"The Lost Album" - Team Canada's Official SYWoC 2010 Album

Here ARE our photos!

Check them out and enjoy.

Final Results

Reporting from Paris, here are the final results!

1. Southampton Solent University, England
2. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
3. Universidade Technica de Lisboa, Portugal
4. CUS Brescia, Italy
5. California Maritime Academy, USA
6. Queen’s University, Canada
7. BI Business School, Norway
8. Limerick University, Ireland
9. CUS Milano, Italy
10. Léovoile, France
11. University of Strathclyde, Scotland
12. Nihon University, Japan
13. Aachen University, Germany
14. Ecole Polytechnique, France

for more info see the SYWoC Website

Thanks again for all your support

Shout outs go to jonas and dougie

As well the never ending support from Ameera and Jen. Boys are coming home soon!

Happy Birthday ERICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

The last supper

Our final day of racing really served to wrap up the event. We only had one race, but my, was it exciting. The wind blew the promised 20 knots gusting to 30. The race commitee made the decision that no spins were to be flown and all boats must use their jib as opposed to the genoa to minimize boat breakage. We had one protest situation on the first upwind with the Italians forcing us to duck them while on starboard. We decided not to go through with the protest as we needed to place third in the race in order for us to finish top five and as we only place sixth, it wouldn't have changed our standings.
On the downwinds Skip Dirk was doing a fantastic job surfing as the rest of the crew dashed from end to end of the boat, using our weight to catch the wave. It was a blast!

We came sixth overall, closely followed by our friends the Norwegians in seventh and England took the Cup. A list of the full standings will soon be available.

Needless to say, the closing ceremony celebrations may have gotten a little out of hand but in the best of ways.

No pictures for now as I am missing my camera.

Thats all for now!
JYD

World's Number One!

To be short and sweet, Team Canada made history today.

We got our first bullet in SYWOC history!!!!


It's late, we just finished our four and a half hour night race, so we'll provide more details soon.

http://www.sail-world.com/UK/Student-Yachting-World-Cup---Day-five/76328

Lucky Charm

It's Zoe's birthday, and her presents came early.
No Breakdowns!
No Protests!
Great Results!


Team Canada moved up from 8th to 6th with some consistent results.


The day started off with a distance race which took the teams under a bridge. Like the previous distance race, the team sailed the 32 foot keel boat like a laser, and surfed their way to the top three. After a perfect rounding, the team realized the sheet had come loose and got caught in the rudder. Lucky for us, it didn't affect Dirk's steering too much. Unfortunately, most of our distance races have been about one thing. Start, first upwind, then SPEED SPEED SPEED SPEED.

With some distrubed flow and dragging lines, the team lost only two boats. Finishing 6th. Once again, birthday luck followed us through to the next race. The race committee, usually incompassionate to break downs, gave everyone an HOUR long break. It was heaven...well heaven everyone but Landon, who had to dunk his head in the water while trying to unwrap our rudder. After some shivers, and blue lips Landon "the colonel" Gardner warmed back up just in time for the next race.


Race two.

Port tack layline. Top Three. Fouled Portugal. 720. Last place. Super fast and great moves bring us back into fourth. Lucky for us, the Japanese were in front, so we knew third was locked. And not surprisingly, after an hour glass and running over the mark, we soon found ourselves just hoping the Japanese team would finish the race.

Race three.

Another great first upwind and start. A speedy downwind had us in third going into the last windward beat. With 12 boats attacking from all sides of the course, team canada did their best in covering, and working the shifty conditions. The strategy worked out as best as it could, with only one boat passing them at the layline. Forth place finish was the result. High Five!


Sail in. Literally.

Engine still not working, so the crew let Dirk and Ethan fly the chute. It was looking good until they had to douse. After Dirk got lost in the chute, fell in the hatch and punched Ethan in the face, the two decided they would stick to thinking rather than doing.



That's it for now.



je suis une ananas







HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!



yoda and major goodge.

Sailing into the dock under spin? check. Race day Four.

La Rochelle's old harbour is beautiful. It's even more beautiful when you are sailing into it illegally flying your spin and a Julia up the mast for the fun of it. The crowds lining the boardwalks call out and cheer, children look up in wonder and harbour police hover nervously while cursing french words somewhat under their breath.

