(Victoria, BC)- The premiere race of the Pacific Northwest will
showcase three overnight race courses (80, 103, and 139 nautical miles)
and one long day race over the course of the Memorial Day Weekend. With
the start line off Victoria's beautiful waterfront, and racing in the
Strait of Juan de Fuca with its beautiful coastline and challenging
winds and currents, it is a must for all sailors young and old. It's a
remarkable race that is steeped in local history and legend.
The
first recorded sailboat racing in the Victoria area was in the late
1850′s, between boats of the British Royal Navy and the early Colonists
(about the same time the yacht AMERICA was eviscerating the Queen's
fastest loyalists in the Around Isle of Wight Race- e.g. the 100 Guinea
Cup-- a.k.a. America's Cup). Interest in the sport grew in the
following decades, and by 1930, a long distance race from Cadboro Bay
around the Lightship on Swiftsure Bank, at the entrance to the Juan de
Fuca Strait was proposed, and there were six entrants! By 1960,
forty-five boats were entered in this now-classic race. In 1962, after
considerable grumbling by skippers of boats that were too small to go to
“the Bank”, Royal Victoria Yacht Club introduced a shorter-course race
to Clallam Bay, some fifteen miles west of Port Angeles, and called it
the Juan de Fuca Race. Later, with increased participation and faced
with only two courses, one of 137 miles and the other of only 76 miles,
the race organizers and many skippers found themselves in a dilemma. The
solution was the introduction in 1988 of the Cape Flattery race, of 100
miles in length, halfway between the Swiftsure Bank and the Clallam Bay
courses. This has proved to be a very popular race, attracting some of
the very largest boats. Imagine the Rolex RORC Fastnet Race today, it
could have over 1,000 boats with a similar format!
In
the earlier years of Swiftsure, Eaton’s Department Store major-display
window at the corner of Douglas & View (the equivalent of HARROD's
in London, England) in downtown Victoria was set up as “Swiftsure
Headquarters”. A large map of the race course was installed, and the
progress of the race was shown by moving miniature boats across the map.
As the numbers of boats increased this became a daunting task. The
event, and this way of graphically displaying progress, was very much
appreciated by Victorians. “Thousands of people used to line the
sidewalks, sit on the curbs. There was a feeling of excitement right
there, in the middle of town”! And, Ladbrokes betting parlor could not
have been far away!
“Since
the first radio broadcast from “Does crazy yotsmen” competed with the
fisherman’s band to the outside world during the 1952 race, Humphrey
Golby has been “on the air”. Media coverage expanded when Harold
Elworthy’s Island Tug and Barge Company generously provided tugboats for
the press. Radio station CKDA pioneered 'live broadcasting' of sailing
with the limited ship-to-shore equipment of the day and ‘The voice’ was
born.” Needless to say, modern sailing coverage is just beginning to
take light, thanks to friends like Stan Honey and others with a bit of
Polynesian navigator experience and know-how inter-mixed with FOX Sports
production capabilities.
What's
unusual about this year's Swiftsure Classic? SWISH and JOYRIDE, a pair
of J/80's, are the latest entries in 2012 Swiftsure. What's cool about
these two boats is that a crew of Commodores will be racing one and
their "First Ladies" will be racing the other. Yikes! Class warfare?
Warfare of the sexes? The Battle of Haves vs HaveNots (Huguenots?).
Commodores of Vice (the girls) vs Commodores Ex (the boys)? Hmmmm.
What it is-- the Commodores from Royal Victoria Yacht Club (Jeremy
Smith), Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (Guy Walters) and Seattle Yacht Club
(Chuck Lowry) will race SWISH. Their wives- Tara Smith, Barbara Picton
and Pam Lowry will race JOYRIDE. Both boats will be skippered by a
Smith-- how appropriate. Good fun and games! Please be forewarned, any
"mushroom cloud" seen in the vicinity of Victoria BC is simply two
J/80s having a simple "port-starboard altercation". :)Aside from the fun and frolic in the J/80s inshore off Victoria, there are 24 J's participating in the four different races, nearly 14% of the overall fleet and the largest brand sailing offshore in the Seattle/ Vancouver region in the event.
In
the "Big Daddy" event- the original, classic Swiftsure Race division
that goes out of the Straits of Juan de Fuca for 139 nm- there are 24
boats participating from the start to Swiftsure Bank and return.
Included are the gorgeous J/160 JAM sailed by John McPhail and the
speedy lightweight flyer, the J/125 WARRIOR skippered by Greg Constable.The incredibly popular Cape Flattery Race division that goes for 103 nm has 75 boats going from the start to Neah Bay and return. This cast of characters includes the J/145 DOUBLE TAKE sailed by Tom Huseby- his second J/145! It also includes the J/46 RIVA (Scott Campbell), the successfully campaigned J/122 ANAM CARA (Tom Kelly- from Portland YC in Oregon), the J/120 TIME BANDIT (Robert Brunius), the new J/111 ADALGISA (Lynn Adkins), the J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE (Ron Mackenzie), the J/105 LAST TANGO (Jim Geros), the J/35 TAKING OFF (Russell Engbrecht) and the J/42 VELOCITY (Tom Keffer).
The Juan de Fuca Race division that goes for 80 nm has 44 boats sailing from start to Clallam Bay and return to the finish. Included in this class are a slew of J/109s and J/30s. The J/109 teams are JEOPARDY (Ed Pinkham), TIPPY (Peter McComb) and DIVA (Jim Prentice). The J/30 teams are LIMELIGHT (Martin Vachon), CONRAD J (Geoffrey Wolf) and RADIANT HEAT (Tony Brogan). For more Swiftsure Race sailing information on Facebook For more Swiftsure Race sailing information
