Thursday, August 16, 2012

All Hands Were on Deck for the 2012 CYA Sail Central Championship at HYC Fruitbowl

What a concept! Pitch a tent and go sailing for four days with some of the top coaches in Canada to provide some mentoring.  As you improve, join the racing on the weekend to test your skills.

Despite a gentle breeze for the racing on Saturday it was consistent and allowed sailors to hone their competitive skills.  And they did compete; with 75 Radials, all on the line on Charlie course, there was considerable jockeying for position and a few false starts.  The black flag is used to indicate that another false start (OCS) will result in disqualification for that race.  And it was used after a few false starts, but somehow these sailors know how to hold the line and avoid the committee boats, when they have to. It’s quite a job to coordinate 160 boats on three courses, so congratulations to Ross Tellier our PRO and everyone on the Race Committee.

Choosing to host the inaugural CYA Sail Central as part of HYC’s FruitBowl was a great success this year thanks to the contributions of all our volunteers and staff.  With over 200 competitors and 30 coaches, it was one of the largest versions of FruitBowl we have hosted in years. We had a great turnout, excellent coaching, and great racing on the weekend with five completed races in every fleet, nice sunny weather, entertainment, a banquet and a great awards ceremony.  Hopefully members had fun too; with pool activities, the Friday BBQ and either sailing or watching the racing, it seemed like a great place to be.

For many young sailors, this event is likely the peak event of the summer sailing experience.  It goes a long way towards helping them meet the CYA’s objectives of Learn to Sail and Sail to Win.  A number of Olympic Team members are FruitBowl Alumni.

And how did HYC sailors do?  In fact, they did quite well. In the Opti Class Justin Vittecoq won first place and Thomas Coté, Chantal Bourque, Mathew Kondejewski were all in the top ten.  In Lasers, Jack Neilson came second and in the biggest fleet of all, with 75 boats, Coralie Vittecoq came fifth in the Radials.

Thanks especially to our Regatta Chair, Helen Hodgson (the FruitBowl Queen), and her Organizing Committee, including Evert Bastet, Hubert Bourque, James Campbell, Dave Cobbett, Phil Gribbin, Don Gillis, Marian Kuiper, Bernard le Duc, Al Leus, Cynthia Shinn, Simon Robinson and Ross Tellier. The Committee also received great support from all the HYC staff including Chris, Margaret, Matt, Stephane, Terry and the Security staff.

The support of the Commodore and the Board was also essential to the success of the regatta.  A special thanks also to our Food and Beverage Team including Cynthia Shinn, Cathy Harris, Bianca Grohmann, Patsy Gillis, Joan Hughes and all the Bar and Canteen staff.

Our sponsors including Mini Mont Royal, the CYA, FVQ, Tenaquip and May’s Studio also made significant contributions, as did all the clubs who not only sent coaches and sailors but also helped out with the Regatta.   This included clubs such as Nepean Sailing Club, Pointe Claire Yacht Club and our own HYC Junior Sailing Program and coaches James Gillis and Taylor Grant. Thanks also to everyone who lent their boats to the Regatta and to the Race Committee.  

Below is a list of the all the members of the Race Management team that made the two days of racing possible under the direction of our PRO, Ross Tellier. (If I have left anyone out, my apologies and please let me know).

2012 SailCentral@FruitBowl HYC Race Management Team                                
Ross Tellier  PRO
Nancy Donnelly  
Sheryl O’Brien  
Brian Corrigan    PIC
Pat O’Brien   
John Nassr        
Ron Harris     
Tom Babcock
Monique Mair
Hugh Mc Dowell
Simon Robinson  
Cyrille Vittecoq     
Doug Mair
Cathy Bredt     
Jim Freeman
Patrice Delhaes
Bill Bredt         
Daryl Seaman           
Jean-Luc Gosselin
Onur Bodur        
James Campbell 
Lloyd Hodgson
Jean Racette  
Peter Miller
Debbie Hodgson
Madeleine Palfreeman
Kevin Thompson
Scott Lawrence
Stacey Gibb
Trevor Collins
Rick Frohloff     
Charlie Taylor
John de Sevigné
Brenda Goldenberg 
Amelia Robinson
Gunnar  Beauregard
Evert Bastet     
Nicole  Bastet     
Lynn Cooke
Marian Kuiper
Mark Laroche  
  Bob Hurtubise  
Lee Grant
Bernard le Duc   
Louis Levesque
Dave Cobbett  
Femke le Duc   
Helen Henshaw


Thanks again!  
Doug Meredith