How did we find ourselves in this particular situation? Well, it all started with a fantastically nonchalant-french-charter-boat-repair-man rolling out to the docks at ten minutes to cast-off time that morning, doing 5 repairs in under five minutes as we are looking on with twitchily, then waving us off the dock telling us that the motor is "en panne" and zere iz nothing he can do about eet now, but he will have to think about eet and don't utilise ze motor much. Off you go.

We slowly putt-putted out to the race course and proceeded to have a day of good short course sailing but mediocre results. We were usually within shooting distance of top five, but critical mistakes at the top marks and a double protest situation with Ireland at the leewoard mark of the second race nullified our fast sailing. We placed eighth in both short course race and were in bad shape on the long distance when they finally abandoned the race due to lack of wind.

So, there we were, a leg out on the long distance course with a half working motor and everyone else hightailing it back to the dock. Before long, we were alone on the glassy water with only our consciences to guide us. Naturally, Zoe and Julia were soon found hanging from the end of the boom having their heads dunked in the water. When that game tired, we decided to ignore monsieur boat-repair-man's instructions and try to motor along just a touch faster. Of course the motor dies and we are still half an hour away from harbour. Up goes the spin, with Skipper Dirk and Tactician Ethan being the foredeck and crew. We will never, ever let them near those areas of the boat in a race. Their heart was in it....

Of course once the spin is up, Julia wants to take pictures of the two towers gurding the harbour, so up goes Julia. The plan is looking better and better to us by the minute.

We get into docj without a hitch, the harbour police shuffle off with a grumble and we procede to accept offerings of post-race beer from the Norwegians (our European counterparts). It was brilliant.

Other Wednesday news: Our headcam arrived and was used for the first time. The footage from it was then used in a protest hearing to great success. Also, our two redresses for equipment failures from yesterday were unfortunately tossed out.

An interesting day... here's hoping for results to match our good boat speed tomorrow!

JYD

Mishaps and Mayhem

Hey everyone!

Today was our second day of racing; we had fantastic wind and sunny weather. The RC ran three races and although Canada sailed great races we are not able to show it in our results due to breakdowns in the boat!

In our first race we had a good start and maintained our position in fifth until the last hoist at the windward mark when the shackle on our spin halyard broke and we not only lost our spinnaker for the downwind, we also skied our halyard. Unfortunately we lost five boats this way and ended in tenth, but Zoe climbed the mast for the first time!

The second race had the fleet very close together; Canada pulled a smart tactical move at the last leeward mark leading to a reach finish by keeping the spinnaker up a bit longer and ducked beneath a group of boats to finish in eighth.

Mainsheet Landon, Jib sheet Eric and Skipper McTerrifying are pretty good at what they do...

The third race was long distance so Victoria, Ethan and Landon put their heads together to try to determine the course. Canada had a solid upwind and reach,

rounding the cardinal buoy leading to the downwind in fifth. We had a stellar downwind, really working the waves and managed to move to third. However, at the leeward mark the casing on our jib halyard shredded and our jib came down. Eric did a fantastic job in conjuring a jerry rig but once again we lost boats. Luckily we went left on the long upwind and finished in fifth.

The mentioned equipment failures were not our only though... We also had a winch bind, our motor smoked profusely at all times and our spinnaker ripped. The team has decided to apply for redress (a way to protest the organizing committee) to try to get our placing back at the time of the breakdowns because we are unable to make any equipment changes on the supplied Grand Surprise’s, therefore could not prevent the malfunctions.

Boat repair is great.

However, we did have an excellent day and everyone had a lot of fun, especially on the long distance race. All of the team members on the rail learnt what it is like to hike for a day and Dirk even busted out his ninja balaclava for a bit. Seth discovered how slippery the deck is and had a half bath when trying to skirt the jib, and the other teams, in particular the Italians and Americans enjoyed our melodious voices on the upwinds.

Signing off until tomorrow!

Hybridity Through Warfare

Make of the title what you like.

Team Canada sailed well today and finished strongly with a 7th and a 2nd. Unfortunately, we were OCS (started too early) in the first race (7th) so we were disqualified. A few smart tactical decisions and some great spin work along with nimble manouevering around the leeward marks resulted in Canada's top ever finish at SYWoC with the 2nd place in the final race of the day.
Spirits are high going into the subsequent day as we have confirmed we can sail with the top boats. Keep posted for more good results from the team.

We do love our dialysis services. Especially on beautiful, windy, winning afternoons in France.

