August 2, 2022
ABYC welcomes J Fest 2022
Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club hosted 30 participating boats for J Fest 22, with one from ABYC and others from clubs all around the lake including RCYC, PDYC, KYC, NYC, MCC, BPYC, OYS, NSC, HYC, BHYC.
August 2, 2022
Port Credit Hosts Two Of The Biggest Regattas Back To Back Proving Sailors Are Ready for Competition Post Two Years of Pandemic
Port Credit Yacht Club proudly hosted its annual Steerers’ and Four Sisters regattas July 21st to July 24th welcoming more than 350 sailors to compete in challenging weather conditions.
August 2, 2022
LOOR: Dad and Son win LO300 doublehanded
What an incredible race! July’s LO300 with its many ups and downs and constantly changing wind conditions, continued to deliver this year an amazing racing experience!
July 29, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Light and Heavy Air Differences – Part 2: the effect of wind velocity on strategic choices
In most races, two key strategic variables seem to have by far the biggest impact on boats’ overall success (or failure). These are wind velocity (‘pressure’) and changes in wind direction (‘shifts’).
July 29, 2022
Sail Canada 2022 49er & 49erFX Senior Championships
Kingston hosted close to 60 athletes for Sail Canada 2022 49er and 49er FX Senior Championships, presented along with the 29er Canadian Championships during the 2022 CORK Olympic Classes Regatta, July 21-24.
July 29, 2022
Sarnia’s Huzzah wins class in Bayview Mac
Greg Chamberlain and crew of Sarnia Yacht Club sailed his boat Huzzah in the Bayview Mac on the July 16 weekend in the Beneteau First 36-7 class.
July 12, 2022
Five Canadians at Opti World Championships
Five Canadians took part in the 2022 Arkas Optimist World Championshps in Bodrum, Turkey, June 29-July 6, and Andi Kinnear was the best Canadian with a 104th overall on a total of 273 sailors.
July 12, 2022
Gold for Canadian Corinthians at 2022 Etchells North American Corinthian Championships
Congratulations to Connor MacKenzie, Sam Thompson, Jack Porter and Erin Sauder from the Oakville Yacht Squadron who won the 2022 Etchells North American Corinthian Championships held at the Shelter Island Yacht Club, June 21-26 in New York, USA.
June 27, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Light and Heavy Air Differences – Part 1
It’s clear that the more wind you have the faster you’ll go. That’s why sailors avoid the bad air of other boats. The problem with sailing in wind shadows is that you have less wind velocity than boats sailing in clear air. This hurts in two ways.
June 14, 2022
20th Anniversary Clagett Goes Next Week – Large Canadian Fleet
It is just two weeks until sailors from across Canada, US and the Caribbean will be in Newport, R.I. to start day one of competition in the 20th Anniversary of the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta.
June 14, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Converging with a Starboard Tacker
Here is a common situation that requires an important decision. You are sailing upwind on port tack, converging with another boat on starboard tack (S). If you keep sailing straight you will hit the other boat, so you must make a choice about how you will keep clear of S.
June 14, 2022
Results of the 2022 World ILCA 7 Masters Championships
Canada was represented by seven sailors at the 2022 ILCA 7 Masters World Championships held last week in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico. Congratulations to Andy Roy, bronze medalist in the Grand Master category, as well as to Ray Davies, 4th in the Master category.
June 14, 2022
Race Report: Susan Trophy Race – June 3
The forecast looked promising, as you can be subject to NO wind or TOO much wind for the “Coolest Race on the Lake”. However, we had pretty good winds for the entire race, although at the start it looked doubtful with very light winds and a following sea.
May 31, 2022
Steering Downwind: Less is More
Steering off the wind, on reaches and runs, requires a coordinated effort between helmsman and spinnaker trimmer. The spinnaker trimmer often has as good a feel for performance as you do while driving, and together you can coordinate efforts to take advantage of changes in conditions.
May 30, 2022
The Rules Guy: Mark Room – When Do You Have to Gybe?
I have now written three articles about mark-room at a gybe mark. Last time, we talked about situations when you were allowed room to gybe. I finished off showing a case where you are required to gybe.
May 17, 2022
Speed & Smarts: On Which Side Do You Want to Be?
When you are trying to beat a boat that’s just ahead or behind, you have to consider strategy, not just tactics. In the same way that you want to be on the ‘favored’ side of the fleet, you should put yourself on the ‘favored’ side of any boat that you are trying to pass.
May 11, 2022
CANSailGP hooks up with TSN
According to their Facebook page, TSN is on onboard as The Canadian SailGP’s entry’s broadcast partner so you will be able to follow all the racing live this weekend and throughout the season!
May 11, 2022
Antigua Race Week back and booming
After a two-year hiatus the 53rd edition of Antigua Sailing Week wrapped up on Sunday, brimming with success and a sprinkling of Canadian sailors. The trade winds blew all week, with the international fleet enjoying exhilarating racing in sailing paradise.
May 3, 2022
Speed & Smarts – Risk: A Racing Sailor’s Curse
One definition of risk is ‘exposure to the possibility of loss.’ That basically sums it up for sailboat racers. When you take a risk, you are accepting the chance that you will lose something you have – boats, time, you’re standing in the series, a chance to catch up, etc.
April 30, 2022
We Were There: Patos Island Race 2022
“This popular event is hosted by the Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club on Vancouver Island and is the first in the ‘triple crown’ of the big Island events (followed by the Round Salt Spring Race and the Swiftsure Race).”
