William Keilty secured his second consecutive victory at the Optimist National Championships held in Vancouver, BC on August 19-26. A formidable team of 13 Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron sailors descended upon West Vancouver for the event.
The fourth and final day of Helly Hansen Chester Race was headlined with ‘champagne’ sailing conditions under sunny skies and a 10 to 15 knot breeze which picked up to gusts of 20 knots. Pat Nelder, On-water Chair of Chester Race Week, comments, “It’s wonderful to conclude the event with optimal conditions for our sailors.”
Move over Tom Cruise, these sailors do their own stunts. Coming off a forecast with gusts of upwards to 24kts, the morning started with bated breath as we hoped the wind would come out to play but not batter. The wind gods obliged, and our playground was set for the 2023 Lake Ontario Women’s J105 Championships.
The wind gods did not favour the PRO or the competitors this past August 25-27 weekend on the lovely sandy shores of Lake Erie at the Buffalo Canoe Club (located, perhaps surprisingly, in Ridgeway, ON CANADA!) where 133 ILCA sailors gathered to sail in the 2023 ILCA Canadian Championships.
The Regatta for AQVA event is a charity regatta that aims to raise funds for AQVA to continue providing opportunities for people with physical limitations to experience the joys of sailing on Lac Saint-Louis. AQVA’s mission is to ensure that everyone has equal access to this exhilarating sport.
Helly Hansen Chester Race Week 2023 kicks off its biggest regatta in a decade this week in Chester, Nova Scotia. Racing begins tomorrow and runs through to the 19th.
After a welcome dinner, skippers briefing and a good measure of socializing last Friday evening, the Race 2 Kingston departed on Saturday from the MCC/EYC fixed marks.
Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race is considered the pre-eminent North Atlantic Ocean race. It begins on the first Sunday after July 4th just outside Marblehead Harbour. The race runs approximately 360 nautical miles.
The Regina Sailing Club Bilge Rat Regatta took place July 22, 2023, at the home of the Club at The Resort Village of Saskatchewan Beach on Last Mountain Lake. The Regatta was an open event – one race, winner takes all!
The 70s were an exciting time in Eastern Canada. Montreal hosted the Olympics and built a spectacular new stadium as well as the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in Kingston. There was also a new focus on youth sports as part of the Olympic legacy.
Earlier this month 22 teams, split evenly Canadian and US, travelled to CORK in Kingston to battle it out over seven races. Glenn Darden’s Baby Doll, sailing with Willem Van Waay, Jackson Benvenutti and Min Min Kelly, have been crowned 2023 J/22 North American Champions.
Three skiff classes – 29ers, 505s and VX Ones – were treated to warm freshwater and dependable winds that CORK has become known for. Over four days the Canadian Champions in the 29er class was settled after 15 races in a wind range of conditions.
At Mimico Cruising Club, Captain Paul is as happy as I’ve ever seen him at the awards ceremony. The crew, our wives, girlfriends and daughters are having a fine dinner in good company, enjoying a drink or two (or three) at the MCC.
Carlos Charabati from Montreal earned 6th (of 287 competitors) at the 2023 ILCA 4 Youth World Championships held until today in Greece. This is the best Canadian performance at this competition or Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships since at least 2005.
Our third regatta in Newport this summer was the IC37 US Nationals held July 13-16, hosted by the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court. Two races were held on Friday inside on Narragansett Bay in very shifty, puffy conditions. We ended up with an 8, 10 in the 16 boat fleet.
Racing a sailboat, especially one-design racing, makes a sailor learn a new set of skills, tactical skills, needed to navigate through that 10 – 40 boat fleet of identical boats to win races. There are two distinct areas of focus for the tactician.
