Membership & Class Info – Page 4 – Canadian 2.4mR Sailing Association

Damien Seguin Paralympic Gold Medallist 2.4mR sailor competing in Route du Rhum singlehanded race from St Malo to Guadeloupe.

The Canadian 2.4mR Class Association wishes Damien the best of luck in the Route du Rhum. Many of us have raced against Damien at the World Cup in Miami and at Para Sailing World Championships in Halifax and Sheboygan WI.

For his third consecutive participation in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe (the first two in Class40), thanks to the support of his partner Groupe APICIL, Damien Seguin will be setting sail on an IMOCA, a 2008 Finot-Conq design, helmed by Eric Bellion in the last Vendée Globe. As the double Paralympic champion is not the sort to be rash, he’s enlisted the support of Jean Le Cam from nearby Port-la-Forêt to help him learn the ropes on his new machine, which was re-launched early in April to ensure he had enough time to tame her.

His objectives between Brittany and Guadeloupe, the island where he grew up and developed a passion for the Route du Rhum? “Already, to have justified my place on the start line alongside the other skippers. Next, I want to be at the finish. On top of that, I’m competitive so I’ll inevitably compare my performance with the same generation boats as mine.” The other objective that is dear to Damien Seguin, who was born with no right hand, is to fly the flag for the Des Pieds et des Mains association, which he founded in 2006: “My message is simple: to change the way people view difference by showing them that being the skipper of a fantastic machine like an IMOCA is compatible with having a handicap,” explains the skipper, who has clearly already proven himself on other craft.

July 26, 2018July 26, 2018

Report from the President, July 2018

C. Thomas Clagett Junior Memorial Regatta 2018

The 16^th Annual Clagett Regatta at Newport RI was a fantastic success for a number of reasons. 23 boats participated in the 2.4mR Class, a record number for this event. Entries were from Puerto Rico, Canada and the United States. Entries included four sailors under the age of 25 (three from Canada) all young women. Delani Hume-Lawrence from Victoria placed 8^th and won the coach’s award for most improved sailor while Shaylagh Ley from Ottawa placed 22^nd and won the Sportsmanship Award. Both of these sailors are sailing Clagett Program Boats donated for their use for up to four years.

The Clagett Regatta foundation will be seeking applications for two additional program boats in the early fall 2018

Pacific Coast 2.4mR Championships

The inaugural Pacific Coast 2.4mR Championships were held June 16 & 17 at Royal Victoria Yacht Club with 11 boats in attendance. The boats attending were from Seattle and Calgary as well as from our Victoria fleet. The class anticipates that this will become an annual fixture on our regatta calendar and hopefully will attract more boats from western North American.

2018 Canadian 2.4mR Championships

Pointe Claire Yacht Club will be hosting the Canadian 2.4mR Championships August 10 -12^th. The Notice of Race and entry forms can be accessed by clicking on the event title in the events schedule of the 2.4mR website. Racing starts at 1:30pm on Friday August 10 allowing competitors to work a full day Thursday and get to the regatta site with time to rig on Friday morning.

2018 Class Annual Meeting

The 2018 Annual Meeting of the 2.4mR Class will take place at Pointe Claire Yacht Club Friday August 10^th after sailing. If any member has business they wish to discuss at the Annual meeting would they please advise either Audrey Kobayshi, Secretary-Treasurer or Peter Wood, President. Please send your agenda items to [at][dot]

2018 Membership Dues

2018 dues are $ 50.00 (same as 2017) and are now overdue. Payment to be made through www.canada24mr.com

Canada’s Retaliatory Tariffs

The trade war between the Trump Administration in the United States and the Government of Canada is unfortunately impacting members importing 2.4mR sailboats from the United States. Sailboats with or without auxiliary power (tariff item 8903.91.10) will be subject to a tariff of 10%. This is in addition to the HST (or GST) which applies to all goods. Unfortunately consumers are the unspoken victims in these trade wars.