Windy Weather and Pancake Keggers

Hey Everyone !!!!

Our Saturday morning began with a joyful sweat run (with no food in our stomachs) to the weigh in, where we found out that we were 24lbs under the weight requirement... so our crash diet paid off! We then proceded to eat a heinous amount of carbs on the walk home.

Later that day we headed to the dock where we finished up some last minute adjustments on the Golden Gael II and were set to go out on the water. Unfortunately th

e practice race was canceled due to 'howling' 35 knot winds. Ice cream was consumed instead.

Zoe and Seth decide it is the perfect day for Ice Cream.

The evenings festivities consisted of the international food night and being true Canadian students we brought maple syrup, pancakes and MINI KEGS for a pancake kegger! We were also given the opportunity to try some tasty Portugese chicken, Italian pesto, Irish stew, French cheese and baguettes. It was absolutely delicious and we have all definitely been able to re-gain the weight that we lost.

All in all it was an awesome and exiting day !

Zoe

Day of FASTING (training day 2)

Bonjour!

Today marked the beginning of our official fast. Lucky for us, we have Julia training (choo choo) us to cut the weight. She has us not eating or drinking, and with a planned sweat run scheduled for tomorrow, a hospital visit is almost a guarantee. Just kidding! Or are we!?!?!?!!?!?!

As for the on-water session, today we were joined by a number of new boats (Japan, USA, Italy x2, Portugal, Scotland, Ireland, and England). Due to a connection with the American team, we were able to do some speed tuning. After no more than 10 minutes, two boats turned into a mini SYWOC training session. It was as though the regatta had already started! I guess it was our good looks and fantastic gear that attracted the other teams.

Anyways, we're looking forward to the practice race tomorrow and finally starting off the competition.

Here's to some good winds!

Yoda

"Thought I'd test out my sea legs...."

Hey folks!

After our long journey travelling across the Atlantic we awoke Thursday morning to a beautiful and sunny La Rochelle. After paying the damage deposit for our 'Grand Surprise' we rigged up, briefed, and headed out to the Atlantic. Our first day consisted mainly of working on boat handling and learning the particularities of the boat. Despite the light wind we got a full day of training in and cannot wait for day two! The plan tomorrow is to concentrate on specific skills, fine tune our boat handling, and speed tuning with some of the other teams who arrived Thursday evening.

In other news, our weigh in is on Saturday morning and Julia has been strictly rationing our food intake. As a crew we cannot weigh more than 1168 pounds and as of two weeks ago we were about 24 pounds over. A week ago we had that cut down to about ten. Based on the winds here in 2007 we are hoping to weigh in as close to 1168 as possible so that we can keep our boat flat(er) in the heavy La Rochelle breeze. Carbs have been cut out and the team is being sustained on salad, chicken, water, and lots of sugar free gum. Our last meal before the weigh in (and our sweat run) will be tomorrow's lunch on the boat. We're hoping nobody gets too h-angry and so far, so good!

Cheers from La Rochelle,

Seth

P.S. A prize for the person who can identify the title quote. No, wikipedia, google, or 21st century cheats allowed.

Chez France

Ah, flights. Nothing like a Trans-Atlantic flight to get our team bonding in before training days. Mostly the travelling and train connections went off without a hitch with thanks to Seth and his expert Navigating-France skills and we arrived at our hotel in La Rochelle looking, let us say... travel wearied. Seventeen hours of travelling, but oh, was it worth it.

Team Canada is skilled at navigation

La Rochelle is just beautiful and the weather is nice too, which really helps offset jet lag, more or less. The old architecture and character of the city is beautifully preserved and the marinas are... well, prolific. At every turn there is another marina with thousands of sailboats tucked inside. A sailor's haven. It becomes very obvious why so many mariners have started their epic journeys from here. Jacques Cartier had the right idea

. We are seeing quite a few similarities between La Rochelle and Kingston. They are both 'Limestone Cities' built on and of local limestone, they both have universities located within the city, as well as having old, old prisons and are of a similar size with an outlying island. Almost feels like home!

The team gazing out onto La Rochelle's endless fields of masts

For the most part our french is improving rapidly and we are finding the people are very kind and hilarious. Good boat people. The team can't wait to get started with the regatta and meeting all the countries' representatives. A report on our first training day in the Grand Surprise is soon to come.

