Eric Holden's team of Young Canadian sailors took O CANADA out to stretch her legs a little after a 4 year lay up in Vancouver.
The team has been working around the clock for about 38 days to get her ready.
On Good Friday they started the Southern Straits Race starting in Vancouver from West Van, around Sisters Island and back.
They were joined by Zac Plasvic for the race. Zac is a 2 time Canadian Olympian in the Windsurfing class (RS:X) https://twitter.com/zac_plavsic He and Eric are friends from their junior sailing days in Vancouver. Zac learned of the plan by following http://www.canadianoceanracing.com
The start of the race was available from the boat via livestream. You can watch it here: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/12792916/events/3939464 They are still working the bugs out. There is no sound until the 30 minute mark.
Looked to me like there was very little wind and Eric was playing it safe the first time out. I did not see the big A2 flying (large spinnaker like sail).
The wind remained light all night and at 9:46 EST they are still out there racing/drifting.
Stay tuned for more action.
The boat will leave Vancouver around April 16th to sail to Toronto via the Panama Canal. The plan is to be in Toronto for the Pan Am Games and for the entire trip to be wiely available via the various internet platforms such as You Tube, Twitter, Facebook and for the old people email still works.
go to http://www.canadianoceanracing.com scroll to the bottom of the page and link up with the team on your favorite platform.