Eight Bells: Ross Cameron

Ross Cameron

Ross Cameron, who has competed, supported and organized sailing in the Kingston, Ontario area for more than 65 years, died on December 5, 2021. He was 78.

Cameron, who began sailing off Toronto Island as a boy, moved to Kingston in 1967 to become an elementary school teacher. Since that time, Cameron has been a fixture on Kingston waters, first as a sailor, then as a volunteer and then as race director of Canadian Olympic-training Regatta, Kingston (CORK).

Cameron has sat on the Kingston Yacht Club’s board since 1979 and has also served as CORK’s chairman from 1985 to 2003, and would be named CORK’s Volunteer of the Year in 2005. He also started the CORK Youth Festival, which drew more than 500 16- to 19-year-old novice sailors to this end of Lake Ontario every year.

“Ross Cameron was always a keen sailor, but his passion was racing, whether in his own boat or organizing regattas,” said CORK board chair Jamie Fraser.

“He ran races as a race officer for decades, 30 or 40 years, (and) he was on the board of directors, the operations chair and was responsible for organizing all the events we did, the championships and so on. He was into everything.”

Cameron was key in the development of the Ontario Sailing Race Management Training Program, and in 1992 received a “special achievement” award for outstanding contribution to the field of fitness and amateur sports over a period of at least 10 consecutive years. It was also in 1992 that he was awarded a Canada 125 medal by the Governor General.

In 1995, Cameron was named Yachtsman of the Year, Sail Canada’s most prestigious award, for contributions he made as a builder within the sport of sailing.

Cameron was also an original member of the Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance and worked with the Conference Board of Canada to adopt its Tourism Economic Assessment Model (TEAM) to one for sports tourism (which would become STEAM). He also incorporated Sport Kingston with the help of the Kingston Economic Development Corporation.

In 2018, Cameron was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame in the “builders” category.

“He will remain a prominent name in the history of CORK’s successes,” Fraser said.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

Source: https://www.thewhig.com/news/ross-cameron-longtime-fixture-of-citys-sailing-scene-dies-at-78