Nothing like a good hard run on the Straits to blow away some of the Covid “stuff” we’ve been suffering through. We have reports from two courses from Bruce and Peter, plus Jan’s photos (not really indicative of the race, but still….) A video and newspaper clip bring Longboard’s race to the front. Results here. -KH
The Hein Bank Perspective
By Peter Salusbury, skipper, Longboard
The first “post pandemic” Swiftsure race hosted by Royal Victoria Yacht Club was held this past weekend and it was great fun to see old friends pre-race on the docks and race against our U.S. and Vancouver Island friends. Bruce’s pre-race weather forecast wasn’t far off and it made for some very fast elapsed times on the Hein Bank, Cape Flattery, and Juan de Fuca courses after the late afternoon westerly filled in.
The Swiftsure Classic and Hein Bank race boats started first in a drizzly rain and 6-knot easterly and by Race Rocks, those favoring the more northerly route faired much better than those of us who didn’t with Blue and Smoke setting the pace. After Race Rocks, the flood tide started to become the challenge and those of us who led across to the U.S. side of Juan de Fuca faired much better than those who chose the Canadian side of the Strait. As predicted, the southeasterly died off in the early afternoon and came in from the south earlier for those of us in the middle of the strait and we had a pretty nice rhumb line course out of the Strait. Watching the AIS tracker was critical as it was clear Smoke and Blue were doing better a few miles off the US shoreline relative to Glory and Shadow who favored the US beach.
The westerly finally filled in solidly at Clallam Bay and we changed from the J1 to J2, eventually putting in one reef as the westerly built to over 25 knots at times. We had a classic Swiftsure beat up the US shoreline to Neah Bay and rounded just before a beautiful sunset at 9:00 in the evening. Unfortunately, Mark Vangolen’s beautifully refurbished ILC40 Occams Razor had mast problems and had to retire before rounding Neah Bay – very unfortunate as they had been sailing a real strong race to that point.
The run back was fast and fun but nerve racking at times dodging freighters, cruise ships, and those sneaky Clallam Bay boats with no AIS transponders! Planing downwind in the pitch black at 15 knots was a blast though and while we extended our lead on the boats behind us, Zvi, Smoke, Blue, The Shadow, and Westerly did a nice job legging out on us.
We rounded the Hein Bank buoy at 3:30am Sunday morning and had a bone jarring one tack beat to the finish line with a J4 and two reefs in main – wave pattern was steep and square and on one notable slam off a wave, our radar reflector surrendered and decided to part the boat! We finished at 5:10 Sunday morning so taking into consideration the light air conditions we had to Pillar Point and adverse current, this turned out to be a relatively fast race for us all.
Alan Lubner’s RP/55 Zvi took elapsed time honors finishing at just after 1:00am Sunday morning with Steve Travis’ Smoke finishing less than half an hour later. The overall winner on the Hein Bank course was Michael Schoendorf’s Riptide 41 Blue with Smoke taking second place and our own Riptide 35 Longboard in third place. Both Blue and Smoke sailed very smart races, made good decisions, and clearly were pushing their boats downwind on the way home – huge congratulations to them both for sailing great races.
And as always, a huge thank-you to Race Chairman, Randy Diamond, PRO John Abel, and the massive list of volunteers at RVicYC that, once again, made Swiftsure such a fun event to attend.
The Cape Flattery Course Perspective
By Bruce Hedrick, chief weather guesser, J/35 Tahlequah (“The oldest boat in the Cape Flattery fleet with clearly the oldest crew, scary.”)
It was great to finally get back to Victoria for Swiftsure and see all those folks we couldn’t see for the last two years. It wasn’t perfect with rain on Friday afternoon that put a bit of a damper on the usual dock parties. The cooler than normal temps we’ve had this spring extended into the weekend with marine weather on the VHF warning that Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics and right above the racecourse would get two more inches of snow on Saturday night.
As usual, the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and its army of volunteers did a superb job of managing the event. Events came off on time, the start sequence was nicely spelled out in the SI’s and then repeated on VHF. The big boats got started first with a combined Long Course and Hein Bank fleet, followed by multihulls, the Cape Flattery fleet, and finally the Clallam Bay group.
A low-pressure system coming ashore in Oregon and a lobe of high-pressure to the north of the Straits, combined to give us an easterly wind and more importantly a downwind start. Great for spectators on the beach at Clover Point. It was only about six knots so it was critical to find a lane of clear air so you could try to get to Race Passage before the ebb changed to the big flood of the day. Navigators were tasked with watching speed over ground as well as the handbearing compass or AIS screen to keep track of the groups that were on the other gybe.
By the time the Cape Flattery fleet got going, it quickly became apparent that we would not get through the Race before the flood started. The boats that held starboard off the line seemed to do better than the boats that gybed early and went to the SSE. As the fleet got closer to Race Passage most boats decided it was better to sail outside Race Passage and avoid the building flood which always starts first on the Vancouver Island side.
The easterly held until about Pillar Point with the fleet that went to the south of the VTS lanes doing better than those who stayed to the north. The weather models were consistent that a westerly would eventually fill down the Straits and consistent with the typical pattern of the strongest breeze occurring the first day after frontal passage. It did seem that it took longer than the models suggested for the pressure gradient to shift to higher pressure offshore. The transition zone can be tough however this year the breeze went to the north first allowing the fleet to the south to close reach aimed directly at Neah Bay.
By the time the fleet got to Clallam Bay, the westerly had filled in and most boats went directly from the J1 to the J3 and some tucked in reefs. The other problem was that the flood had ended and the ebb began to build and with winds in the 20-25 knot range the seas got steep and very close together. The boats that had stayed to the south and closer to the US shore then followed a pretty typical pattern of beating along that shore to try and get into smoother water. Starboard tack was smoother but shorter so the longer port tack into the seas was bone-jarring and tough on boats and crews.
As boats got to the mark at Cape Flattery, some decided to set the kite immediately in the breezy and lumpy conditions while others decided to just do the gybe, get around the mark, stay with jib and main only, and get pointed back towards the Vancouver Island side. All of the leaders also rounded in what was a spectacular sunset giving the boats still beating up to the mark a beautiful vista. Some boats, like the Farr 36 OD Annapurna, once they got the kite up took off in the 20-25+ knots of westerly and flew back down the Straits, finishing almost an hour ahead of the next boat and easily correcting out on the fleet.
The rest of the fleet finally got their kites up at various points and then followed the traditional route back to Race Passage, the next problem was to get back through Race Passage before the big ebb of the day started. Luckily this year there was not the usual doubling of the wind speed from Sheringham to Passage. This allowed boats to ride the last of the flood down the Vancouver Island shore and do the gybe from starboard to port right in Race Passage. The wind was down to 15-20 knots so the gybe wasn’t too scary. The biggest problem was that it was very cold on deck and hands had a tough time holding on to sheets.
Once clear of Race Passage you could still keep the kite up by not being too greedy and aiming immediately for the finish. Plus you could see the puffs coming off the Island which allowed drivers and trimmers to work together and keep the boat upright and aimed roughly for the barn. The best part of this leg was that while the wind built into the low 20s for the first part, it didn’t die as you got closer to the finish and you were still flying along.
The post-race inspection at Ship Point in Victoria Harbour was not only friendly and efficient, but they were also serving a greatly appreciated and very tasty bowl of hot potato soup. NICE!
Again, kudos to RVYC and the Swiftsure Committee, this was a great event.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.