Buoyancy Tests and Certificates: Regular buoyancy tests are a safety issue. At the 2017 Canada Games two boats failed their initial buoyancy tests and required addition floatation materials before they were permitted to race. It was a good thing because two boats did swamp in the one heavy air race and required assistance in being pumped out. If you do not have a buoyancy certificate for your boat or if your certificate was issued in 2013 or earlier you must be tested before you will be permitted to race in class events in 2018. Contact the class measurer (Bruce Millar) to arrange for a buoyancy test.

Please remember to send your questions, reports, pictures and gripes to the class e-mail address [at][dot]

May 6, 2018May 6, 2018

Report from the President May 2018

CAN AM Winter Series: The second year of the 2.4mR CAN-AM winter series is in the books. The final regatta was picture perfect with winds 8 to 13 knots, air temperature 28 degrees Celsius and water temperature about 20 degrees Celsius. Racing was incredibly close throughout the fleet with first and last boats finishing 120 seconds apart. Ironically, the days after the conclusion of the regatta were dead flat calm. The schedule for the 2018 – 2019 CAN Am Winter Series should be available by late May.

2018 Regatta Schedule: As regatta dates, host clubs, and venues are known they are being posted on the class website. The Toronto area regatta schedule is now posted. Royal Victoria Yacht Club is hosting the first Pacific Coast 2.4mR Championship June 16 & 17^th. Pointe Claire Yacht Club in Montreal will be hosting our 2018 Canadian Championship August 10, 11, & 12^th. Events in the United States which may be of interest to our members are being posted as we become aware of them. Please check the website regularly for all the latest news.

2018 Class Membership and Dues: Our class membership year runs April 1 to March 31. The webmaster has edited the procedures to join the class on line through the website. This requires both renewing and new members to complete the jotform and pay the membership dues through Paypal. Although we do take payment by cheque as well, our preferred payment option is Paypal. Please don’t hand either the class secretary or myself cash at a regatta to pay your membership dues. Although we are honest we are also forgetful so your dues may not be credited to you.

2018 dues are $ 50.00 (same as 2017).

Class Website: We had problems in September 2017 with the host of our class website. Thanks to the tireless work of Aaron Wong-Sing, the website was rebuilt and we continue to receive positive comments from our members, from 2.4mR sailors from other countries, and from sailors in other classes within Canada. Making the job easier for Aaron has been Doug Bell, Dee Smith and Bruce Millar all who have contributed articles to the website. The website is our voice to the sailing community at large so if you have anything you wish to share please pass it to the webmaster.

Jib Boom Boats: Last winter, Tony Pocklington and Bruce Millar spent time with Bjorner Erikstad (NOR) about the development of jib boom boats. Bjorner has had international success with his jib boom boat and the consensus is that competitive jib boom boats will make 2.4mR sailing accessible to more sailors without diminishing the competitiveness of the fleet. In the future I will ask Bruce to prepare an article on jib boom boats for the website.

Please remember to send your questions, reports, pictures and gripes to the class e-mail address [at][dot]

March 11, 2018March 11, 2018

Report from the President – March, 2018

CAN AM Winter Series: The second year of the 2.4mR CAN-AM winter series is currently underway with the four regattas completed at Charlotte Harbour Yacht Club in Florida. These events are drawing between 15 and 20 boats and so far the conditions have been outstanding. No days have been lost because of either insufficient winds or too much wind and the air temperatures have been warm. The final event takes place March 29 – 31. Already plans are afoot for the 2018 – 2019 Winter Series. We investigating a dedicated website for the series which will be loaded with information to make it easier for sailors to attend. It is our goal to reach out to European sailors to attend our Can Am series as air travel between Europe and southwestern Florida is relatively easy.

2018 Regatta Schedule: As regatta dates, host clubs, and venues are known they are being posted on the class website. We are working to confirm the dates of the Toronto area regattas. Pointe Claire Yacht Club in Montreal will be hosting our 2018 Canadian Championships August 10, 11, & 12^th. Events in the United States which may be of interest to our members are being posted as we become aware of them. Please check the website regularly for all the latest news.

