2023 ILCA NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Location: Long Beach, California, USA
Dates: July 14-16, 2023

In July, I participated in the ILCA North American Championships, held at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in the vibrant city of Long Beach, the sailing site chosen for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

This event marked a crucial step towards my goals, allowing me to acquaint myself with the venue. Long Beach proved to be an excellent location for sailing and training, boasting a resilient thermal wind and pleasant temperatures. Throughout our training sessions, we enjoyed consistent winds ranging from 9 to 17 knots daily, accompanied by inviting waves. Additionally, I enjoyed staying with wonderful hosts Joe and Tracy, who made my first time in California even more memorable.

While the regatta presented some challenges due to a shift in weather patterns after the first day, transitioning from good thermal winds to a high-pressure system, I remained optimistic. The lighter winds on the following two days posed a different set of conditions, but despite solid starts, I was unable to convert to strong finishes. In the end, I secured the 11th position out of 47 boats.

Although the outcome wasn't exactly what I had hoped for, the overall experience was invaluable. I am deeply grateful for the support that made this journey possible, from the welcoming hosts to the training opportunities in Long Beach. This regatta has fueled my enthusiasm to continue learning and growing in the sport. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who played a part in this adventure, and I look forward to the exciting challenges that lie ahead.

RESULTS

2019 ILCA / COLIE SAILS LASER NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Third from the boat in this photo of one of the starts.
PHOTO: Pete Buoy

I just finished up my first Laser North American Championships in Brant Beach, New Jersey. I finished up 8th out of 40 competitors in the sweltering conditions on Manahawkin Bay. I think I could have done better with a more acute focus on managing my heat better through hydration and fuelling. I will make this a focus point for my next regatta, CORK OCR and Sail Canada Senior Championships in Kingston, Ontario. In the meantime I am taking some time off and competing in the Kingston Triathlon before getting back on the water next week.

Perhaps the haze on the horizon hints at just how steamy the conditions were.
PHOTO: Pete Buoy

RESULTS

2019 LASER MIDWINTERS EAST

Over Reading Week I continued the longstanding tradition of going down to Clearwater, Florida for the Laser Midwinter East Championships.

Overall I had a really positive event finishing in 11th place, my best finish ever by a significant margin. I improved on my finish of 24th (24/45) last year; however, the fleet was stronger last year. I had great starts all regatta and had the opportunity to duke it out at the front of the pack on numerous occasions. I had multiple top 5 finishes and feel with some better consistency in game planning and speed I could have moved up the tight leaderboard. I leave this regatta with a great motivation to improve my fitness over the next couple of months in the gym and prepare myself for my next event, the Senior European Championships in May.

In the lead coming into the second windward mark - crossing just behind me on port is Chris Barnard (USA 210780) US Sailing Team member and winner of the regatta.

A link to results can be found below, shoutout to my mom for taking some great pics!

RESULTS
PHOTOS

2019 LAUDERDALE OCR/ US NATIONALS/ CANADIAN PAN AM QUALIFIER

Leeward mark rounding (new sail number 215019) with fellow Canadian and 2016 Canadian Olympian Lee Parkhill (sail number 208869).
Photo Credit: Coach Chris Cowan

Lauderdale OCR and US nationals was a very competitive event this year in the lead up to Sailing World Cup Miami. Additionally, it was the Canadian qualifier for the Pan-Am Games. This means that the top finishing Canadian would go to Lima, Peru this summer and represent Canada. This brought an added pressure to the event and 15 Canadian sailors.

Photo Credit: David Sloan

I was proud of my consistency throughout the regatta however every time I was in a good position to finish well I would make a mistake that was easily capitalized on by the strong sailors around me. I finished 26th out of 54 sailors, improving on my 36th place finish from last year and 4th junior (under 21). I think my big takeaways from this regatta have to do with simplifying my decision making when around more experienced sailors. Instead of trying to outsmart them I need to stay with them and trust my own speed and my ability to not to make boat handling mistakes.

Congratulations to Canadian Sailing Team athletes Robert Davis in laser and Sarah Douglas in radial for winning the spots for Pan-Ams this summer.

You can check out the results at the link below.

RESULTS

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

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