van isle 360 yacht race

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race returns to Nanaimo waters

NANAIMO — Boats big and small are readying to circumnavigate Vancouver Island.

The Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race sees dozens of vessels sail around Vancouver Island, and begins in Nanaimo on Saturday, June 3 with boats arriving as early as Wednesday, May 31 at the W.E. Mills Landing and Marina, off Cameron Island.

Sylvia Motley owns the race with her husband Jeff, she told NanaimoNewsNOW 39 boats, roughly 325 sailors and around 50 support crew will make the trek around the Island over the next two weeks.

“[The boats] going to range from 24 feet up to 52 feet. Most of the races this year are American, 60 per cent of our fleet are American. They’re very keen on this race…so many anchorages, so much wild beauty around the Island which they just really don’t have once you get south of Seattle.”

Start times on Saturday morning will be at 10:20 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. as the boats navigate around busy Harbour waters with BC Ferries and seaplanes, along with personal watercraft.

Motley said the start is always a little chaotic with the best viewing along the seawall by the pier.

“The start is always fun, it’s very small and between satellite reef and the pier. There will be a lot of yelling and screaming and hopefully quite a bit of wind so we get out of the harbour quickly.”

After starting in Nanaimo, boats will turn north for the first of nine races around the Island, making stops along the way.

Most races are short day trips, however, boats will go overnight against the clock and each other down the Island’s west coast.

While boats are split into four divisions, they’re all competing for top prize through a unique ranking, the Ocean Racing Council system, which evens the field.

“It’s a very accurate form of handicapping the boats in that it takes into account weights of the boats, measurements, how tall their mast is, how big their sails are,” Motley said. “This makes the competitors very, very close because these ratings are so accurate.”

Usually held at the end of May or the start of June, timing of the race is built around one critical junction point.

“The race is totally dependent timing-wise on the tides through Seymour Narrows [between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island, north of Campbell River]. It’s the only place the boats will motor to get through the narrows and the whole race is based when we can get through at a half decent time.”

Boats will begin arriving back in Nanaimo in the evening or overnight hours of Friday, June 16 into Saturday, June 17 with an awards banquet to follow Saturday night.

It’s the first time in four years the bi-annual event has run, after being cancelled in 2021.

The races are supported by crews from the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler , our letters to the editor feature.

[email protected]

On Twitter: @NanaimoNewsNOW

More Local News

• Member Login
• Nanaimo & Central Island
• Port Alberni
• British Columbia
• ClippersNOW
• Water Cooler
• Nanaimo Gas Prices
• Smile Sundays
• 5 Things Friday
• Signature Dish
• Advertise With Us
• Privacy Policy
• Submission Guidelines
• Terms of Service
• Contact Information
• Contest Rules
• Accessibility
• Real Estate Market Report
• Submit an Obituary
• Legal and Public Notices
• Community Events

« All Events

• This event has passed.

Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race

June 3, 2023 @ 10:30 am - june 17, 2023 @ 2:00 pm.

The Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race is a 588 nautical mile circumnavigation of Vancouver Island with a series of point to point legs. 40 boats and 350 people will be participating in this event.

Related Events

NYC Spring Series 2024 – Day and a Bit Race

Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival 2024 – Crab Dock Will Be Closed to the Public 12 Noon July 12th to 12 Noon July 15th

• Join Our Newsletter
• Post a Listing
• Your Listings
• Your Profile
• Your Subscriptions
• Payment History
• Sign up for Daily Headlines
• Sign up for Notifications

Sailors circumnavigate Vancouver Island in Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race

• Share by Email
• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share via Text Message

Thirty-eight vessels have set out to circumnavigate Vancouver Island as part of the Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race.

The boats, including a handful of sailboats that recently completed Swiftsure, set out Saturday from Nanaimo for the two-week, 1,150-kilometre journey around the Island — the first since 2019, due to COVID.

This will be the 13th edition of the biennial competition, which alternates each year with the Vic-Maui yacht race.

Organizers Jeff and Sylvia Motley of Chemainus were avid sailors when they took over the Van Isle 360, but now put all their energy into making sure the event runs well.

“What goes on in the water is the simple part,” Jeff Motley said. “It’s the logistics on the land that are hard.”

That’s because the boats stop at eight designated ports as they make their way around the Island, he said, giving the hard-working crews time for some fun ashore after a day on the water.

“Every day they get out there and go as fast as they possibly can from one place to the next,” Motley said.

After their days on the water, the sailors will spend time in Comox, Campbell River, Sayward, Telegraph Cove, Port Hardy, Winter Harbour, Ucluelet and Victoria before finishing in Nanaimo on June 17.

