Fourteen Alberta sailors, from three sailing clubs in Alberta, nine from the Calgary Yacht Club in Chestermere, the others from Wabamun Club and Glenmore Club, competed in the Canadian Laser Masters Championship at the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club in Kenora, Ontario August 15th to 17th 2019. A support team of seven attended including spouses and Stacy from Alberta Sailing Association and John from the Newell Sailing Club. ( Master is an age category in sail racing; Apprentice at 35-44, Master at 45-54, Grand Master at 55-64 and Great Grand Master at 65 and above.)
The Albertans brought much needed rain to southern Saskatchewan as they trailered nine Laser sailboats on a 3390 kilometer road trip.
The sailing regatta was for over 35 year olds ( but the average age was closer to 60 years!). In the very competitive 34 boat laser standard fleet, local sailors Michael Hooper, and Philip Paxton captured 4th and 8th places respectively. In the laser radial fleet, Steven and Lesley Reichenfeld placed second and third respectively in a fleet of 13 boats. The winds were everything from light and shifty to very strong, and gusty, which made for challenging and sometimes wet sailing.
The Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club is surrounded by 14,000 islands making it truly a boaters paradise. The yacht club provided bIllets and were very generous hosts throughout the regatta. Attendees were from Canada, the USA, and Dominican Republic.
The Alberta sailors arranged for Alberta government inspectors to clean and disinfect their boats as soon as they returned to Chestermere to make sure that no invasive species were transported to Alberta waters.
For more information about sailing on Chestermere Lake, competitive and otherwise, go to www.cyc.ab.ca Be a pirate! Lessons and opportunities for all ages and abilities on beautiful Chestermere Lake.