April 27, 2022
The Rules Guy: Mark Room – When Can You Gybe?
I have now written two articles about mark-room at a gybe mark. In both cases, the mark denotes a point at which boats would clearly need to assume a different tack to sail to the next mark. We typically call these marks gybe marks.
April 11, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Avoid Laylines and Corners
It’s impossible to round any mark without getting to the layline first. But the big question, both tactically and strategically, is how far you should be from the mark when you reach that layline. There’s a huge difference between making your final approach from three lengths versus 30 lengths.
April 11, 2022
Southern Straits Returns April 15-17, 2022
After a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, the West Vancouver Yacht Club will host the 52nd Southern Straits Sailing Race over the Easter weekend, with sailors once again hitting open water to navigate a course crisscrossing the Georgia Strait.
April 6, 2022
SailGP: Australian team excels for a second season
When the Grand Final of SailGP Season 2 got under way on San Francisco Bay on Sunday 27 March, the previous 47 races in the eight-event series arguably counted for nothing.
April 6, 2022
Racing: 30 sailors to represent Canada this week in Spain
More than 1,000 sailors will compete at the first major Olympic multiclass competition to take place since Tokyo 2020. Canada will be represented by 30 sailors at the World Sailing Hempel World Cup held at the 51st Princess Sofia Trophy in Mallorca, Spain, which began on Monday, April 4 and will run until this Saturday, April 9.
April 6, 2022
Georgian Bay Regatta Celebrates 36th Anniversary this Summer
Once again, the Georgian Bay Regatta is the sailing event of the summer on Georgian Bay – not to be missed! Now in its 36th year, the GBR will take place on the west side of the Bay, visiting the picturesque ports of Meaford, Lion’s Head, and Wiarton, as well as two spectacular anchorages.
March 28, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Go For Puffs in Light Air, Shifts in Breeze
You’re sailing upwind on port tack on the first beat of a race, and it feels like you are on a pretty good lift. However, when you look toward the left side of the course, you see a small increase in wind pressure. Should you keep sailing on the lift, or tack to head for a little more breeze?
March 28, 2022
The Rules Guy: Mark Room at a Gybe Mark II
Last time, I started a discussion of mark-room at a gybe mark. I presented some fairly common scenarios that appear when two boats approach a gybe mark and round together. I am going to continue that discussion this month with some slightly more complicated situations.
March 27, 2022
A Sailor’s View of PHRF – Part 3, It’s Time PHRF Matures
In my opinion, now is the time that these smaller rating stations of the Great Lakes allow Mid-West PHRF to expand and become the ‘head-office’ for the area. Regardless of whether a station makes the move and joins with MW-PHRF or not, each of the PHRF Stations of the region need to adopt.
March 25, 2022
3 Keys to Choosing the Correct Gate
When you’re racing in a large fleet, choosing the proper gate can result in massive gains against the competition. The experts at Quantum Sails Zenda broke the decision-making down into three simple factors. Use these tips at the Midwinters for a fast mark rounding!
March 14, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Ladder Rungs Part 2 – Wind Shifts
Ladder rungs are great tools for understanding how the wind direction affects boats racing up- wind or downwind. On most days the wind shifts constantly, even when it seems relatively steady, so ladder rungs (and the corresponding positions of boats in the fleet) are also changing continuously.
March 14, 2022
Canadian Contingent Growing for June’s Newport Bermuda Race
The 635-mile biennial Newport Bermuda Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race, one of very few international distance races, and (with the Transpac Race) one of just two of the world’s regularly scheduled races held almost entirely out of sight of land.
March 13, 2022
The Danger Files: Formula 1?
So, I’m at the TP52 Super Series Regatta in Mallorca. And everyone is saying, “This is the F1 of sailing.” But is it? I’m not sure. Well, it’s kind of like Formula One back in the 1950s. Back then, wealthy men bought racing cars and had their mates come along to help fettle with the cars in the pits.
March 12, 2022
A Sailor’s View of PHRF – Part 2
The new logo for Mid-West PHRF is a circle with a picture of all the Great Lakes, excluding Lake Ontario. This appears to be a logical grouping. But the question is, can this vision ever be realized with PHRF being what it is?
February 28, 2022
A Sailor’s View of PHRF – Part 1, Background
“Friends don’t let friends race PHRF,” … seen on a T-shirt at Youngstown Level Regatta c. 1989. Love it or hate it, we need PHRF. The reason is obvious – so many different boats out there that want to race against each other need to be handicapped so the competition is meaningful.
February 28, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Ladder Rungs Part 1
The race course for sailboats is similar to a playing field for baseball or football but in sailing there are no fouls lines or yard markers visible on the course. For critical boundaries like the starting line or zone around a mark, sailors must rely on their imagination and judgement.
February 14, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Fixing the Slows
When it comes to curing a case of “the slows” and getting your boat up to speed, there may be no exercise more valuable than lining up near one other boat. There are several reasons why two-boat testing should be at the top of your priority list.
February 14, 2022
The Rules Guy: Penalties – When and How to Take Them
This discussion is based on a situation that took place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in the summer of 2021) and some local youth regattas. When I first started to race, if you broke a rule, your only option was to drop out (or be protested out) of the race. This was a severe penalty for a simple incident.
February 14, 2022
Canadians Revved for Caribbean 600
With just under a week before the start on Monday, the Caribbean 600 crew list includes 34 Canadians sailing on seven different boats including three boats racing under Canadian flag.