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.
January 27, 2022
Speed & Smarts: How to Tackle a Speed Problem – Part 1
In sailboat racing, speed is almost everything. It’s important to be smart at tactics and strategy, of course, but if you’re not pretty fast you will never be consistently at the top of your fleet. Therefore, good speed is worth a large investment of time and effort.
January 16, 2022
The Rules Guy: Mark Room at a Gybe Mark
Mark rounding is a lot like the weather. It is genuinely complex, and it causes no end of trouble, particularly for those not paying attention. Rule 18, “Mark-Room”, takes as much space in the rulebook as Rules 10 to 17. There are a few slightly more complicated situations that I would like to discuss, but this month we will start with some of the basics.
January 14, 2022
Speed & Smarts: Do I Really Have a Speed Problem?
As they say in therapy, the first step in solving any problem is acknowledging that you have that problem. Most sailors are not shy about admitting they are slow; in fact, many are quick to blame poor speed for a variety of mistakes. But if you want to improve your racing results, you need an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses.
January 13, 2022
From the Coach Boat with Thomas Fogh: Crew Roles
Online coverage of sailing has advanced tremendously the past few years, so much so you feel like you are on the boat. This view has given some great footage on how the pros sail and the communication among them. Being so close to the action has provided us with a better understanding of how a team can work together, but more importantly, what role each crewmember plays.
December 24, 2021
Speed & Smarts: A Closer Look at the Defining Qualities of Sportsmanship
Why is good sportsmanship important in sailing? Because no matter how hard we compete, most of us still want to have fun. And almost all of us feel it’s critical to have a fair playing field. If we want to attract more racers to the sport and continue getting good race management, sportsmanship is the only way to go.
November 24, 2021
2022 BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival set to go
The 49th BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival will take place between March 28 April 3, 2022. It is one of the top three Caribbean sailing events, with an average of 110 yachts per year with 60% of the competitors from overseas.
September 8, 2021
Canada wins 25th Canada’s Cup
Royal Canadian Yacht Club’s Defiant completed a six-race sweep of the Cup for Canada over Zing, the US representative from Youngstown Yacht Club.
September 2, 2021
Chester Race Week: Fog and restrictions don’t stop the action
Helly Hansen Chester Race Week wrapped up for 2021 with fewer boats, more restrictions thanks to COVID-19, and some fog each day, but overall the event was four days of success for racers and organizers.
July 20, 2021
Back to the races at Helly Hansen Chester Race Week
Randy Stevens started racing at Chester Race Week in the early 1970s and for about 20 of those years, he raced in a C&C 39. He sold that boat a few years ago, unofficially retired from racing, and bought a power boat instead.
July 7, 2021
Book locker: Rules rule
With racing opening up after a while, perhaps it’s time to get back in gear with a re-visit to the rules. And btw, the rules have been updated so perhaps what you remember is out of date anyhow!
April 21, 2021
The Rules Guy: New Rule Changes IV
This month, we continue our exploration of changes included in the 2021-2024 edition of the Racing Rules of Sailing. This edition brings a lot of changes, but few affect the way we sail on the course.
March 24, 2021
Helly Hansen Chester Race Week 2021 fires up
While things likely will be a little different, we welcome you back to the waters of Chester, Nova Scotia to participate in this one-of-a-kind event from August 11-14, 2021.
March 24, 2021
The rules guy: New Rule Changes III
This month, we continue our exploration of changes included in the 2021-2024 edition of the Racing Rules of Sailing. The next right-of-way rule that appears to have several changes is one that has changes every time a new rulebook comes out. rule 18, Mark-Room.
March 10, 2021
New Rule Book now available!
As the Rules Guy has been explaining, there are changes to the rules that are important to understand. 2021 brings the new Racing Rules of Sailing to take us through to 2024!