2019 LASER SENIOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Duro Marina - host for the 2019 Laser European Championship

I have just returned from the hardest and longest event I’ve ever competed in. The Laser Senior European Championships just wrapped up in Porto, Portugal this past Saturday. Six days of racing against the best in the world was an incredible learning experience. From frustration in light winds over the first couple days to gruelling 23-minute upwinds in 20 knots in the last few the event offered every challenge imaginable.

I finished 127 out of 162 competitors and 5th Canadian. I was very pleased to have my best races come on the last two days in the heaviest winds of the event. This gave me confidence in my ability in the conditions I don’t generally favour. This event made me realize how much stronger these European fleets are and how much more time I need to spend starting next to the best to beat them.

RESULTS

Good starts were my goal and they were key to doing well. This photograph captures one of my starts in the qualifying races. (middle of photo - sail #215019)

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 HEMPEL WORLD CUP SERIES MIAMI

Last week I had the opportunity to represent Port Credit Yacht Club, the Ontario Sailing Team and Canada on the world stage at the Hempel Sailing World Cup Series - Miami. This was an incredible experience to line up beside some of the best in the world relatively close to home.

Liam Bruce (CAN 215019), Josh Armit (NZL 212259) and Rob Davis (CAN 211542)

The regatta brought forth numerous challenges from long 7 hour days in the grueling heat to tricky light winds that were often affected by clouds. With such a high caliber fleet, I was well aware that the qualifying series was going to be a challenge. Being my first world cup event, I dealt with some serious nerves that lead to a few poor nights of sleep resulting in me making some big mistakes in the qualifying races. I ended up deep in the silver fleet after a trying qualifying series.

Laser fleet downwind leg. My Ontario Sailing Teammate James Juhasz visible in the center of the photo.

However, for the rest of the event, I found a good relaxed groove that allowed me to leave the experience very positive and excited for what the future holds. I finished up 76th of 101 boats and I am looking forward to getting back out there again at Laser Midwinters East in Clearwater at the end of the month. In the meantime, I’m back at school in Kingston training hard in the gym.

RESULTS

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

WRAP UP 2018 - WELCOME 2019

WRAPPED 2018 UP WITH ONE LAST REGATTA AND KEY LEARNING

At the beginning of December, I trained and raced leading up to the District-13 championships. Unfortunately, I got sick on the second day and was hampered by a bad cold for the entire camp. This limited the amount of time I was able to function at a high capacity on the water but I made the most of it and had a really productive camp working on starting and boat-on-boat battles. For next time I know I need to be more diligent about protecting my health. Doing a 24-hour straight through drive (with someone still on antibiotics for pneumonia) followed by a hard double session in the gym and then on the bike on the first day took its toll. The racing was held out of St. Petersburg Yacht Club and we had a great steady breeze each day in the 10-14 knot range with no shifts. Strong downwind speed carried me to 3rd place however I definitely feel that I could have been more competitive had I been at full strength.

2018 D13 RESULTS

DISTRICT 13 - On the start line and taking advantage of a mid-line sag. (Sail Number - CAN 206038)

TWO BIG REGATTAS TO KICK OFF 2019
I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and thank everyone for their continued support of me pursuing my dream. 2019 marks a year of opportunity for me and it is beginning this January with the biggest regattas of my sailing career with Lauderdale OCR which serves as the 2019 Pan-Am Games country trial and Sailing World Cup Miami. Later in the year, I will be working towards the U-21 World Championships as this is my last year of eligibility and I hope to make my mark.

If you don’t already subscribe to my quarterly updates hit the button below to get all the news.

2018 FALL CORK

Another year, another fall cork. It was great to supplement our fall training program with some racing. This year we got 2 days of light winds. On saturday the breeze was cold and came from the north bringing lots of puffs and shifts. It often would die off during races and required extra focus to stay racing the whole time. Sunday brought a light sea breeze after we waited a couple of hours for wind. I sailed consistently and finished up in 3rd place. I’m unhappy I was unable to defend my title but I was still within a shot of winning going into the last race so I was pleased with that.

Third place this year at Fall CORK. Congratulations to my fellow competitors Matti Muru (center) - 1st place, Justin Norton (right) - 2nd place.