Big Thanks to Musto for our wonderful foul weather gear(we are tickled pink!) Also a big thanks to Prof. George Lovell for being so accommodating!

Getting Ready to Leave

Well, our departure date is upon us! Our bags are packed and our tickets printed; last minute sponsorship calls and school assignments are finished up and mid-term exams are crammed in before the flight. These past couple days have been both exciting and hectic because for some reason, school and work don't stop when something awesome is about to happen, something like SYWoC.

Gear orders have been flying across the world and we look forward to meeting up with our newly embroidered Gill and Musto clothing and gear in La Rochelle on arrival. Today we received some great Helly Hansen base layer clothing to supplement our suitcases and keep us warm and dry in what we expect to be some pretty chilly Atlantic temperatures. Now we are just left with the gathering of odds and ends and things one would never think of bringing.

It is a little bit of rotten luck that there was an unfortunate VIA rail accident yesterday(no one was injured, they were freight trains), disrupting the train service to Montreal . As this was our method of transport, we have put Eric up to doing a bit of 'creative transportation scheduling' with buses so that we all arrive in Montreal with plenty of time to spare before the flight.

I can't help but think that a really big thanks is due to all the sponsors for helping Team Canada get this far. This is really quite exciting.

Next stop... France!

Results - Canadian University Keelboat Championships

Queen's U  Golden Gael II Campaign for the Student Yachting World Cup has helped organized the first annual Canadian University Keelboat Championship. 

The weekend's breeze was just awesome in the Toronto Harbour!  The boats got a full set together for the event, 14 races plus 1 medal race.

The team was spread out between Queen's I, Golden Gael II and McMaster (eligibility technicality).  We had a great weekend of training, with substantial improvements and will be using what we learned at this event at the World Cup.

Full regatta report to come, but check out the weekend results here:

1. Guelph - Lee Parkhill
2. Queen's II - Rob Davis
3. McMaster - Evan Mah
4. Queen's I - Evert McLaughlin
5. Golden Gael II - Dirk McLaughlin
6. U of T - Chantal Hearst

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnI0L2FyWpo5dHYwdTdqNjkyZzdXcTVwTW85enJHUFE&hl=en&authkey=CO60qoYP#gid=0

Training Weekend #2 Recap

Team Canada recently completed their second training weekend in Kingston, Ontario aboard an Abbott 33 and things are looking great.

The morning of day one had the team training under the instruction of former (several time) Shark world champion Don Ruddy aboard his Abbott 33. After the morning learning the boat with Don, the team had the afternoon of sailing alone in a dying shifty breeze. The focus of this practice was to familiarize the crew with operating a symmetrical spinnaker on a large keelboat together (as previous training weekend was aboard J105s, which have asymmetrical spinnakers). By 4pm the breeze was dead and the team called it a day. Julia Bailey won the award for ‘most mustard on sandwich’.

The second day of training gave the team an opportunity to sail on Don’s boat alone in ~15 knots of beautiful Kingston south-westerly breeze. This was a very VERY effective training day as these are conditions quite similar to the racing conditions that the team is expecting to race in while in La Rochelle. Nearly all day was spent sailing sausages courses around marks (imaginary ones too) and working out more kinks of ‘around the buoys’ boat handling including sets, gybe sets, ‘mexicans’ and more. The team also practised some starting manoeuvres and timing.

Big thanks to Don Ruddy for supporting our team by coaching us on the first day and generously lending us his boat!

The weather was warm, as shown by our lack of socks!

Coming up next: Several members of the team are looking forward to the Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Championships in the SONAR class at RCYC this weekend. This presents another great opportunity for working together on communication, sail trim and tactics.

Our Ragingly Successful BBQ

Big Thanks to everyone who came out to the SYWOC team’s BBQ fundraiser on October 24th!

For those of you who missed it; some scrumptious burgers, prepared by Chef Tulk, were eaten and amazing raffle prizes were handed out, including a Keg-a-Que (by far the most sought after item... with good reason). Past and present members from the Queen's sailing team and the wider sailing community were present to show their support.

After the burgers, there was a showing of our epic SYWOC training video created by non other than Landon Gardner. The video featured SYWOC Team Canada at it’s best during our training camp at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (viewable in the post below). Everyone also had a pretty good laugh at the picture of Mr. Eric Tulk sporting a speedo. All in all, it was a fantastic evening and we managed to raise $220.00.

Special Thanks to Kingston Yacht Club for use of their most excellent space!

