Round SaltSpring 2019 is off!

The 2019 edition of the Round SaltSpring Race is off. The sun god was smiling on the fleet, but the wind god today is Zephyrus – the wind god of false hopes and broken dreams.

Light to very light winds guided the fleet out of Ganges Harbour, with the faster boats chasing the slower boats before finding a parking lot off the Chain Islands.

Eight starts were conducted on the Committee Boat Nauti Lady by Race Officer Marc Munro with flawless (well almost flawless) precision.

The direction for this year is Counter Clockwise with the fleet heading for Trincomali Channel before rounding Southey Point (why is the north end of the island called Southey Point?) and starting the teturn.

The key tactic to watch is whether boats get to Sansum Narrows before 5:30pm, too early for the ebb tide to sweep them south down Stuart Channel.

But with light winds early in the race, that is unlikely, and boats need to prepare to sail all night.