CICSA Keelboat National Championships 

During a busy weekend for the Queen's Sailing Team, with teams competing in the Susan Rodgers '75 Memorial Regatta at Cornell and the Canadian-American Championships hosted in Kingston, the Queen's Keelboat Team headed to Oakville with their hopes set on winning their second consecutive Canadian Collegiate Keelboat National Championship. 

When the team arrived for their training day in Bronte, where the event, hosted National One-Design Sailing Academy, was held, the wind strength and wave height were far beyond the limit for the fleet of Flying Tiger 7.5M boats. After a brief period of optimism that the weather would lighten up just enough to let the teams train, the event organizers abandoned sailing for the day, leaving everything to be proven on the race course. 

Saturday morning, the team donned their wet weather gear and set out into treacherous conditions, with large swells, constant rain and heavy breeze blanketing the racecourse. The Queen's team came out of the gate hot, winning the start by a large margin and displaying impressive boat speed and crew work right off the line. The team carried their lead even further, distancing themselves from the rest of the fleet and battling out a solid first place finish to start the event. From there, the team never looked back, winning the second race in all but flawless fashion. As the day came to a close, the Gaels decided to leave it all out on the water, and demolished the final race by a massive margin. At the end of the first day, the team was leading the event with straight firsts, with Laurier trailing in second by four points. 

With a solid mix of nerves and excitement, the team set out to replicate their 2015 finish and bring home a National Championship to Queen's. However, the weather had different ideas for the day, with a mix of heavy rain and no wind. Nevertheless, it wasn't until the first lightening strike that the race committee called racing for the day, leaving the Queen's Gaels as repeat National Champions. With their heads held high, the Queen's team will head back to Kingston to continue to train for the World Championships, in La Rochelle, France this November. 

Canadian-American (Can-Am) Cup

Here in Kingston, the Queen's Sailing Team Dinghy racers had a fantastic weekend. The two teams captured first and second on the podium at the annual CAN-AM Cup held at the Kingston Yacht Club. Schools from across Canada and the United States came to sail, making for a tough competition weekend for the Gaels. The weather was perfect for the regatta, with light to medium breeze on both Saturday and Sunday, so all of the scheduled races were completed. The sailors representing Queen's this weekend were Zac Baum, Chirstina Black, Zane Feder, Reid Goldman, Linor Berezin, Darcy Wells, Andrew Faurschou, Denby McDonnell, Lily Merovitz-Budning and Scott Gittens. After two days of hard fought racing, the team came out on top with both teams finishing in the top two spots.

Susan Rogers 75th Memorial Regatta at Cornell

In the American League (ICSA) this weekend, Queen's Sailing sent four sailors to an all-women's regatta at Cornell. The Susan Rogers 75th Memorial Regatta started with the team of four women Natalie, Julia, and rookies Kayla and Elle fighting through light and shifty conditions the likes of which are rarely seen by the Kingston sailors. After the first day, they were placed 9th out of 14 in a tough American fleet. The races were short, and mistakes were often very costly. 

Day two offered similar conditions, with breeze that finally picked up during the last rotation. Both the A and B teams finished off on a stronger note as the wind became steadier. Overall, a lot was to be learned from the American teams who are far more comfortable in the light wind; the team had the opportunity to develop their own skills through conditions rarely seen in Canadian sailing. They finished 10th overall and are eager to get back on the water this week.