2018 FALL CORK RESULTS
PHOTOS

CORK OCR

I competed in my first Sail Canada Senior Championships from August 18 - 21 in the laser class. From a performance perspective I was unhappy with how I finished - 12th place overall. I opened the regatta with a 10, 4, 13, 1 on the first day leaving me in 4th place so my drop from there was tough. On the other hand I had a great regatta from a focus standpoint. I felt that I was on my game for the whole regatta even though the results don’t reflect that.

A line squall came through on the final day and when the visibility dropped the Race Committee sent us in. It was a quick if wet reach back to the harbour.  (#206038)

I’m looking forward to getting back to school this fall and putting in a strong training block before the winter regatta season. The next key event for me will be Lauderdale Yacht Club OCR in January 2019 which is the selection event for Canada’s spot at the Pan Am Games.

2018 CORK OCR RESULTS
EVENT PHOTOS

2018 LASER CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Laser Canadian Championships took place over this past Friday, Saturday, Sunday in St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia. Three days of extremely close racing left me in a disappointing 6th place. This is a good benchmark for my first Canadians in the Laser Standard fleet, and I’m looking to improve on it next year. 

My mom took some great photos so take a look!

EVENT PHOTOS
2018 LASER CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
 

2018 LASER U21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

I have recently returned from a very beneficial trip to Europe for my peak event of the season Laser Under 21 Worlds.

On the start line. (206038 - left side of photo)
Photo credit: Robert Hajduk

In the week leading up to the regatta, we trained in steady winds from the north ranging from 8 to 20 knots each day. This changed drastically for the event itself as the first 4 days consisted of shifty offshore conditions from the west. Only on the last 2 days did we see excellent conditions from the north. It was a challenging regatta, and after 6 days and 12 races, I finished 67th out of 133 boats. While not as good an overall result as I wanted, I was pleased to achieve a top 10 finish in the qualifiers, and I happily achieved the first part of my goal by making gold fleet. Once there I learned how small the margin for error was in a trying finals series.

Photo credit: Robert Hajduk

This event was a good experience and a significant first step on a long journey. I look forward to returning to U21 ’s next year to improve on my first worlds in a laser standard.

2018 U21 LASER WORLDS RESULTS
EVENT PHOTOS

2018 KIEL WEEK

Kiel week lived up to its reputation with heavy wind and cold weather. This event threw everything it could at me from big breeze and a strong fleet to unpredictable racing schedules (delaying us all day then launching us at 7 pm). My results might suggest that I didn’t have a good event but in fact, it was a great learning experience for where I need to be in order to be successful competing in these types of fleets and at world-class events. Not only do you need to have a complete sailing skill set but you also need to be in the right spot mentally to compete at 100%. In the case of this event I was not prepared fully in either category. I did however spend the regatta focused on my starting and saw positive results in this aspect towards the end of the event. I plan to carry this onto u21 worlds in Gdynia! Overall Kiel Week was a great event, a fantastic learning experience and I’m sure I will be back in the future.

2018 LILAC REGATTA

Laser fleet start

Chilling at the coach boat with OST Coach Chris Cowan.

Another local regatta is in the books! Royal Hamilton Yacht Club was our host for the Lilac Regatta.  After no racing on Saturday due to no wind, we sailed five races in marginal hiking to light wind on Sunday. Racing was extremely close, and consistency was the name of the game. I managed to secure the win after finishing in the top 4 every race. I stayed focused on my starts and upwind technique, and this placed me consistently in a good place at the first windward and allowed me to stay in the game every race. Racing in such a small fleet has its own unique challenges but I consider it good practice for the future when I look forward to racing in some medal races.

Honoured to share the Haida Cup Award with fellow Ontario Sailing Teammate Clara Gravely.

2018 LILAC REGATTA RESULTS
REGATTA PHOTOS

2018 ICE BREAKER REGATTA

The local regatta season kicked off on the May long weekend with the Ice Breaker Regatta at Toronto Sailing & Canoe Club. We sailed for two days on Humber Bay in varying conditions. The first day brought plenty of wind from the east at around 12-17 knots and waves. I focused on my downwinds and starts in more breeze. I was happy with how I executed these and sailed very well. I sat in 2nd out of a fleet of 12 after the first day.

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The second day brought fluctuating wind strength and direction from the north-west. These unsettled conditions lead to exciting racing with such a small fleet. I fell to 4th place and one point off the podium after a difficult second day. Big thanks to everyone who braved the cold to make this regatta happen. And my mom (Elle Bruce) who was out and took some great photos!

