Ice Breakers regatta in Toronto

by Rosie Chapman on 20 May 2013

Quebec Sailing Team - 2013 Icebreakers Regatta Quebec Sailing http://www.voile.qc.ca/

This past weekend was the annual Ice Breakers regatta in Toronto, to which a sizeable Quebec team of sailors showed up. This was also the final Canada Games qualification regatta for the 29er, Laser and Radial. The conditions in Toronto were awesome: sun and breeze! With one great day of training on the Thursday before the event and a light day on the Friday, the team was eager to get racing.

Quebec was well represented by 22 athletes, 16 of which were on the Quebec Sailing Team: Laura Borden, Marie-Pier Alary and Arielle Morgan represented in the new 49er FX class, Frédérique Tougas, Virginie Lavallée-Corbeil, Florence Pépin Delhaes, Stéphane Vinet and Sophie Vinet in the 29er class, Victor Sullivan and Arthur Daignault in the Laser full rig and Rebecca Abelson, Rae- Anne Norwood, Philippe Pasquin, Vincent Martineau-Camalleri, Nicolas St-Onge and Nicholas Orsoni-Weiner in the Radial class.

Quebec Sailing Team head coach Rosie Chapman commented that she was impressed with the sailors; after a long winter and a tricky spring with little to no wind, the sailors raced well. Solid performances were seen across all classes. While there is much to continue working on over the next few months, exciting times lay ahead!

The Radials were coached by Vanessa Dallaire for the first time. She is extremely impressed with the progression of the team over the winter and looks forward to her further involvement with the Canada Games sailors. Athletes selected to participate in the Canada Games will be announced shortly.

The team came home with some great results: second and third in the 49er FX, second and third in the 29er, second and third in the Radial. National Team members and Quebec athletes Michael Brodeur and Alexandre Stranix also had a third place finish in the 49er, while Lauren Laventure got a first place in 49er FX with her crew from British Columbia.

What's coming up next? The Quebec Team is continuing to train out of the Royal St-Lawrence Yacht Club five times per week. The 29ers will be heading west next weekend for the annual Ottawa Skiff Grand Prix regatta. The 49er FX will spend a week in Nova Scotia, where they will train with Canadian Sailing Team skiff coach Mark Asquith. As for the Laser and Radials, they will head to New Jersey the following weekend for the Atlantic Coast Championship.