There wasn鈥檛 a breathe of wind last weekend, but the that didn鈥檛 stop the B.C. Sailing Championships from being a winning success, says regatta chairman Gary Cotter.
Sixty-three boats and 90 competitors poured into town as 麻豆社国产was set to host the dinghy regatta for the first time. The rain also poured down, killing any chance for the community鈥檚 famous wind to pick up, and races were cancelled.聽
鈥淚t just kept looking like we were going to get some on Saturday (July 5), it just never happened,鈥� Cotter said, who is also a member of the 麻豆社国产Yacht Club.
Despite the lack of wind, surprisingly none of the sailors complained, he said. Some of the competitors had travelled from as far away as Seattle and Alberta for the scheduled two-day event. The regatta is a part of the B.C. Circuit 鈥� a series of eight regattas throughout the province. Due to Squamish鈥檚 notoriously strong wings, the regatta on the sound is limited to sailors 10-years-old and up. Last weekend, the youngest competitor slated to race was 10, while a 70-year-old was set to compete in the masters division.
Luckily a number of the athletes did get some feisty days of wind and water leading up to the championship, Cotter noted. B.C. Sailing coaches were on Howe Sound training sailors during the week.聽
鈥淭hey were out there in winds of 25 to 28 knots,鈥� Cotter said.聽
Race organizers are encouraged by the turnout. They hope to package the racing with the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club鈥檚 WAVE regatta. The one-design keelboat and dinghy regatta runs the week before the B.C. Championships. Down the road, the sailing community plans to hold the two events consecutively with training in 麻豆社国产in between. That would lure more out-of-town sailing teams to B.C. for a week of action, Cotter said.
鈥淭he Alberta team was talking about bringing out its whole team next year,鈥�
he added.聽
麻豆社国产is one of the few places in B.C. next to a large metropolitan area that consistently has strong winds in the summer. While hunkered out of the rain, there was a lot of chatter among the competitors about Sail Canada opening up a national training centre in 麻豆社国产for Western Canada. The national governing body for the sport of sailing currently operates out of Kingston, Ont.
It鈥檚 no secret that B.C. sailors have their fingers crossed that a second base will end up on Squamish鈥檚 Oceanfront development, Cotter said. B.C. Sailing officials have been in talks with the District of 麻豆社国产in the past.聽
鈥淚n the master plan, there was some provisions for something marine,鈥� he said.聽
