On July 28-29, masters sailors (age 35 to 85) from around the province (and from elsewhere in Canada and, we are advised, from as far away as Northern more]]> The first announcement on this website of a planned summer event is,  for many, a first sign that spring is around the corner and summer not far off .  Well, here goes…SLSC is pleased to announce that we will be hosting the Laser masters sailors again in the summer of  ’12.  

On July 28-29,  masters sailors (age 35 to 85) from around the province (and from elsewhere in Canada and, we are advised, from as far away as Northern Ireland) will descend on Sturgeon Point to sail in the 2012 Ontario Laser Masters Championships.  

Sailors will be hosted at cottages around Sturgeon Point and breakfasts and a Saturday dinner will be served communally.  Mark your calendars.  We will be asking again for the help of our community for beds, food preparation, on water support, harbour assistance, registration, scoring and the like.  

This gathering promises to be another fine celebration of sailing as a lifelong passion, a weekend of camaraderie, good food and (reasonably) good wine. We look forward to welcoming our masters guests and putting on a great event.

When Murray more]]> A familiar name popped up as the Canadian Yachting Association announced its 2011 annual award winners.   Murray McCullough, SLSC racing coach in 2006, 2007 and 2009, is CYA’s 2011 coach of the year.  This award recognizes  Murray’s fine technical knowledge of our sport, but far more than that, it recognizes his leadership and his personal skills – his ability to motivate and to embue in his athletes a sense of  good sportsmanship along with a keen competititive spirit.

When Murray coached at Sturgeon he desparately wanted his sailors to do well, but not at all costs, not at the cost of sacrificing the code of fair play that is so much a part of the sport he loves.  Once on the race course, Murray heard that one of his charges had mentioned to a fellow team member that he had grazed a mark when rounding, but that no one had seen the incident, no one had protested and so he thought he had got away with it.  Well, no one had seen the incident and he had got away with it, but after a brief chat with Murray, the athlete went to the race officials and withdrew from the race because that was the right thing to do.  Sail fast, sail flat, but do it always within the rules – do it right, sail with a conscience.

Murray has moved on from Sturgeon and is now Ontario Sailing’s High Performance Coach, coaching athletes who compete at national and international levels, some with their eyes on the Olympics. His manner with these atheletes is as it was for his Sturgeon charges – lead quietly by example, train hard and sail competitively, keep your eye on the goal of winning, but do so always living by a code of fair play and sportsmanship.  

The CYA Coach of the Year  Award was established in 1998 to recognize an instructor/coach ‘who has contributed to the advancement of sailing’. The candidate must: a) Have shown leadership qualities. b) Through his/her behaviour and manner, have set an example for other instructors/coaches.  Murray did both for us and is continuing to do so for the elite level athletes that he now coaches - A very deserving award winner and one who we can proudly describe as a Sturgeon Laker – one of us.  Congratulations Murray!

An invitation to watch The O CANADA Project Sunday December 11 at 7pm on CBC’s Documentary Channel. Rogers 325, Cogeco 170, Bell TV 336, Shaw Direct 513, Shaw 124, and Videotron 151

The O CANADA Project tells the story of New Zealand boat builder Alan West rebuilding the former Spirit of Canada boat, skippered by Canadian Derek Hatfield in the 2006 Vendee Globe single-handed race, and training five Canadian more]]> A quick note from OSA to all sailing and sports enthusiasts:

An invitation to watch The O CANADA Project Sunday December 11 at 7pm on CBC’s Documentary Channel. Rogers 325, Cogeco 170, Bell TV 336, Shaw Direct 513, Shaw 124, and Videotron 151

The O CANADA Project tells the story of New Zealand boat builder Alan West rebuilding the former Spirit of Canada boat, skippered by Canadian Derek Hatfield in the 2006 Vendee Globe single-handed race, and training five Canadian high performance sailors – - Nikola Girke, Mike Leigh, Kevin Stittle, Rob Fox and Nathan Baron – - as they learn to sail the newly christened and highly demanding O CANADA in New Zealand.

FYI: O CANADA completed a very successful 2011 racing campaign on California coast including a 3rd overall in the 2,225 mile Transpac race – - top international boat and fastest boat under 74 feet with all-Canadian crew. Winner of the high wind Coastal Cup race from San Francisco to Catalina Island with speed bursts over 25 knots! Our 3rd documentary about the campaign is in production.

A video clip may interest you:

Our first documentary “Racing Around the World Alone”, the story of the 2006 Vendee Race, will be broadcast Sunday at 6pm on the Documentary Channel, same channels as above.

