cadillac Van Isle 360s of years past. Lets hope the opportunity presents itself again - the moment when things are possible.

Ground support

Once again we have our fabulous ground support team, David, providing shore support for Kairos. David has also been land racing around the island since 1999.

Fun spirit . . . but no skits

One of the things that leads to success for Ron and his crew is Ron’s leadership as well as our ability to have fun, but get serious and focus as needed.