Crew members comments by Chris

I am sure one of the first timers here. I have never sailed in much more than 30 kts of wind or seas that big.

This was a great & exiting adventure for me. I was quite amazed how well our drivers managed to keep Turicum "steady as she goes" and how organized the entire crew was. There was not a moment of tension or excitement (with the exception when we surfed down the waves – which was a good thing). Everybody seemed to enjoy the ride. Although I suspect some, including me, wondered how we would beat back into 40 to 50 knots of wind once we rounded Sister Island. As we all know – it never got to this.

The only regret: Not taking any pictures!!

What a ride, what an adventure! This skipper, his crew as well as Turicum handled the perfect storm exceptionally well - I would do it again in a heart beat. Thanks Hale for having me on your crew for this regatta.

Has anybody heard from the skipper of Incisor – is he back home from the hospital? I read this morning in one of the blogs that all crew are home and well.

Cheers, Christof.

There I was sitting on deck of Turicum racing in the Southern Straits Regatta 2010. The winds were around 30 to 40 knots and we were running downwind out of English Bay towards Sister Island. The boat was running beautifully and the driver did a great job and I enjoyed myself tremendously. One of the boats to our starboard seemed to have less fun. They had a spinnaker up, broached and had a hard time getting things under control again. We put a second reef in the main and kept the #2 jib.

The wind then picked up progressively, getting over 40 knots and eventually over 50 knots. Our driver managed to get Turicum surfing several times and we hit over 18 kts one time and over 20 kts the next time. What a feeling - everybody on board was exited. Winds are now consistently over 50 kts and gusting over 60 kts - the waves got bigger and bigger too - several times I could actually look up to the crest of the waves - fabulous.

Another boat to our starboard was in trouble with her sails completely shredded - the remains of the sails flapping horizontally from the tip of the mast - held only by the halyards. Not pretty, but they managed to get the situation under control. Trying to avoid a similar fate to Turicum's sails, we took down the foresail and put a "5th reef" in the main. A very smart move - Turicum is still doing over 10 knots, but it's much safer this way.

I was quite amazed how well our driver managed to keep Turicum "steady as she goes" and how organized the entire crew was. There was not a moment of tension or uneasiness. Everybody seemed to enjoy the ride. Although I suspect some, including me, wondered how are we going to beat back into this once we rounded Sister Island. Well, it never got to that - the race was abandoned just before we got to Sister and the skipper decided to head for Deep Bay near Denman Island, where we had hot chocolate and meat pie before heading back to Vancouver, where we arrived safely the next morning.

What a ride, what an adventure! This crew and this boat handled the perfect storm exceptionally well - I would do it again in a heart beat. Thanks Hale for having me on your crew for this regatta.

Christof.