The Pacific NW Offshore International Yacht Race is set for May 14-17, 2026, aiming to welcome 50 boats to celebrate 50 years in the making.
Have you ever wanted to be part of history? Have you ever contemplated racing offshore and thought, “Isn’t there that Oregon Offshore race that I probably really need to do sometime?”
Well, now is the chance to answer “Yes” to both because the 2026 Schooner Creek Boat Works Pacific NW Offshore (PNWO) race will be truly special. It’s the historic 50th year of the race from the mouth of the Columbia River all the way to Victoria, British Columbia. And for those who’ve done the race in the past, this year aims to be one for the record books because the Portland Yacht Club is pulling out all the stops to have 50 boats for this 50th year.
The whole thing started 50 years ago when two Portland sailors, Jack Gainer and Richard Kipp, decided Portland sailors should have an ocean race to rival other famous races held in the Pacific Northwest. For this first race they decided on a course with a start near the mouth of the Columbia River to finish 100 miles south at Newport, Oregon. They called it, appropriately, the Oregon Offshore. The Corinthian Yacht Club of Portland (CYC) worked with them to manage the race as the organizing authority. CYC continued in that role until this year when the race transitioned to the Portland Yacht Club. That first race had 10 competitors and was won by Jim Christianson on his boat Destiny.
Time marched on with the race trying out several different courses of varying lengths up and down the Oregon and Washington coasts until 1980 when the current course was locked in. This course starts near Buoy 2 off the mouth of the Columbia, races north to Cape Flattery where it turns the corner to go east down the Strait of Juan de Fuca leaving Duntze Rock to starboard as a turning mark. The race then finishes with a dash either through or around Race Rocks Passage to near the entrance to Victoria Harbour.
This course accomplished three goals of the organizers: First, it was a longer and more offshore race than the previous courses. Second, it facilitated and supported getting boats to go north to either cruise or race at the start of the summer sailing season in the Sound and Gulf Islands. And third, it provided direct support and racers for the Swiftsure International Yacht Race on Memorial Day weekend. This direct connection to Swiftsure led to an ongoing relationship with the Royal Victoria Yacht Club (RVYC) that continues to this day with an awards barbecue after the race at RVYC on the oceanside lawn overlooking boats in the bay.
In 2019, the name was changed to the Pacific NW Offshore to reflect the course and the inclusivity of all Northwest sailors who race in it. That year also saw another big change when the host city, Astoria, Oregon, was moved to Ilwaco, Washington. It has a much larger and deeper number of slips available for racers and is one hour closer to the mouth of the Columbia River and the start. The Port of Ilwaco and the cities on the Long Beach Peninsula have embraced the race and not only been welcoming to the racers, but provide opportunities for the shore crews to go exploring the beaches and the lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, and Astoria is still just a short hop over the bridge back to Oregon.
Over these 50 years, the Pacific NW Offshore has enjoyed the participation of all sizes and shapes of boats from every corner of the Pacific Northwest. The smallest boat to participate has been 24 feet with several 27 footers racing and winning on corrected time. The Canadian training ship, the HMCS Oriole has done the race as well as Santa Cruz 70s, many boats in the 30-40 foot range, cruisers and racers, and custom one-offs like ZVI, Rage, and Icon, and even multihulls such as Cheekee Monkee and Presto. Two racers, Steve Rander and Tom Kelly from Portland have a friendly disagreement as to who has done the most races–either 36 or 37 for either of them. There are many skippers who have over 20 under their belts and two boats, Bob Brunius’ Time Bandit and Dave Raney’s (Steve Rander’s) Rage, each have five overall wins. Simply based on this recurring participation, the review is that this is a unique and exciting race.
The excitement comes from both the vagaries of the course and the weather. It’s commonly said that the race is actually three races in one. The first race is up the Washington coast to Tatoosh with an ocean swell and often breeze on the nose. It can be a pounding beat, and yet, every couple of years there is a southerly that comes in and makes it a downwind run the 120 miles up the coast. At the corner starts the second race, down the Strait. Competitors are tested with light and heavy winds on the nose or from behind with tidal currents that test navigation skills. The third race is from Race Rocks through the bay and the finish outside of the harbor entrance. Even with great wind down the Strait, the bay can be flat calm. The currents can be interesting as they flow around the perimeter. Many boats have had a long lead only to see it slowly drift away as the breeze shuts off before the finish. Three separate challenges in one race.
Finally, racers do it because of its length, roughly 200 miles, and time on course, anywhere from under 24 hours to the time limit of 72 hours. As such, they use the race as an early season shakedown of crew and boat for longer races such as the PacCup and the Vic-Maui and, more importantly, it is a qualifier race for both of those races. Boats such as the Boss, a J/35, do this race and then head off to the PacCup where in 2024 they won the PHRF class and Corinthian Trophy. The current race record was set in 2014 by Kevin Welch and crack crew on the 65 foot Bob Perry Custom design Icon in 14:56:20, beating the previous record by almost five hours, which had been held by Rage for over 10 years.
Join us and become part of history while testing your mettle and skills with a multi-challenge, multi-day offshore race with some inshore current wrestling thrown in for good measure. The 2026 race is May 14-17 with the skippers meeting in Ilwaco the night before. As is the tradition, when you arrive at the dock in Victoria, you’ll be greeted with hot towels and a bit of bubbly. Then, you get to spend part of Sunday afternoon at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club at the awards barbecue sponsored by Goslings Rum. Dark ’n’ Stormies, anyone?
What a way to start your summer and lock your name into the record books. Entries are limited to 50 boats. Be one of those 50 for the 50th. See you in Ilwaco.
Race information and registration: www.pacificnwoffshore.org
Note: Feature image by Maria Swearingen, courtesy of Griffin Bay Adventures.
