Sonar Worlds 2017
Sept 28, 2017
There is a new Sonar World Champion. Peter Galloway and his crew on Fast Forward, Garin Pace, Ched Proctor, and Judy Lugar came out on top after three days of racing in beautiful Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia this September.
The 2017 champs, most hailing from the Noroten Yacht Club in Connecticut, edged out reigning champs, Karl Ziegler and Spitfire, along with the 23 other boats. Judy Lugar on the winning team is a Nova Scotian Olympic Sailor and member of the St Margaret’s Bay Sailing Club. Henry Demone and the crew on Bella Rena, Colin Guthrie, Dirk Kneulman, and Adam Taylor, were the top Canadian boat, finishing fourth overall.
After high winds and heavy rain cancelled racing on day one, racers were greeted by sunny skies and brisk winds for the final three days of racing.
The racing overall was very competitive, but crews showed great camaraderie and sportsmanship. Any little mistake made a difference because each race was so close. The impressive fleet included 18 world champions, four Sonar champions, 11 Olympians, including nine from the host Lunenburg Yacht Club, and four Paralympians.
Participating boats tracked their races on RaceQs and breakdowns can be seen at http://raceqs.com/regattas/60444.
The Lunenburg Yacht Club was honoured to host a world championship and such high caliber sailors.
Full results are available at https://yachtscoring.com/
event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=2760
Photos and video are posted on www.facebook.com/lunenburgyachtclub
Sarah Simpson
photo credits: Gavin Hathaway and Sarah Simpson