Sail Canada Sailor of the Month

The Canadian sailing season is in full throttle this month with several national championships held across the country.

At the 49er and 49erFX Championships at St. Margaret’s Bay, NS, Canadian Sailing Team (CST) coach Mark Asquith swapped his coachboat for the skiff, sailing with Jon Ladha (RNYC) and showing the young how it’s done with the championship title. Dave Mori & Justin Barnes (RCYC) placed 2nd overall while Erin Rafuse & Danielle Boyd (RNSYS/KYC) dominated the FX fleet to comfortably capturing the title.

On the other side of the country, Isabella Bertold (RVYC) won the Laser Radial Canadian Championships at RVYC and Evert McLaughlin (RCYC) snagged the Snipe Canadian title for the second consecutive year at RHYC.

The young Finn guns took on the Finn Junior World Championships in Hoorne, Netherlands with Martin Robitaille (CVL/RCYC) placing 6th and rookie Kyle Martin placing and impressive 8th out of 32 boats.

Canadian Olympians Richard Clarke, Mike Wolfs and teammate Curtis Florence won the oldest annual freshwater distance race in the world, the 106th Chicago Race to Mackinac, sailing on a Swan 42 named ‘To The Moon’.

The grand finale of the Clipper Round the World Race took place in London with the title already in hand. Canadian skipper Eric Holden and the Henri Lloyd crew endured 11 long months at sea, battling hurricanes, tornadoes, sea sickness, and sleep depravity in the worlds longest ocean race. Team Henri Lloyd, including five Canadian crew members, successfully sailed the 70 ft yacht into St. Katharines’ dock on July 12 as champions of the 2013-14 Clipper Round the World Race.

Amateur sailors with diverse backgrounds, ranging in age from 25-75, were led around the world by first-ever Canadian skipper, Eric Holden (Vancouver, BC). “Whenever I thought the team couldn’t be pushed any harder, they dug deeper through some of the worst sailing conditions I have ever seen on the planet.” Crewmember Nick Golding credits Eric’s leadership. “Eric taught me so much about ocean racing and the art of weather forecasting,” said Golding. “He always knew where to put the boat to be in the right place. All we had to do as crew was keep the boat moving as fast as possible which we seemed to do quite well.”

The Canadian crew onboard Henri Lloyd included Fiona Garforth-Bles (Nurse, Bragg Creek AB), James Dick (Heavy Duty Mechanic, Victoria BC), Michael Jauncey (Construction inspector, Toronto ON), Morgan Watson (Grad student, Calgary AB), and Phil Driver (Finance Exec, currently living in UK). Eric paid tribute to his dedicated crew saying, “The whole team had a hand on the wheels as we drove across the line, as we all put in a huge effort in getting us here.”

Sail Canada applauds the tremendous accomplishment of all the Canadians onboard Henri Lloyd, honouring Eric, Fiona, James, Michael, Morgan, and Phil with the Sail Canada Sailor of the Month for July!

Sail Canada’s Sailor of the Month award acknowledges sailing achievements by Canadians involved or associated with the sport in all its forms. Sail Canada encourages the submission of noteworthy Canadian sailing activities to sailorofthemonth@sailing.ca.