The HYC Opti race team returned home this week after a very busy two week schedule on the road that started in historic Kingston and ended in picturesque Lunenburg.
The 2011 Canadian Optimist Championships were last week at the Lunenburg Yacht Club. 84 Championship and 10 Green Fleet sailors from across Canada and Bermuda descended on beautiful Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to take part in 6 days of activities on and off the water.
Taylor Grant, who made the long trek with his HYC sailors: Jack Marten CAN1360, Chantal Bourque CAN1445, and Thomas Coté CAN 1401, was joined by Philippe Pasquin CAN1012 (CNDM), Heidi Timmons USA15050 (PCYC), Vincent Nalecz (PCYC) CAN1373 and John Thomas Kelly (PCYC) CAN1098 who needed support on the water.
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| Coaches Briefing |
Taylor’s Championship fleet of seven sailors met up each morning after picking up their lunches and set out for open waters off Backmans Island approximately 2.5nm from the club. Our sailors navigated the range of Atlantic weather from warm and sunny to torrential rain and wild wind conditions reaching 32 knots on Monday. On Tuesday blue skies delivered winds of 10-15 knots.
Wednesday was a lay day but there was Team racing for those who couldn’t get enough of being on the water. Sailors organized themselves into 2 HYC teams (recruiting extra talent from the Royal St. Lawrence Club) and headed off in light wind just off the LYC grounds for an afternoon of racing where the HYC team of Thomas, Philippe, Julien, Nick made it through the 4th elimination (out of 14 teams).
Fog in the morning on Thursday burned off before the teams set out but the high winds had returned. Friday and the last day of racing brought lighter wind conditions.
All Taylor’s sailors turned out terrific performances:
Chantal Bourque finished 30th overall and brought home hardware for being the 5th top Canadian female sailor. Philippe Pasquin placed 15th and in spite of injuring his elbow before racing started, Thomas Cote finished 35th, and Heidi Timmons was 47th. Jack Marten, competing in his first Canadian Championship ranked 48th, Vincent Nalecz was 60th and John Thomas Kelly was 73rd. HYC was also represented by Justin Vittecoq who came 1st and Coralie Vittecoq who came 4th overall and was top female sailor.
This event was an exceptional experience for our young sailors who forged new friendships and enjoyed camaraderie with many competitors from other area clubs.
The next sailing event is the Quebec Championships at CVL September 10th and 11th.
For more full results, visit:
For Articles and photos, check out:
http://www.sail-world.com/Canada/Nearly-100-young-sailors-participate-in-2011-Canadian-Optimist-Champs/87715
