Luke Ramsay: Sail Canada Sailor of the Month

Sail Canada’s Sailor of the Month award acknowledges sailing achievements by Canadians involved or associated with the sport in all its forms. Here is the March report…

Bacardi Miami Sailing Week kicked off the month of March delivering excellent racing conditions and atmosphere for 164 teams racing in a range of one-design classes in Coconut Grove, FL. The Star Bacardi Cup was the marquee event of the week with Lars Grael capturing his second consecutive title. Canadians Brian Cramer and Cam Lymburner placed a respectable 7th overall in the competitive 57-boat fleet. The Star duo also placed 5th at the recent Star midwinter championships.

Paul Currie and Brad Funk sailed ‘Wild Deuces’ to a 5th place finish in the VX One while Canadian Brad Boston and crew hit the ‘Jackpot’ clinching the overall title in the Viper 640 division during Miami Sailing Week.

CST Laser sailor Evert McLaughlin swapped boats to compete in the Snipe Midwinters in Clearwater, FL with crew Alexandra Damley-Strnad. The duo scored a bullet alongside several top 5 results over the course of the 3-day event. McLaughlin has his sights set on Toronto 2015 with Pan Am trials taking place in Toronto on May long weekend.

Celebrating its 50th year running, the Fireball Midwinters were hosted by the Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, FL. Hot off their North American title just days earlier, Canadians Tof Nicoll-Griffith and Peter Kelly captured the Midwinters title to seal the deal at this historic event.

Another popular midwinter event is the Laser and Radial Midwinters West in California with a strong showing by Canadians in both classes. Up and comer Max Gallant handily won the Laser event with 8 points between him and American Richard Didham. The robust Radial fleet was dominated by top CST sailor Isabella Bertold with a 9 point gap between second place American Lucas Pierce. Vancouver’s Reece Myerscough is demonstrating gains in performance picking up the bronze medal.

Olympian Luke Ramsay was on the move again, taking a brief hiatus from his 2016 Nacra campaign with fellow Olympian Nikola Girke, to hit up to the Sunfish Midwinters for the chance to represent Canada at the Pan Am Games. The event drew quite a crowd with the affiliation of the US Nationals. 71 boats launched from the beaches of Melbourne Yacht Club in sunny Florida. With seven races recorded at the end of the 3-day event, Luke highlights his breadth of sailing skill across the classes with an impressive 3rd place performance and a ticket to the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

Over the course of Luke’s Canadian Sailing Team career he has competed at the elite level in the Laser, Radial, 470, and the most recent addition to the Olympic roster, the Nacra 17. “It’s not everyday that a sailor with Luke’s talent comes along,” says teammate Nikola Girke. “When he sets his mind to something, there’s no stopping him. His ability to work hard everyday is simply a habit. A great sailor, teammate and most deserving Sailor of the Month.”

As a veteran of the team, Luke mentors up and coming national team athletes, is a great ambassador of the sport and certainly one of the most well-rounded sailors in the country. Sail Canada applauds Luke Ramsay for his accomplishments this month and recognizes hims as Sail Canada’s March Sailor of the Month.

Sail Canada encourages the submission of noteworthy Canadian sailing activities to sailorofthemonth@sailing.ca.