SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MY COACH - CHRIS HEWSON

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In the spirit of National Coaches Week (#CoachWeek) I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my Ontario Sailing coach for these past 3 years - Chris Hewson. He has been extremely influential in this chapter of my sailing career and I can’t thank him enough.

From the time when I was first on the Laser Radial Development Team to now as I leave the Elite Team to transition into the Laser Full Rig he has always been there to chat and help me improve. I have come along way in this time and Chris has been a big part of that.

Thank You Chris!

2017 LASER RADIAL YOUTH WORLDS

It’s been a busy past few weeks. Late August I flew back from Amsterdam after competing in the Laser Radial Youth World Championships in Medemblik, the Netherlands. Since completing my application and being approved to represent Canada back in March 2017 this event has been my sole training focus.

Fellow Ontario Sailing Team member Norman Struthers (right) and I proudly representing Canada at the Opening Ceremonies.
PHOTO CREDIT: Elle Struthers

My goal for this event was to make gold fleet and I am happy to report I achieved this goal finishing up 58th out of 273 in the men’s fleet. Some highlights of my regatta include a 6th in the first race and a finish of 2nd in the 5th race. I learned a lot from this event about what I need to do order to finish well in this caliber fleet.

Coming into a busy mark rounding.  (Sail number 206038)
PHOTO CREDIT: Thom Touw

I was disappointed with how I sailed in the final series in gold fleet but it serves as a sign that I need to spend more time and get more experience in the top fleets to improve. I look forward to applying the take aways from this experience when I hopefully get chance to take another crack at the worlds next year in Laser Standard at the U21 worlds in Gdynia, Poland.

A great international experience.
PHOTO CREDIT: Elle Struthers

My thanks to the Struthers family - for your help with organizing our coach boat, on water coaching support, for being great sightseeing, photographers and dinner companions and to Norman for being a great training partner.
Special thanks also to my dad for being on the water every day to coach and support us.  Your experience and perspective are greatly appreciated and I am grateful for the time you are able to spend with me.

2017 LASER RADIAL YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (U19) RESULTS

THANK YOU ONTARIO!

I am grateful to be a recipient of Ontario's Quest for Gold Funding and recently was asked by the Oakville News what this funding means to me and my goals in the sport of sailing.

In short, as the only funding I currently receive it is crucial to helping me meet my goals. 
In addition, my hope is that the Quest for Gold program and/or others like it will be around for many years and continue to support our dedicated amateur athletes who have Olympic dreams with the funding needed to make them come true.

When I am alone in my boat competing head to head with the best in the world it is inspiring to know that Ontario is with me.

2017 FOUR SISTERS REGATTA

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Coming into the windward mark.

This past weekend I competed in the Four Sisters Regatta hosted at Port Credit Yacht Club. Unfortunately racing was cancelled on Saturday due to no wind so the regatta became a 1 day event. Sunday brought good wind and big waves from the east.

LIAM BRUCE - 2017 FOUR SISTERS START - IMG_1331 from Elle Bruce on Vimeo.

I competed in the laser radial fleet along with 57 other boats. The fleet was very competitive with the entirety of my team, the Ontario Sailing Radial Elite Team, participating. I managed to finish the regatta perfect with straight bullets. To top it off, I was also awarded the LYRA (Lake Yacht Racing Association) Single Handed Junior - Male Division Champion 2017 flag due to my top place finish as an 18 and under youth from a member club.  An honour that will make this regatta - one of the few remaining that I will race as a junior - all the more memorable. 

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Congratulations to my fellow racers and especially my fellow Ontario team members.  Finally my sincerest thanks to all that are involved who worked hard to make this event possible.

2017 FOUR SISTERS RESULTS

2017 LILAC REGATTA

For the second weekend in a row I raced a regatta in laser standard. This time it was at RHYC in Hamilton for the Lilac Regatta. Hamilton Harbour brought medium to light winds and on the second day, dense fog. It made for some interesting racing!

LIAM BRUCE - 2017 LILAC REGATTA from Elle Bruce on Vimeo.

Off the start and heading upwind - hopefully towards the mark.

Going into the final race I was in a 3-way tie on points for first place but a 4th saw me finish in 3rd out of 12. My consistent results showed that I can keep up with the top group and I look forward to training with them in the fall. 

