Beneteau First 36.7 NAs in Toronto September 8-11
Apr 13, 2022
The Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championship regatta is returning to Toronto’s National Yacht Club for the first time since 2011 on September 8-11, 2022. The fleet will sail up to eleven races through the three-day event on racecourse located on Lake Ontario southwest of the Toronto Islands.
The 36.7 fleet has seen a resurgence of new owners who come with a lot of racing experience from other fleets. At any given regatta, there will be a different champion on the podium. It’s going to be a roll of the dice!
Local skipper Richard Reid and crew, sailing Zingara have won 5 of 10 of the North American Championships they have entered…problem is, never in Toronto when they placed 2nd after a hard-fought series with First Today from Youngstown the regatta in 2011.
The Fleet became official in 2002 and has been sailed on storied racecourses from The San Diego Yacht Club to the New York Yacht Club and The Annapolis Yacht Club on the east coast and many of the Great Lakes yacht clubs including the Chicago Yacht Club, Bayview Yacht Club, Youngstown Yacht club and of course The National Yacht Club. The Buffalo Yacht Club hosted this event in 2007, 47 boats on the starting line.
Chick Pyle of the San Diego Yacht Club, a 20-year veteran of the Class is the current Class Champion having won a decisive victory in last year’s edition on Kea is rumored to be putting together a bid to defend his victory.
The Beneteau First 36.7 was designed by the renowned naval architect Bruce Farr and was first launched in 2001 with 817 built worldwide while the Beneteau plant in South Carolina built 274 solely for the North American market. There are active one design fleets in Southern California, Chicago, Detroit, Long Island Sound and Toronto. Recently a Nordic fleet has developed and has adopted North American One Design rules and races from Helsinki.
“The Lake Ontario fleet is growing again after many boats have turned over and between Youngstown and the Greater Toronto Area, we know there are at least 15 boats in race trim so we will have boats to charter as well, it promises to be a great even,” says Reid.
Competitors can check in and enjoy a regatta dinner on Thursday, September 8 to kick off the weekend. Racing will begin on Friday, September 9th and will follow with a dockside social after the races. After the races on Saturday, competitors can enjoy a regatta dinner and daily prizes. After the final races on Sunday an Awards Ceremony and Reception will conclude the weekend.
