Revised Safety Regs Open Swiftsure Lightship Race to Smaller Boats

Registration is now open for the 71st running of the Pacific Northwest’s major annual sailing event, the Swiftsure International Yacht Race. Sailed out of Victoria’s Inner Harbour May 24-26, Swiftsure incorporates overnight and one-day races on four separate courses in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as pre- and post-race festivities in Victoria.

Long courses include the 138-mile Swiftsure Lightship Classic to Swiftsure Bank, the 102-mile Cape Flattery Race to Neah Bay WA, and the 79-mile Juan de Fuca Race to Clallam Bay WA. The Swiftsure Inshore Classic is a one-day event on a shorter course close to Victoria. Swiftsure ranks among the most challenging sailing events in the Northwest, thanks to a combination of unpredictable winds and weather plus strong currents that tests crews’ skills and patience year after year.

Organizers at the host Royal Victoria Yacht Club say changes to the safety equipment requirements for the race open up the long course to smaller boats with more modest budgets. Effective March 1, the Pacific International Yachting Association will introduce a new Safety Equipment Requirements system for competing yachts that is designed to be easier for owners and inspectors to understand, and more compact. 

The Lightship Classic is now classified as a “Coastal” event (“Races not far removed from shorelines, where rescue is likely to be quickly available”), meaning yachts no longer need to carry a life raft to race to Swiftsure Bank. Organizers say this doesn’t mean safety on the long course is compromised – the turning mark is a naval vessel – but it opens the long course to boats that previously could only race to Neah Bay.

“We hope to see the biggest field in years,” says race spokesman Gary Davis.
Also new this year will be IRC as well as PHRF divisions in the Lightship Classic and Cape Flattery Unlimited races. Double-handed divisions are offered for monohulls in the Cape Flattery race and Juan de Fuca race, and single-handed divisions are offered for monohulls in the Swiftsure Inshore Classic.

Visit http://2014.swiftsure.org for more details, notices of race and registration forms.

Photo credit: Jan Anderson