Oh my gosh! Swiftsure is one of my favourite races! I’ve done quite a few, and each one has had its ups and downs. Which course are you doing? Flattery? Which boat? If you don’t want to dox yourself I get it, I just want to root for you on the tracker! What position are you, do you race much in general? If you look back in my post history there’s a comment to an ask lemmy post about a memory that you always go back to. My reply was talking about swiftsure.

My advice is as follows and in no particular order.

• Bring a second set of warm toque, gloves, and clothes.
• A book or headphones. A power bank for your phone. At some point you will want a bit of a lay down or rest, good to have a book or music. I just need some no people time so lay down for that.
• Since theres no cooking small handheld food is best. Make a few burritos and wrap them in foil. Can’t go wrong with a few sandwiches. Granola bars, protein bars, protein/caffeine shakes (depends on if you’re a stay up the whole time or nap person. I’m a stay up the whole time). Trail mix is great and you can pass it around. WATER.
• Be as helpful as you can. Even though you don’t know them, or the boat, help tidy up the lines or repack the spin. Get drinks or snacks. No one will mind you helping too much. (At least they shouldn’t!)
• Race Rocks. Ugh. It’s hit or miss. I’ve had times where we’ve anchored in there with 30 other boats trying not to get pushed back to the start. I’ve also had the downhaul snap (twice!!) heading back down. Broaching in that channel with three other boats is not fun. It’s unpredictable at best so good to have everyone on deck and alert. Especially downwind on the way home. EDIT - Seriously though, the wind funnels through there. It can be a nice 15 out in the strait and then bam, 25.
• Don’t push it at the start. It’s a long race. Better to be a few seconds behind everyone then get pushed over early and your 360 kills your race. Seriously. The wind died as we were doing our 360 and we had to anchor with the Oriole and watch the fleet leave. Needless to say we were DFL.
• When to head to the American side? Depends on the boat I think. The boat I normally raced on was super light, so slamming through the waves is real slow for us. We’d stick to the Canadian shore and then cross further up. Another time on a C&C 40 and we just cruised through massive swells.
• Enjoy the ride! There’s nothing like a long distance race. Take a few seconds every now and then and revel in the beautiful place you are.

I envy you, it’s been a long time since I’ve done Swiftsure. My first time was on a boat that I joined last minute, didn’t know anyone! Had such a good time and we won! I understand being nervous, so won’t tell you not to be. But everyone there had their first long distance race too. Be brave and open to learning from them and you’ll have a kick ass time!

Edit - I just looked back and my comment on that ask Lemmy post is gone. I’ll tell it to you here. We did the Flattery race and it was one of the best experiences of my life. We raced short handed and with some of my favourite people. It was like a hive mind and we all trusted each other completely. Sailing back from the mark, spinnaker full and all bundled up in the cockpit, seeing the stars above us, truly magical. When I’m feeling like an imposter, and doubt myself, I think of that time and how I was respected, encouraged, and loved. We came in 3rd too!