Swiftsure International Yacht Race 2018

hayles (56)in #knot • 6 years ago (edited)

Two months ago I put my name into an online crew bank for the 75th Annual Swiftsure Yacht Race based out of Victoria BC. I was pretty fortunate to have a few Captains call on me - however I chose to crew on a pretty tricked out Nordic 44 - SV Northern Lights. When I say she was tricked out I'm referring to her gear. She had fancy four speed french winches that brought in a meter of sheet per rotation, 8 sails to choose from, and a myriad of other snazzy surprises.

But lets back it up a bit...

I've been a live aboard and general dock rat for the last 4 years. I knew nothing about sailing, and dove in head first, bought a boat and have loved every trying and satisfying moment since. I've crewed in numerous club races, but never anything like the 78 Nautical Mile Swiftsure race course ahead of me. I'm from a small rural Northern BC town SV Northern Lights was not only a beautiful boat - but her name spoke to me as well.

The Parade out to the start line off of clover point was an incredible effervescent experience. Imagine being amongst 180+ boats all ready and raring to go. No need for coffee.

Our start was a little rough. The headsail caught on the forestay and tore a 2 ft gash in the sail. We had to drop the damaged sail down and change it out - which resulted in us being 7 min late to the start line. Although it was a challenging change - it is one of the fastest sail changes I have every accomplished.

On the upside the winds were strong and we got moving pretty quickly. SV Northern Lights had a mixed crew of rookies, newbies, seasoned experts - the common thread was that all aboard were kind and good hearted salty souls.

As the winds strengthened past 25knots we reefed our main to maintain an efficient and safe point of sail.

Reefing paid off, and we passed this vessel on the leeward side BOOYA!

We were also passed by the notorious Flying Tiger SV Mai Thai on the run home. SV Mai Thai is a much smaller and lighter vessel that races in a different class. Her race time was several hours shorter for the same course that we completed.

One of my favourite experience from the race was flying the spinnaker on the run home. It's an incredibly physically demanding job - but also very rewarding.

We were on the water for a total of 16 hours, 8 sail changes, and 78 nautical miles. There was enough adrenaline, laughter and camaraderie to render the whole experience one of a lifetime. I am still grinning ear to ear - two months later.

You can view my Golden Hour shot of the night before the race here

You can view the race course here

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