Southern Straits Race 2026 Preview: Offshore Challenge Returns to Pacific Northwest
(Vancouver, BC, Canada)- The West Vancouver Yacht Club will be hosting its 56th Annual Southern Straits Race this Thursday to Sunday, April 2nd to 5th, 2026. The start takes place on the Canadian side of the infamous Straits of Juan de Fuca that separate the wild and majestic Olympic Peninsula from the Canadian Maritimes to the north.
The race is popular among the Pacific Northwest offshore racing fraternity. Like the Swiftsure International Yacht Race, which sails later in the year, the West Vancouver YC has also evolved the race over time to be more accommodating of today’s lifestyles. The participants have the choice of three courses- the Long Course (140nm), the Medium Course (106nm), and the Short Course (73nm). A majority of the J/Teams participating sailed the Long Course (mostly 35 footers on up), while the smaller J’s did the Medium Course. Here are the J/Teams and the courses they will be sailing.
Entrance Islands Course
This 15-boat fleet is for PHRF > 0 rated boats. Sailing will be Nicholas Conti & Doug Blais’s J/92 LIVEWIRE, Mardy Grossman’s J/30 DESPERADO, Mark Gyton & Mike Bowman’s J/88 JAVELIN, and Alex Smyth & Graeme Clendenan’s J/111 65 RED ROSES II.
Halibut Bank Course
This 11-boat fleet is for PHRF-rated boats over 50. The J/participants include Steve Rogak & Hope Morris’s J/29 ELUSIVE and Bruce Townson’s J/112E KAJOFI.
Sister Islets Course
This is the ORC Division, with the largest fleet in the race: 35 boats. The J/crews participating include Tolga Cezik & John Mason’s J/111 LODOS, Chris & Colin Bradley’s J/120 STILETTO, and a quartet of J/109s (John Peterson & Mark Lloyd’s LEGACY, John Polglase’s DOUBLE TIME, Jim Prentice’s DIVA, and Tom Sitar’s SERENDIPITY).
Follow the Southern Straits Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/southernstraits
Here are photos of past Southern Straits races on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1243685277470240&type=3
For Southern Straits Race results
https://theclubspot.com/regatta/s0LES7S2b0
For more Southern Straits Race sailing information @ WVYC:
https://www.wvyc.ca/on-the-water/racing/southern-straits