Royal Victoria Yacht Club Commodore Dale Gann, the RVYC Board, and the 2025 Swiftsure Committee, are excited to welcome all Competitors and Spectators to the 80^th Sailing of the SwiftsureInternational Yacht Race, May 23-25, 2025! A warm welcome is extended to our friends from British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.  

We wish all participants in the 49^th Sailing of the Pacific NW Offshore International Yacht Race a fantastic and safe race, and look forward to welcoming them to the Royal Victoria Yacht Club May 17-18!

A year of great contrasts, from a pile of wind to pretty much breathless. Broken gear but no broken people. Spirits were up in the stratosphere – and sometimes that’s what keeps you going when others have run out of steam. Until the last moment on Sunday, inching toward midnight, four boats just kept going and going, ghosting right to the end. It paid off for North Star who crossed the finish line at 23:37:00 with moments to spare and, in doing so, took first place in Cape Flattery PHRF Division 1 while also officially being the Last to Finish! The three other boats that raced right to the end are worth noting; Jugo in Cape Flattery ORC, Moonglow in Cape Flattery PHRF, and Bardo in Juan de Fuca Race. They exhibited the spirit it takes to race Swiftsure – Bravo Zulu all.

Swiftsure Lightship Classic race has many stories of victories and challenges. This 2024 race was no different – seven yachts began in a big blow and finished in a whisper. By the time the clock was winding down it became apparent, as Adam Serediuk of Planet Express wrote, “the math is mathing” and finishing within the time limit wouldn’t happen. Two boats did finish in fine form. Mach 2, Dan Sinclair’s newly-acquired Andrews 77 came across the finish line at 13:16:20, taking Line Honours for 2024.  Will-O’-The Wisp, Jeff Eckard’s venerable Petersen 41, crossed at 18:07:36, correcting ahead and taking First Place Overall. Jeff, a 1992 Olympic competitor in the men’s two-person dinghy category, has a fine touch on the tiller of his modified-IOR racer. Will-O’-The Wisp crew included Ross Jespersen-navigator, Eric Jespersen-former Olympic medalist in the Star Class, Brent Jacobi, Matt Schinbein, Hugh Owen, Emma Maynard, and Stephanie Bacon – mighty deep talent here. Only the second time in the 79-year history of Swiftsure Lightship Classic that a Royal Victoria Yacht Club entry has been the Overall Winner!

The 79^th running of the Swiftsure International Yacht Race got off with a bang. Skies were overcast but bright and dry. Winds were present in a big way – a fine start to the day. So many numbers have been tossed about in various media but when the dust settled, and the race boats headed for the course, there were 126 boats registered and prepared to race:

• 7 in Swiftsure Lightship Classic
• 23 Cape Flattery PHRF
• 41 Cape Flattery ORC
• 5 Juan de Fuca Multihulls
• 32 Juan de Fuca Monohulls
• 9 Inshore Racing
• 9 Inshore Cruising

The Swiftsure Lightship Classic had a clean start bang on 1000 PT on Saturday, May 25^th. The following start, in which Cape Flattery PHRF and ORC boats started together, 64 boats massed near the committee boat and, with no clear view of the handful of ‘Over Early’ boats in the largest fleet, Principal Race Officer Dugald Smith made the call – General Recall of the fleet. The Cape Flattery boats reassembled, got into their desired ‘slot’ and at 1029 their race began with an ‘All Clear’. No need to seek clear air – a term used for finding unimpeded wind for each boat – there was lots for all. This was an upwind start under white sails, though many boats now sport dark grey 3Di sails, a three dimension membrane fabric with 5 layers fused to become the specific desired sail shape. Next up, Juan de Fuca Multihulls had a clean start at 1040. Juan de Fuca Monohulls were next out, and got away cleanly at 1100, followed, after a slight delay, by the Inshore Racing division at 1123 and Inshore Cruising division at 1134.

Not long after all races were started, some boats experienced challenges. A dramatic shredded mainsail sent one boat back to the docks. Of the 5 starting multihulls, 3 soon found the conditions overwhelming and withdrew from racing. The smallest boat in the Long Courses, No Dress Code, had hit something unknown just before the start but kept racing until they discovered water below decks and had to be assisted back to Fisherman’s Wharf by the RCM-SAR 35. In all cases, crew were safe. Clearly the safety protocols were pressed into service; crew, craft, mission.