Swiftsure 2024 Registration’s Open

Registration for the 79th running of the Swiftsure International Yacht Race is OPEN! With already 20 boats registered, there’s great enthusiasm including the race host Royal Victoria Yacht Club’s Commodore Marc Owen-Flood’s Discernment, and the 2023 Swiftsure Lightship Classic winner, Zvi racing for Seattle Yacht Club. Check the ‘Registered Yachts’ page often to see who your competition will be or your favourite boat to follow.

With a race for almost everyone; Swiftsure Lightship Classic through Inshore Races you can

register here

It takes many folks pulling together to create the race environment – from the Inner Harbour’s Victoria Causeway, to Clover Point and the Finish Line. We invite volunteers to help sustain Swiftsure, a Victoria maritime tradition. Swiftsure’s Volunteer Coordinator Gillian Manson has created a great Swiftsure Handbook to familiarize us with the variety of volunteer options, whether setting up the race sites or serving soup to cold & hungry sailors. When ready, you may register at any time to ‘Become a Volunteer’ and join Swiftsure’s excitement. If you have questions about volunteering, Gillian would love to hear from you and find a fun position.

We’re glad to have ‘Platinum’ sponsor ‘The Butchart Gardens – a National Historic Site’ join the suite of fine Swiftsure sponsors.

Swiftsure – Always A Challenge

Swiftsure 2024 Notices of Race are now posted!

In response to Swiftsure racers, we have exciting information:

  • Hein Bank Race has been retired – yachts may choose the original legendary Swiftsure Lightship Classic (PHRF) or Cape Flattery Race where an ORC class has been added along with PHRF
  • Start time for Swiftsure 2024 is 10 AM – a better alignment with arrival of winds
  • No longer SPOT transponders for the Three Long Courses; the Kwindoo Race Tracking application for Racers will be employed on a designated smartphone
  • Three Long Courses distances: Swiftsure Lightship Classic = 138.2 nm (PHRF NW rating 100 or faster), Cape Flattery Races = 101.9 nm (ORC/PHRF NW), Juan de Fuca Races = 75.2 nm (PHRF NW 60 and slower)
  • Updated World Sailing Category 3 Offshore Special Regulations(OSR) and specific 2024 Swiftsure Amendments to the OSRs for the Three Long Courses are posted in Swiftsure’s Notices of Race and Official Notice Board
  • Here’s the link to the 2024 Swiftsure Notices of Race

Haytor’s Redemption – The Inshore Swiftsure

Pacific Yachting, a longtime Swiftsure sponsor, granted permission to Swiftsure to share this article from their July 2023 edition written by Alex Fox in his ‘The Favoured Tack’ column.

A story of the little boat that did. From trials and tribulations to triumph read about the Hotfoot 27 Haytor that was destined for destruction until a few members of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, host of the Swiftsure International Yacht Race, decided to recover her broken body and not only restored Haytor to racing trim but improved her to become a winner.

Swiftsure 2023: Six Races, Two Records, A Gazelle, A Dragon & Thunder

Swiftsure 2023 is in the books but not before two competitors set new records for elapsed time.

Blow ye winds in the morning, blow ye winds Hi Ho.

Boats were well prepared for the predicted winds of the Pacific Northwest. Swiftsure race day dawned dry, and calm with 116 boats raring to go. Race yachts eased away from the docks, mustering off Clover Point. Spectators enjoyed a warm morning with the yachts testing their sails and checking currents. The photographs and videos are breathtaking as Swiftsure’s photography team began to share race day images.

A spectacular array of boats graced the 6 race starts. The longest was 84’ stays’l schooner ‘Martha’, the shortest was 17’ Cape Code Cat ‘Catlin’. Fast race yachts such as 3 TP52s took on Hein Bank race. The true stalwarts, racing the namesake Swiftsure Lightship Classic (SLC), were here for Swiftsure’s legendary challenge – and got it in spades this year.

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Korina Korina is home – this concludes 2023 Swiftsure

At some minutes before 1900, well before tonight’s midnight race cutoff, korina korina crossed the finish line. This makes her the last boat of 2023 to finish the race. Congratulations to her and to every  competitor this year.

Let’s all give a big thanks to the organizing committee for this year’s Swiftsure International Yacht Race. And particularly we extend our gratitude to Randy Diamond, the Race Event Chair – you’ve been a fine leader and have risen to many challenges. To the over 100 volunteers it has taken to put on this race – well done team, you should be proud of your contribution of your time, creativity, and ingenuity.

We hope to see all the competitors back for Swiftsure 2024 for an even better race event.

 

 

Dragon Burns Up Another Record

Another Swiftsure race record has fallen – Juan de Fuca Race for Multihulls has a new course record (confirmation pending).

Duncan Gladman’s Custom Multihull, Dragon, racing for the Northwest Multihull Association – Canada, crossed the line not only ‘before the bar closed’ as was the refrain for decades, but finished Saturday before afternoon tea was over. And in so doing, took Line Honours, setting an unofficial  Elapsed Time for First to Finish record of 7 hours 37 minutes and 58 seconds. Preliminary Results: https://www.swiftsure.org/live-race-results/

This is in addition to Duncan’s Dragon having set the previous record in 2022 of 10 hours 31 minutes and 45 seconds.

 

R2AK 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Answer is… Yes, Unofficially

What a day, what a night, what a race! Westerly gales pressed 40 knots and the racers kept on racing. Some gear was broken but it didn’t stop everyone.

Terramoto ready to race Swiftsure 2023

Terramoto was racing Cape Flattery Race in Division 1 of the Light Class.

 

 

William (Bill) Weinstein’s RT35 was fully crewed and racing for CYC Seattle. And they’ve done their club proud.

The previous Elapsed Time for First to Finish was set in 2007 by Flash with an elapsed time of 12 hours 51 minutes and 13 seconds.

Terramoto has an unofficial elapsed time of 12 hours 07 minutes and 55 seconds. We await confirmation about her time and, should it stand, she’ll have shaved 45 minutes off the previous record.

Preliminary Live Results here (scroll down to Cape Flattery Race).

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Will Race Records Be Broken?

Photo: Charlotte Gann

On everyone’s mind is the question – will there be records broken this year?

Swiftsure has the previous records here for Monohull Fastest Times back through the years:

  • Swiftsure Lightship Classic; Fastest Elapsed Time for First to Finish
    • 2007 Braveheart 15:08:02
  • Cape Flattery; Fastest Elapsed Time for First to Finish
    • 2007 Flash 12:51:13
  • Juan de Fuca; Fastest Elapsed Time for First to Finish
    • 2005 Yummy 9:18:53

Race day is here!

Today is the start of the 2023 Swiftsure International Yacht Race and it looks like it will be a good one! The forecast is for a fresh breeze at the start, increasing to a full gale this afternoon setting the stage for a quick race.

The Swiftsure Race Tracker goes live at 07:00 so you can watch the boats proceeding to the start at 09:00. If you’re in Victoria, you can head down to Clover Point to watch the start in person. Be sure to come down early for the Central Saanich Lions Club Pancake Breakfast starting at 08:00