2018 ICE BREAKER RESULTS
REGATTA PHOTOS
 

2018 LASER MIDWINTERS EAST REGATTA

I am recently back from a great training session and the Midwinters East Regatta in Florida. While on my reading week I went to work in preparing myself for u21 worlds in Gdynia, Poland this summer. Four days of solid training with a great group of sailors including a couple of Olympians gave me a clear insight into what it takes to be at the top of this fleet. The four days of racing were filled with difficult and puffy conditions that tested even the best sailors.  That combined with a very deep and competitive fleet resulted in more tough racing. I stumbled out of the blocks on the first day posting poor scores of 35 and 34 in the first two races. I followed that up with better and consistent finishes in the 20s and teens. I finished a disappointing 24th out of 42, but it is important to for me to remember that my focus for this regatta was on process goals and not placement goals. I found I struggled with my starts, so I will continue to focus on this more in the coming months. For now, I am back at school finishing up my semester and will be working in the gym continuing to improve my fitness until I can get back on the water again to train.

RESULTS - 2018 LASER MIDWINTERS EAST
PHOTOS - 2018 LASER MIDWINTERS EAST

2018 LAUDERDALE OLYMPIC CLASS REGATTA / ATLANTIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIP

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Mark rounding. 
Photo Credit: Boo Carraway / John Porter

The best fleet I’ve sailed against yet in the full rig and challenging conditions both came at Lauderdale Yacht Club OCR/ACCs last weekend. The three days of racing brought difficult conditions.  A shifty offshore breeze on day one meant my position in each race at any given moment changed drastically.  Day two we had a big breeze and swell that continued to build throughout the day.  Day three with a forecast of wind building to 30 plus knots race management elected to send us out early before things became unsailable.  These conditions were exactly what I was expecting.  

Good sized fleet.  (206038)
Photo Credit: Ken Dool

What I wasn't expecting were those challenges to be compounded by a large, fast and more experienced fleet. With the competition level high, it became a game of precision.  You could be within yards of the top guys, but there would be 20 boats between you.  I made a lot of mistakes and didn’t finish quite as I had hoped but my goals for this regatta were mostly process goals. There is a lot I can take away from this event from a learning perspective, and I will apply these to my next time sailing in the lead up to the Laser Midwinter East Championships in Clearwater, FL. I have a long way to go towards achieving my goals at u21 Worlds in Poland, and this is just part of the process. Thanks to all of those who made this event possible from the event organizers and volunteers to my coach and training partners as well as my parents and supporters.

RESULTS - 2018 LOCR/ACC

2017 DISTRICT 13 LASER CHAMPIONSHIPS

During the first weekend of December, I competed in the D13 Championships in Jensen Beach Florida. I arrived on Thursday and trained for two days with the Ontario Team and a good group of Canadians in excellent conditions.

Pre-Regatta Training.
PHOTO CREDIT: Coach Chris Cowan

Just a few of the Ontario sailors!
Matti Muru, Liam, James Juhasz

Sadly the wind didn’t hold up for the regatta, leaving us to compete for two days in lighter winds. The Race Committee managed four races the first day with winds from the east. Conditions were shifty and puffy with little visible differences on the water as the wind came directly off the Atlantic Ocean over a strip of land and down onto our course located on the Intercoastal Waterway.  I had a series of very poor finishes leaving me in 19th after the first day out of 32. The second day brought wind from the north and more stable conditions. I had finishes of 7 and 3, allowing me to climb the standings to 12th. I’m happy with how the second day went and will take that confidence into my next event in January at the Lauderdale Yacht Club OCR.

RESULTS - 2017 SAIL CANADA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
PHOTOS - 2017 SAIL CANADA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

2017 ONTARIO SAILING TEAM TRYOUTS AND FALL CORK

Leeward mark rounding with Matti Muru (208550) and Noah Collinson (206719) right with me.

This year due to my trip to the Laser Radial Youth Worlds Regatta in Medemblik I missed all of the summer CORK events so I only got to compete at one of my favourite venues once this season. On the weekend of September 23-24 I sailed the annual Fall CORK regatta. I raced in the Laser Full Rig class against a very competitive group of guys from Ontario.

Congratulations to my fellow competitors.  Noah Collinson (on left - 2nd) and Ross MacDonald (on right - 3rd)

We raced 3 races per day in light conditions outside of one race in 12 knots. I sailed an extremely consistent event with finishes of 2, 5, 2, 2, 2, and 6. After the drop I finished with 13 points and won the event. Kingston is the best freshwater sailing venue in the world and I am so happy to call it home now.