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2017 LILAC REGATTA RESULTS

REGATTA PHOTOS

2017 ICEBREAKER REGATTA

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Icebreakers Regatta was held this year at TSCC on the weekend of May 20-21. Despite high water levels the organizing officials pushed ahead with the event. Local systems brought 2 days of medium to high winds in the 15 knot range out of the east. I raced this event in the laser standard to test myself against those I will be racing against from the fall onward. I placed a respectable 7th place out of 14 with consistent results in the top ten. My best finish was 3rd in the final race. I look forward to competing at this event next year.

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2017 ICEBREAKER REGATTA RESULTS

REGATTA PHOTOS

2017 LASER ATLANTIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIP

PHOTO CREDIT: David Sloane

Windy would be the best way to sum up this year's Laser Atlantic Coast Championships.  I headed south with a good number of Ontario Sailing Team members and the Chris & Chris coaching duo early for a few days of training before the regatta got started.  Training days saw not only good winds but waves. Coach Cowan captured this well in a few videos.

A big thanks to our hosts Carolina Yacht Club, to the RC and volunteers, to my coaches, team mates and special thanks to Ian Struthers.

PHOTO CREDIT: David Sloane

2017 LASER ATLANTIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

HOSTED AT: Carolina Yacht Club

Regatta Facebook Page

TRAINING AT INTERNATIONAL SAILING ACADEMY IN MEXICO

I recently got the opportunity to spend a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at the International Sailing Academy. We spent the week working exclusively on downwinds. Each day would consist of a tow up the side of the bay for about 45 minutes followed by 4 hours of champagne sailing downwind as the wind built from 5 to 20 knots. I feel this time spent helped me exponentially in an area of my sailing that I haven’t always felt the most confident about. Attached is a video I made from footage taken during my training down there.

Many thanks to Vaughn and all the staff and coaches at ISA.  I know I'm not the first to say - you provide excellent training in a top notch location for sailing.  I hope to get the opportunity to come back again soon.

2017 LASER MIDWINTERS EAST REGATTA

In February I competed in my third Laser Midwinter East Championships in Clearwater Beach, Florida. After months of intense training this was a very important peak event for me as it was the qualifier for the 2017 ISAF/World Sailing Youth Worlds. I came up well short of my goal after a number of frustrating days in light wind. I learned a lot about how I react to stressful situations and things not going my way. I will take this event as a learning experience as I look towards my next major multi fleet event at the Laser Radial Youth Worlds in August.

2017 LASER MIDWINTERS EAST RESULTS

2016 LASER DISTRICT 13 CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Start Line - I'm about 5 boats from the pin end for this one (you can just see the last 3 digits of my sail number 705).
PHOTO CREDIT: B.Carraway

This past December I travelled to Fort Lauderdale to compete in the Laser District 13 championships. Aside from a few chilly days in Nova Scotia this past fall, this was my first true ocean conditions regatta experience ever. I’ve sailed on east coast of Florida before, but never in conditions like this.  It took until the end of the second day for me to get a feel for the waves. I finished in 11th place but I feel I didn’t sail my best. I had finishes of 17, 18, 6, 11, 9, 12, and 6. Again inconsistency hurt me in the standings, but what a good learning experience. I now appreciate how important it is to get lots of training experience prior to important events at the location to fully grasp the local conditions.

2016 LASER DISTRICT 13 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

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Waves made this leeward mark rounding (mark behind boat 204117 on the left of image) a challenge.
PHOTO CREDIT: B.Carraway

My next event is Laser Midwinter Championships at Clearwater Sailing Center February 23-26 2017. This is a very important event for me as it is the sole qualifier for the 2017 ISAF Youth Worlds.

2016 CANADIAN YOUTH WORLDS TEAM TRAINING CAMP

Photo Credit: Unknown

In October I was invited to join the 2016 Canadian Youth Team for a training camp in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  As an alternate for the 2016 Youth Worlds Team this was a great opportunity to both train with and race against the team at the RNSYS Fall Youth Regatta. The camp took place across 5 days made up of 3 training days and 2 regatta days. During this time we received great coaching from the likes of Lisa Ross and Ken Dool.

Photo Credit: Unknown

This was my first time going to Nova Scotia and I was surprised by how cold it was. Luckily I brought all of my cold weather sailing gear (including Rooster's Pro AquaFleece Top and SuperTherm LongJohn) and thankfully it kept me nice and warm. During the course of the 5 days the conditions were mostly medium to high winds and shifty as the predominant wind direction is offshore. Having limited experience sailing in tidal locations, it was interesting to see how much the tide comes in and out each day as the launch ramp would become significantly longer. This was a great experience as I'm sure there will be more events in similar conditions on the east coast in the future like Sail Canada Youth Nationals in 2017.

