Route Halifax Saint-Pierre - Racing up the coast of Nova Scotia

by Kathy Large on 9 Jul 2014 Route Halifax Saint-Pierre - Derek Hatfield’s Volvo 60 'Spirit of Adventure' is leading the fleet in Route Halifax Saint-Pierre as the second day of racing gets underway. The 353 nm race started in Halifax harbour at noon on Tuesday, July 8th. The 18 boats are racing along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and will be heading out to the ocean to cross over to Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, the French islands off the Newfoundland coast.

Hatfield’s crew on 'Spirit of Adventure' is paying for the opportunity to learn how to sail the grand prix racer. Many of them are experienced sailors but the chance to crew on vessel of this size and type is rare in the Maritimes. 'Spirit of Adventure' is the largest vessel in the race this year. The vessel is the former Amer Sports One from the 2001 Volvo Ocean Race.

Challenging 'Spirit of Adventure' for line honors is Sirius, an Akilaria 40 from the Saint-Pierre Yacht Club skippered by Stephane Bry.

Past race chair Mike Evans and his 'Sea Smoke' is overall leader in the PHRF class. Evans is racing double-handed with Andrew Sergeant. 'Sea Smoke' is a Bavaria 38.

There are boats from Virginia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Saint-Pierre competing this year. While the largest is the Volvo 60, the smallest is a 21-ft. Nacira 6.50 from the Saint-Pierre Yacht Club that owned by Rodolphe Victorri. That’s a class of high performance racing yachts built for the Mini-Transat race among others.

There was a spread of about 70 nm between the leader and the back of the fleet early Wednesday morning. The race weather forecaster is predicting favourable southwest winds of 20 to 25 kts for the next day or so although there could be some fog.

The racers are carrying Yellowbricks and you can track their progress at: Event website