West Vancouver Yacht Club Presents
The 46th Annual Southern Straits - April 18-20, 2014

Countdown to the First Race Start April 18, 2014

May 13, 2013 1530 hours
Photos of the start of Straits 2013 are available in the Gallery page of this website.
All photos are courtesy of Gary Wildman of Wildman Photography:
http://www.wildmanphotography.com/phpgallery/main.php

A heartfelt thank you to all the racers, volunteers and family that took part in the 45th annual Southern Straits Race. We couldn't be happier with the way everything unfolded ....... gorgeous blue skies, sunshine and mild temperatures made for a phenomenal few days on the water.

The breeze was much better than expected, it certainly did have its light patches; that spinnaker ride home early Saturday morning left a lot of big smiles on people’s faces.

Great work by an exceptional team of volunteers to execute the event - my hat goes off to each and every one of you! We have had lots of positive feedback on some of the little tweaks that we've made to the experience - stay tuned for a racers survey that we are working on to help stay connected with the racers experience and to help guide future changes.

Kudos to all the skippers and crew that put in the hard work of getting the boat ready this early in the year - there are a lot of logistics to meet and we know it isn't easy.

A special congrats to all the first time Straits skippers and crew - i'm confident that you found it a very different experience than any other race you've done and I'm sure that you're tighter as a crew than before the event. One thing is for certain, you are certainly now a part of a pretty cool club of sailors.

Hope to see you all back again next year ...... The gala is set for April 17, 2014 and the first warning signal will be made at 1030 hours Friday April 18, 2014

Cheers,

Ty Abrams
2013 Race Chair

The race committee has posted a notice of protests March 30, 2013 2300 hours on the official notice board in the WVYC clubhouse lobby and here on the website (access by clicking here). There are 3 protests to be heard in accordance with provisions of the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions. Those parties involved have been notified via land line phone with messages left where personal contact could not be made. Two of the protests involve alleged safety violations and one involves alleged communications protocol infractions.

The race can be monitored online because we have issued SPOT trackers to boats sailing the Long, Medium and Short courses. The In-shore boats will not use this technology. Click here to access the tracker website.

To monitor progress around marks, boats are required to check in with the Communications desk at each rounding of a mark of the course.
We log that information online on this website. You can access it by heading to the results page and clicking on Last Known Yacht Position or click here.

This year’s 45th annual Southern Straits race will start at 10:30 AM on Friday March 29, 2013.
But that is only part of the fun. If you are not on a race boat then you shoud be at Dundarave Pier at the foot of 25th Street in West Vancouver for the pre-race event.

• The Easter Bunny will make a cameo appearance again with treats for the kiddies.
• Support the Lions Club who will be presenting a pancake breakfast with the scintillating sounds of the West Vancouver Pop Band in the background.
• The voice of Straits, Len Kelsey, will be providing a running commentary of the boats and their respective sailing pedigrees.
• The West Vancouver Yacht Club will be on hand with some keen dingy sailors to spotlight the Club's Learn to Race program which is available to the general public.
• Come on down any time after 9:00 AM on Friday March 29, 2013 to enjoy the festivities at the Dundarave Pier in West Vancouver.
• Thanks to our Title Sponsor Navis Marine Insurance Brokers and to all the many organizations who sponsor and support this tradition.

The InShore Race will be held during daylight hours on Friday March 29, 2013.
These competitors will start after the boats in the Classic Long, Medium and Short courses have started.
The Sailing Instructions for the InShore course are different than for the classic courses. They are available by clicking here.

On behalf of the West Vancouver Yacht Club, our event Sponsors and our team of volunteers we would like welcome you to the 45th annual, 2013 Southern Straits race. We have made a few small tweaks to this years event in hopes of improving the experience of the racers and involving more race teams
We are also pleased to introduce an In-shore course in 2013.

The Notice of Race is now complete and the online registration will be opening soon. We will also be co-hosting an informational session on the race with the Vancouver Rowing Club at 7 pm on January 25th in the Carver Room at the VRC - feel free to come join us for a breif presentation and informal chat.

If you have any feedback / suggestions on how to improve the Southern Straits experience feel free to contact me.

Feel free the contact the WVYC club for additional information:
http://www.wvyc.bc.ca
or contact me directly at:

Race Chairman
Tyler Abrams