2006 Swiftsure Race

Finally, I've recovered and rebuilt the pics from the 2006 Swiftsure Race and converted and added the little video clip below. In 2015 I had a major computer crash and seem to have lost the image files, and just recently found an index page with frame numbers - yea!

First - Thanks Alan! - A special thanks to Jim & Anne who took us out for a Sidney sail and fed us!!

With a crew of six on Alan Bergen's "Thirsty" a special 1984 C&C 35, we did the Cape Flattery course. We were a little late on the start, but mixed it up well at Race Rocks. Driving, I didn't get to take pictures. Spoting a couple local RVYC boats working a starboard tack, between the eddies and rocks, I followed them into the fray. We ducked and just missed Panta Rhei, and flushed twice, bailed. There were maybe eight boats going out and around Race Rocks, and we were the third to make it around. When we looked over, the fleet had split, half were still at it, in the eddies and you could hear them yelling...

We hurried up, to join the boats on the Canadian shore and traded tacks ahead of Hard Drive, a C&C 38 in a fleet ahead of us. It's always fun to be up with the faster boats! We rounded the Neah Bay mark at 3AM. We may have overstayed on the Canadian shore going out, and we were slow to get back to the Canadian shore Sunday, but we got over in time to have a fine ride in the waves West of Race Passage.

Gary did a magnificent job driving with the wind building! Course when I drove, we rounded up 3 times, in the puffs at the point... We dumped everything, as we spun out, but we made it through Race Passage, and watching all the boats ahead, dropped down to a reefed main and heavy #1 jib. We were still occasionally overpowered on the reach to the finish line, but we made it in about 3:45pm, beating a boat that didn't get their chute down in time, and was tacking back.

What a good time, not too cold and wet, never flew the drifter, and made it "home" to Victoria before dark - yea!
Swiftsure as always was a blast! Thanks all!