Crew members on the boats plus helpers following on land adds up to about 350 people converging at each community along the way, Motley said.

Motley said the mix of the onshore and offshore experience is a big attraction for competitors. “Some people have referred to it as adult Disneyland.”

This year’s field is about 60 per cent Americans and 40 per cent Canadians, and includes Victoria-based skippers Suze Cumming, Ellery Down, Ben Sproule and Colin Nichols.

The boats will stop at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club once they get past the open ocean on the Island’s west coast, with a barbecue planned for June 15, Motley said.

The following day will see an 11 a.m. start off Clover Point for the final push to Nanaimo.

It could be a spectacular sight, he said, because the racers get going downwind, which means colourful spinnaker sails.

For more on the race and the full list of competitors, go to vanisle360.com .

[email protected]

• See a typo/mistake?
• Have a story/tip?

This has been shared 0 times

More local news.

Featured Flyer

• Advertising
• Subscriptions

Van Isle 360: Two Decades of Racing

Some come for the racing, others for the adventure, but what makes Van Isle 360 so special is that it is a sum greater than its parts. This race keeps boat owners and crews coming back year after year.

This summer, I will be racing with Steve Travis onboard his Transpac 52 (TP52) Smoke , romping our way around the island one more time. This will be my fourth Van Isle 360, having done two onboard Steve’s previous boat Flash and sailed on Smoke the last time the bi-annual race was held.

We’re ready to come out swinging this year in a close-knit fleet of very similar boats, all gunning for the line honors win. It is exactly what we have been working towards. Our core group has been together since the team’s first Van Isle in 2005, and we’ve added some great recent additions to round out the crew.

an Isle 360 began in 1999 with a race around Vancouver Island, partly for the competition, but mostly to see if it could be done. No one knew if a scheduled multi-stage event was even possible with the shifting winds and currents through the Inside Passage and the potentially dangerous offshore conditions down the outside.

An additional challenge was managing the logistical nightmare of the traveling circus of road crews and crew swapping in and out. Understandably, it had never been tried before.

The first race, nicknamed the Ambassador Race, was made possible by generous sponsorship; it was an instant success. The following two races were held back-to-back in 2000 and 2001, but after three years on the trot, many involved wondered if perhaps a biannual format was a better way to run the race going forward.

Blast Performance Sailing stepped in after 2001 and shifted it to the alternating-year schedule to give racing teams a break and keep sailors from burning out.

Now 20 years old, the race’s attendance ebbs and flows, but the level of competition is as high as ever. Thanks to the constant drive to increase the level of both competition and safety, Van Isle shows no sign of slowing down.

The general theme of the racecourse has remained the same for the past 20 years, i.e., keep Vancouver Island to port. The fun kicks off this year with the official skipper’s meeting in Nanaimo, with the start on June 1 in the harbor. From here, the fleet heads north through the Strait of Georgia to Comox, one of the longest inside legs, but the first so crews are fresh and ready to go.

The next morning, the fleet heads for Campbell River, often fighting heavy current, to arrive at the finish line off the pier in town. Next the fleet motors north through the infamous Seymour Narrows, with favorable current to the start line set in Deepwater Bay at the north end of the channel.

The leg from Deepwater Bay to the fish farm at Hardwick Island is closer to a bobsled run than a boat race, with the current pushing the boats towards the finish line. That night the fleet roughs it while rafted to a commercial fish farm. No provisioning is available, so crews deal with what they brought.

Leaving the fish farm, the fleet races to the historic town of Telegraph Cove and some much-needed showers and clean clothes. The marathon of racing continues with a sprint leg to Port Hardy, where racers finally get a break with a full lay day. This is both an opportunity to make repairs and swap out crew members before the infamous “outside” legs.

As the fleet begins to head south, the race takes on a different tempo. Longer legs and lay days bring on the endurance half of the race. The first of the outside legs takes the fleet over the top, rounding Cape Scott and beginning the run south in the Pacific Ocean to Winter Harbor.

Another lay day in Winter Harbor gives crews a chance to fully understand just how far off the beaten path they are, whether it’s waiting in line for the town phone or going for walks in groups to scare off bears. This remote fishing village always does its part to provide a bit of contrast to the frenzy of everyday life.

Back on the water, the race now turns into an endurance battle, with the long leg to Ucluelet clocking in at 140 miles. It’s worth noting that this goes down as the longest race in the region, without sailing to Hawaii or Alaska. Another lay day in Ucluelet to dry out the boat and allow everyone to finish the long leg brings with it the rude awakening of more than one store in town; the availability of cell service quickly brings the real world back into focus. From here, the fleet enters the familiar waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the way to Victoria and the official return to civilization.

