Boisterous, challenging Swiftsure International Yacht Race at Royal Victoria Yacht Club Canada

Swiftsure International Yacht Race © Jill Fitz Photography

The 79th running of the Swiftsure International Yacht Race, hosted by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, got off with a bang.

Skies were overcast, but bright and dry. Winds were present in a big way, well into the 25 to 35 kts range, with most boats starting with single or double reefs in the mainsail and mostly #4 jibs! 126 boats were going down the track.

The Swiftsure Lightship Classic had a clean start bang on 1000 PT on Saturday, May 25th. 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 and 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. Juan de Fuca Monohulls was next out, and got away cleanly at 1100, followed, after a slight delay, by the Inshore Racing division at 1123 and the Inshore Cruising division at 1134.

The tide, slack soon after the start, shifted to a flood. The sea state flattened some and the westerly wind gusts that had punched up above 35 kts, became less punchy and the westerly held steady. Boats lined up in their desired lanes and headed for Race Rocks - some chose to go outside, some through the Passage. The race settled into a groove, and the winds held. A few more boats pulled the plug and headed back to the harbor.

Around 3 PM PT, Swiftsure's social media lit up - angry comments piled up about the race tracker not working. Folks at home who were following their loved ones' boat couldn't get race tracker information. After research into the Kwindoo tracker function by Swiftsure's webmaster, Swiftsure issued a bulletin that the issue was a gateway server error from the Kwindoo tracker's host. By 2330 PT on Saturday, the Kwindoo tracker support team identified that their server had experienced a hacker attack from a foreign country. By Sunday 0530 Pacific Time, Kwindoo's tracker support team notified Swiftsure that all was back to functioning normally. Here is how it all went down for the various J/Team.

Cape Flattery Race

This is a 101.0nm dash up Juan de Fuca Straits to a buoy off Cape Flattery and return. Only two boats finished the course in a fleet of 26 boats! Winning was John Aitchison's J/105 MOOSE UNKNOWN by the enormous margin of 10 hours!

Juan de Fuca Race

This 75.2nm race rounds a variety of buoys crisscrossing the Juan de Fuca Straits, too. Don Leighton's venerable J/35 TAHLEQUAH sailed a solid race to take the bronze medal!

Cape Flattery Race

This 101.9nm race rounds five offshore buoys in the Juan de Fuca Straits before bolting to the finish line off Victoria Harbour. The top J was Alex Smyth's J/111 65 RED ROSES II in 7th place.

More information at swiftsure.org