Graham Mann named June's Sailor of the Month

by Sail Canada on 14 Jul 2013 June turned out to be a a busy month with a wealth of activity both home and abroad. On the west coast, 41 boats took part in the Van Isle 360, a 10 leg circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. Congratulations to the division winners, crews of Dragonfly, Icon, Terremoto, Diva and Emma, for prevailing in this marathon.

Centrally, the big event was the Susan Hood Trophy Race with 95 starters split into three IRC divisions and eight PHRF fleets. The light winds made the 72nm course challenging with Jonathan Bamberger’s J145 Spitfire emerging as the IRC overall winner while Terry McLaughlin and Rod Wilmer on the J105 Mandate won the Susan Hood Trophy with the lowest corrected finishing time under PHRF.

Peter Hall and his team made a successful visit to Europe for the Lightning Worlds where they finished ninth, but also took part in the Europeans (fourth) and the Masters (second)

Hank Lammens and crew took second place in the North American Etchells Championship, while Al Clark won the Pacific Coast Master Laser Championship.

In the Finn class, Greg Douglas flew the Canadian flag proudly, finishing sixth at the prestigious Kiel Week regatta, continuing his run of good form this year (second in Miami, seventh in Delta Lloyd).

However, it’s to the non-competitive side of sailing that we turn to for June’s Sailor of the Month. Graham Mann of the Lunenburg Yacht Club in Nova Scotia initiated a program to get schools involved in sailing. 251 students, well in excess of the program’s target, participated in sailing activities, most for the first time. Students who wish to continue sailing will have the opportunity to enroll in a two evening per week program for the rest of the summer at LYC.

The Sail All program is not just a one-off, and will not be confined to one club. Graham is already planning to extend the program to other schools next year. He also has announced a partnership with the local PRO Kids (Positive Recreation Opportunities for Kids) program. PRO Kids is a program that provides financial assistance to children and youth who, due to lack of funds, are not able to participate in sport, recreation and cultural activities. Sail All is going to provide additional funding for the PRO Kids program which will be used for those who wish to participate in sailing lessons at Lunenburg Yacht Club this summer but are financially unable or restricted. See a CBC clip about the program here

For his leadership in getting kids afloat in circumstances where they wouldn’t otherwise sail, we are pleased to declare Graham Mann as the Sail Canada Sailor of the Month for June 2013.

Sail Canada’s Sailor of the Month award acknowledges sailing achievements by Canadians involved or associated with the sport in all its Sail Canada website

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