After a well-deserved dinner hosted by Royal Victoria Yacht Club, the fleet dials up on start line for the final time. The last leg to Nanaimo can make or break the overall standings as the fleet splits around islands, choosing either an inside route through the Gulf Islands or staying outside through Haro Strait. Coming into the finish is bittersweet for those wrapping up a two-week endurance vacation. It is time to get home and get back to work for some, while for others it feels like things were just getting started.

This year’s entry list is headed up by an impressive ORC 0 fleet, pitting some of the fastest boats in the Salish Sea against one another. No fewer than four Transpac 52s, the Santa Cruz 50 Surfrider , the J/160 Jam , and a rather impressively crewed Riptide 41 named Blue are all looking to take on this year’s course.

Steve Travis onboard his grey-hulled TP52 Smoke is no stranger to this race, with the team having taken part in every race since 2005. New to Van Isle 360 but far from inexperienced, John Buchan and his team onboard the dialed-in TP52 Glory are certainly going to be ones to watch, coming off last year’s dominating season and looking to put their name on another trophy.

Newcomer TP52 Sonic hit the ground running, taking part in the full season of races and not shying away from the competition, pulling into the docks with a hard-fought win in the Seattle Yacht Club’s Protection Island Race in boat-breaking conditions.

Also in the 52-foot group and sporting a new mast, Steve Johnson’s MIST is itching to stretch her legs after nearly a year off the water, awaiting her newly built mast. All in all, there is sure to be drama and close action on the water with such a competitive and evenly matched group battling around the island.

On the other end of the size spectrum, but taking things no less seriously, is Ian Loyde on the Grand Prix 26. No, that’s not a typo, a 26-foot boat is going to be racing around the island. Ian is no stranger to the race, having competed many times before on Raven , but this year he is taking things to another level with this pocket-sized racer.

Built as an offshore-capable sport boat, the GP26 may be the smallest boat in the fleet, but it’s far from the slowest, regularly holding pace with boats half again larger, surely a boat to keep a close eye on.

Those following the fleet should wisely track Michael Schoendorf’s Riptide 41 Blue , which is set to turn heads this summer. Sporting a water ballast and world-class crew of seriously experienced sailors, this team is a serious contender, especially in the second half with the longer offshore legs giving them a chance to stretch in the conditions the boat was born to sail. They are well situated to keep the big boats looking over their shoulders and the smaller boats working to keep up with the purpose-built offshore racing machine.

Meanwhile, there is a Canadian boat that is tough to ignore as well. The race-ready J/111 65 Red Roses II has a winning track record and a young but experienced crew looking to finish what they started two years ago. They are coming out with a bone to pick after losing their rudder in a high wind leg from Telegraph Cove to Port Hardy in the 2017 race. The team is fresh off a handicap win at Southern Straits, and it’s tough not to put money on the young team from Vancouver.

Of course, I’d be remiss not to talk shop about life as part of the Smoke crew. Rounding out the roster and keeping us all in check, Steve’s wife Suzanne manages the shoreside support and does a fine job of keeping the13 crew in line and on schedule.

This race is a coming together of many things both on and off the water, from boat deliveries to safety gear checks, and hotel reservations. No one thing is any less important than another. It literally takes a village (and a fish farm) to get one of these boats around the island. Often it is up to the crew to figure out how to keep things moving forward throughout the two-week ordeal with minimal resources and never much time.

Over the years, we have rebuilt transmissions in woodsheds, steering quadrants on docks, and boom goosenecks overnight, just to name a few. To say that this race has been a cornerstone of my adventures would not go far enough. Van Isle 360 has set the pace for much of my life and set the bar by which my experiences are measured against. As the days on the calendar get closer and the work list gets shorter, there is no doubt that this year’s Van Isle 360 is going to be one to remember.

Read the print version on Issuu

Doug Hansen

Doug Hansen is a Seattle native and grew up cruising and racing in the Northwest. After spending several years taking care of boats and competing in regattas throughout North America and Europe, he has returned to Seattle to complete a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is an active participant in the Seattle racing community and enjoys sailing on all types of boats.

R2AK 2019 Gets Underway

The buoys are back in town, you may also like, seas the day, go, go gadgets, bounty on board, row, row, row your boat…, the x factor, shape shifters, the inside track, speakers of the house, wild, wild westport, leave a comment cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Privacy Overview

Van Isle 360 Yacht Race makes waves

More than 40 boats are now racing around Vancouver Island in a marathon that's more a test of skill and nerves than a pleasure cruise. In the Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race's ninth edition, close to 400 racers are currently sailing around the island, covering 729 kilometres, in 10 legs, spread over 14 days.

You can save this article by registering for free here . Or sign-in if you have an account.

Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.

You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.

