Sailing Shorts: January 31 2024
Jan 31, 2024
Sail Canada will hold Judge Development Sessions called Black Cat Regatta. The purpose of this fictional event is not to principally test your knowledge of the rules, but rather to alert you to the myriad of difficulties that have to be addressed and solved by the Chief Judge for the event. The event will run for four nights February 5, 7, 12, and 14 from 7pm to 9pm (EST). Cost is $25. More information and register now:
https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?
Sail Canada will present four training sessions in February and March regarding Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, all at 7pm (ET):
📅Feb. 7: The Future of IDE and Sailing
📅Feb. 20: What does welcoming new participants mean?
📅March 6: Sailing Beyond Sexism: Navigating Gender Equity Challenges in Sport
📅March 26: Wind of Change: Sailing Through the Waves of Anti-Racism
More details HERE.
Three Canadian sailors will represent the country at the 2024 iQFoil World Championships, January 29-February 3, in Lanzarote, Spain, which will be the first of two competitions that will serve as the qualification process for Canadian athletes towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, if the country earns spots.
On the women’s side, five-time Olympian Nikola Girke from West Vancouver, B.C., and Rebecca Heller from Ottawa, who represented the country in this class at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, will be in action.
On the men’s side, Cyrus (Cheuk Hin) Lai, who was born in Vancouver but is now living in Hong Kong, will represent Canada at the competition as he is trying to qualify the country and himself for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The last opportunity for Canada to earn a spot in the men’s and women’s iQFoil events at the Olympic Games will be at the Last Chance Regatta to be held in Hyères, France, April 21-28. At that event, the top five countries amongst those not already qualified will acquire the final spots. An extra spot for each gender will also be attributed at the Last Chance Regatta to the top members of the World Sailing Emerging Nations Program. Canada, however, is not part of that program.
Caribbean Circuit
The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta will celebrate its 44th edition in 2024 from Feb 29 – March 3, 2024. It is the largest regatta in the Caribbean and likely the largest warm water regatta in the world.
This world-renowned sailing event offers four days of World Class Racing and major boogie nights keeping with the event’s motto of “Serious Fun!” The four-day event attracts well over 20,000 visitors annually, from international sailors to party connoisseurs from more than 37 different countries.
The 51st edition of the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival runs April 1-7, 2024. The seven-day event starts on Monday April 1 (no joke) with the Sailing Festival opening day festivities and skipper pack collection. The Regatta kicks off on April 5 and runs through April 7, for three days of the Caribbean’s best racing managed by a world-class race management team and some first-class festivities.
For Larry Huiber’s in-depth look at Caribbean racing click HERE.
boot report
At the “boot” boat show in Dusseldorf we saw fewer sportboats and dinghies, but that smaller fleet included some several foilers and a fair range of small one-design keel racers. Among the foiling offerings, the French-built Birdyfish’s name and unusual logo may not draw a crowd but the boat looks VERY fast and the hot Barbie-pink foils certainly make a statement.
