August 18th to 22nd 2021 eight youngsters, plus two coaches and some family members of Calgary Yacht Club travelled to Kingston Ontario to train for and participate in CORK. CORK is Canadian Olympic Class Regatta in Kingston, a Canadian charity supported by Sail Canada, started in 1969 by a group of enthusiastic sailors it hosts international sailing events off Kingston. It provides some of the worlds best fresh water sailing with a short distance from shore to race course. Coaches attending were Brianna Brand of Chestermere and Calgary Yacht Club, and Laurie Kalkinen, of Calgary and with Alberta Sailing.
Laurie, who is from Switzerland and trained in Germany, combines his passion for sailing and teaching with the Alberta Sailing Association. To quote Laurie, ‘ The teams really benefitted from going to CORK and experiencing broader competition—two weeks of sailing there every day is like a season of sailing in Alberta. It was especially beneficial for the kids to experience more waves, longer runs and racing with bigger fleets.’
Brianna has sailed at the CYC since she was twelve. She graduated from Chestermere High, U of C with a BSc in Kinesiology and is now at U of A studying medicine. She has coached at CYC since 2015. Brianna was very proud of how the CYC sailors did at this competition. To quote Brianna, “The growth I have seen in these sailors in the past year has been incredible. While 2020 was a strange year without any competition, it is clear that the hard work and training these athletes have put in is paying off. It was such a privilege to watch these athletes compete at a national championship, and begin to accomplish some of their goals.”
The sailors who travelled and competed were; James Fair (23rd in the Gold Fleet) and Nic Dixon ( 6th in the Silver Fleet) with both sailing ILCA 6 Radial Lasers. Nic also sailed as crew for Chaz Peddlesden in a 29er skiff with these boys coming in seventh in all of Canada. There were two other 29ers at the regatta, Skipper Rhys Peddlesden and Crew Joseph Kingdon, and Skipper Anna Kearns and Crew Charlise Bruchet. The latter teams came in 20th and 21st respectively in a fleet of 26 racers.
Additionally, and on her own, CYC race team member Sienna Bruchet travelled to Kingston with her family August 5-8th competing in the CORK International Optimist ( Opti) Regatta. She felt very happy with her placing of 20th in a huge fleet from across Canada.
Thanks to the City of Chestermere Mikkelsen Award won by Chaz Peddlesden, the team sported new waterproof, warm jackets for the competition. ( As seen in the photo, L to R Joseph Kingdon, Charlese Bruchet, Rhys Peddlesden, Brianna Brand(coach), Anna Kearns, Chaz Peddlesden, Nicholas Dixon (missing in photo James Fair and Sienna Bruchet).
And a huge, huge thank you to Jeff and Jamie-Ann Kearns of Langdon for driving and hauling the boats to this regatta in Kingston. A big effort that was so much appreciated.
Many of these youngsters will keep competing this fall by travelling to Pumpkin Bowl Regatta in Vancouver at the end of October— wish them luck!
If sailing a boat is your dream or passion, you can do it right here in Chestermere. For young and old, there are classes and boats to suit. Registrations open in early 2022. Get more information on the webpage www.cyc.ab.ca or follow CYC on Facebook CalgaryYachtClub or Instagram calgaryyachtclub or call 403 272 3300.
(start line in Kingston Harbour and race team photo both by Brianna Brand)