Photo Credit: Unknown

A huge thanks to Agustin Ferrario for organizing the event, charters and billeting, to my host family and all at RNSYS who made us feel so welcome. I look forward to having the opportunity to sail there again soon.

2016 RNSYS FALL DINGHY REGATTA RESULTS

2016 FALL CORK

On the weekend following the Ontario Sailing Combine I participated in the annual Fall CORK event at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in Kingston. This year there were 57 boats competing in the Laser Radial fleet.

Though sunny, the weather this year was unfavourable for sailing with extremely light and shifty winds. The race committee managed to get 3 races off in the difficult conditions. Unfortunately racing was called off on the first day just as the wind reached steady conditions after a general recall.

Light and shifty wind conditions at Fall CORK regatta frustrated the race committee and sailors alike. As seen here when the wind completely died in the middle of a starting sequence.

Light and shifty wind conditions at Fall CORK regatta frustrated the race committee and sailors alike. As seen here when the wind completely died in the middle of a starting sequence.

I fell victim to inconsistency and poor results leading to a finish of 4th place. I would like to thank the race committee and everyone involved with the event for doing their best given the frustrating conditions and I hope for better racing next year.

2016 FALL CORK RESULTS

ONTARIO SAILING COMBINE 2016

In September I participated in the Ontario Sailing Combine. This 2-day event is held each year prior to Fall CORK in Kingston, Ontario. Across the two days coaches are evaluating you on your fitness, sailing ability, and character for possible selection to one of the Ontario teams.

On the morning of the first day there is a fitness circuit that all athletes do. It consists of push ups, pull ups, flexibility, plank, and measurements. The measurements taken include height, weight, and BMI. After this all athletes participate in the beep test. I am proud to say almost all of my fitness scores improved over last year.

The rest of the evaluation comes on the water. There are two on-water sessions, one in the afternoon on the Thursday and one on Friday. This is a good pre regatta tune-up and an opportunity to display your skills. Additionally we were treated to a great talk from Ken Dool; Canadian Sailing Team Head Coach and High Performance Director on what being an athlete is about.  Having only just returned from coaching our Canadian Olympic Sailing Team in Rio, his perspective was invaluable and thoughts were inspiring.

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I enjoyed this year's combine and was able to retain my place on OST Elite Radial Team. I would like to thank Ontario Sailing and all of the coaches for running a great event.

ONTARIO SAILING TEAM MEMBERS 2016/17

2016 CORNISH HENS REGATTA

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The annual Cornish Hen Regatta was hosted this year over the September 10-11 weekend at RHYC. This regatta often draws a small but competitive fleet of local racers, and is named after the prize given to competitors who podium.  

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This year I chose to sail in full rig for a fun and more competitive experience. I ended up coming 2nd in the regatta after 5 races. I had finishes of 3, 6, 2, 4, 1 leaving me with 10 points after the drop. The conditions were excellent on the first day with 20 knots from the south west but the race committee sent us in after 1 race with concerns about the safety of some of the younger sailors. The second day brought light and shifty conditions that are common in Hamilton Harbour.

Sailing in the full rig was an interesting and fulfilling experience that will help me when I move into the class full time for 2018.

2016 CORNISH HENS REGATTA RESULTS

CORK - SAIL CANADA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016

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My summer culminated with the CORK International - Sail Canada Youth Championship Regatta at the end of August in Kingston Ontario. This regatta held significant importance for me as it was the qualifier for the ISAF / Youth World Sailing 2016 Championships to be held in New Zealand this December.  The winner would be offered the spot to represent Canada.  My main goal while I sail the laser radial (before I move on to the Olympic Class Laser Standard boat) is to attend an ISAF/World Sailing Youth Championship before I age out. Which means I only have two left.  Qualifying this time out was a small stretch but entirely doable and I trained hard all summer with this goal in mind.  Sadly I fell just slightly short.  After 12 races in total in a fleet of 148 I finished up 4th overall and 3rd Canadian.  A huge improvement on my previous years finishes but two places out of the opportunity to represent Canada at the Worlds this year .

The conditions in Kingston for this regatta were unusual.  I had spent almost 6 weeks in Kingston training 5 days per week with the Ontario Sailing Elite team but none of that would prepare me for what nature served up.  Usually during the summer Kingston will get a thermal almost every day. This wind will be around 12-15 knots and from the south-west or just to the right of the island. There was not a single one of these types of days during the regatta. This year the wind was light to medium for every race except one. That one race was the final race of qualifiers and a squall  came through with fog, rain, and 25 knot winds.

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Race 6 - rounding the leeward mark just after the squall had passed.

