Nels Moxness, President, Velux Canada and avid supporter and dear friend officially welcomed Derek back to Canada yesterday after he successfully finished the 2010/2011 Velux 5 Oceans Race. Unlike Derek's competitors, Derek's Spirit of Canada Campaign has raised the funds to support this campaign one kilometer, one supporting name on deck and one dollar at a time. Although amazing donations consistently flowed in from friends of the Spirit of Canada Campaign, the significant contribution from Active House made Derek's latest entry possible. (Active House is a vision of buildings that create healthier and more comfortable lives for their occupants without negative impact on the climate – moving us towards a cleaner, healthier and safer world.)

Just a quick reminder to everyone that this Saturday, June 11th, is Dealer Day and Flea Market at Bay Port.

The tables will be set up at 8:00am in the parking lot.

Come and see what new gadgets and products our suppliers have this year and bring all of your treasures to sell and trade.

The Archives and Collections Society announces its summer exhibition The History of Yachting from June 11 – August 4, 2011. This year's exhibition will be showcasing the art of famous yacht designers and illustrating how their designs evolved. Paintings by members of the Canadian Society of Marine Artists, together with numerous prints and photographs will be displayed, highlighting some of the famous and important sailing yachts that were innovative over the last one hundred years.

Barbados is the official title sponsor of the 2011 Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championship in Toronto, Ontario. This year’s race, from September 8 to 11, marks the 10th anniversary of this North American Class Regatta event and is the first time it will be held in Canadian waters. The weekend will host multiple sailing races over four days and on-shore events including an evening celebration at the National Yacht Club on Friday, September 9, 2011 featuring Barbadian entertainment and a themed menu from the Caribbean’s first and only Zagat rated island.

'It is our distinct pleasure to partner with the National Yacht Club for the 2011 Beneteau championship,' said Cheryl Carter, Senior Business Development Manager for the Barbados Tourism Authority.

The first day of racing at the 2011 Sail for Gold Regatta is finally over after many postponements across all fleets as a persistent NW based breeze stuck around longer than anticipated, before skies cleared giving way to SW conditions that were idyllic albeit very late in the day.

Luckily every course was successful in getting at least one race in for the day. Canadians are getting off to a good start with Star team Richard Clarke & Tyler Bjorn placing third in their one race of the day as well as Laser sailor David Wright placing third in the yellow fleet.

Velux 5 Oceans 2010-11 is the longest single handed event in the world. After nine months the racing has finished.

It was an epic battle full of thrills and spills, highs and lows, drama and action – but like all good things it must come to an end.

The arrivals of solo sailors Derek Hatfield and Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski into the French port of La Rochelle on Sunday marked the end of racing in the 2010-11 edition of the Velux 5 Oceans, following the arrivals of winner Brad Van Liew and Chris Stanmore-Major in the days previously.

Ontario’s premier boat show, the Port Credit In-Water Boat Show is celebrating 21 years August 26-28, 2011. It will be hosted once again, at the Port Credit Harbour Marina – The Boating Super Centre – in Mississauga, ON.

The Port Credit In-Water Boat Show is the ONLY boat show that features both new AND used power and sail boats in the water and on the hard.

Walk the docks at the Port Credit Harbour Marina and see new sailboats from Beneteau, Jeanneau, Hansa, J-Boats, Hunter, Dufour, C&C, Tartan, and Catalina.

Soaked crews made it back to PCYC after experiencing the full gamut of conditions in the 2011 Susan Hood Trophy Race. Many abandoned the race after hours of drifting near the Burlington Weather Mark; PCYC's Simon Hampson on Kawabonga explained when I saw him on the docks at 5:30 AM: 'Despite the light winds at the start, we still managed to get to within two miles of the Burlington mark in three hours, then we spent the next three hours drifting towards the mark in the slow current with no wind in the sails. We were still a half-mile away when we decided to turn on the engine and come back home. A bit frustrating but at least we were out on the water!'

Today, Organizers of the TELUS Van Isle 360 Yacht Race announced that they will provide a $25,000 donation for the Queen Alexandra Foundation in support of Jeneece Place, a home away from home for children requiring medical treatment and their families.

Jeneece Place is the dream of 17 year old Jeneece Edroff, known to many as the Vancouver Island Penny Girl, who, with help from TELUS, raised more than $1.5 million to help children with special needs.

The news media is invited to the official opening of the Marine Activity Centre (MAC) at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS) on Friday, May 27th, at 2:00 p.m. The MAC is a Canada Sport centre of training excellence for the sport of sailing. It is being used by members of Canada’s national sailing team for training in preparation for upcoming World Championships and next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

The Velux 5 Oceans Sprint 5 will begin today from Charleston SC (USA). The four skippers that remain will set off towards La Rochelle, France to complete a global circumnavigation back to where they began their journeys on October 17, 2010.

The skippers are Brad Van Liew (USA), Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski (POL), Derek Hatfield (CAN) and Chris Stanmore-Major (GB). Brad will secure overall victory in the race as long as he successfully completes the final leg. Derek and Hatfield are tied on points and the battle between them to decide second and third on the podium will be fierce.

As the song goes – See you in September – It may seem like a long way away but the Beneteau First 36.7 2011 North American Championship in Toronto September 8, 9, 10 and 11 is an event that should be in your calendar.

Beneteau First 36.7s representing Quebec City, Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, Kingston, Chicago, Detroit, Sarnia, Erie, PA, Buffalo, Rochester, Youngstown and other clubs on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie have taken the charge to race in Toronto.

The Canadian Yachting Association is proud to announce the members of the 2011 Canadian Sailing Team. The team was established based on 2010 performance criteria found HERE. CYA also established a new national team structure that better defines a winning culture and more clearly delineates the way support is tailored to our sailors at various levels of development and international performance. The CST Podium team is established by elite level performance criteria and aligns with the Own the Podium program. The CST Senior Development team is determined by the CYA high performance staff based on ongoing international performances.

Organizers of the Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race are pleased to announce TELUS as the new title sponsor of the 2011 event. The eighth edition of the race, which is now named the TELUS Van Isle 360, will take place from June 4 – 18. "We are very excited to welcome TELUS aboard", says Janine Bell, event manager, “and are looking forward to working with TELUS to ensure the best race to date."

Match-racing, at its best, is Mano a Mano – hand-to-hand combat. Match-racing here, in the Budget Marine Match-Racing Cup, run-up to the Heineken Regatta, takes that sort of intensity up a few notches. Some of the top racers in the world. No Wednesday night yacht club race, this.

Races are on six Jeanneau Sunfast 20’s. Eight skippers. Each skipper races every other skipper. Each skipper races each of the six boats.

The motto for the Heineken Regatta in Sint Maarten, now in its 31st year, is perfect in both conception and execution. And if the festivities so far are any indication, this year’s race series will be another exercise in 'Serious Fun.'

They’re already halfway there. Ground zero is the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, a two-storey building right beside the lift bridge leading to Simpson Bay Lagoon. From the yacht club you can’t help but stare out at the fleet of megayachts moored and berthed in the lagoon.