While Saturday brought drizzle and little breeze, Sunday meant clearer skies and higher winds for the B.C. Sailing Championships event in Squamish.
The local event on Howe Sound has taken place on the B.C. Circuit for the provincial series of regattas the last three years. Other events take place in other communities like Vancouver, Victoria, Comox, Kelowna, Port Moody and West Vancouver between April and October.
Garry Cotter, one of the local organizers, said the event takes place with the support of a couple of other groups helping the 麻豆社国产Yacht Club.
The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club provided some resources, while the West Vancouver Yacht Club stepped up to provide one of the two committee boats to oversee the races.
鈥淚t just goes to show how many people want to sail here,鈥� Cotter said.
The event attracted competitors from the Lower Mainland, Kelowna, Victoria and Sechelt. Cotter, himself, sailed in the Laser class on the weekend.
Many of the events are geared toward younger sailors, with a few from 麻豆社国产sailing in the Optimist events. The Optis are dinghies in which youngsters typically learn, and they are broken into different colours based on age and experience.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e really easy to sail, so they鈥檙e great for learning,鈥� Cotter said.
Locally, the number of sailors has been increasing with the advent of classes and camps in recent years. That鈥檚 how Squamish鈥檚 Arthur Akbulatov, 13, got into the sport a few years back.
鈥淚 started at summer camp here. It was just really fun, and I wanted to come back,鈥� he said.
Another local, Adrian Conn, 13, started sailing in the Opti class but has moved on to Laser 4.7 class and now races for the West Vancouver club, as it鈥檚 the closest club with a race team for the type of boat, though he does notice a different in the sailing environment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not as windy in West Van鈥�. It鈥檚 not as windy as Squamish,鈥� he said.
Saturday did not start out so windy though. The weather did not cooperate for the Optimist races on Howe Sound not far from Newport Beach (formerly Nexen Beach). They had too little wind to able to compete, though the other classes, farther out in the sound, were able to get in races
鈥淚 think 麻豆社国产teased us,鈥� said local Ben Sweeny, 11, who sails in the Optimist blue class.
Optimist classes are broken into colours based on age categories, with green for beginning, then moving onto white, blue and red.
Sunday鈥檚 weather was a marked improvement, as the winds were approaching 30 knots, Cotter says.
鈥淚t just howled wind. It was really good,鈥� he said.
As far as results, Conn won two of his five races in a small field among the Laser 4.7 racers, finishing second overall among the three 4.7 racers.
Squamish鈥檚 Grayson Blann, Akbulatov and Sweeny finished in the middle of the pack of 27 optimist sailors based on their best four results of five races. Blann and Akbulatov鈥檚 best finishes were 12th while Sweeny鈥檚 was 13th.
There were more than 70 boats and approximately 100 competitors for the event, sailing in the different Laser and Optimist classes, as well as in the two-person 420s and 29ers.
Cotter, who admits he does not sail as much anymore, still fared reasonably well, winning one of his races in the Laser Radial class.
鈥淚 actually had a pretty good regatta myself,鈥� he said.