Racing Around the World is available for purchase or rental via iTunes. The O CANADA Project will be available via iTunes very soon.

Please pass along this message to any of your sailing friends that may have an interest

BRUCE HAMILTON 1955 – 2011

I’m sad to send you the news that Bruce passed away this past week. When I came to SLSC as head instructor in 1971, Commodore Fred Hopkins and his board did me an incredible favour by hiring Bruce as my assistant. Although I knew of Bruce as a result of his success at more]]> Ian ‘Bags’ Brown wrote this to us about his friend Bruce Hamilton.  Bags and Bruce instructed at the Club together in 1971.

BRUCE HAMILTON
1955 – 2011

I’m sad to send you the news that Bruce passed away this past week.  When I came to SLSC as head instructor in 1971, Commodore Fred Hopkins and his board did me an incredible favour by hiring Bruce as my assistant.  Although I knew of Bruce as a result of his success at Boulevard Club’s junior program, we had never met.  Fortunately, we really hit it off and I think we made a pretty good team.  I think we both enjoyed the summer immensely.  We became good friends.

Bruce was not only a very talented sailor, but he went on to be one of Canada’s top sailing instructors.  Within a couple of years he was head instructor at RCYC, which was generally regarded as the top sailing instructor position in the country.  It did not surprise me, however, that he found that environment restrictive with its staidness and politics.  Bruce moved on to Geneva Park where OSA was starting up a provincial sailing centre.  He quickly made that the premiere place for top sailing instructors to work.

While I gave up instructing to focus on racing, Bruce continued to pursue both.  He crewed for several top boats in Albacore, 470  and International 14′s where he competed in the World Championships.  At Sturgeon we were both introduced to the Laser by incoming Commodore David Barr.  The class was brand new in 1971 and growing by leaps and bounds.  I recall going with Bruce to the National Capital regatta and the Quebec Championships in 1972 where there were some 90 boats.  By 1974 I had opted to concentrate on the 470 while Bruce continued to sail Laser.  He qualified and represented Canada in the first Laser Worlds in Bermuda that year.

After university Bruce spent several months in France.  Unfortunately he contracted TB in France which I think led him to a greater interest in reading, film and music.  He went to work for Noranda in HR, then moved to Montreal where he used his French skills to help negotiate some major labour contracts for Noranda.  For a while he was back in Toronto and we reconnected.  We did a fair bit of cross country skiing, but I could not interest him in getting back into sailing.  He met his wife, Heather at Noranda and they settled back in Montreal in Kirkland, near Pointe Claire.  He started his own consulting practice which he ran successfully for several years.  Recently he had returned to the corporate world in a senior position at CBC.  Bruce was very devoted to his family and encouraged his 3 kids in the sports they chose.  On the West Island that meant swimming and water polo.

I’ve been sailing Sharks for the past few years.  Still doing battle with my skipper from Port Credit Junior Club, Johnny Dakin after all these years!  It was a bit of good luck that the Shark Worlds this past summer were at Beaconsfield Yacht Club, less than 5 KM from Bruce’s home.  It was great to see him and his family.  I did my best to persuade him that the Shark fleet in Montreal would be a great way for him to return to sailing.  I couldn’t tell whether my efforts to evoke the fun we’d had at SLSC and sailing Lasers was having any success.  Sadly, we’ll never know.  Bruce was a fine human being.  His tremendous talent may at times have been hidden by his modesty and even temperament, all the more to his credit.  He will be missed by all who knew him.

Ian “Bags” Brown

At the Ontario Sailing Golf Day recently, Derek Hatfield spoke of his round the world single handed racing carreer, sailing the Spirit of Canada boats. His ‘adventures’ included a capsize and demasting off the Cape of Good Horn while attempting to round Africa. The yacht that he sailed was an Open 60 like the one pictured above. The capsize incident occurred in a three day storm.

Can you imagine doing this non-stop around the world… singlehanded?

Photo more]]>

At the Ontario Sailing Golf Day recently,  Derek Hatfield spoke of his round the world single handed racing carreer,  sailing the Spirit of Canada boats.   His ‘adventures’ included a capsize and demasting off the Cape of Good Horn while attempting to round Africa.   The yacht that he sailed was an Open 60 like the one pictured above.   The capsize incident occurred in a three day storm. 

Can you imagine doing this non-stop around the world… singlehanded?  

Photo by Christophe Launay.