Article content

More than 40 boats are now racing around Vancouver Island in a marathon that’s more a test of skill and nerves than a pleasure cruise.

In the Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race’s ninth edition, close to 400 racers are currently sailing around the island, covering 729 kilometres, in 10 legs, spread over 14 days.

Starting in Nanaimo, the first half of the race takes sailors up the inside of the island through some of the world’s most beautiful cruising grounds, sailing through Desolation Sound and up through Johnstone Strait to Port Hardy. The second half takes the boats around infamous Cape Scott at the Northern tip of Vancouver Island into the Pacific Ocean. The distances between ports are much longer on the outside and each leg includes an overnight passage.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

• Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.
• Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.
• Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.
• Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.
• Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

• Access articles from across Canada with one account.
• Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
• Enjoy additional articles per month.
• Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Sign In or Create an Account

You may ask why would someone want to be on a small sailboat with up to eight other crew, with no showers and sitting on deck in the rain and wind for hours or baking in the sun without shade?

The answers are as varied as the sailors participating in this race: A love of sailing and the ocean, the adventure of visiting stunning places few of us will ever visit, the camaraderie among crew and competitors, are probably common sentiments among participants. The exhilaration when the wind is just right, the sails trimmed perfectly and the boat is accelerating down a wave can hardly be described in words.

So what makes Van Isle 360 so special? It’s the involvement of the communities. At each stop, there is an event: The traditional pancake breakfast at the start in Nanaimo, the salmon feast at Hardwick Island, or the famous barbecue in Telegraph Cove.

The boats on this race range from small coastal cruising boats to high-end racing machines. The crews are just as varied. Some boats are crewed by highly trained, and seasoned racers. While other boats are crewed by less experienced sailors looking for a lifetime adventure.

Aboard Turicum, the majority of the crew are novice racers and we use the VanIsle 360 as a way of training new racers and giving them an opportunity to become part of the VanIsle 360 family and by introducing them to long distance and offshore sailing. For me, racing in the Van Isle 360 for the first time in 2011, was the beginning of an incredible adventure that took me sailing to Hawaii and back during the 2012 Vic-Maui International Yacht Race.

This year’s event is characterized by light winds on the inside legs, making it very challenging for all boats. It’s tough to sit on a boat, trying to tweak the sails to get the maximum out of the little wind there is. During the leg from Deepwater Bay to Hardwick Island, strong, adverse currents added insult to injury. With almost no wind to give the boats steerage, it felt like bumper-car racing. Around us, boats were anchored but spun around on eddy lines, bumping into one another or the crew was avoiding rocks. It was brutal carnage. Amazingly, everybody had a good laugh and there was no yelling or protests.

After a day of relaxing, washing cloths and drying sails and boats, the crews were looking forward to some exiting downwind sailing on Wednesday. Neptune seemed to finally have mercy on the Van Isle family with strong winds predicted from the northwest.

Christof Marti is the owner of Simply Sailing School in Vancouver (simplysailing.ca) and is a director on the Board of BC Sailing. Trained as an engineer and with an MBA in finance, Christof is also a qualified sailing instructor and a certified Yachtmaster. He will be filing reports from B.C.’s coastal waters over the season.

Exclusive: How a B.C. student died after overdosing in a Victoria dorm — and the major mistakes her parents say were made that night

Dan levitt: i’m deferring my b.c. property tax. will you, b.c. liquor store worker to get human rights hearing over family status discrimination, vaughn palmer: icbc rebates highlight predicament of victims of no-fault insurance.

Premier David Eby attacks B.C. United and B.C. Conservatives over merger talks

This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here . By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy .

You've reached the 20 article limit.

You can manage saved articles in your account.

and save up to 100 articles!

Looks like you've reached your saved article limit!

You can manage your saved articles in your account and clicking the X located at the bottom right of the article.

A game of contrasts: Vic-Maui Race and the Van Isle 360

• Advertorial

The Vic-Maui Race and the Van Isle 360 are two classic races in the Pacific northwest that between them offer virtually every experience that the sport of offshore racing can deliver.

The great oceans of this planet invite us to sail great ocean races, with most having long and storied histories. In the Atlantic these include the Transatlantic, the Newport- Bermuda, the Route du Rhum and the Cape Town-Rio Race, among others.

In the Pacific there are s everal, including the Transpac, Pacific Cup, the LA-Tahiti Race and various races to Mexico. Most of these are biennial and start or end in the southern half of North America. Yet there two other great offshore races in the Pacific that start (and one ends) in the northern half of this continent: the Vic-Maui Race and the Van Isle 360.

