Luke Ramsay and Lee Parkhill face off in Sunfish for a spot at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games

Canadian Olympic sailors Luke Ramsay and Lee Parkhill © Sail Canada

Luke Ramsay from Vancouver (Royal Vancouver Yacht Club) and Lee Parkhill from Oakville (Oakville Yacht Squadron), Ontario, will face each other this weekend at the 2023 Sunfish North American Championships to be held June 9-11, in Springfield, IL, USA, which serve as the Canadian qualifier for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Following this weekend's competition, the top Canadian will qualify to be nominated for the Canadian team that will compete at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, as per Sail Canada's Selection Process, available at www.sailing.ca/international-events. A total of 76 sailors overall are registered to take part in the event as races will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Sunfish class is not an Olympic event, but is part of the Pan American Games program.

"Lee and I had a blast competing against each other at the country qualifier in April," said Luke Ramsay, who won silver in this event at the last two Pan American Games. "Lee is a great sailor and friend. This is a tough sport that only allows a single sailor to represent the country in these classes, but we are no strangers to high-stakes competition and this will be a great tune-up for whoever qualifies for the actual Santiago 2023 Pan American Games."

Ramsay qualified a spot for Canada at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games during the Sunfish United States National Championships in Florida held in April, coming up with a fourth-place finish. He also took part in the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where he respectively took part in the Two-Person Dinghy (470) event with Michael Leigh and in the Nacra 17 races with Nikola Girke.

"Luke and I will surely be keeping an eye on each other across the race course but with 75 boats registered, it will also be a great event to measure up against some of the best Sunfish sailors and prepare Luke or I for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games", added Lee Parkhill. "At the end of the day, competing against each other and sharing knowledge will only help us better prepare Canada to compete for a medal this fall."

Lee Parkhill represented Canada at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, both times in the Laser (ILCA 7) class. In Rio, he took the 23rd spot, while he won the bronze medal at home in Toronto.

As of today, a total of 11 Canadian sailors have qualified so far to be nominated to the Canadian team for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games:

• ILCA 7: Fillah Karim (Vancouver, B.C.-RVYC)
• ILCA 6: Sarah Douglas (Toronto, ON, ABYC)
• 49er (M): Will Jones (Jerseyville, ON-RHYC) & Justin Barnes (Pickering, ON-RCYC)
• 49erFX (W): Ali ten Hove (Kingston, ON, KYC) & Mariah Millen (Toronto, ON, RCYC)
• Nacra 17 (mixed): Galen Richardson (Toronto, ON-RCYC) & Madeline Gillis (Halifax, N.S.-RNSYS)
• IQFoil (W): Rebecca Heller (Dunrobin, ON-KYC)
• Kiteboarding (M): Mac Morrin (Kingston, ON-KYC)
• Kiteboarding (W): Emily Bugeja (Vancouver, B.C.-RVYC)

More information on the Canadian Sailing Team for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games is available at www.sailing.ca/sc_event/2023-pan-american-games.