Listen to this:

http://www.cbc.ca/onthego/episodes/2011/11/08/summer-olympics-in-england/

A nice little interview!

3 Canadian teams will be in tomorrow’s medal race at the RMOCR in Miami. Be sure to cheer the boys on!!

New shop for 49er.ca launched!

Jerelyn is taking mainsail flag orders for Rolex Miami OCR. Please order through 49er office by Jan 9.

With the aim of bringing younger sailors into the Canadian 49er class, Pitch Pole Skiff Products (aka 49er.ca) will be providing charter boats to young sailors interested in sailing the Olympic class 49er skiff. The charter boats will be a complete 49er with dolly, a carbon mast and ready to race for a period of one year.  This is a perfect opportunity for young Laser, C420 or 29er sailors looking to make the jump into the exciting 49er class!

Here are the details of the program:

  • 49er Complete including dolly and top cover, ready to sail
  • Carbon mast and current sails
  • One year charter period:
    • December 1st, 2011 to November 30th, 2012
  • Pickup and drop-off in Montreal, QC
  • For athletes 19 years old and younger
  • Cost $3,000 or $4,000 per year (depending on the boat)

In order to qualify for the charter program, the athletes must agree to the following terms:

  • The athletes must be a team of two, willing to sail together for at least one year.
  • The athletes should be part of a National, Provincial or club training program.
  • During the charter period the athletes are expected to train and race regularly in the Canadian and North American circuits. Additionally, the athletes are free to bring the boats down to Florida to train or participate in the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta.
  • If anything breaks on the boat, the athletes are expected to repair it (it is their own boat for 1 year).
  • The boat shall be returned in original condition, less wear & tear
  • The athletes shall attend all 49er.ca Grand Prix events
  • The athletes will provide regular photo and written reports to the class ass’n

Interested athletes should complete their application and return it to the Canadian 49er Class Association President for consideration. Your application should include:

  • Outline schedule for 2012
  • Sailing resume
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Head shots and bio
  • Short cover letter, outlining their qualifications for the program

Applications shall be submitted by email to Trevor Parekh on or before Thursday, November 17th, 2011. A decision on the selected athletes will subsequently be made by November 20th, and all parties will be notified. If you need more information on the program, please contact the undersigned.

Thanks and hope to see the young-guns out there!

Check it out…

http://www.tide-mark.com/Sailing-World-dr-crash.html

This year’s edition of CORK OCR brought 16 49er’s together for what was supposed to be 5 days of racing, but due to some severe conditions only 3 days of racing would be had. After buying a new boat in the summer and taking our time getting it set up properly CORK OCR was to be the first event for the new boat.

Credit: Luka Bartulovic

The strong 49er fleet at CORK OCR coming off the line in a pack

The first day of the event started off with lighter 8 knot winds where we got off to a bad start and had to work our way through the fleet to catch up to Dubreucq and Parekh finishing second behind them. The next two races the breeze picked up to 12-15 knots and we really found our stride. In the next two races we led from start to finish even after breaking our vang arms on the first rounding at the leeward gate. In the 4 races of the day the breeze picked up to 18 knots in the puffs and sailing with no vang finally become too much and we had a bad race finishing 6th. After the race our support team brought us new vang arms and we managed to make the swap but started the race 20 secs late. We took everyone’s transom and rode a lift up on the right, flipped back and crossed the fleet back out to the left hand side and didn’t look back, taking the win. After day one with the drop we led Dubreuq and Parekh by one.

Credit: Luka Bartulovic

Matt & Trev chase Frosty downwind... Grrr!

The second day of the event was set to be a big breeze day with numerous storm systems moving through which brought alot of lightning. Regardless the RC set up to get a race off, but abandoned the races before one got off and everyone just managed to get in before a 35 knot squal hit. With storms continually blowing through racing was called off for the entire day.

The third shaped up to be a big one with the top 2 boats set to square off to jump ahead and gain a points cushion. The breeze came in from the left over systems and we had 4 good races in a 12-15 knot shifty breeze. We came prepared for the day knowing that we would have the heat on us after being the leaders from the first day and we had 3 very solid races where we led from start to finish, and gained a big lead on the rest of the fleet. The next race was one to forget, as we had a bad start and took too many gambles trying to get back into the lead and suffered in the shifty conditions and finished with our worst result of the event a 9th. After the race the RC started another in the dying breeze and shifting conditions and again we put ourselves in a bad spot to thankfully the race was called.

Credit: Luka Bartulovic

Colourful fleet heading back downwind in the lee of the wind turbines

On the final day of full racing we again entered the day with the lead and had enough of a cushion that we knew we had to look to defend against the top three boats behind us. The winds were again very shifty and puffy which was going to make it a challenge to hold the lead, but we sailed the day very conservatively, being careful not to take too many chances to allow the close chasing boats to get by us. We sailed 6 races over the day had we managed to beat who we needed too and still had some good results going 4-4-4-1-3-2. We also got some help from our other competitors who stepped up to help put some the the close chasing boats further back. One of those being Mike and Tom from Montreal who got their first bullet at a major regatta, so props to them!