These are two very different races yet they both celebrate a rich heritage of Canadian yachting in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The Van Isle 360 is the younger of the two, in its 20th year this year, and has a fascinating format that is driving its growing popularity. Rather than being a point-to-point ocean race, this race is actually a tour and has its roots in a clever idea developed in 1986 among some adventure-seeking multihull sailors who planned to race around Vancouver Island in eight legs.

That event had a title sponsor, an entry fee of $1,000 and encouragement for teams to find sponsors to support them on this odyssey. The problem was that Corinthian attitudes prevalent in the hierarchies of the sport in this era were not yet ready to support sponsored sailing, so the event died despite having a respectable count of 25 entries.

Scroll forward to the more enlightened ‘90s and the event was reorganised, this time as the “Coast Hotels Around the Island Race” to test the viability of the concept and the racecourse. The 1999 Van Isle 360° International Yacht Race featured 14 entries and even with this modest start, proved the concept was a success.

The race ran for three more years consecutively, growing in entries, media attention and supporters. After the race in 2001, organisers decided to revert to a biennial format, running on odd years to alternate with the transpacific Vic-Maui Race on even years. This helped bring the event to the attention of an interested crowd of boats from south of the border.

The race boomed in size and popularity over the next few editions, hitting its limit of entries as early as January, but the lousy economy of 2008 weakened the entry count in 2009. Fortunately, 2011 brought new features such as race trackers and entries were back up in the 40s. The race in 2013 was popular, but a drifter, which naturally resulted in the 2015 race being a blast, literally, with four days of gale force winds in the Johnstone Strait that did not abate. The effect was to add another lay day to the schedule so that repairs could be made if this happened again, and if not, another day to enjoy the beauty of this remote area. A lay day added to the Port Hardy stopover allowed skippers to change out “inside crews” for “outside crews” in anticipation of the open ocean sleigh ride on the outside of Vancouver Island.

For some the format of the Van Isle 360 may resemble the Tour de Voiles in France (minus the inshore port racing), where the logistical challenge of getting the support team and their vehicle to the next port could be more difficult than pushing the raceboat up the course. Except in a few areas, the coast of Vancouver Island hardly resembles the French coast: the Winter Harbor stop on the northwest coast is so remote and rugged (and the fishing incredible) that the only road access is on axle-breaking logging roads, so at some stops the race crews have to bring what they need for overnight stays.

At some of stopovers in these remote areas there is also little connection with mainstream modern life and in some villages the indigenous First Nations people offer hospitality and examples of their way of life, based on fishing the abundant salmon and halibut in the area. Their distinctive artwork such as totem poles and other important symbols of their culture are found throughout the region.

The racing can be incredibly diverse. You need self-sufficiency and every tool in the bag to succeed in this race since conditions can range from light and drifting in flat water on the eastern protected coast of the Straits of Georgia, to booming with big wind at Cape Scott at the northern end of the island, strong current in the Johnstone Strait and racing downwind in large Pacific swells in the longest leg of the race from Winter Harbor to Ucluelet, and Ucluelet to Victoria. It was not until 2013 that four boats were the first in the history of the race to complete and get a score for all nine legs of the course.

Even though the water temperatures here are hardly tropical, the wildlife and scenery in this area is stunning: besides the salmon and halibut fish harvesting to enrich the local cuisine (one stopover has the fleet moored at the Mowi salmon aqua-farming operation), the other animals that fly, float or flit along the shorelines are like no other yachting venue in the world. Where else will you see pods of orcas, humpback whales, sperm whales, eagles, bears, otters and mink on a racecourse? And with snow-covered peaks in the distance?

As for entries, this year’s Van Isle 360 is again sold out for both cruiser-racers and cruisers, with the racers ranging in size and speed from four multi-generation TP52s down to a GP26, although Mike Scoendorf’s ultra-fast Biekerdesigned Riptide 41 may very well put the Seattle-based TPs to the test for line honours on some legs.

Organiser Jeff Motley and his wife Sylvia live near Nanaimo and plan this race year-round, hashing out all the race management details, logistical complexities and local politics with their committee to produce an experience that is fun and as stress-free as possible for all concerned. The nearly 40 entries they have this year attest to the confidence others have in their hard work, and they invite others from around the world to come and spend May and June in what can only be described as God’s Country.

For those who want to sail a true oceanic race that represents a classic of Pacific Northwest yachting, the biennial Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race is the perfect choice.

In this race the first leg out to the Swiftsure Bank though the Strait of San Juan de Fuca gives a final tour of the cool climes of the Pacific coast, followed by a track that heads south and west to stay on the east (downwind) side of the Pacific High in the favourable but cool water of the coastal currents offshore of Washington, Oregon and California, before heading more westerly into warmer water and winds, clearer skies and the final downwind leg of the race to Maui.

Hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and the Lahaina Yacht Club, this race from one paradise to another was first contested in 1965 and has been sailed every second year since 1968. It starts in July off the provincial capital city of Victoria, British Columbia and finishes near Lahaina, another picturesque town built by whalers in the earliest days of western settlement in the Hawaiian Islands. The race distance is approximately 2,308 nautical miles, longer than any other race from the West Coast to Hawaii.

With its multiple segments and northeasterly approach to the Pacific High, Vic-Maui challenges navigators to demonstrate their weather routing and navigational skills. Success depends on the navigation team’s skills in predicting where the Pacific High and trade winds will be – and to do this nearly a week into the future before the start. Having the right game plan is often decided in the early phases of this race. In years with El Niño and other non-typical patterns, this can be a daunting challenge indeed.

Besides beating out from the start in what can be a pleasant sunny sea breeze or light air and fog, the allure of this race is when progress is made reaching away from the cold and around the Pacific High to get to the surfing downwind conditions in the trades. The days pass quickly with the fleet surrounded by dolphins and albatross, spectacular sunrises, sunsets and brilliant starlit nights.

Teamwork gets the boats to the finish line near Lahaina, where each arriving boat is greeted with an outstanding Hawaiian welcoming party. Family and friends meet the racers to help celebrate their accomplishment with hugs, leis and mai-tais. Many crew stay to spend more time enjoying Maui with their families before heading home.

There is no one who has regretted adding these two great races to their “bucket list” of events and the locals from British Columbia and Seattle swear by them – come and see what keeps drawing them back.

Click here for more information on the Van Isle 360

Click here for more information on the Vic-Maui Race

• Waggoner Webcast Live
• Flotilla Reports Summary
• Status Updates
• Waggoner Rendezvous Events

• Cruising Destinations
• Boating Tips
• Guided Flotillas

Select Page

An Experience of a Lifetime – The Van Isle 360

Posted by Waggoner Guest | Oct 31, 2020

For 6 months I consulted with sailors, examined the charts, and recorded the tidal currents in planning for a cruise around Vancouver Island. This is a big island about 600 nautical miles in distance. The waters are filled with challenges that some might call hazards, like Seymour Narrows. When the moon and the sun align, the current through the Narrows can run at 11 Knots.  

After all the preplanning for what I considered a 45-60 day cruise – boat maintenance, provisioning, looking at the tidal currents, crew boarding locations, and weather stations, and looking for places to hide out from storms – imagine my shock when a friendly Canadian said, “You Know John, every two years we race around the Island. It is the Van Isle 360∞ in 14 days.  

The Van Isle 360∞ is a biennial race held on odd years for sailors willing to meet the challenge of circumnavigating Vancouver Island. Described by the Organizers as “a 580 nm point to point race, it’s a circumnavigation of wild, rugged Vancouver Island. Sailed in a series of legs, the course provides inshore, offshore, and overnight legs through some of the most stunning and challenging waters on the planet.” Or in simpler terms, it is a staged distance sailing race that will put to the test your sailing skills, seamanship, courage, patience, endurance, and test of relationships. It’s a 14-day experience that few sailors dare to imagine during their lifetime. If this is your year to meet the challenge and have some fun, you will need to get started. It is not a “Hey I hear the club is racing around the cans tonight, let’s get some beer and join in” kind of event.

Waggoner Guest

Related posts.

Solar Powered Boat – Record Setting Journey to Southeast Alaska

September 30, 2021

Tunnel Club Socials – New for Seattle Boat Show 2024

January 26, 2024

Copper Bottom Paint in Washington until 2026

June 26, 2020

A To-Do List for a Carefree Boating Season

September 19, 2018

Shop our store

Get our #1 cruising guide, maps, charts, tide guides, and much more for cruising the Pacific Northwest. Visit us at our retail store at 910 25th St, Anacortes, WA. We're open Mon.- Thur. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Fri 10:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.. It's also all online at the Waggoner Store .

Privacy Overview

Van Isle 360 is Just Around the Corner!

The Van Isle 360 is a biennial (odd year), 580 nm. point to point race circumnavigating wild and rugged Vancouver Island, B.C. Sailed in a series of legs the course provides inshore, offshore and overnight legs through some of the most stunning and challenging waters on the planet. Now in its 20th year the race will reach Port Hardy on Wednesday, June 5th. During the lead up to this event we will be posting information about the competitors.

Meet the next round of competitors:

Third time around the Island for Hana Mari, their sail past just before the Nanaimo start is a treat not to be missed….literally! Same old hands, some new crew but the same enthusiasm for adventure we always have. In 2017 Ged was recognized by the skipper of Oxomoxo for his local knowledge in assisting Doug Frazer to a first place finish in Division 3. May karma be good to you Ged and your crew in this years race.

