Swiftsure still a big draw at 75
At least 200 boats expected for this year’s run of venerable international yacht race
One boat in Swiftsure Lightship Classic 2018 will sail with a crew dealing with personal handicaps but blessed with that unique team ethos that comes with military training.
STV (Sail Training Vessel) Goldcrest will race with an eight-person crew only the Canadian Armed Forces could put together. Four will be navy sailors and four will be military members dealing with service-related injuries — physical, psychological or emotional.
“We have all levels of disabled sailors,” said Lt.-Cmdr. Chris Maier, commander of the Canadian Naval Fleet School Pacific. “They can be serving members or veterans that we are trying to help return to full service or function.”
Maier, who is also commodore of the Canadian Forces Sailing Association, said Goldcrest is a 36-foot sailboat, one of two on the Pacific coast. They are used to train all Canadian Navy ranks and trades in the ways of rope work, wind and wave, the sorts of things that can only be learned close to the water.
He said when the idea was raised to use Goldcrest to assist recovering members and enter Swiftsure, he was eager to skipper. Military training, after all, provides people with a unique skill set — the ability to solve problems as Swiftsure 75 will see the running of races over five courses, depending on things such as vessel type, skill and the ambition of the racing crews. Swiftsure Lightship Classic (256 kilometres) This is the big one, 256 kilometres from the starting line at Clover Point heading west through and out of Juan de Fuca Strait on to Swiftsure Bank at the lip of the Pacific and back. This year, HMCS Nanaimo will mark Swiftsure Bank. After rounding the ship, the boats will cross over toward Vancouver Island and head east to the finish at Victoria’s Inner Harbour. part of a team. It can be deployed to overcome disabilities and other struggles. It’s almost made for a sailboat crew.
“That small-team environment, working together to solve problems or react to events, it’s what we learn in the military, and a sailboat is a great place to continue with that,” said Maier. “It just shows sailing is a really great sport for life.”
This year’s Swiftsure International Yacht Race, the 75th, will feature at least 200 boats, including Goldcrest.
That 200 number is a long way off the historic high set in 1981, when 441 boats entered. But organizers consider it a comfortable rebound after the low of 2011, when only 152 boats entered.
It’s also good proof of the continued success of Swiftsure, the largest competitive yachting event on the west coast of North America. It’s a handicapped race to give all entrants a more equal competitive chance. It’s also now a qualifying event for the Vic Maui International, in which entrants race from Victoria to Hawaii in July.
The Swiftsure International Yacht Race was first held in 1930 and featured only six boats. Save for a few halts for world events, the Great Depression and the Second World War, the race has continued.
The first Swiftsure Lightship Classic was named for a lightship, Cape Flattery Race (189 kilometres) This course features two races, one for multi-hull vessels and the other for single hulls. Both are handicapped and split into divisions to make for the best competition. Sailors in the Cape Flattery course are saved the challenge of sailing outside the strait on to the more open Pacific. Cape Flattery racers leave Clover Point and sail west down Juan de Fuca Strait. They shift direction at Neah Bay in Washington state, where they round a marker and head north and back toward Vancouver Island to finish at the Inner Harbour. a floating lighthouse once anchored by the U.S. Coast Guard at Swiftsure Bank to mark the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait.
The lightship was a convenient marker for yachts to use as turnaround point. That light is especially important as the total distance, 256 kilometres, would see the sailboat racers out on the Pacific after dark. The lightship has long been retired, but this year, the spot will be marked by HMCS Nanaimo.
The strait has always provided interesting winds and challenges. Pacific winds are funnelled, compressed and speeded up as they move between the Olympic Mountains to the South and Vancouver Island to the north.
Those land formations create unique thermal winds. The sun heats up the earth on other side of the strait, causing air to rise and create a breeze. But Swiftsure is an overnight event, so when the sun goes down, those thermal breezes slack off and sails sag.
Another frequent challenge arises when the boats sailing in the Lightship Classic leave Juan de Fuca Strait and venture upon the Pacific Ocean. Instead of encountering breezes sped up by the geographic tunnel effect, boats must deal with those over the sea. Sails often sag and flutter.
Then again, maybe neither funnelled winds nor thermal breezes arise, whatever the time of day. Hein Bank Race (218.7 kilometres) This course was added three years ago and is proving very popular. Its distance almost equals the Lightship Classic, but sailors are saved the challenge of sailing on to the Pacific. Racers start at Clover Point and follow the Cape Flattery route, shifting course at Neah Bay. But instead of making the tricky course correction at Race Rocks to head north back to the Inner Harbour, they carry on toward the San Juan Islands, where they round a marker buoy before heading northwest back to the harbour. Some years, the wind just never comes, and resulting contests have been dubbed “Driftsure.”
Vern Burkhardt, Swiftsure event chairman, said race organizers never stopped re-examining the event and devising new challenges. Burkhardt said the first to come was the Cape Flattery Race, followed by others.
Three years ago, the Hein Bank event was devised. It gives enough distance to offer racers some significant navigation challenges, but deletes the tricky sojourn onto the open Pacific.
Burkhardt said the variety of race challenges, the handicap system and the event’s over-riding culture of safety mean anyone can enter, place well and even win. That’s whether boats are less than 30 feet in length or over 40.
“The handicap system we use is designed to make it fair for everyone,” he said. “There can be some very expensive boats out there, but there can be others owned by people who keep them on a family budget.”
“There is no minimum standard size or technology,” said Burkhardt. “The key is whether the boats have been safely prepared and you have a crew experienced and ready to handle some challenging conditions.”
For more information about Swiftsure, go online to swiftsure.org. Juan de Fuca Race (146 kilometres) This race is open to multi-hulls and single-hulled vessels. In this race, racers leave Clover Point and sail west and south toward Washington state. At Clallam Bay on the American side, they round a mark and head back toward Vancouver Island. Near Port Renfrew, they turn to head east to finish up at Victoria Harbour. Swiftsure Inshore Classic (45 to 75 kilometres) This is the shortest course and is designed as a day sail to bring sailors back in time for supper. Racers leave Clover Point and head west. Near William Head, they round a marker buoy and head back east and ultimately end up at a finish line in Cadboro Bay near the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. The final course of the race depends on wind and weather conditions, so it will not be known until the morning of the race. This year, it will feature two races, a competitive flying sail and a more relaxed Legends of Swiftsure to give a chance to older, restored or classic boats.