Additionally I attended the Ontario Sailing Combine in the two days leading up to Fall CORK. I sailed well and have now transitioned to the full rig for good. I am pleased to announce that I have accepted the invitation to join and am now a member of the Ontario Sailing Laser team. I am excited about this opportunity and look forward to the upcoming year of training and racing with a great group of teammates and my new coach Chris Cowan.

2018 FALL CORK RESULTS

QUEENS SAILING TEAM - 2017 CAN/AM CUP

Some may not realize that Kingston Ontario is often referred to as the “freshwater sailing capital of the world.”  This obviously was a key pro for Queen’s when I was evaluating where I would pursue my post secondary education.

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Queen's University Sailing Team promo stickers handed out at CORK.  Brilliant!

I have joined the Queen’s sailing team. I am one of 20 or so rookies on a team of 50. We compete mostly whitesail 420s and keelboats. We have a plethora of training opportunities and I attend 3 times a week at Kingston Yacht Club in 420s. A number of people I have grown up sailing against are also on the team, including past and present Ontario Sailing Team members such as Alek, Clara, James, and Matti.

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My first regatta came a few weekends ago at the Can/Am Cup hosted by Queens. I was a part of the Gaels 2 team comprised of rookies. I skippered the A-fleet boat with Georgia Stein as crew. We sailed extremely well together, winning 3/6 races on the first day. An OCS on the second day with the different rule set meaning no drops pushed us down to 3rd place in A-fleet and overall when combined with our 4th placed b-fleet teammates. Overall Queen's finished in 1st and 3rd.

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Sailing the double handed 420 with fellow rookie Georgia.
PHOTO CREDIT:  Aaron Bailey with Studio Q

I’m really excited to be a part of this group and look forward to future events with the team. Hopefully next year we can increase our presence in the US collegiate sailing scene.

Keep up to date with the Queen's Sailing Team at gogaelsgo.com or on Facebook

ON WATER PHOTO CREDITS:  Aaron Bailey for Studio Q

2017 SAIL CANADA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Being my final youth event and my last time racing the laser radial,  I entered this regatta with the goal of finishing first overall.  Not so uncommon a notion - to go out on a high note.  Unfortunately hitting that note would turn out to be challenging.

The first day of the regatta saw moderate winds from the mouth of the bay to the south and the regatta started well for me as I finished 1st and then 2nd. As the day went on the winds slowly dissipated leaving very light and difficult conditions for the final race of the day. A series of mental errors after rounding the final leeward mark in 2nd, including a penalty from the jury, had me fall all the way to a 9th place finish for the third race.

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Unfortunately on day two of the regatta, all racing was abandoned due to no wind.

The third day brought shifty and puffy conditions from the north off of land. There were large shifts and wind that ranged from 0 to 6 knots. The first race was sailed in little wind and I finished in a disappointing 11th place. The second race was again sailed in light winds and after rounding the top mark well back in the teens I managed to mount a comeback and finish in 5th, keeping my regatta together. The final race of the day came in more moderate breeze but after leading around the first mark I failed to maintain this and I let Tayte (the eventual winner of the regatta) pass me downwind. I eventually finished 2nd. It was difficult in this race but I had to stay very still downwind as I had already been flagged once and would have to retire from the race had I been flagged again.

With a steady breeze on the bay as we launched for the final day I was hopeful we would get three races. I would need three finishes ahead of the current leader in order to close the point gap and move from second into first place overall.

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Unfortunately that possibility slipped out of reach as I finished 2nd in the first race of the day and though I finished 1st with a healthy lead in the final race time had run out and we were unable to get in a 3rd race for the day. I ended up in 2nd place overall and 2 points short of my goal.

I am disappointed with this result as I had aimed to finish my final youth radial regatta on the top of the podium. However, I am resolved not to let this disappointment cloud my determination to go after future success.  There is always another regatta and so I will take what I've learned and look to apply that as I move onto racing in the Laser Standard/Full Rig fleet.

Many thanks to our hosts at St Margaret's Sailing Club and all of the volunteers who made this event possible and congratulations to my OST teammates and fellow competitors.

Finally I want to say thank you to my coach Chris Hewson for all your support through this stage of my development in this sport. Your guidance, patience and encouragement have been invaluable. Thank you.

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2017 SAIL CANADA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
2017 SAIL CANADA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP PHOTOS

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

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