More than 200 boats are making their way to Victoria for an annual race weekend.
The 73rd Swiftsure International Yacht Race is taking place from May 26-30.
“We have 206 boats that have entered this year,” said event chair Vern Burkhardt. “They’re coming all the way from Portland, Oregon, from all over Greater Seattle. They’re arriving from Vancouver, all up and down Vancouver Island.”
There will be a number of different courses – the longest being the Swiftsure Lightship Classic at 256 kilometres.
Burkhardt said the event is a challenging one for skippers and their crews.
“You have to take into account the winds, the currents. You also need to deal with sailing at night. Sometimes with the kind of winds that we’re having, seasickness may be a challenge,” he added.
Swiftsure will have boats ranging from 26-feet-long all the way up to the HMCS Oriole – the people’s favourite at 102 feet, according to Burkhardt.
“We have some very interesting boats this year. They’re called Transpac 52s, they’re very fast boats. I expect they’re going to set some records,” Burkhardt told CTV News.
Every boat will be equipped with a GPS transmitter, which means you can follow the race in real-time online.
The Royal Victoria Yacht Club is hosting a variety of other events as well.
Captain Jack Sparrow will be available for a photo op on Friday and a beer garden will be set up at the Swiftsure Centre.
Race week wouldn’t be complete without live entertainment. Bands will perform Thursday and Friday night from 8 – 11 p.m.
The first race begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The best place to watch the start is at Clover Point.
You can get more information and check out a full list of events here.
