(Victoria, BC, Canada)- This year’s Swiftsure Race had nearly all the
best elements of a near-perfect race! Good winds, smooth waters,
incredible competitors from far and wide, the largest complement of
racers in years. The Swiftsure is now actually five different races
over three separate courses, plus an inshore regatta. The principal
races include the following:
- Swiftsure Lightship Classic- 138nm
- Hein Bank Race- 118.1nm
- Cape Flattery Race- 101.9nm
- Juan de Fuca Race- 78.7nm
- Inshore Classic Race- 24.0nm
In
the Cape Flattery Race, perennially the largest race fleet with 65
boats in six PHRF divisions. The J’s had fantastic performances in some
of the divisions. “Bringing home the bacon”, so to speak, were a duo of
J/120s at the top of L2 Division. First on corrected time was Kirk
Palmer’s LIGHTSCOUT and second was Bob Brunius’ famous veteran offshore
crew on TIME BANDIT. Together they also took 2nd and 4th overall in the
entire Cape Flattery Race! In fact, J crews swept the L2 Division,
with the J/46 DIVA sailed by Jim Prentice taking 3rd in class and 8th
overall. Fifth in class went to the J/35 TAHLEQUAH skippered by Don
Leighton followed by Chris Johnson’s J/120 WITH GRACE in 7th and Mark
Hansen’s J/109 MOJO in 8th. In short, J’s took 60% of the top ten spots
in L2 Division.Repeating their J colleague’s performances in L2, the J/105s simply swept top honors in L3 Division. At the top of the trio was Matt Davis’ FREE BOWL OF SOUP from Arizona YC, if you recall they won their class in the Oregon Offshore Race last year and went on to repeat that same performance in the Pacific Cup Race. Second was a well-known fast local boat, Jerry Diercks’ DELIRIUM and third place went to Ed Wilder’s AVALANCHE.
In
the H1 Division, it was Scott Campbell’s pretty J/46 DIVA from
Portland, Oregon that simply trounced their competitors to win their
class by 22 minutes on corrected time. Not too far off the pace was
fellow Portland YC member Tom Keffer on his J/42 VELOCITY posting a 9th
in class.There were 46 boats in four PHRF divisions sailing the 78.7nm Juan de Fuca Race. Top J was the J/35 MOONLIGHT MILE sailed by Duncan Stamper, taking a 7th in L1 Division. The J/30s in L2 Division sailed well, with Joe Geck’s BOB taking 3rd and Theo Singelis’ TAKU placing 8th.
The Inshore Race was fast and furious with most competitors finished by 3 PM. This 24nm race saw nearly the entire top twenty boats overall finish within 10 minutes of each other on corrected time! Needless to say, the conditions seriously favored the smaller, slower handicapped boats. Top J was Kevin Reath’s J/80 SW-II from host Royal Vancouver YC, taking 6th in the Flying Sails Division. Next was Ben Braden sailing the J/88 in 14th place, then in 16th was Tom Kerr’s J/33 CORVO. In FS-Division I, Braden’s J/88 placed 5th and Kerr’s J/33 CORVO was 6th. In FS-Division 2, Reath’s J/80 SW-II won class.
The big changes for Swiftsure 2015 seem to have been well received– a brand new race course (the Hein Bank Race) and a brand new venue for Swiftsure Centre in the Steamship Terminal, many thanks to sponsors Steamship Grill & Bar and the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority. Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson Swiftsure Facebook page For more Swiftsure Race sailing information
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