Saturday, July 15th is the date for the Kanata Sailing Club’s party of the season, our annual SailPast. This event is held after the first training sessions have been completed, so we have an opportunity to meet and greet our newest Blue Tag sailors.
Timeline:
Noon: Choose your boat, rig and decorate your craft with streamers, balloons etc. Dress yourself as you like
2 pm: Cast off to SailPast our Commodore
Then enjoy the rest of the afternoon on the water!
5 pm: gather on the deck for “cocktails”
6 pm: BBQ Dinner! Rumour has it that a suckling pig is being prepared, along with Salads and Dessert
Details:
RSVP Social Director Tom at [email protected] ASAP so we have a head-count for food
Indicate alternate food preferences to Tom and arrangements will be made
Pay in cash for the BBQ to the Social Director
$20 per adult; $10 for 18s and under
BYOB and the club provides a selection of non-alcoholic beverages
What started out to be another drift fest for race night with about 4 kts of wind quickly became a challenging windy race event. With 5 sailboats set to hash it out for top spot on the leaderboard, the wind picked up to 10 kts towards the start of race 1 with gusts of 18 kts then held steady throughout the rest of race 2. Carla and Steve on the 29er didn’t disappoint as they demonstrated to the fleet how to capsize in the middle of a spinnaker kite dousing while simultaneously being nailed by a gust. Jean, with Annie flying by on the RS cat, saw an opportunity of pulling ahead especially since Jason on the Musto Skiff adopted the same capsizing tactics as Steve and Carla. Unfortunately hope of a win for Jean and Annie were dashed once Carla and Steve managed to douse their kite in the water then right the 29 er and sail on to victory in Race 1. Fear of running over the entire fleet Jean and Annie settled for a 3rd place finish. Mike L, happily sailing in the laser and full of McDonald’s hamburgers, passed by in second place while Tom, Marc W and our newbie and ever so keen learner Ruth (welcome Ruth) held tight in 4th place. Race 2 didn’t disappoint either. Jason felt a few more capsize practices are always a good thing so proceeded to carry on. Annie and Jean heard a cold bevvie calling their names so bailed after race 1 and the trio of Marc, Tom and Ruth held steady to capture 3rd place. Race Results are as follows.
RACE 1
STEVE AND CARLA
MIKE LEPARD
JEAN and ANNIE
MARC, TOM, RUTH
JASON
Race 2
STEVE AND CARLA
MIKE LEPARD
MARC, TOM, RUTH
JASON OCF
– Carla Millar acting sailing director
[Editor note: Our current sailing director Mike Reece was injured in a hiking accident, Carla will be taking over race nights for the summer.]
Hello everyone, just a few quick updates from your KSC board of directors.
Dock Install Sat June 3rd
Calling everyone who’s able to help! We’re bringing the big dock down the ramp and anchoring it on the beach. This usually requires a bunch of people as it’s very heavy and difficult to maneuver.
If you’re free please come down to the club and help us move it this Sat, June 3rd, around 10:30am. If you bring a wet suit Ken will be very happy to have some help positioning the dock in the water!
These race nights are great fun and a great way to improve your skills. Our top racer, Steve Harrington, will give an overview of racing rules and strategy (e.g. races are won and lost at the start line) before we venture out on the water for some actual racing. Our instructor crew will run the races, and the two main rules are, nobody left standing onshore, and have fun. Tom Neumann has graciously agreed to supply hamburgers and beer for afterwards (please bring some cash if you want a burger and beer). The session will begin on the beach at 5:30 pm. Learn to sail students welcome to participate as crew.
Power to the Club Coming Soon!
If you’ve been to the club recently you may have noticed a bunch of new hydro poles installed. That’s right, we’re going to have power restored to the clubhouse soon! Stay tuned for more info.
Reminder that our public open house is Sat May 6th from 12-4pm. Everyone is welcome to swing by the club (at 1610 Sixth Line Road in Dunrobin) to come say hello and checkout all we have to offer. Our members will be there to answer any questions you have.
No need to register but feel free to respond to our facebook event if you plan on going!
Start thinking about your best chili recipe for the potluck, and email Tom soon at [email protected] if you plan to bring one.
We hope to see plenty of members, old and new, at the club working together to start getting boats and the clubhouse ready for the new sailing season. This event takes place rain or shine.
To bring:
gloves and work wear
battery powered tools if you have ’em
items that you volunteered to store over the winter
Our exciting plans for the day:
Flipping and rigging the RS Quests and Fevas
Moving Lasers & Bytes out of the clubhouse and assembling their dollies
Taking the Optis out from under the deck to the beach
Moving the power boats down to the beach
Getting the dock setup in the water
Potluck chili when we wrap for the day (BYOB if desired)
We’re fortunate that certain resourceful members have offered to lend us their generator for keeping chili crock-pots warm. That’s right, no hydro as yet, but watch for brand new overhead lines as you drive down the club access road!
Looking forward to hitting the water and the new deck with everyone. See you next weekend.
From our friends at Sail Canada, we’ve implemented new safe sport policies for all volunteers/employees of the club. See blurb below.