My best race of the regatta came on the first race on the second day of qualifiers. In that race I was one of the only people to notice a massive wind shift favouring the pin end of the start line at about 1 minute left to go. I sailed to that end of the line, had a clean start and crossed in front of the fleet by a significant amount. I led the entire race and won by over a minute. It was an exhilarating feeling.  I am really proud of this result and would like to believe this is a sign of things to come.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sailingshot.ca

Unfortunately this regatta also had it’s share of disappointing races. Some poor starts, bad luck, and sometimes poor decisions led to results that weren't my best. Over the entire regatta I was fairly consistent with race finishes of 5, 5, 4, 1, 8, 2, 11, 4, OCS, 11, 3, 10. The regatta came down to the wire with fellow Ontario Sailing team mate Matti Muru, Quebec sailor Justin Vittecoq and I all tied in points for first place.

Had the regatta finished after 11 races I would have won. At one point it seemed unlikely that the race committee would manage to get a 12th race started before the time limit for the final day ran out, but with less than 5 minutes left on the clock they started us. Unfortunately in that final race I was unable to keep ahead of Justin and Matti and in the end I finished 3rd Canadian and 4th overall.  Although this was disappointing I’m really proud of my effort and how I put myself in the position to win.

Many thanks to all who worked so hard organize and run this event. Special thanks to my coach Chris Hewson, to Sarah Douglas and to the rest of my team for being the best of training partners.  Finally congratulations to Justin, Matti, Campbell Patton (Bermuda) and Alex - my fellow competitors on the podium this year.  Good competition makes great sailing - my thanks.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sailingshot.ca via @CORKKingston Twitter feed

RESULTS CORK INTERNATIONAL - SAIL CANADA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016

ONTARIO SUMMER GAMES

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PHOTO CREDITS:  unknown

The Ontario Games Program started in 1970 in Etobicoke as a showcase for amateur sport. They have now become Ontario’s largest multi-sport event, including both team and individual sports.

Provincial level athletes from ages 12 to 18 qualify through a regional selection process conducted by the Provincial Sport Organizations (PSOs). The Games take place every two years and are awarded through a bidding process. They are supported by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport in collaboration with host communities.

For many young athletes, the Ontario Summer Games is the highpoint of their sporting career, while for others the Games are a stepping stone for the Pan Am Games or even the Olympics.

About the Ontario Summer Games
 

I have been fortunate to have participated in the Ontario Summer Games twice now and enjoyed both experiences.  For my first games in 2014 I had only been racing the laser radial for about a month and found it to be a great learning and development opportunity.  This year I had the opportunity to share some of my learnings over the last two years with other up and coming racers.

The theme of this year's games was "bring it home."  

To our young athletes, we issue the challenge of coming to Mississauga with energy and enthusiasm, intending to ‘bring home’ wonderful experiences and quite literally, awards, accolades and hardware that come from being successful during team and individual competitions. ‘Bring It Home’ is intended to be positive and a motivating phrase to encourage athletes to get to the finish line with their best.
 

I want to thank the province, Ontario Sailing, our coaches, The City of Mississauga, our host Port Credit Yacht Club, all of the volunteers, and my fellow participants/ competitors for making this years games a memorable and successful event.

ONTARIO SUMMER GAMES - SAILING RESULTS

FOUR SISTERS REGATTA 2016

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The annual Four Sisters Regatta took place on July 16 and 17 at Port Credit Yacht Club. This year 60 competitors attended for the radial class. We had two great days of sailing on Lake Ontario with winds ranging from 3 to 8 knots and some small to medium waves. The sun wasn’t always out but it was warm nonetheless with temperatures in the high 20s celsius on the water.

This is a local event for me and Port Credit is a great facility capable of hosting the large numbers of sailors that come out to compete in this mid-season event.  My results have continued to improve year over year.  In 2014 I finished 14th, last year I placed 5th and this year I was very pleased to have won the event with finishes of 1, 1, 61 BFD, 1, 11, 1, 1.

Competition is always good at Four Sisters - and this year was no different with all of the laser radial sailors on the podium finishing within one point of each other. The event offered great practise for me in the areas of covering and fleet management both up and downwind. Congratulations to all my fellow competitors, and thanks to the coaches, parents, organizers, and volunteers who made this event happen.

2016 FOUR SISTERS RESULTS

PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE...

VIDEO CREDIT:  Chris Hewson, Ontario Sailing Team Coach.

Boat time is key and I'm  happy to get as much practise time in the boat as possible.  

