Local Sailing Now

Last week, I was at BYC for a wine and cheese event on Valentine's Day. Very nice. The real excitement however was out on the lake. DN iceboats were out sailing. There were small patches of snow to traverse, but it looked good. Yesterday the DN Montreal site reported clear ice in South Hero, Vermont. Iceboat sailors are famous for travelling long distances for clear ice, so perhaps some of them are heading down there this moment. My touque goes off to the "Iceman" who sails a Laser and a Flying Dutchman during the summer. Claude Morin posts their reports online, including classified and ice reports.

Ralph, Montreal Sailing

2009 Etchells Canadian Championship on L2M

Hudson Yacht Club marks its 100th anniversary this year, and as part of its centennial celebrations the club is hosting the Etchells Canadian Championships from June 5-7. We all know just what an exceptional class this is, and local racing sailors from yacht clubs on both Lac St-Louis and Lac des Deux Montagnes will be competing against some of the best sailors from Ontario and the northeast U.S. We hope to get in 9 races over the three days—under the watchful eye of PRO par excellence Ross Tellier—and anticipate upwards of 25 boats. Members from all the yacht clubs in the area are more than welcome as spectators to what should be some spectacular racing.

Much thanks to Al and Scott, CAN 1089 for the heads up - Ralph, Montreal Sailing

Montreal Sailing...NOT. This is not my mother...' boat!

Canuck Mike Leigh Ranked #1

Mike Leigh as pictured on his blog.

Up and coming Montreal sailors who have aspirations in either high performance classes or Olympic dinghies do not have to look far for inspiration. Canada has produced a top-notch group of competitors. Look no farther than Mike Leigh who has now reached the #1 international ranking as the best performing Laser sailor. ISAF has just published their new rankings, and Leigh is joined by quite a few Canadians in the top tier. See the CYA post for a list. By the way, two of Montreal's best, Stephane Locas and Oliver Bone are well up there too in 49th position for the international ranking in the 470 class. Bone, sailing with Eric Holden at the recent (ISAF Grade 1) Miami OCR placed 11th

2011 Shark World Championship coming to Montreal

Picture: Euro champs as seen on Shark website currently.

Montreal sailing will witness some exceptional sailing with the Shark World Championship coming to Montreal in 2011. The Shark World's is typically 50+ boats with a large number of very high calibre talent competing for the podium. The regatta has been awarded to the Beaconsfield Yacht Club who will host the full week of racing June 11th - June 17th, 2011.

The Shark Class is probably the largest one design racing keelboat association in the central Canada region of Quebec and Ontario. Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, and the greater Toronta area have large fleets. It is an international class with "Classic Yacht" recognition from ISAF. With over a dozen regattas to choose from, mostly in Ontario, within an easy day's drive, an annual Shark OD regatta in Montreal, and a lot of Sharks in the local racing scene, this is one of the core classes of Montreal sailing. Montreal Shark sailors like the crews with Jin Frati and Paul Baehr are pretty busy road warriors through the summer season.

The 2009 World Championship will be held in Niagara on the Lake (the home of the first Shark 24) and the 2010 world championship will be held on Lake Constance, Switzerland.

This summer should be a good year of preparation and good racing as sailors get their game on for the big racing to come. One of the advantages of the Shark is that sailors who want high competition can get in for a more economical investment than other many one design keelboats. I wouldn't be surprised to see the curent Shark fleet grow as the 2011 World Championship approaches.

Miami OCR 2009 Results

Dominique Vallee caught in action by Kit Temple.

A large contingent of Canadians went to Florida for the Miami OCR. Below are the top results for classes Canadians sailed. Once agin Canada shows it is now a strong Olympic contender. A lot of our sailors including Montreal sailors have also done well, particularly those relatively new to international sailing who are moving up the ranks. And check out Bone and Vallee who are on the edge of breaking into the final medal rounds of their respective classes!- Ralph, Montreal Sailing

Laser, 63 entries

1. Nick Thompson, GBR
2. Pavlos Kontides, CYP
3. Brad Funk, USA
4. Michael Leigh, CAN
5. David Wright, CAN
7. Lee Parkhill, CAN


Laser Radial, 41 entries

1. Ana Tunnicliffe, USA
2. Paige Railey, USA
3. Jennifer Spalding, CAN
9. Isabella Bertold, CAN


Finn, 30 entries

1. Edward Wright, USA
2. Christopher Cook, CAN
3. Zach Railey, USA
4. Matt Johnston, CAN


470 Men, 18 entries

1. Onan Barreiros, Aaron Sarmiento, ESP
2. Stuart McNay, Graham Biehl, USA
3. Matthias Schmid, Florian Reichstaedter, AUT
11. Eric Holden, Oliver Bone, CAN


470 Women, 9 entries

1. Henriette Koch, Lene Sommer, DEN
2. Erin Maxwell, Isabelle Kinsolving, USA
3. Molly Carapiet, Molly O'Bryan Vandemoyer, USA
9. Kristine Williams, Jennifer Braem, CAN


49er, 22 entries

1. Karth Nico Delle, Nikolaus Resch, AUT
2. John Pink, Rick Peacock, GBR
3. Frederico Alonzo, Arturo Alonzo, ESP
5. Gordon Cook, Ben Remocker, CAN

9. Bill Gooderham, Ian Hogan, CAN


Star, 31 entries

1. Rick Merriman, Phil Trinter, USA
2. George Szabo, Rick Peters, USA
3. Flavio Marazzi, Petter Morland Pedersen, SUI
19. Brian Cramer, Tyler Bjorn, CAN


RS-X Men (34 entries)

1. Dorian Van Rijsselberge, NED
2. Ivan Pastor Lafuente, ESP
3. João Rodrigues, POR
22. Dave Hayes, CAN


RS-X Women (23 entries)

1. Marina Alabau, ESP
2. Zofia Klepacka, POL
3. Blanca Manchon, ESP
6. Nikola Girke, CAN
11. Dominique Vallee, CAN


2.4mR (19 entries)

1. Allan Leibel CAN
2. Damien Seguin, FRA
3. Paul Tingley, CAN
4. Bruce Millar, CAN
6. Jerry Wendt, CAN
10. Darrell Suderman, CAN

Rahn Father & Son Off to Wayfarer Mid-Winters & U.S. Nationals

Peter and son Alex left at 4:10 this morning for the drive to Florida where they will compete in the Wayfarer Mid-Winter Regatta. Last year the Rahns won this regatta, which makes a wonderful winter break even sweeter! The Wayfarer racing takes place in the waters of Lake Eustis, a popular body of water, not only with sailors, but plenty of wildlife too, including crocodiles. The Rahns have plenty of pics in their photo album from last year of crocs about. Now that is exciting sailing.