Finding “Swiftsure”

Leaving Port San Juan in the morning, headed for the Strait of Juan de Fuca

A morning departure from Port Renfrew promised a beautiful day with good visibility and gentle rolling seas of 4-5 feet. 

Race Rocks Lighthouse near the east end in Strait of Juan de Fuca

Traveling with the current, we gained an additional 3 knots of speed and made good time heading eastward. 

AIS shows numerous boats headed our way and crossing the commericial traffic lanes (our boat shown in green)

As we neared Victoria, an unusual number of AIS (Automatic Identification System) targets appeared on our chart plotter.  We soon realized it was the Swiftsure International Yacht Race that had departed from Victoria, making their way westward along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

Small Class Sailboat headed along the shore

First held in 1930, Swiftsure is the largest competitive sailing race on the West Coast of North America.  Various classes of sailboats participate and the race is organized with a handicap system so all entrants have an equal competitive chance. 

The race also serves as a qualifying event for the Vic Maui International held in July, a race from Victoria to Hawaii.  The Swiftsure includes six groups which leave at 10-minute intervals from Clover Point; 441 boats entered to race in this year’s event, explaining the large number of sailboats that crossed our path. 

A Larger Class Sailboat

The Swiftsure includes both a Long Course and an Inshore Course.  During the short course, or Inshore course, yachts sail west toward William Head before turning at their mark and making their way eastward to the finish line at Cadboro Bay by late afternoon. 

Long Course yachts make their way to Race Passage toward the west and sail through the night, reaching various turning marks located in U.S. waters before racing back to Victoria.  It’s a challenging race with constantly changing winds, tides, and current. 

The Strait of Juan de Fuca is such a large body of water, that we had no problem avoiding the numerous sailboats, which at that time were going against the current. 

Our AIS showed speed over ground for the larger class sailboats (large sails) crossing the Strait at 8 knots, while the smaller sailboats along the shore were showing speed over ground at 5-6 knots.  It was great fun to watch their course line and tactics.  We arrived at our anchorage in Esquimalt Harbour around 3 p.m.  It had been a nice day with good weather and the added bonus of seeing “Swiftsure” participants in action.