In the early Spring months while school was still in, our team trained out of Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club and we aimed to be on the water 4 times a week - usually two evenings after school and both days of the weekend.  Once summer hit we moved to a Monday-Friday full day training schedule.

For the next few weeks we will be based in Kingston to take advantage of more consistent and heavier thermal wind conditions.  

No matter the location, one of the side benefits of being out on the water is being treated to fantastic views.  The trick is not to let them distract you :)

US NATIONALS 2016 - MENTOR HARBOR YACHT CLUB

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PHOTO CREDIT: unknown

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR TEAM ROOSTER SAILING GEAR BLOG

In early July the Ontario Sailing Team and I travelled to Mentor, Ohio for the USA Laser Nationals Regatta. This four day event was hosted by  Mentor Harbour Yacht Club on Lake Erie and offered both a variety of conditions and challenging competition with over 100 radials in attendance.

The first day of the regatta winds were light to medium and shifty. The waves were large rollers and were accompanied by some current. I had great starts but some poor choices resulted in me being on the wrong side of the fleet for some shifts. I finished the day with a 9th and a 15th.

Day two brought my best racing of the regatta. With conditions medium in terms of wind (ranging between 4 - 12 knots) and big rollers for waves. Less current led to more difficult starts as a majority of the fleet could have good accelerations. I felt I had some of the best boat speed on the race course and was fast all day. I had finishes of 3, 4, 17, and 6. This marked the halfway point of the regatta and the end of the qualifying series. After 6 races with 5 to count I was in 14th place and qualified for gold fleet.

After the highs of day two came the lows of day three. The breeze and waves came up resulting in some unfamiliar  conditions for me including the biggest waves I’ve ever sailed in. Unfortunately I struggled unsuccessfully all day to  figure out how to sail fast in these new conditions. To compensate for my perceived lack of speed I was extremely aggressive in my starts resulting in 2 black flags. I had finishes of 21, 26, 52 BFD, and 52 BFD.

The final day of racing was extremely light and the race committee only managed to race us once in winds ranging between 1 and 4 knots. After one of the best starts in the fleet at the midline I worked my way up the left side of the beat staying first row. Much to my disappointment another right shift came in at the top ⅓ of the beat. This resulted in me getting passed by a number of boats out of the right corner. I finished the race with a respectable 19th.

This regatta was a great opportunity to test my skills against a large and talented fleet. It offered a valuable learning experience; be prepared for the different conditions. Getting the opportunity to go before a regatta and spend time training at the venue can be immensely important for boosting your confidence going into the event. Sadly for this event I didn’t do that and it cost me when I faced difficult new conditions on the third day.

All in all I had a fun time in Mentor for this regatta. I felt that I gained a lot of valuable experience in larger fleets and learned a ton.  I finished up in 26th place overall.  I am happy with my effort and look forward to taking some of my learnings to my next regatta back in the familiar waters of Lake Ontario at Four Sisters Regatta hosted at PCYC the July 16-17 weekend.

2016 US LASER NATIONALS RESULTS

ATLANTIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016

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Tying the laser radial onto the roof of the car at Toronto Sailing & Canoe Club in preparation for heading to ILCA Atlantic Coast Championships in Bellport NY.

I recently made the trip down to Bellport, NY for the ILCA Atlantic Coast Championships. The overall experience was good but was not without its downsides - including an 18 hour round trip drive that involved coming through traffic Sunday night in New York City and a major equipment breakdown.

I was looking forward to the opportunity to measure myself against a broader pool of competitors.  Faced with a good fleet of 42 boats and difficult conditions I managed to finish up 10th overall. On Saturday there were varying wind speeds and some big shifts, at one point a large cloud brought 20+ knot winds and a furious downpour. I managed to end the day with a 11, 3, 14, and 18. Sunday brought equally challenging conditions. In this case it was extremely high winds gusting up to 30 knots! Unfortunately on the way out to the course for the first race, my bottom section broke at the deck.

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Bottom section... busted.

Lucky for me the race was postponed due to high winds and the fleet was sent in giving me time to find a spar to borrow. About an hour later the race committee sent us back out and raced us twice where I secured pretty consistent results of  a 9th and a 10th. Although capsizing because I missed my hiking strap at the first windward was pretty frustrating and didn't help my results. All in all a good learning experience and I look forward to improving on these  these results a lot before Atlantic Coast Championship is hosted next year in Carolina!

Big thanks to my dad for driving the whole 9 hours there and 9 hours back and to Chase Burwell for lending me a bottom section that allowed me to continue racing on Sunday!

ATLANTIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 RESULTS