The Hana Mari.

Sail #: 79026

Skipper: Ged McLean

Province/State: British Columbia

Yacht Club: Royal Victoria Yacht Club

Type: Wylie 43

Designer: Tom Wylie

Builder: Schooner Creek Boat Works

ORC GPH: 579.9 (Test Certificate)

LOA: 13.215m

Beam: 3.778m

Draft: 2.198m

Tuna is one of two CS 36 Sailboat operated by the Royal Canadian Navy’s Naval Fleet School Pacific. Her mission is to provide Sail Training Opportunities to summer students and students waiting for formal trades training. HMCSTV Tuna was commissioned in 1985 and served the East Coast since joining her sister ship Goldcrest on the West Coast in 2017. Tuna raced and trained extensivley taking part in races to Bermuda, St John’s and St Pierre as well as Chester Race Week and Marblehead. She is the second RCN ship to hold the name Tuna. The first Tuna was the sailing sloop Seeraubertaken which was transferred to the RCN as a war prize from the German Navy after the Second World War.

The HMCSTV Tuna.

Sail #: KC2372

Skipper: LCdr Christopher Maier

Province/State: British Columbia – Actually Canada

Yacht Club: Canadian Forces Sailing Association Esquimalt

Type: CS 36

Designer: Raymond Wall

Builder: Canadian Sailcraft

ORC GPH: Application in progress (680ish)

LOA: 11.130m

Beam: 3.510m

Draft: 1.930m

We have been preparing Image for our planned offshore events, and our experiences on Oxomoxo. Looking forward to the race.

Sail #: USA 79175

Skipper: Marc-Andrea Klimaschewski

Province/Stat: Washington

Yacht Club: Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle/Sloop Tavern Yacht Club

Type: Catalina 38

Designer: Sparkman Stephens

Builder: Catalina Yachts

ORC GPH: 655.5

LOA: 11.610m

Beam: 3.610m

Draft: 2.070m

Iris is A brand new Jeanneau that will have a very experienced Time Bandit crew on board including Bob Brunius. John has been racing for over 30 years and is looking forward to his first Van Isle.

Skipper: John Sheppard

Province/State: Washington

Yacht Club: Quartermaster Yacht Club

Type: Jeanneau 51

Designer: Philippe Briand

Builder: Jeanneau France

ORC GPH: Application in process (570.0ish)

LOA: 15.380m

Beam: 4.700m

Draft: 2.500m

JAM is returning after sailing in the 2015 Van Isle under stunning conditions, which of course will happen again in 2019! Over a period of 12 years, Bill sailed a Catalina 27 in out of Quadra Island, opposite Campbell River in Discovery Passage. This may be the boat to watch for local knowledge from Mittlenatch Island up to Hardwicke Island whre the fleet will be challenged with the vagaries of the currents in the Inside Pasage.

Skipper: Bill Fox

Yacht Club: Gig Harbor Yacht Club

Type: J/160

Designer: Johnstone

Builder: TPI

ORC GPH: 529.6

LOA: 16.002m

Beam: 4.426m

Draft: 2.778m

Lodos relocated from the East Coast to her new home in Seattle in July 2016. She has been racing extensively locally and 2019 will be her first Van Isle 360. Most of the crew have done at least 2 Van Isles before, and we know that the competing with the other boats will challenge our skills and competitive spirit while reinforcing our friendships. We look forward to the adventure and getting to meet a lot of other folks along the way.

Sail #: 171

Skipper: Tolga Cezik

Yacht Club: Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle

Type: J/109

ORC GPH: Application in process (607.0ish)

LOA: 10.757m

Beam: 3.524m

Draft: 2.127m

MIST is one of 4 TP52’s in this years race, along with Glory, Smoke and Sonic. Steve has sailed in 7 Van Isles with White Cloud, and this will be his first with MIST. The balance of the crew have at least 2-5 Van Isles so experience is no issue. In 2017 Steve and his crew stood by 65_Red Roses II when she lost her rudder off Port Hardy. If ever there was a time for some positive Karma, perhaps it is this years race for MIST after coming back from a dismasting in the 2018 Swiftsure race.

Skipper: Steve Johnson

Designer: Bakewell/White

Builder: Stevenson

ORC GPH: 453.6

LOA: 15.846m

Beam: 4.288m

Draft: 3.219m

Team Mojo is keen to participate in the 20th anniversary Van Isle 360. This will be the second time around The Rock on Mojo after thoroughly enjoying the 2017 race. Mojo also won her division in 2017 narrowly beating out Zulu. Oh, and Zulu is back, and come to think of it so is Serendipity who placed third. Looks like Div 2 could be a bit competitive with some of the new contenders as well.