2018 Class Membership and Dues: Our class membership year runs April 1 to March 31. The webmaster updated the website and opened the membership registration and renewal for the 2018-2019 membership year. This requires both renewing and new members to complete the Membership Form and pay the membership dues through Paypal. Although we do take payment by cheque as well, our preferred payment option is Paypal. Please don’t hand either the class secretary or myself cash at a regatta to pay your membership dues. Although we are honest we are also forgetful so your dues may not be credited to you.

2018 dues are $ 50.00 (same as 2017).

Clagett Regatta Foundation: The Clagett Regatta Foundation which organizes the Annual Thomas Clagett Jr Regatta in Newport RI issued a call in November 2017 for requests to use one of two new 2.4mR sailboats for a one to four year duration. They are happy to announce that Delani Hulme-Lawrence of Royal Victoria Yacht Club (Canada Games 2.4mR sailor 2013 & 2017) and Shaylagh Ley of Nepean Sailing Club (Martin 16 Mobility Cup sailor 2016 & 2017) are the recipients of the boats. Both are young sailors who are really enthusiastic to join our class. We welcome them to the starting line.

Please remember to send your questions, reports, pictures and gripes to the class e-mail address [at][dot].

January 14, 2018

Report from the President January 2018

2017 was a great year for the Canadian 2.4mR class. In Eastern Canada the class saw new boat owners join from other classes and great support for the 2017 Canadian Championships at Pointe Claire QC while Meterfest in Newport RI, USA was well supported by Canadian members. In Victoria BC the class is continuing to attract new boat owners and current boat owners are purchasing new boats. Canada Games sailing events held in Gimli MB had young sailors from seven of Canada’s ten provinces with the lack of a sailor from Quebec being the only disappointment.

CAN AM Winter Series: The second year of the 2.4mR CAN-AM winter series is currently underway with the first two regattas held at Charlotte Harbour Yacht Club in Florida, December 5 – 10, 2017. The next regatta is January 27 & 28, followed by the 2.4mR Western Hemisphere Regatta February 20-23 and the 4^th regatta in the CAN AM Series February 24 & 25. The final 2017-2018 CAN AM series regatta takes place March 29 – 31. These are great regattas run by hospitable folks at the Charlotte Harbour Yacht Club.

2018 Regatta Schedule: As regatta dates, host clubs, and venues are known they will be posted on the class website. We are working to confirm the Toronto area regattas and the 2018 Canadian Championships as well as events in the United States which may be of interest to our members. Please check the website regularly for all the latest news.

2018 Class Membership and Dues: Our class membership year runs April 1 to March 31. The webmaster will be resetting the procedures to join the class on line through the website. This requires both renewing and new members to complete the jotform and pay the membership dues through paypal. Although we do take payment by cheque as well our preferred payment option is paypal. Please don’t hand either the class secretary or myself cash at a regatta to pay your membership dues. Although we are honest, we are also forgetful so you dues may not be credited to you.

2018 dues will be $ 50.00 (same as 2017).

Class Website: We had problems in September 2017 with the host of our class website. As I saw it the host basically shut down the site and then asked us for a ransom to unlock the contents. A decision was made to move to another host and redesign the website. Aaron Wong-Sing did a lot of work in moving the site to another host, reformatting the website and adding the great pictures that jump out every time we open up the website. Please send Aaron both content and photos of you sailing these wonderful boats.

Clagett Regatta Foundation: The Clagett Regatta Foundation which organizes the Annual C. Thomas Clagett Jr Memorial Regatta in Newport RI issued a call in November 2017 for requests to use one or two new 2.4mR sailboats for a one- to four-year duration. Although it has not been officially announced, it is my understanding that one boat will be going to Victoria BC while the second boat will be going to a sailor in Ottawa.

Please remember to send your questions, reports, pictures and gripes to the class e-mail address [at][dot] .

