Where Italy and Canada Meet

Squamish, a town north of Vancouver in British Columbia, is a three and half hour drive north of Seattle, WA. It’s at the northern tip of the island-dotted Howe Sound, and surrounded by the kind of mountains that are giving Squamish a hefty reputation as Canada’s Lake Garda.

Lake Garda is a popular holiday location in northern Italy and quite notable for hosting championship regattas. So what do Garda and Squamish have in common?

Like Garda, the trick at Squamish is to go right and sail to The Wall – a towering shoreline where there’s plenty of depth and a current that carries the boats to weather. Boats lined up beam to beam, bow to stern, at the right end of the start line trying to get over to The Wall the quickest.

This was the case at the 2018 Optimist Canadian Nationals which was held at Squamish. The boats that get to The Wall first won, every time. There were no changes to the places after that.

Also like Garda was the wind pattern. It blows from one direction in the morning, then you take a break for lunch, and then it comes in from the other direction.

Full report on the regatta at Sailish.com.