Robert Davis: Sail Canada Sailor of the Month

While Russia was playing host to the awe-inspiring Winter Olympics in February, members of the Canadian Sailing Team (CST) were taking care of business in Florida, focusing on their target of Rio 2016.

At the top of the month, CST sailors relocated from Miami to Fort Lauderdale to compete in the Fort Lauderdale Olympic Classes regatta, hosting the Lasers, Radials & Finns. Canadian Radials splattered the podium in red and white with a Canuck sweep led by Brenda Bowskill (RCYC), Claire Merry (RCYC) & sister Ingrid Merry. (RCYC). In the Finn, Greg Douglas (RCYC) outplayed his opponents including Caleb Paine from the USA, posting 4 bullets and capturing the overall title by a single point. Lee Parkhill just missed the Laser podium against world-class opponents, including Tom Burton (AUS), and Karl-Martin Rammo (EST).

CST sailors headed over to Clearwater, Florida for their final event of the month, the Laser & Radial Midwinters East Regatta. Luke Ramsay (RVYC) took a short hiatus from his fulltime job on the Nacra 17 to test his single-handed skills in the Radial boat. A display of sheer dominance, winning 5 of 6 races and clinching the overall title against 134 boats simply reaffirms Ramsay as a well-rounded elite level sailor. Youth sailor Luke Ruitenberg (RNSYS) made a strong showing in 5th overall as well as Graham Harney (RVYC) in 9th, qualifying for the Youth World Team.

In the Laser full rig, Canadians sailed against high quality international opposition with some tight racing in the 52-boat fleet. Sailing to his first major win internationally, Robert Davis (KYC) proved that consistency does pay off. Coach Steve Mitchell was pleased with his performance saying, “Robert is maturing as a racer, and showing that he can consistently put in good quality races over the course of an event, against strong competition. He trains well, and treats his sailing with the professional attitude that it needs to succeed at the higher levels.”

Robert Davis was honored with the award of Sail Canada Sailor of the Month for February 2014. Click here for full report.