Royal Victoria Yacht Club, Victoria BC
10-12 September 2021
We did it! We actually managed to host a championship regatta, the first held one at RVicYC since the pandemic began in March 2020. So on behalf of the organising committee we’d like to start by thanking club staff, our volunteers, supporters, sailors, coaches, race committee, jury and especially our visiting teams for making the huge effort required to come to this beautiful bay and sail.
There were many moments during the planning stages when we wondered if this would ever happen, with constant pivoting, adjusting, organising and re-organising. However when our visiting sailors from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and Seattle finally drove down onto the foreshore with their boats, we knew we had a regatta.
The racing itself was tight, varied, challenging, exciting and eventful. Friday dawned bright and clear with very light wind from the SE and Race Officer John Abel ran two races in the bay before we felt the warmth of the westerly and moved out into Oak Bay for two more in the breeze, with enough waves to surf downwind. Visiting sailors were heard whooping with delight! Unfortunately on Saturday it was wet and windless all day and we only succeeded in filling up our bilges with rainwater. However this did give us precious time to reconnect with our much-missed sailing community (and a bit of boat fixing). On Sunday the there was a battle between a SE wind and the westerly, causing much moving of committee boats, resetting of marks and radio chatter. We sailed three races in very varied conditions with plenty of ladder climbing, sliding down snakes and all types of spinning.
In the end, however, the biggest battle was for the championship, with Bruce Millar and Bob Britten duking it out right up until the final leg, with Bruce winning on a tie-breaker. Louise Anstey completed the podium with her third place. In the disabled event Bruce was winner with Jackie Gay second and Peter Eager third. It is heartening to note that of 21 boats, 11 were disabled sailors and seven were women. Truly inclusive sailing of the highest calibre.
It is exciting to see our young sailors mixing it up with this highly experienced fleet. All the sailors had great moments and huge learning opportunities. Bring on the next one!
Jackie Gay
CAN 23
Full results here: https://theclubspot.com/regatta/UHQ9CKF99i/results
