LILAC REGATTA 2016

Lilac regatta took place recently on May 28-29 weekend. Twenty two competitors competed in the laser radial class. On Saturday 4 races were completed in light wind and extremely shifty conditions. I scraped out of the day with finishes of 8, 5, 1 and 5 placing me in 3rd at the end of the first day. Sunday brought steadier breeze and colder temperatures with wind reaching 12 knots. I was delighted with how I sailed on the second day, winning all 3 races and leading the one that was called off by significant margins. Sunday's results moved me into first place overall as the regatta finished up.  Hamilton harbour being a smaller body of water creates conditions that are difficult to master and is it's an interesting place to sail, I look forward to facing the challenge again soon.

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LILAC FESTIVAL REGATTA 2016 RESULTS

ICEBREAKER REGATTA 2016

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON TEAM ROOSTER SAILING GEAR BLOG

This past weekend I had the opportunity to sail at the TSCC Icebreaker Regatta in Toronto, Ontario. Perhaps the best description of this regatta is the one found on their website;

The Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club Icebreaker Regatta is a long standing tradition in the local sailing scene and a proving ground for many young sailors.  This is one of the first big regattas of the season and can be a test of skills as the weather can be a range of all types, but one thing is for sure, the water is cold!
TSCC ICEBREAKER WEBSITE

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My team, the Ontario Sailing Team, trains out of TSCC regularly and hosted a 2-day pre-regatta tune up camp with the development team to prep for the conditions. We put a lot of work into our down speed boat maneuvers to be used on a start line. This was very helpful especially when starting in close quarters with other sailors.

Racing ran Saturday and Sunday with a healthy turnout in 3 fleets - 29ers, laser standard and laser radial - despite it being a holiday weekend.  Most are local sailors, although we were fortunate to have some top notch competition make the trip from the province of Quebec to join us.  Twenty-one boats attended this year's event in the Laser Radial fleet.

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Toronto is notorious for it’s light wind and shifty conditions.  The best example of this being the 3rd race on day two, when after the laser radial’s first upwind the race committee wisely abandoned when wind readings at the top and bottom of the course were drastically conflicting. But the well experienced race committee did a great job of keeping things fair and managed to get off 5 races.

My results over both days were very consistent and I ended up with 15 points. After the drop I had 9 points which placed me in 2nd. Great starts and excellent boat speed along with staying in phase with the fleet kept me at the top of the fleet and resulted in consistently good placings including my first win of the season. I managed to exceed my goal of top 5 so I am very happy with my event.

This is a nice improvement on my showing last year of 9th place although due to light wind on two of three days of racing the race committee only managed to get 3 races off in total that year.

Next year my goal will be to take this a step further and hopefully win the regatta.

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Overall a great start to the local regatta season here in Ontario and big thanks to all who supported, volunteered, coached and competed!  

TSCC ICEBREAKER REGATTA 2016 RESULTS

SPRING TRAINING HAS BEGUN

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON TEAM ROOSTER SAILING GEAR BLOG

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The 2016 sailing season on Lake Ontario has finally kicked off for myself and the Ontario Sailing Team. Anticipation had been building as a mild winter teased us into expecting an early spring, only then to be followed by several weeks of unusually cold and stormy weather. On our first planned training date – Friday April 15th – the conditions on the water were excellent. It was a sunny day with air temperatures reaching 13°C, winds around 10 knots gusting 12 and water temperature near 1°C.
 

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Not only was I looking forward to getting back in the boat, but my new kit from Rooster had arrived a couple weeks ago and this was the first opportunity to try it out. I was particularly looking forward to putting it to the test in spring’s cooler conditions.

As many of you may know, sailing Lasers results in you getting soaked when sailing on a reach or upwind. Of course in cooler spring weather this becomes a problem as without the summer sun to warm you up when you get wet, you get cold and stay cold. I was happy to discover that the Pro Aquafleece top and Supertherm Longjohn were an excellent combination that kept me very warm. Later into the training session, my teammates were getting fatigued because of the cold. My new kit helped me stay warm for longer and allowed me to put my extra energy towards hiking. In fact, those two pieces on top of my usual summer kit kept me warm enough that I chose to wear a visor instead of a beanie which I have worn in past seasons on early spring days.

Sailing in the cold adds another layer to an already challenging sport. Proper preparation to stay warm is very important to maximizing performance. I’m thrilled to be adding Rooster’s comfortable and super warm pieces to my spring gear line up.
 

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ONTARIO SAILING MARCH BREAK TRAINING CAMP

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Just back from Clearwater Sailing Center again where I spent a week training with coaches Chris Hewson, Chris Cowan, the Ontario Sailing Teams (Elite and Development) as well as Aug and the RNSYS team. A great variety of conditions gave us a chance to work at our skills.  All in all a great week working hard and playing hard with this bunch! I may never get the Surf Style jingle out of my head...

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GREATLY IMPROVED RESULTS AT MIDWINTERS EAST REGATTA 2016

This February I had the opportunity to sail at the North American Midwinter East Regatta in Clearwater Florida.  

The Ontario Sailing Team arrived a few days prior to the start of the regatta to train and prep for the local conditions.

With 100 boats in the fleet we sailed 6 races to split the fleet and this year I was pleased to meet my goal of qualifying for the gold fleet (the top half of the fleet).  In the final round the gold fleet sailed 4 more races where I finished up 37th overall (100 boats total), with my best race being an 11th place finish.

Overall a great experience and I am very pleased with my progress over last year's placing of 42/59 in Silver Fleet or 101st (118 boats total).

LASER MIDWINTERS EAST REGATTA 2016 RESULTS