Sail Canada Sailor of the Month – Lee Parkhill

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 August report…

Canadian Laser sailor Lee Parkhill capped off his summer season at the site of the 2016 Olympics. The Aquece Rio Olympic Test Event is the ultimate litmus test for sailors hoping to represent their country on the largest international sporting stage next year. Fresh off his most recent Pan Am Games bronze medal, Parkhill sailed an outstanding regatta despite some setbacks in standings on the last day of qualifying.

The Laser medal race was one of the headlining acts as ten of the best sailors in the world took the stage for the onwater battle for podium position. The Oakville native demonstrated confidence and composure all week executing ‘Plan A’ on medal race day and adding another first for Parkhill this year – a medal race win and 5th place finish at the Pre-Olympic regatta.

Back on home soil, Sail Canada hosted the Youth Championships at CORK Kingston with record setting number of 357 boats in attendance. Forrest Wachholz (ON) captured the Laser standard title while Matti Muru placed 4th and top Canadian in the Radial fleet. Pat Wilson and Arie Moffat (ON) clinched the win in the 420 fleet while skiff sailors Eric Lyall and Andrew Moreno (BC) took home the title in the 29er fleet. Canadian Sailing team member, Gabriel Verrier Paquette secured 2nd place overall in the RS:X 9.5 fleet behind Ignacio Berenguer (MEX).

Senior Championships at CORK OCR were held the following week with members of the Canadian Sailing Team looking to take home some hardware. Brenda Bowskill (ON) dominated the Radial fleet with another title under her belt. Evert McLaughlin (ON) took the silver medal behind Cy Thompson (ISV). On the skiff course, David Mori & Justin Barnes (ON) clinched the title in the 49er while Erin Rafuse & Danielle Boyd add another National title to their resume. Rafuse and Boyd had a profitable month of performances including 1st at the 49erFX Canadian Championships, and 2nd behind the Germans (Meyer-Stoffers) at the US Nationals in Oyster Bay, NY.

The Britannia Yacht Club (ON) played host to 40 boats at the Shark World Championships with Canadian skipper David Foy, crew David O’Sullivan and Jamie Foy claiming the overall championship title.

Sail Canada applauds all the outstanding sailors for their achievements including our Sailor of the Month – August – Lee Parkhill!

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