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by Sudie Parker
"I love Swiftsure, I love Victoria, it’s always sunny when I arrive," my friend announced at 6:00 am as we were making our way from Port Townsend to Victoria’s Inner Harbor. Looking out from the dodger to the drizzy, grey day, I swore she must have put something in that mug of tea she made for our breakfast. There was no way it was going to do anything but rain today.
Son of a gun—I thought as the boat came to a stop beside the dock in the Inner Harbor. The sun had come out from behind a cloud and warmed our chilled, damp faces. My dear friend smiled and said “I told you.” For Sam, this was one of the many reasons she keeps coming back to Swiftsure year after year. Some sailors say it’s the parties, others love the camaraderie, and everyone loves the screaming reaches from Race Rocks to the finish. This year’s forecast was looking grim for weather initially, and everyone was preparing for a long weekend on the water as the lighter winds were predicted. But again our driver for the weekend was optimistic, saying the winds would come, and a great spinnaker run would happen. Each year the Swiftsure race committee puts in hundreds of hours before the starting gun goes off, many of those hours are put in without racers even realizing the effort the volunteers have put forward. It’s not that racers don’t appreciate the work, it’s that they don’t always know what it takes to host an event that essentially takes over the city for the weekend. Race Chairman Bill Conconi and his tireless team have their hands full during the event coordinating media, race registration teams, tracking programs, race committee logistics, communications, race reporting, as well as the bevy of city, province, and Coast Guard permits and requirements. Running Swiftsure is often categorized as a Project Manager‘s dream, or nightmare, but the race wouldn’t be a reality without all the volunteers and their seemingly endless supply of energy. I’d like to say it early, and often. “Thank you so very much!”
As the fleet arrived for the Memorial Day weekend festivities, familiar faces and new toys could be found everywhere. John Buchan’s newest Glory was out for the event, complete with new nose, paint, sails, and name. For those wondering why that TP52 looked so big, it’s because he decided to buy the Andrews 77 Alchemy as his new project. The boat drew attention throughout the weekend, and even more after collecting a bevy of wins for their efforts. First Overall, First in Class, and First to Finish all went to John’s new -126 rater, officially the fastest boat in the Puget Sound by more than 50 seconds a mile. Also out was Strum and the new Mayhem. As tradition required, the J/105 team hosted the fleet party on the dock Thursday, and considering the crossing some had on Tuesday, two days was necessary to recover. As the team on Claymore explained after a very long, windy, wet delivery, “The boat was fine, but the crew had reached their limit.” The unofficial South Sound ambassador, Dave Knowlton, and his team from Koosah were present in style as well, being ever so helpful during the raft-up process for the boats in the inner harbor. You can usually pick out the new Swiftsure racers and the veterans. The veterans play on Thursday night, the new kids play on Friday and pay on Saturday. This year, however, it appeared that most everyone decided to hit the sack early Friday night, and by 10:00 pm the docks were eerily silent. Saturday dawned clear… and light. Really light. Oh jeez, this is gonna be a painful, “keep the anchor close by and pray for enough wind to get through Race Rocks” kind of light. As the committee boats got positioned for the start, the fleet motored around looking for the best wind/current combination. The Swiftsure Lightship Classic start occurred without a hitch as the cannon went off and the “All Clear” was announced on the radio. To see the first 20 boats ghosting off to Swiftsure bank is a beautiful thing. Over the years fewer and fewer boats venture to the Bank, and more and more are doing the shorter courses. The Swiftsure Race Committee is sensitive to the changing desires of their racers and have adopted a variety of courses to meet every boat’s needs. As the fleet beat/reached/ran their way to Race Rocks, it was clear that anchors for part of the fleet were going to be necessary. As the last boats managed to eek out against the flood, many others were left behind to ride out the flood and wait until the wind or currents were in their favor. The Farr-ari team decided that racing might be a bit silly in that light and fickle stuff, so they threw their lunch hook out and hung out until dinner. You have to give folks credit for hanging on the hook that long. Sure, it’s a long race, with a long time