The 55th annual Southern Straits Race is scheduled for April 18-20, 2025 and the West Vancouver Yacht Club (WVYC) is looking forward to welcoming previous entrants plus newcomers wanting to take on the challenge.

WVYC is working on a number of improvements to accommodate a broader range of sailors with differing interests and experience levels. This includes a 100 mile Sister’s Islets Course for the ORC fleet, which will be one of the qualifying races for the 2025 Van Isle 360 Race; a 55 mile Entrance Island Course for PHRF divisions; a 36 mile Halibut Bank (Inshore) Course for PHRF divisions, which will also include doublehanded scoring and awards; and a virtual finish line for all courses using YellowBrick tracker functionality.

Southern Straits Race is typically the first overnight race of the season and allows sailors to reconnect with old friends from Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Washington state, most of whom we haven’t seen since the previous race season. The traditional pre-race dinner, skippers meeting, and weather briefing at the clubhouse on Thursday night is always a reunion of sorts, filled with laughter and friendly banter as we recount all of those Straits Race adventures of the past.

Experiencing the incredible beauty of the British Columbia coast has always been a major draw of the Southern Straits Race and we look forward to hosting boats in the Pacific Northwest on Easter weekend. For more information visit www.wvyc.ca.

Feature image courtesy of Robert Torok.