Credit: Luka Bartulovic

The champs in their new boat, making it look easy...

On what was to be the last day with the medal race the breeze was on big time (25knots, puffing to 30 knots and with more forecasted to move in) racing was abandoned for the day leaving us with the victory. At the end of the event we managed to have 7 bullets of the 15 race event. A big thanks to all the 49er’s for coming out and making the racing very tight and also a big thanks to Trev for taking the beating by us so graciously!

Rob Frost

CAN 1251

Photo credits: Kalu.ca

With the 49er ACC’s in the books, the Inaugural 2011 49erNA Grand Prix is now complete. Jon Ladha & Dan Inkpen of Newfoundland, CAN have won it with one event to spare.

The 49erNA Grand Prix is a collection of events held each season, comprising of:

  • 49er.ca Championships
  • Zhik 49er US Nationals
  • 49er North Americans
  • 49er Atlantic Coast Championships

Team Screech, from Newfoundland found themselves with an insurmountable lead after the NA’s held at the end of September. Only Tom Barrows / Nate Rosenberg (ISV) could catch them in the final event held at American YC in Rye, NY. However, the training plans of the US Virgin Islands team prevented them from competing in the 49er ACC’s. Finally in 3rd are Jonny Goldsberry & Charlie Smythe (USA), completing what was truly an international GP with 5 nations competing (BER, CAN, ISV, MEX, USA).

Now it is official, Ladha & Inkpen win the first ever 49erNA Grand Prix with a 2nd at Canadians, 2nd at US Nationals, and a 5th at 49er NA’s. Full 2011 49erNA GP Results results enclosed, here is the top 11:

  1. Jon Ladha & Dan Inkpen (CAN), 92.72 pts
  2. Tom Barrows & Nate Rosenberg (ISV), 75.45 pts
  3. Jonny Goldsberry & Charlie Smythe (USA), 57.13 pts
  4. Matt Dubreucq & Trevor Parekh (CAN), 56.77 pts
  5. Marc Farmer & Stephen Waldie (CAN), 51.07 pts
  6. Finn & Alec Nielsen (USA), 50.39 pts
  7. Rob Frost & Tom Arbuckle (CAN), 50.18 pts
  8. Mike Brodeur & Tom Carlton (CAN), 49.28 pts
  9. Erik Storck & Trevor Moore (USA), 36.58 pts
  10. Billy Gooderham & Ian Hogan (CAN), 35.10 pts
  11. Jesse & Zander Kirkland (BER), 34.65 pts
    16th – Jorge & Alejandro Murrieta (MEX), 28.88 pts

Scores are calculated using a boat’s score in a particular regatta, multiplied by a grand prix factor and a fleet size factor.

Next year’s 2012 49erNA GP will be much of the same with the slate already set for some tough competition:

  • 49er.ca Champs – Kingston – July 20 to 22
  • 49er PCC’s – San Francisco – August 3 to 5
  • 49er US Nationals – The Gorge – August 9 to 12
  • 49er North Americans – Kingston – August 18 to 22
  • 49er ACC’s – New York – October 6 to 7

See you on the race course!

49erNA:

Coming off the heels of a successful 49er North Americans last weekend in San Fran, I come to you to tell you to come out for the final regatta of our season and the last stop on the 49erNA GP: our 2011 ACC’s, which are part of the ever successful and always fun Heinekin HPDO at American YC in NY. Trust me, this regatta is AWESOME! It is well worth the trip if you’re anywhere within 10 hours radius!

The event takes place Oct 8 – 9, which is Thanksgiving in Canada and Columbus Day in USA. And you’ll never go thirsty, thanks to Heinekin.

In terms of the GP, Ladha/Inkpen have a 20 point lead over Barrows/Rosenberg, but if the latter attend they can surely beat the Newfies to take the inaugural title on the 49erNA Grand Prix.

We should have 10 to 15 boats (already have 10 confirmed attendees!), so it’ll be great racing.

I don’t think any more needs to be said, so come out and race the last regatta of the year. It is so worthwhile.

NOR: http://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=478

Please confirm to me if you will attend or not.  Thanks!

Cook & Parekh win Fall CORK (results), while Dubreucq & Parekh win the CWL trpohy for the 3rd consecutive year!

Final 2011 49er.ca GP Results

Dubreucq / Parekh – 1st
Brodeur / Carlton – 2nd
Frost / Arbuckle – 3rd
Mori / Barnes – 4th
Corbeil / Chouinard – 5th