limit, but wow that’s serious dedication. As the fleet drifted along in glassine conditions, the occasional puff of wind would appear and allow one boat or another to ghost ahead of its competitors. You couldn’t get mad or frustrated that someone else caught a puff and you didn’t, you just had to keep focused and make a slow gradual path towards the turn mark. As evening time came, the wind filled enough to change from drifters, to light #1s and to heavy #1’s to #3’s, as the Cape Flattery fleet made their way past Clallam Bay towards Neah Bay. At approximately 9:30 pm Flash made their turn at Neah Bay, and by 10:30 pm Glory made her rounding at the Bank. Mystic was kicking transoms in Divison B of the Lightship Classic, showing just how ready they were for Vic-Maui this year. For the Cape Flattery race Mad Max flat out sailed like the crew stole the boat from the owner. It’s fun to see a boat that has had such a colorful history still doing well in the fleet. Tom Gilbert’s Graphix was also showing that the Soverel is still a decent light air boat, having rounded the Juan de Fuca mark ahead of boats rated faster than his. The spinnaker run back was another one of those “pick a side” kind of events, with the tide yet again against the boats. The most popular and successful answer due to weather patterns, was “Go to Canada.” The run home was absolutely amazing, providing some of the most pleasant night sailing we’ve had in ages. The weather was cooperating nicely with conditions not so windy that rotations couldn’t get a few minutes of sleep without having to be on deck every half an hour to gybe. The moon was out, the breeze was steady, and the closer boats got to Race Rocks, the stronger the wind became. As we approached Race Rocks at just before 6:00 am, we had peeled to the 1.5oz and were glad we did it early, as the wind kicked up to 25, with gusts to 30, as we howled through the pass at 12 knots over ground against foul tide. Once through the Rocks, we weren’t the only sailors excited at the prospect of finishing within the hour - but as always, Mother Nature had a brutal sense of humor. You guessed it, the wind shut off at the finish, as drifters and .5oz chutes went up, sailors did everything they could to get boats to the finish line “just a bit faster.” And so it went throughout the morning, and into the afternoon. Boats with weary, smiling, tired sailors made their way to the Inner Harbor. We had the luck to watch one boat arrive at nearly 8:30 pm the next day, and as Seeker made their way to the Safety dock, a cheer went out from the Empress floats to welcome the team back home after a 34.5 hour adventure. Other boats may get home quicker, but the Waquiez named Seeker showed true grit by making it out to the Bank and back when others quit shorter courses. This year, as crews were putting boats to rest, discussions were had about how the RC worked hard to make things easier, including online registrations. And helpful hints were shared in how to make preparing easier for skippers. Some hints were clever and so they are shared below: 1. Have your crew install their light and whistle to their PFDs before the race, it also gives them a chance to inspect the bobbins on auto-inflate models. This year several folks had to hit the chandlery for new bobbins as theirs were disintegrating and just waiting for an inopportune chance to trip. 2. Make a PIYA bag with rig cutters, backup lights, spare antenna, spare batteries for the backup lights, flares, and any other PIYA required gear that isn’t normally used, needs to be within reach for emergencies. Keep a spare tether, light, and whistle in there for ?“just in case” moments. 3. Have each crew fill out a crew information form with emergency contact info, and a copy of their passport and health card. There have been times where that information needed to be readily available when a crew member got hurt and returning to Victoria wasn’t the quickest way to help. 4. Download the crew contact information form, PIYA signature page, and PHRF cert and fill it out before trying to register. The volunteers were laughing at the number of people who always try to fill it out at the last minute, and running around trying to remember people’s last name or phone number. (The crew info form can be very helpful for this purpose). 5. Don’t forget water for the race. Not only is it a violation of for the longer races, but it’s also not safe for your crew. Sailing, sun, and exertion can lead to dehydration. One poor crew member was out buying loose individual bottles of water at the store the night before the race as his boat didn’t have water on board. Final results can be view at the Race Website ...to page two of Swiftsure Classis 2008 ...back to 48° North title page.
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