Last week, Amy competed for Dalhousie in the Canadian University Keelboat Championships, with universities vying to represent Canada at the Student more]]> The University Sailing season has started up and,  again this year, SLSC has alumnae competing – Claire DesBrisay and Liz Barr are sailing for University of Ottawa (Claire as U of O team captain);  Kate Thomas is sailing for Queen’s University;  Amy DesBrisay and Ellen Lourie for Dalhousie University;  and Keira Webster for McGill University…So many women sailors.

Last week, Amy competed for Dalhousie in the Canadian University Keelboat Championships,  with universities vying to represent Canada at the Student Yachting World Championships in 2012 (SYWoC 2012). 

The Regatta was sailed out of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron and, in three days of challenging racing,  Dalhousie’s Team emerged as champions with Dalhousie Team 1 overall winners and Dalhousie Team 2 in third.  McMaster’s team placed second in very close racing -  the top three boats being separated by 3 points in the final standings. 

Dalhousie now qualifies to represent Canada next year in the Worlds. 

A fabulous video on the regatta can be found at the following link (it includes a very cool broach):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?=R17uG5SEOzg&feature=player_embedded.   

This article appears on the canadianusailing.com website:

Canadian University Keelboat Championships and SYWoC 2012 Qualifier Regatta Report

On the weekend of September 16-18th, the Dalhousie Sailing Team in partnership with the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron hosted the Canadian University Keelboat Championships which was also the qualifying regatta for the Canadian entrant in the Student Yachting World Cup in 2012. The event was sailed in J22s from Friday to Sunday with 13 races sailed in the series. Teams arrived from McGill University, McMaster University and Dalhousie entered two teams to the event.

Friday began with the teams meeting at 9AM at the RNSYS to discuss the event and to ensure that the provided boats would be fair. Racing on Friday began late due to very windy conditions with winds around 20 knots with some gusts approaching 30 knots. Several broaches and one man-overboard on Dalhousie Team-1 later Dalhousie Team-2 skippered by Jacob Chaplin-Saunders had won the day with two bullets while McMaster sat in second and Dalhousie Team 1 in third with McGill not far behind. Friday’s sailing was followed by a barbecue and festivities hosted by Dalhousie.

Saturday was another breezy day in the 15-20 knot range and once again boat handling was critical in the six races sailed. Dalhousie Team-1, skippered by Ted Murphy had its chance in the spotlight with five bullets and a second for a strong lead on the competition. Dalhousie Team-2, skippered by Ross Porter on Saturday again showed themselves to be strong in the windy conditions and sailed to five seconds and one first.

Downwind beat at Canada’s 2012 Student Yachting World Cup Qualifier

Sunday started out with extremely light conditions and the competitors were towed to the racing area where they rafted up to wait for the breeze. In the early afternoon the wind filled in and five races were sailed in light and variable conditions. These light conditions presented an opportunity for the McMaster team to shine and they sailed their way to straight bullets on the day, while both Dalhousie teams struggled to find boat speed and to out-smart McMaster and keep up with McGill. Unfortunately at the end of the series McMaster’s performance was not enough to beat out Dalhousie Team-1’s advantage, with the local team skippered by Ted Murphy and crewed by Justin Hall, Chris Brennan and Dave Castle coming out two points ahead to win the regatta.

The Dalhousie Sailing Team would like to thank the McMaster and McGill teams for coming to the event and making the racing so competitive. Also, special thanks is in order for Greg Blunden for being an excellent Race Committee and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron for providing the venue.

- Dave Castle, Dalhousie Sailing

Dances and Fun Nights

This Tuesday, the Silvers will be running a casino night, so start practicing your poker face and get ready to win big! It will run from 6:30-8:30 and will cost a dollar more]]> Hey everyone and welcome to week 7!  This is the final week of our regular program because next week is race week!  As always we have tons of fun stuff planned for this week so keep reading to find out what’s in store! 

Dances and Fun Nights

This Tuesday,  the Silvers will be running a casino night, so start practicing your poker face and get ready to win big!  It will run from 6:30-8:30 and will cost a dollar to attend. This Friday will be the Boy/Girl Dance!!   Root through your brother’s or sister’s closet and change things up for a night!  The dance runs from 7-9pm.  It is $1 per person,$1 for pop and 25 cents for freezies. If you have any questions feel free to ask the Silvers. See you there!

