Blackline Patos Island race 2017
Jan 10, 2016
Blackline Marine is the Title Sponsor of this premier racing event hosted by the Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club. https://patosislandrace.com/
Katie Campbell from Sea to Sky Sailing will be at the race this year. Katie commented “This is the 36th annual Patos Island Race- but it will be our first time competing in it and we can’t wait! This popular event is hosted by the Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club on Vancouver Island and is the first in the ‘triple crown’ of the big Island events (followed by the Round Salt Spring Race and the Swiftsure Race).
The race itself is a great tactical challenge, navigating along the Canada-US border between the southern Gulf Islands and the San Juan Islands. Strong tidal currents are a major consideration here as we’re really playing at the edge of the Juan de Fuca Strait where the Pacific Ocean tries to squeeze itself into the Salish Sea.
In 2017 we’ll be racing in the Long Course as a qualifier for the VanIsle 360 in June. This is a challenging course cutting through the strong tidal waters in the southern Gulf Islands and covering roughly 70 nautical miles. The race has a time limit of 24 hours, so we will most likely finish sometime in the night.
This race offers a night sailing component, which is both exciting and very serious at the same time. Sailing at night can be breathtakingly beautiful with clear starry skies, phosphorescence bubbling in the wake behind the boat, and a serenity rarely found on land. But sailing at night means extreme vigilance is required because visibility is very limited and it can be hard to judge the distance between objects on the water in the dark.”
If you would like to join Katy contact her at https://www.seatoskysailing.com