November 5, 2017

Report from the 2.4mR Canadian Class President – November 2017

As most of the Canadian Class have either put their boats away for the winter or are planning their travel to Florida for our CAN-AM winter season I thought that I would reflect on the past summer. First, the class has being growing with new boat owners in both the Toronto and Victoria fleets. The sailors attracted to our class have strong racing resumes from other classes so we know they will be fun to compete against. Rumours have it that at least three of our current members are purchasing new boats so it looks like 2018 will be a strong sailing season.

Meterfest in Newport RI was an initiative of the International 12 Meter Class Association. It was a regatta within the New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regatta. Nine 12 Meters and six 6 Meters participated along with seventeen 2.4 meters. Unfortunately the 8 meters were unable to show up, held back by the high waters on the Lower Great lakes. One of the highlights of the regatta was the Friday Long – Distance race around Rose Island and underneath the Pels Bridge. We finished in front of Fort Adams. How often do we do a long distance point to point race in a 2.4 meter?

The Saturday night dinner on the lawn of Harbour court, the New York Yacht Club’s Newport station was spectacular. Well worth the high price of admission. Meterfest will next be held June 2019

Clagett Regatta also hosted in Newport took place two weeks after Meterfest so many sailors left their boats at Fort Adams and returned two weeks later. Clagett Regatta features great coaching from some of the best small boat coaches in the USA. A great Race Committee and lots of local sponsorship support under the direction of Judy McLennan. It is traditionally a regatta for sailors with disabilities, however the 2.4 Meter event is open and the competition is good. Throw in Newport sailing conditions and it is the reason I have been a regular for eight years. One thing that was interesting was that Paul Tingley sailing a jib-boom boat won the regatta with a very consistent series.

Canada Games The 2.4mR was used as the Para Mixed Sailing event at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Gimli MB. Entry into the Canada Games is limited to one boat per province and the competitor must be classified according to World Sailing Functional Disability Classification System. There is also a maximum age limit of 35 however exemptions were given in 2017. Five sailors met all the criteria while three sailors were granted exemptions. Gold Medalist was Joe Gerlinsky of Saskatchewan. The 2021 Canada Games will again include the 2.4mR.

2.4mR North Americans at Pointe Claire Yacht Club in August had 21 boats. It was one of the larger class North American’s in recent years. Twenty one boats competed however the weather gods played havoc with one day lost because of lack of wind and a second day lost because of forecast violent thunderstorms. We did get racing on the third and final day and the Race Committee worked hard to get four good races in 6 to 10 knots of wind. Congratulations to Dee Smith from Annapolis MD who retained his title for the second straight year.

Canadian 2.4mR Championships: was held at National Yacht Club September 15 – 17^th. It was a smaller fleet than normal as many sailors had other commitments during that weekend. Six races were held under light wind conditions with Alan Liebel again winning the Canadian Championships with Jerry Wendt second and Peter Eagar third.

Victoria 2.4mR Fleet: While the rest of us have either stored our boats for the winter or for Florida Jackie McRoberts posted pictures from Royal Victoria YC showing that the Victoria fleet is actively racing in Cadboro Bay most Saturdays in October and November. But even Victoria does get the occasional snow fall but rumour has it that the gang waits until 2:00pm in the afternoon for the snow to melt off their boat covers and then get a late start with hot rums in the clubhouse.

Looking Forward: For many Canadian 2.4mR sailors, the CAN-AM winter series is a nice break from our snowy climate. Starting with the America’s Regatta in St Petersburg (not scored for the CAN-AM Winter Series) a sailor can race in three regattas in early December, and then one weekend event per month until the beginning of April. After the St Petersburg regatta, all events are held at the Charlotte Harbour Yacht Club which is a short 40 minute drive north of the Fort Myers International Airport. Boats can be stored at Charlotte Harbour YC so there is no need to derig after each event. Sunday evening departures from Fort Myers allows a sailor to be back at their desk first thing Monday morning.

2018 Summer Regatta Schedule:

As dates for events become known, they will be posted on the Canadian Website.

August 29, 2017September 16, 2017