The 2009 sailing season ended on a good note with both race teams,Optimist and 420, returning from the Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston (CORK), having represented Hudson Yacht Club extremely well.
The 420 Race Team, a program new to the Junior Sailing program, was met with a strong fleet of over 80 420s in Kingston. After two days of round robin qualifiers, two Hudson boats made the gold fleet and the third raced silver fleet, narrowly missing the cut. With 40 420s on each line, the starts were busy and getting off in the first row and with clean air was a feat. They didn’t get the wind that Kingston is known for but after four days of racing, James and Andrew Gillis finished 22nd overall in gold fleet having sailed consistently with only the odd sibling disagreement. Arthur Olivenstein and Fred Neilson, who just made the gold fleet, advanced in the rankings finally finishing 30th overall.
In the silver fleet, Willem Leduc and Matthew Grant moved into 1st place on day three and won silver fleet despite an early start in the final race of the event. The team had a lot of fun on and off the water with on-land activities varying from go-carting to an awesome Mexican meal at Lone Star.
The Optimist Race Team had a similarly successful event with strong team of five attending CORK. Four out of the five who attended raced in green fleet, a separate race course for the first-year racers. The green course received a fleet of 31 boats and got off a total 17 races throughout the entire regatta. Liam Calder finished 6th overall in the green fleet, having placed top three in several races. Chantal Bourque who placed 8th overall also achieved great results often in the top 10. Jack Marten, despite formidable damage done to his boat in a start line altercation, finished 10th overall. Mathew Kondejewski finished 11th overall in the green fleet having sailed a consistent regatta in the top 15. The championship fleet, made up of the optimist sailors with more than one year of experience had four extremely long days of racing and ended the regatta having sailed 12 races. Thomas Coté sailed an awesome regatta in the championship fleet finishing 55th off of a busy start line of 72 boats. The team was met with a variety of new experiences including exposure to protest proceedings, busy start lines and waves that the Lake of Two Mountains rarely entertains.
by Hannah Kennell.
