Andreas Koechli crowned first Canadian eSailing Champion

Canadian eSailing Championship © Sail Canada

Andreas Koechli from Toronto, ON, won the first edition of the Canadian eSailing Championship following six races that were held during the Tuesday night Finals.

Competing against 19 other finalists, who were selected according to their regular season ranking, Andreas Koechli took four thirds, one 4th place, and a 13th position to finish first in the overall standings. He was therefore crowned champion for the first edition of this competition which was presented by Helly Hansen Canada, a Proud Supporter of the Canadian eSailing Championship.

He finished three points ahead of Christopher Credico from Ottawa, ON, and 12 points ahead of his father Marco Koechli, who respectively finished second and third in the overall ranking. The top three competitors received cash prizes from Parker & Bass, Cash Prize Sponsor, who gifted $500 to the gold medalist, $300 to the silver medalist, and $200 to the bronze medalist.

The 15-year-old competitor, a member of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) but training with the 29er team of Port Credit Yacht Club (PCYC), started eSailing during the Covid quarantine.

The final round held Tuesday night consisted of six races in 49er class with a drop, on the Virtual Regatta Platform. The venue was Portsmouth Harbour in 18 knots of wind.

Along with financial support for the event, Helly Hansen is gifting all 20 finalists of the Canadian eSailing Championship with a shopping perk!

Qualified for the World eSailing Championship

Andreas Koechli, Christopher Credico and Marco Koechli also qualified for the 2021 World eSailing Championship, an event that is held annually during the fall and sanctioned by World Sailing. The final date for this year's competition remains to be confirmed.

The rest of the top 10 competitors at the Canadian eSailing Championship also qualified for this international event. Following is the full list of Canadian sailors who earned a spot at the World eSailing Championship:

1. Andreas Koechli, Toronto, ON (SquishyPants:))
2. Christopher Credico, Ottawa, ON (Dirtbag470)
3. Marco Koechli, Toronto, ON (I14Birdman)
4. Arie Moffat, Kingston, ON (Arie)
5. Ghislain Cormier, Rivière-du-Loup, QC (Ariagis)
6. Thomas Fogh, Mississauga, ON (DaneSail_1)
7. Alexander Levkovskiy, North Vancouver, BC (Sunnyvale)
8. Felipe Cardoso, Shannon, QC (BRA_FC)
9. Dwayne Primeau, Darmouth, NS (DPrime)
10. Rob Emery, Toronto, ON (U like apples)

More details are available at www.sailing.ca/eSailing.