n for all at 15 3992 - North Shore News ~ 13 nnual sailing race A COLORFUL pack of approximately 70 sailboats made the most of steady wind, bright sunshine and = sparkling water at the 15th annual North Shore News Sailing Race on Sunday. A five-knot wind blew in from the northwest at the 10 a.m. race start-time off Dundarave Pier. A tight group mixed it up for a few water-shicing moments is sailors vied for wind and positioning ad- vantive for che fist dee of the race out to the Point Atkinson bellbuoy marker. Said race marshall Brian Morse, who skippered the 4])-foot Vitara, “The starr of the race was much more competitive and exciting. Peuple seemed to be out for blood. There were a lot of near misses."* About 45 minutes into the race, the wind picked up the pace for the duration at a steady 10 to 12 knots. Leiko, a 33-foot sailing sloop skippered by False Creek Yacht Ciub member Dr. George Sakata of North Vancouver, was the first to round the Point Atkinson marker about one hour into the race. The 24-foot Simplicity, skip- pered by False Creek Yacht Club member Sally Holden, rounded Point Atkinson in second place and eventually went on to finish the race sixth overall. The 24-foot Scarier, skippered by Royal Vancouver Yacht Club By Michael Becker News Reporter member Matt Alexander rounded Pont Atkinson in third place, go- ing on to finish the race in fifth place overall. Leiko held its lead to the Point Grey) marker, rounding it one hour and 24 minutes into the race. The 38-foot sloop Maestro. skippered by False Creek Yachr Club member David Shore, was close behind to round the point in second spot. But Leiko went on to breeze across the race finish marker in first place at 2:24. Maestro clock- ed in two minutes behind with the 44-foot sloop Carolina. finishing third. Said race winner Dr. George Sakata, the skipper of Leiko, “Our strategy was just to have fun. “te was a funny start. You couldn’t lay the start line on a starboard tack. We got really tied up with a whole bunch of boats. Then we tacked onto port and we went inshore. “That worked well. The ebb See Ideal page 14 NEWS photo Nei! Lucenta THE OLDEST crew member participating in the 15th annual North Shore News Sailing Race, 92-year-old Ron Drane (above) is con- gratuiated by Leigh Vincent-Lambert at the post-race celebration held in the Granville sland Hotel; a sun-crazed crew pumps water (below); sailors flash a festive hull (below left); race winner Leiko crosses the finishing marker (above left).