O Canada - First Steps in an Open 60 for Elite Canadian Sailors

by Nathan Baron on 16 Apr 2010 Nathan Baron is a Mini Transat Sailor based out of Kingston Ontario. He and four other Canadians sailors recently returned from Auckland New Zealand where they were sailing the Open 60, O Canada (ex-Spirit of Canada).

This past January Wind Athletes Canada was seeking expressions of interest in an opportunity to go to Auckland and sail an Open 60 for two weeks. I immediately got to work on my application letter and was rewarded with a quick response saying that I had been accepted.

The other sailors selected are either running or coaching Olympic campaigns, so my experience as an offshore sailor was a bit out of place on this crew. The team was composed of Nicola Girke and Kevin Stittle (both top RSX sailors), their coach Rob Fox, and Mike Leigh (a top laser sailor) and myself, a Mini Transat sailor.

Skipper/coach of O Canada, Dan Slater, represented NZ in the Finn at the Olympic games and has been involved in several America's Cup campaigns. Our Navigator/ Coach, Ed Smyth, has also done a few Cups and has held positions in some pretty impressive race programs. Finally, Allan West, who specializes in Open 60s, lead the re-fit and preparation of the boat. Allan was involved in Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher program, Mike Golding's Ecover program and many others. We really couldn't have better teachers for learning the ins and outs of an Open 60!

The first week on the boat was spent learning the systems and maneuvers. Having done a fair bit of big boat sailing, so I was familiar with all of the basic elements, but I had never sailed on a boat with a canting keel, ballast tanks and big asymmetric daggerboards. It was amazing how quickly we all became familiar with this new gear and got down to work trying to make the boat go fast.

Our training began with a variety of short day sails in the Hauraki Gulf as we got used to the various maneuvers on the boat. Many of the dinghy sailors had never put a reef in a main or gone through the huge job of gybing a boat with running backstays and grinding in what seems like miles of sheet. We tried on all of the sail wardrobe while puttering around in The Gulf. .

The boat was freshly out of a re-fit when we arrived, so there were still a few bugs to be worked out. This provided the team with an opportunity to get our hands dirty with some boat work; a great way to get to know the boat. I was particularly pleased to see that the boat has the same NKE autopilot and instrument system that my boat has, so I was actually able to help the Kiwis figure out these arcane French systems.

The crew and coaches took part in a Safety at Sea course that gave many of the team a first glimpse into the many things that can go wrong when you are offshore. The two day ISAF course had the first day in the class room and the following morning in a wave pool before taking a more practical look at things on the boat in the afternoon. The pool proved to be the most challenging aspect of the course with all the sailors in the water, in full foul weather gear, practicing the various procedures for abandoning ship, deploying and boarding a life raft. 1.5 meter waves and a hose in our faces made it quite challenging to help our fellow crew members get lifejackets sorted out and then get everyone into the life-raft.

The second week had us putting our skills to work as we set out on a few destination sails. These went up in distance and culminated in a 200nm run from Auckland up to Hole in the Rock and back. We whipped off the 200nm in a little over 18 hours.

Throughout the refit and our training aboard the boat, O Canada had a film crew who worked tirelessly with the sailors from on shore, a coach boat and finally a helicopter. At one point our intrepid camera man was sitting on the foredeck looking back with green water up to the waist and trying really, really hard to not to lose the camera or his cookies over the side. The fruits of their labors are coming together in the form of a documentary on the project. Post production is expected to take four to five months, so keep your eye on the Wind Athletes Canada website for updates.

The stated goal of the Open 60 program was to provide elite Canadian sailors with an opportunity to expand their experience, cross-train, and improve the resumes of athletes aspiring to become professional sailors. Framed in these terms I think it was totally a success.

Personally, it gave me the opportunity to be exposed to the Formula 1 of our sport and get even more excited about sailing open class yachts. I returned to Kingston with a ton of practical ideas and refinements for my boat as well as better understanding of how these programs should be run.

I also learned a lot from my fellow team mates who sailed the boat like a big dinghy all the time, calling every wave and puff and trimming and adjusting everything endlessly in the pursuit of another tenth of a knot boat speed. The various experiences and skills acquired in our respective classes were freely shared and I think we all gained from this exchange of information. It really drove home the transference of skills that we learn while sailing. The really great sailors take that experience to every boat they sail on.

I think I speak for all of the crew when I say that it was an eye opener to the challenges of sailing these boats single-handed. By the end of the first week, I stopped counting the number of times that someone said 'can you imagine doing that all by yourself?'

Learn more about Nathan at www.minimus-sailing-team.com
Learn more about Wind Athletes Canada at http://www.windathletes.ca/