When HMCS Whitehorse fires her gun at 9 a.m. next Saturday, it will signal the start for more than 200 sailboats in one of North America’s most prestigious yachting races, the Swiftsure International.
The Swiftsure International Yacht Race offers a good combination of uncertain winds and tricky tidal currents in a confined geographic space. But it still offers some good open-water sailing.
Also, it is now a qualifying event for the longer Vic Maui International in July, where boats race from Victoria to Maui in Hawaii.
Swiftsure is a race with a deep history. The first event sailed in 1930 with six boats. The following years included the Great Depression and the Second Word War, so races were unable to resume until 1948.
The signature event, the Swiftsure Lightship Classic, is named for the U.S. Coast Guard lightship once anchored as a lighthouse-type warning at the Swiftsure Bank at the western entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait. That lightship has been retired, but has been preserved and is recognized as a heritage vessel in the U.S.
Its role as a race marker will be performed by HMCS Whitehorse, which will motor over after firing the starting guns.
Swiftsure is a handicapped race, assigning different numbers to each boat, which are then factored into the finishing times. This means the biggest, most modern and expensive yacht will not necessarily take first place.
Organizers have also worked to mix things up just enough year after year to keep the event interesting, offering four long course races and one short.
It’s also a chance for the public to catch a glimpse of a sport that is neither as expensive nor as out of reach as might be supposed. You don’t have to be able to afford your own boat, when skippers are often looking for crew members.