Our Lovely fundraiser Attendees!

Training Weekend 1 Recap

Team Canada has begun official training, and let me tell you, we are feeling good, going good and looking FAST.

Day one had the team training on a beautiful sunny and steady 12-14 knot south westerly breeze. Sailing as a full crew for the first time, the team's focus was on communication, defining roles and teamwork. With the knowledgeable and experienced Coach Sue Fraser on the boat, the team learned new techniques which are a strong foundations for the days to come.

On Sunday, the team organized a 4 boat training camp in the J105 fleet and along with Forro were accompanied by Jamaica Me Crazy, Planet B and Tusk. Team Canada were host to legendary Canadian skipper and Olympic Silver Medalist Terry McLaughlin. As a fleet of four sailing in the Toronto harbour, Coach Sue Fraser set up a start line and a short course for a series of races and starts. The team didn’t disappoint. After having only one day of full training under their belts, the team surprised the experienced fleet with consistent first and second place finishes. It was great training, even if it was 2-6 knots!

The team is excited to build upon this training in their upcoming training camps, Oct 1-2 in Kingston and at the Canadian University Sailing Championships at the RCYC Oct 16-17.

Big thanks to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club for helping us host the event, to Forro - George Mezo, Greg Mezo and Drew Sutherland for helping us onto a boat; and to Terry Hall, Rob Baker and Ted Weir for training with us this weekend. Thank you very much to Coach Sue Fraser and Terry McLaughlin, you are SO wise!

SWYoC BBQ - Friday, September 24

Who's hungry?!
This Friday September 24 there will be a Queen's SYWoC Team sponsorship BBQ!
This event will be held at the beautiful Kingston Yacht Club (Google map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1+Maitland+St,+Kingston,+K7L+2V3&sll=44.222906,-76.487203&sspn=0.010902,0.019312&ie=UTF8&g=1+Maitland+St,+Kingston,+K7L+2V3&s=AARTsJrK_rLI_pglO16qp3PLS3TiGYFSlQ&view=map)
We'll be lighting up the BBQ at 7, so plan to arrive around then. The festivities will be going on all night, and include a raffle with amazing items and a silent auction!
The cost is a minimum donation of $10 to be paid on arrival and all funds go directly to supporting the Queen's SWYoC team!

Hope to see you there supporting your fellow friends and sailors!

Check out our Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=138678496176281

J105 Training Weekend! Sept. 18 - 19

This weekend, Sept. 18 - 19, the Queen's University SYWoC Sailing Team is hosting a J105 training reagatta in Toronto at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. 

On Saturday the team will train together to work out the kinks and improve their skills. They will have a private coach and practice drills on water and go over keel boat rigging, theory and tactics on shore.

On Sunday the team will be joined by the highly competitive J105 fleet and invited Collegiate sailors from the Queen's and U of T sailing teams. Training and practice races are scheduled.

The goal of this weekend is to have the Queen's SYWoC team train on a boat together and to share keelboat knowledge among the J105 fleet.

 

If you're interested in attending, check out the link below and sign up!

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnI0L2FyWpo5dGh1ZUc4WVJUQmVoNGowT00zZTdhNWc&hl=en&authkey=CK_I0OEM 

 

Or send Eric Tulk an email at:

erictulk@gmail.com 

 

 

SYWoC BBQ!

We're having a BBQ on September 24th!

Tickets are by donation with all funds raised going towards Golden Gael II's SYWoC 2010 regatta expenses.

The event starts at 7pm with food ready for 8pm. There will also be sweet gear raffled off and a silent auction for a special BBQ grill.

Please RSVP if you can make it so we have an idea of food quantities.

Hope to see you there for a great evening!

Facebook

Check out our Facebook Group at:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=133443666701742

The 2010 Queen's Sailing Team SYWoC Line-Up

Welcome to the official Queen's Sailing Team Student Yachting World Cup 2010 blog!

The line-up of QST sailors competing in the 2010 SYWoC regatta is ... drumroll please...
Dirk McLaughlin: Skipper
Ethan Holtzer: Tactician
Landon Gardner: Mainsheet
Seth Whitmore: BOWMAN
Erik Tulk: Spin and Jib Trim
Julia Bailey: Spin Trim
Zoe Lewis: Jib Trim
Victoria Ehman: Pit

Stay tuned for more updates as the team prepares for this upcoming regatta!