When Nanaimo skipper George Bishop sets sail on his 1985 Express 37 from Victoria to Maui next month, it will be the realization of a long dream that was originally ignited by his father.“He always wanted to sail everywhere in the world,” Bishop said. “He lit the fire in me.”
Bishop is one of a handful of racers who will be participating in the bi-annual Vic-Maui Yacht Race, which begins on July 9.
Also racing this year is fellow Nanaimo skipper Bill Jones, who has participated in five Van Isle 360 races, and his 13-metre Beneteau named Ion. Last Friday the Nanaimo Yacht Club held a small celebration for the two skippers, who will set sail from Victoria to Lahaina, Maui, next month.
“We have spent some serious time, energy and resources to be able to put her into the vessel that she is now and, quite frankly, she is the ideal tool for this job,” Jones told a crowd at the yacht club. “In training, the gang and I have taken her to the Oregon offshore and experienced some pretty savvy weather and she has come through.”
The Vic-Maui Yacht Race began in 1965 and is held every two years and sees boaters from across the Pacific Northwest race from Victoria to the Lahaina.
“It’s a traditional North Coast race and it is one of the premier races,” said Ron Campsall, past director of the Nanaimo Yacht Club.
Campsall, who has participated in this race, said this is the first time that two boats from the Nanaimo Yacht Club are entered in the race, adding that neither have raced to Hawaii before.
“For a newbie, it’s an eye opener as to how big the ocean is,” he said. “When the ocean gets angry she takes no prisoners … and it is cold for the first three or four days and then it warms up,” he said. “After three or four days you get into a routine.”Bishop has previously sailed to Mexico, but said he has never spent more than five days at sea.Joining Bishop on the more than 2,000-nautical-mile journey will be his twin daughters and their significant others. Bishop’s daughter, Sonia, and her soon-to-be husband will be celebrating the beginning of their honeymoon as crew members.“Everyone has dubbed it our honeymoon cruise,” said Sonia, 29, who will be a deckhand during the race. “It’s exciting.”Bishop has invested plenty of time and money into ensuring that his boat, Expresso, is ready to go.
“The mast had to come out and all new rod rigging had to be done,” he said. “We needed an inner forestay and other forestays built into it. It just goes on and on,” he said. “The list is a mile long.”
Bishop said he is looking forward to spending “family time” with his two daughters and the rest of the crew, adding that this is one of the last times he’ll be sailing with his twins before they begin their lives.
“Their lives are going to start … soon so this is the last time we are going to be able to race together and get together,” Bishop said. “The two girls have been racing with me since they were in elementary school.”The race is expected to take racers anywhere from nine to 16 days to complete. For more information about the race, please visit www.vicmaui.org.