2024 ILCA 7 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

2024 started with a busy month for me. I competed in 2 events, culminating with the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championships, my first peak event of the year. This event was the second last opportunity to qualify Canada for a Men's Dinghy spot for the 2024 Olympics.

Before the Worlds, I competed in the Australian National Championships a few days after arriving in Adelaide. I finished this event in 65th out of 102 entries. Arriving early was critical to get a better feel for the wind patterns in the venue and get situated with the jet lag. After two weeks of training, the 2024 ILCA World Championships came post-Australian Nationals.

With the Olympics now only months away - the best of the fleet are all in attendance.

The first three days of the event and qualifying series saw us complete two races a day in mostly moderate to strong sea breezes ranging from 10-18 knots, depending on how clear the day was and the gradient. We had a return to shore on day two as we waited for the sea breeze to build. The following two days of the regatta in the final series brought more significant winds, with day 5 being 25-32 knots. Unfortunately, with the sea breezes late arrival and the scheduled medal race in the afternoon, the race committee could not get us underway for an 11th race in a narrow window on the 6th day before the top 10 competed in the medal race. 

Starting line action

At this event, I had by far my best qualifying series, sitting in 65th after the first three days, finishing 7th and 15th in races, and having my best finish by percentage of the fleet. I was proud of my performance in individual races, competing with the best in the world, and I am moving in the right direction. 

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The team fell just short of our collective goal of qualifying Canada for the Olympics. With more places being given out at upcoming continental events, Canada will be one of the favourites to win one of the three remaining spots at the SOF Hyeres - Last Chance Regatta. For our internal selection, I currently sit 45 spots behind the top Canadian; my work is cut out for our second and final trials event, Trofeo Princesa Sofia, the Spanish World Cup event held annually in Palma. I want to thank everyone who has supported me on this journey thus far, including my family, coaches, and supporters. 

Next up, I have a long training camp in Tenerife to attack my weaknesses in heavy wind and prepare me as best as possible for Palma. 

2021 ILCA 7 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Photo Credit: unknown

After taking some time off and reflecting on a challenging regatta, I am happy to share that things are moving in the right direction, but sometimes things take more time than we want. Worlds this year was at a challenging time for sailing in Barcelona after being postponed from September due to COVID. Over six days, we raced on three days and completed seven races. Quite different from the usual format of two races per day over six days. With wind only coming in the early morning, we biked down to the boat park as the sun rose in order to be on the water early for 9 am first guns in shifty and cold offshore conditions. We then would race and get sent in when the wind inevitably died. On two of the days, we were sent back out for a race just before dark. This was a very challenging event with extremely long days and lots of waiting. Results-wise I missed my goal and ended up in the silver fleet. On the positive side, I am very pleased with the lead-up to the regatta, my progression as an athlete on and off the water, and the team I have around me. I look forward to continuing the work towards further progress and the next Worlds in Mexico in May 2022.

Photo Credit: unknown

RESULTS

2020 ILCA STANDARD MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Photo Credit: Jon West
www.jonwest.photography

I just returned home to a wintery Toronto, having experienced my first Senior World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. It was a great week, sailing against the best of the fleet, all at the top of their game. After 3 days of races on Port Phillip Bay, I unfortunately missed my goal and finished the qualifying series in the bronze fleet. While this was initially disappointing, it is vital to keep things in perspective. This fleet was stacked with experience and talent, including 5 Olympic medalists and every laser world championship medalist since 2013 but one. As someone who is still at the beginning of their journey in the Laser, though difficult, it was essential to shift my mindset from seeking straight results to seeking valuable experience. 

Each day brought decently strong winds from 15 to 20 knots from a similar direction. Adding to the difficulty was the lack of stability in the wind, with shifts usually only over a range of 20 degrees. Still, a mix of persistent and oscillations left strategy to be a guessing game. This event was an excellent opportunity to benchmark the strength of this fleet in an Olympic year. With the worlds acting as a selection event for many countries, most competitors were at their peak and brought their best. I had some good moments in conditions I am least comfortable in, including a few strong starts around some legends. While it's now clear I have my work cut out for me to ensure I raise my game,  I look forward to returning to the 2021 Worlds prepared to achieve stronger results next year.

A great experience overall.
Photo credit: Elle Bruce

A big thanks to all of my loyal supporters for your help getting me to Australia. I can’t stress enough how valuable this experience has been. Thanks also to my dad who took time off work to support us on the water. And of course to my mum who came and took photos.

RESULTS
ELLE BRUCE PHOTOS

2019 LASER U21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Unseasonably warm and wind only first thing in the morning. This race was my 10th finish.
PHOTOS: ILCA Laser Under 21 Worlds Media

In my experience, the U21 Worlds often come down to the last day. This year in Split, Croatia, they came down to the last day more so than ever with light winds due to unseasonably warm temperatures plaguing the event from day one. After 5 days of the event, the fleets had only completed two races each early in the morning.

Canadians waiting for wind.
PHOTOS: ILCA Laser Under 21 Worlds Media

The final day arrived with a cold and rainy breeze from a new direction of southeast. Three races were completed under stormy skies in 15-20 knots of wind. I had strong starts and gave it my all, knowing it all came down to one day. In the three races, I scored notably consistent finishes of 12, 18, and 13. After dropping my 36th from day one, this left me with a 10, 12, 18, and 13 for 53 points and a 20th place finish overall. This is a huge result for me, improving vastly from 67th last year and a fantastic finish to my age group career.

Start line on the final day - you can just see barely me at the pin end for this one (215019)
PHOTOS: ILCA Laser Under 21 Worlds Media

I’d like to thank everyone who supported me on the road to achieving this result. Special thanks to Chris Cowan my full time laser coach these past few years. Under your guidance I have continued to make consistent progress towards my goals. Thanks also to Greg Lewandowski for your strength and conditioning expertise, and to Chris Hewson for support as event coach.

Of course, I wouldn’t be able to be doing any of this without the great support from donors, my parents, or PCYC, thank you.

For the next little bit, I will be focusing on fitness and finishing up the rest of this semester of university before resuming on water training again in Florida this December in preparation for Miami World Cup in January and my first Men’s Worlds in Melbourne, Australia, in February 2020.

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

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

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