Fun Day and Pizza Lunch

This Wednesday we will be doing our annual sail to Verulam Beach!  We will leave the club right after flag raising and stay there for lunch and return back to club for a 2pm pick up.  However due to the water quality warning there might be a last minute change of plans, but we’ll be sure to keep you informed.  This Wednesday is also Pizza Lunch!  Two slices of pizza, lemonade and an ice cream sandwich are $7.50.  Pizza will be brought to us at Verulam.  You can pay Leslie at registration or bring money Wednesday morning.

Wednesday Night Races

We had another great turnout at last week’s Wednesday night races!  Come down to the club this Wednesday at 6:30 to rig,and we will assign everyone a boat to sail in.  After the races stay for a bonfire and reward your racing with some smores!  Sugar bowl points are awarded to everyone who comes out! 

Adult Clinics

This summer SLSC is holding its first ever adult sailing clinics!  Ever wonder what we’re teaching your kids every morning?  Come out to our second adult clinic and find out!  These clinics are open to anyone 17 and older who are keen to test out their sea legs.  We have had to postpone yet another clinic due to lack of wind, so come out to the re-scheduled clinic this Saturday the 20th from 1-4pm.  The cost to participate is $75 per person.  You can sign up with Leslie Thomas,  Kate Thomas or Ellen Lourie. Hope to see you there!

Things to Bring

As always, we’re promoting a waste-free sailing club,so we encourage all sailors to bring their own reusable water bottle to club.  We have a water cooler up stairs that we will be sure is always full for sailors to fill their water bottles up with.  Other things that are important to bring everyday are a PFD,  closed toed shoes, a change of clothes,  weather appropriate gear (a little rain doesn’t keep us from sailing!),  a towel,  sunscreen,  a hat and a snack.  Happy Sailing!

Kate & Ellen

Water Advisory

A brief word of caution, you may have heard that there is a water quality warning out for Sturgeon Lake and other lakes nearby, and we will be monitoring the situation closely. In the meantime we will more]]> This weekend we hosted the Mid-Ontario regatta for 420’s and Lasers. We had over 150 sailors race here this weekend! Thanks to all the volunteers for making this great regatta possible! We’re looking forward to another busy week at Sailing Club!

Water Advisory

A brief word of caution, you may have heard that there is a water quality warning out for Sturgeon Lake and other lakes nearby, and we will be monitoring the situation closely.  In the meantime we will be avoiding swimming.

Dances and Fun Nights

 This Tuesday we will be having a fun night but we will be keeping you in suspense!!  Stay tuned for updates from the Silvers.  It will run from 6:30 – 8:30 and will cost a dollar to attend.

This Friday will be the Boy/Girl Dance!!  Root through your brother’s or sister’s closet and change things up for a night!  The dance runs from 7-9pm.  It is $1 per person, $1 for pop and 25 cents for freezies.  If you have any questions feel free to ask the Silvers.  See you there!

Fun Day and Pizza Lunch

Why wouldn’t the shrimp share his treasure?  Because he was a little shellfish! This Wednesday is Treasure Hunt Day!!  Dress up like Indiana Jones or any cool explorer to show your spirit and gain points for Sugar Bowl!

 This Wednesday is also Pizza Lunch! Two slices of pizza, lemonade and an ice cream sandwich are $7.50. Pizza arrives at 12:30 and pick up is at 1.  You can pay Leslie at registration or bring money Wednesday morning.

Wednesday Night Races

We had another great turnout at last week’s Wednesday night races! Come down to the club this Wednesday at 6:30 to rig, and we will assign everyone a boat to sail in. After the races stay for a bonfire and reward your racing with some smores!  Sugar bowl points are awarded to everyone who comes out!

Adult Clinics

 This summer SLSC is holding its first ever adult sailing clinics!  Ever wonder what we’re teaching your kids every morning?  Come out to our second adult clinic and find out!  These clinics are open to anyone 17 and older who are keen to test out their sea legs.  The second clinic will happen on Saturday August 13th from 1-4pm (this weekend!) and will cost $75 per person. You can sign up with Leslie Thomas, Kate Thomas or Ellen Lourie. Hope to see you there!

Things to Bring

As always we’re promoting a waste-free sailing club,so we encourage all sailors to bring their own reusable water bottle to club. We have a water cooler up stairs that we will be sure is always full for sailors to fill their water bottles up with. Other things that are important to bring everyday are a PFD,  closed toed shoes,  a change of clothes,  weather appropriate gear (a little rain doesn’t keep us from sailing!),  a towel,  sunscreen,  a hat and a snack.

Happy Sailing!

Kate & Ellen