Hans Fogh One Design Regatta and Canadian Championship
June 27, 2019
By David Crysdale
The 2nd Annual Hans Fogh One Design Regatta June 7- 9 was a great success thanks to regatta chairman Thomas Fogh. The cool place to be was Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Canada! This was Soling excitement at its best dedicated to everyone’s good friend sailing legend, Hans Fogh.
At the stellar awards presentation all the teams were acknowledged and given a prize. Star boat skippers and crew jumped at the opportunity to race on a Soling. World-famous star sailor, Roger Cheer (Hans Fogh’s long-time awesome middle man) was back at it at this important high level Soling regatta, as was superstar Gord deVries, (Hans Fogh’s all time fantastic foredeck). It was all about new and old friendships, helping out each other down to the last detail, and having a blast sailing those beautiful action packed Solings!
On first day of racing the temperature was over 70 degrees with beautiful sunshine, and a breeze that filled in across the course from the east at 11am. The average wind speed was 10 knots. The Royal Water Rats CAN 1 skippered by Bruce Clifford won a thrilling first race.
All the sailors in the regatta sailed at a very high level. They competed in very tactical races with shifty winds and lots of puffs. With massive downwind boat speed the fleet was closely packed. At the conclusion of the second day, the top 4 boats were only separated by 2 points Sunday would be a thrilling final race to decide the Canadian Soling Champion! This regatta was definitely exciting with an extraordinary high level of competition.
Hans Fogh
On Saturday night, after racing in high winds all day which tired everyone out, it was wonderful to relax outside at the yacht club in the warm sunshine and enjoy an elegant dinner. Kristin Fogh told great stories about her wonderful life with Hans. She and Thomas spoke about Hans and his encouragement to all interested in the sport of sailing. It was a night to remember for all.
During the final race on Sunday many lead changes were seen and the overall title came down to the final leg. Bruce Clifford and his crew of Matthew and Nathaniel Abbott charged forward to win the final race that secured their spot as champions.
Due to the expert work of the race committee chair Steve Reid it was decided to race four races on second day. Little did we know that the last day of racing would be so tight.
John Finch and Thomas Fogh, organizers of the regatta awarding the champions
@Ellen de Vries
Soling Results
Etchells 22 Results
