page_title: Victoria Harbour (British Columbia)
section_title: Sailing events
hierarchical_section_title: Victoria Harbour (British Columbia) / Sailing events
caption_attribution_description: The Johnson Street Bridge while in the process of opening.
context_page_description: Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general aviation. Historically it was a shipbuilding and commercial fishing centre. While the Inner Harbour is fully within the City of Victoria, separating the city's downtown on its east side from the Victoria West neighbourhood, the Upper Harbour serves as the boundary between the City of Victoria and the district municipality of Esquimalt. The inner reaches are also bordered by the district of Saanich and the town of View Royal. Victoria is a federal "public harbour" as defined by Transport Canada. Several port facilities in the harbour are overseen and developed by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, however the harbour master's position is with Transport Canada.
context_section_description: Victoria Harbour is home port for a number of sailing and boating events:
  The Swiftsure Yacht Race out into the Juan de Fuca Strait and back has been held yearly since 1930 and is sponsored by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.
  The Vic-Maui Yacht Race between Victoria and Lahaina, Hawaii has been held in even numbered years since 1968.
  The Victoria Symphony holds its annual Symphony Splash concert on BC Day staged on a barge docked in the Inner Harbour, and has been doing so since 1991. Many spectators view the concert from canoes or kayaks, as well as from boats docked at the "Causeway Floats" and "Ship Point" marinas.
  The Victoria Dragon Boat Festival has been held in the Inner Harbour annually since 1994.
  A Gorge Canada Day Picnic is held by the Gorge Tillicum Community Association and has brought more than 5,000 visitors to the parks along the Gorge Waterway on 1 July each year since 1999.
  The Victoria Tall Ships Festival has been held every third year since 2005, although the 2011 event was cancelled due to high costs of staging the festival. The festival is part of the Tall Ships Challenge event.
  Since 2000, the Gorge Rowing and Paddling Centre (GRPC) has hosted the Brotchie Reach Outrigger Canoe Races. This is a 13.4 kilometres (8.3 mi) race for OC6 (six-person outrigger canoe) and small boats (OC1, canoe-kayak, surf-ski). The race hosts up to 200 paddling racers each year - the race course starts at GRPC on the Gorge Waterway then transits through Victoria's Inner, Middle, and Outer Harbours out to the Brotchie Navigational marker and back.
caption: The Johnson Street Bridge's rail and road spans partially opened. In the distance the Pacific Swift is seen docked at SALTS in the Upper Harbour in 2004
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