Swiftsure Lightship Classic Race: Kettenburg Race Results 1949-1968

By Neil Atwood

The Swiftsure Lightship Classic race first began in 1930. The 136 mile race begins in Victoria, BC, Canada, then a beat to weather out the Juan de Fuca Strait to the Swiftsure Lightship (no longer there) off shore in the Pacific Ocean, passing the lightship to starboard, and a run back to the finish at Victoria. If your not familiar with the Pacific Northwest, this may appear to be an easy race. However, the Pacific Ocean enters the Juan de Fuca Strait between BC, Canada and Washington State heading for the San Juan Islands, and then goes north into the Canadian Straits of Georgia, and south into Puget Sound in Washington State.  The Juan de Fuca Strait is 100 miles long, and between 11 and 17 miles wide. The confinement of the ocean in this manner increases current. Additionally, at a location  of latitude 48 degrees north, there is a tide change of 8-12 feet every six hours.

The other consideration to racing in the Swiftsure Lightship Classic is the wind. The jet stream travels west to east, and usually directly at this part of the Pacific Northwest. Additionally, the wind from the Pacific Ocean increases velocity at this point because the Juan de Fuca Strait provides an opening in the Olympic mountain range that is parallel to the coast line. And thus, forcing the wind through this opening. On a good day, the wind usually blows from the west at 15-25 mph. On a bad day, it is like racing in the Fastnet race in the worse conditions possible.

Kettenburg sail boats were not only built in San Diego, it was also widely believed that they were designed solely to be raced and sailed in the light air conditions of Southern California. However, in 1948, George Kettenburg Jr. sailed PCC, hull #9 up from San Diego to compete in the July, 1948 PIYA Regatta in Victoria, B.C., Canada. George Jr. won his class in that regatta, which convinced Dr. Phil Smith, Commodore of the Seattle Yacht Club to buy her, which he named "Gossip". "Gossip" went on to win Swiftsure overall in 1950 and again in 1953, losing out by narrow margins to second place overall in both 1949 and 1952. Robert Page's 'Hussy', PCC, hull #15 later went on to take a First in Class A, and win the City of Victoria Trophy-First to Finish in the 1964 race, and a First in Class A, and won the City of Victoria Trophy-First to Finish and the Ocean Cement Trophy-First Division 1 in the 1967 race.

In 1948, George Jr. introduced the Kettenburg 38, which immediately caught on with Seattle racing sailors, who captured just about every possible trophy during the Fifties. Altogether, 39 Kettenburg 38s were built over five years, with the first, 'Tomboy', going to Paul Kettenburg, the San Diego yard's chief engineer and co-owner. The second went to Dr. H.W. Day, a member of the Seattle Yacht Club. Dr. Day christened his new K-38 'no'. Dr. day won two Swiftsures-the first in 1952 and the second in 1958 with 'Ono'. Then followed Doug Sherwood's "Rebel", 1959 winner; Henry Kotkin's "Totem". overall winner in 1954; and Bob Regan's 'Thetis' which figured prominently in several races, placing third in 1961, third in 1962, and losing out on a protest in 1963, after initially declared the overall winner.

The Swiftsure Lightship Classic race results for Kettenburg boats 1949 - 1968 appears below. However, the race results don't always tell the story. Here are exerts from "Swiftsure the first 50 years" by Humphrey Golby and Shirley Hewett regarding racing condition during the 1950 race:

"Ono" (hull #2), the first of the new Kettenburg 38's, and smallest entry, led a 12 boat fleet into the teeth of a gale force, gear busting winds in the race that started from Port Townsend on May 28, 1950. In spite of her small size, "Ono" was the only yacht to escape some form of damage as winds gusted to over 50 knots and seas crested at 30 feet.

Herb Day's "Ono" , the first to arrive in the vicinity of the mark, miscalculated her position in the fog and darkness and overstood the turn by 15 miles. The Canadian Navel escort vessel reported: 'It was chillingly cold. Sleeting rain and a dull swirling mist cut visibility to a few hundred yards. As the day dawned, we ran a patrol out into the Pacific and begun a wide circle course to check for stragglers or misplaced yachts. While on station, we sighted a yacht with a K 38 on the sail, rail down, double reefed with storm jib, headed for Japan. A single numbed figure crouched immovable at the helm as she plunged on and on. We wheeled and came along side within hail and told the stunned night watch that he was almost 20 miles beyond the mark! Bodies appeared and, in moments, the boat bore off, shook out the reefs, hoisted a jenny, and was on her way home.' It was 'Ono', and sad to say, she missed the mark on the way in and was disqualified. 

Third across the line, Dr. Phil Smith's 'Gossip' (PCC, hull #9) , easily saved her time for the overall win. It was a rare sight to watch 'Gossip' literally plane down the straits as westerly gusts reached 55 knots. Patrol vessels clocked her at better than 13 knots. In one burst, as she shot out of Race Passage, an offshore blast knocked her flat in the water as the spinnaker pole snapped. Ken Ollar was right there. His memorable pictures shows crew men up to their waists in water as they struggled to free the spinnaker sheets.

A yacht designed earns his reputation, and a ocean racing yacht design gains it's pedigree based on winning races. As the race results below show, Kettenburg boats 'owned' the Swiftsure Lightship Classic race for a decade during the 1950's.