Sail #: 237

Skipper: Mark Hansen

Yacht Club: Vancouver Rowing Club

ORC GPH: Application in progress (608ish)

This will be the third Van Isle of Nirvana, and her skipper and crew are looking forward to competing with some of the best sailors in the Pacific North West.

The Nirvana.

Sail # CAN 47071

Skipper: Dmitriy Minenko

Type: Beneteau 40.7

Designer: Farr

Builder: Beneteau

ORC GPH: 583.3

Returning from a first place finish in Division 3 in 2017 is Oxomoxo. Doug and his team also competed in the 2018 Vic Maui where he earned the distinction of “Turtle Man” for temporarily heaving to in order to save a sea turtle which had become entangled in plastic. Consensus is so long as Bob returns as tactician Oxomoxo will be competitive.

The Oxomoxo.

Sail #: 39118

Skipper: Doug Frazer

Type: Swan 391

Designer: Ron Holland

Builder: Nautor

ORC GPH: 630.1

LOA: 11.975m

Beam: 3.826m

Draft: 2.244m

Last time a boat named RIVA sailed the Van Isle was 2013, along with two other boats named Diva and KIVA. Looks like the wait has been worth it with a brand new J/121 speedster. The crew of 5 has significant offshore experience.

Sail #: 11211

Skipper: Scott Campbell

Province/State: Oregon

Yacht Club: Portland Yacht Club

Type: J/121

Builder: CCF Composites

ORC GPH: Application in process (568ish estimate.)

LOA: 12.19m

Beam: 3.746m

Draft: 2.522m

Returning to defend her 2015 first place finish in Division 3 is Rubato, with some of the same crew from 2015 and the balance will be new crew from the Vancouver Area Racing Circuit (VARC) divisions 3 & 7.

The Rubato.

Sail #: 74408

Skipper: Steve Blaine

Type: Hanse 400e

Designer: Judel/Vrolijik

Builder: Hanse

ORC GPH: 608.1

LOA: 11.990m

Beam: 4.042m

Draft: 2.022m

Serendipity is back after its first Van Isle in 2017, eager to improve its third place finish, in the ultimate test of sailing skills on the West Coast.

The Serendipity.

Sail #: CAN 258

Skipper: Tom Sitar

Yacht Club: Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

ORC GPH: 609.2

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race

Related Articles

Palouse Bicycle Racing

Palouse composite club.

The Fall race season is finished. Registration for Spring of 2024 season opens Jan. 15th and the practices begins Feb. 1st.

Join our mailing list! Read more about the Washington Student Cycling League . Interested in coaching? We have a need for all levels of adult riders.

What you need to know before joining.

Washington Student Cycling League 2024 Spring Race Schedule

• 4/14 — Spokane, WA (Riverside State Park)
• 4/28 — Winthrop, WA (Liberty Bell High School)
• 5/05 — Cle Elum, WA (Flying Fortress Ranch Relay)
• 5/19 — Gig Harbor, WA (360 Trails Park)
• 6/02 — Wenatchee, WA (Squilchuck State Park)

Past 2023 Fall Race Schedule

(The 2024 Fall schedule will likely be similar to the 2023 schedule below.)

• 9/17 — Port Gamble, WA
• 10/8 — Squilchuck, WA

Shoutout to our sponsors: they bought the jerseys!

• Moscow Area Mountain Bike Association (MAMBA)
• Rolling Hills Bikes
• Moscow Family Eye Care
• Gropp Heating and Air
• Northwest River Supply (NRS)
• Moscow Elks Lodge
• Love’s Kombucha

The Palouse Bicycle Racing Composite is open to riders who consider Moscow Mountain to be their local trail system. The team boundary is roughly Colfax to the West, Bovill to the East, Potlatch to the North and the LC Valley to the south. 

Sample Practice Schedule

All rides will be posted on TeamSnap to members. Check for dates and location updates. Below is an example of a typical week of practice.

• 5:45pm-7:15pm – Every Monday – This ride is open to everyone ; make it if you can!
• 1:00pm Advanced Middle School
• 3:00pm High School
• 3:00pm JV Middle School

Weekday Rides:

• High School: Wednesday, 5:45pm
• Adv. Middle School: Thursday, 5:45pm
• JV Middle School: Wednesday, 5:45pm

**Coaches might schedule additional rides in addition to the above scheduled rides; you’ll be notified of these optional bonus rides! 

Palouse Bicycle Racing

• palousebicycleracing.org/

Contact Info

Are you the administrator of this organization, connect with us, sportsengine is part of sportsengine inc..