A Commitment to Safe Sport at Kanata Sailing Club In our sport across Canada a tremendous amount of work and resource has been committed to adopt the Sail Canada Safe Sport Policy Package at every level of sailing. Safe Sport is a commitment and initiative to prevent and address maltreatment in sport, ensuring that sport environments create safe and positive experiences for all. Kanata Sailing Club has adopted the Safe Sport Policy Package and is committed to fostering a safe sport environment in our organization and within the sport of sailing. Everyone has a role to play, and we look to you for support in upholding its expectations and keeping each other accountable. The Policy package can be found on our website: http://kanatasailingclub.com/club-policies-and-operations/safe-sport-policies/
Registration for training and membership is open for the 2023 sailing season. There are still lots of youth training slots open but these tend to fill up quickly, be sure to sign up early!
Our 2023 launch day has been scheduled for Saturday, April 22nd, starting at 9am. We need all hands on deck for this event, there’s lots to do but it goes quickly if we have lots of help. Like every year this will take place rain or shine, be sure to bring gloves, boots, and work wear with you. We will be removing the boats from the clubhouse, prepping boats with masts and rigging, hauling some of the boats to the beach, and assembling the dock in the water.
The 2023 Public Open House has been scheduled for Saturday, May 6th, from 12-4pm. Open house is when we invite members of the public to come check out the club and see what we’re all about. If you’re available that day come on down to the club and say hello.
The Kanata Sailing Club celebrated our 2022 Sailpast on Saturday Aug 20, and used the occasion to celebrate our spring 2022 Trillium Grant, with speeches, dignitaries and media invited down to the beach to view the boats, and a suckling pig BBQ event running into the evening.
We thanked Ontario Trillium Foundation for a generous grant of $36,100 that allowed the club to purchase three new RS Feva sailboats for Learn-to-Sail training, and post-graduate recreational sailing, even including Wednesday night races. They’ve already ventured several times as far as the Aylmer marina beach, and to Pinhey’s Point historic site, and performed heroically with both novice and seasoned sailors alike.
The grant was awarded under the terms of the OTF Resilient Communities Fund, to help non-profits rebuild and recover from the impact of COVID-19. We are very grateful for these funds which allowed the purchase of dinghies that:
are fun, easily rigged, stable-hulled boats that can be sailed in higher winds without frequent capsize
inspire confidence in new sailors, even when sailing solo as required under physical distancing protocols
improve retention of Learn-to-Sail graduates and refresh club membership.
Thank you to everyone who participated in making this day a rousing success!
Vice-Commodore, Harbourmaster, Commodore and MC, Training Director sharing the granting story and thanking @ONTrillium from the KSC deckRS Feva on the water, kitted out for SailPast3 RS FevasKSC board members in front of RS Feva on Trillium Grant Recognition Day / SailPast DayRS Feva, Quest, and Optis sail past the Commodore during SailPast Day
We will be hosting powerboat training for those who have their PCO license already but aren’t familiar with our boats. Training will be held Friday, June 24th, at 6:30pm.
Social Sails
Various members will be hosting informal social sails this summer, starting with a sail to Aylmer on Sunday, June 26 for lunch at the new Le Bateau restaurant. Boats will leave at 11am for the ~30min sail over to Quebec.
This is the perfect opportunity for those who aren’t comfortable sailing by themselves to partake in a group trip. Whether solo, on helm, or as crew, all members who want to go will have a spot.
If you’re interested in organizing an event of your own feel free to contact me and I’ll gladly add it to our calendar and the next newsletter.
Race nights
Race nights are picking up again, starting this week they will be held every Wed at 6pm sharp. Be at the club early to rig the boats and get on the water before the race starts! Our training staff will be onsite to conduct the races so members can focus on the perfect jibe.
New Boats Arriving Soon
Fortunately our little club has scored a major win: we’ve secured funding for several new boats! Everyone on the board is quite excited to announce the good news, however we’re not allowed to reveal all the details just yet. Very soon you’ll hear more about the new vessels and the large improvement they’ll have to our training fleet. And I can’t think of another sentence that starts with “A” but the funny formatting should be enough 😉
Catamaran Training
For those of us who don’t have our red tags yet, Ken is gauging interest in a cat training session this summer. Contact Ken if you’re interested in signing up for red-tag training, this is a one day training course that has a nominal fee.
Duty Days Going Old-School
Due to some technical difficulties with the previous calendar service, the board has decided to go with a more old-school approach to the duty day sign ups. The next time you’re at the club check out the pin-board for the duty day calendars:
Just put your name down for morning or afternoon on either Sat or Sun. Remember that all members are required to come help out for at least two half-day sessions.
Smaller Sails for the Bytes
Carla & Steve have been hard at work on a side project to get smaller, more controllable sails for the bytes. These are now ready and should be easier to sail for those members who are smaller in stature. A huge benefit is that they look and feel like a laser sail so should be more familiar than the usual byte rigging.
RS Quest Rigging
If you haven’t made it out to the Sat afternoon rigging sessions that Heidi has been hosting, you can find a nice rigging video up on our website here.
As always, if you have any comments/concerns, do bring them up with our board of directors.
That’s all for this week, see you out on the water!
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