Saturday, June 16, 2007

View from the Shore - Cadillac Van Isle - Leg 1

Here we go again, the fifth time around Vancouver Island. We're wearing our official Van Isle gear and for the start it is officially raining - true Van Isle weather.

The rain came harder and harder as the boats lined up for the start in the crowded Nanaimo Harbour - seaplanes taxiing through, and those on approach going around for another approach.

The rain stopped and the sun came out for the finish, with good strong winds.

Kairos finished 7th in Division 2 (out of 16 boats in the division). The winner of the divison was Mad Max.

Tomorrow we start at 9:00am from the French Creek breakwater.

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.