Canadian Lightning Sailing Teams looking to qualify to be nominated for Santiago Pan American Games

Canadian Lightning Sailing Teams looking to qualify to be nominated for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games © Douglas Wake

A total of nine teams will battle it out this weekend in hopes of representing Canada in the Lightning class at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, as they will compete Saturday and Sunday during the trials to be held at the Canadian Open Lightning Championship at the Kitsilano Yacht Club, in British Columbia.

Canada clinched a spot for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games following the results earned by David Sprague, Ann Rouget and Alyssa Loughborough at the 2022 Lightning World Championships. As per the Pan American Games regulations of a one-man and two-women crew configuration, their performance placed Canada as the third-place country at that competition, good for the last spot available at this event for Santiago 2023.

At the Canadian Open Lightning Championship and Santiago 2023 Pan American Games trials, the top Canadian crew including one man and two women will qualify to be nominated for Santiago 2023 as per Sail Canada's Selection Process, available at sailing.ca/international-events.

Following are the Canadian teams in action this weekend:

• Menno Bos, Ury Segal and Hila Behar (KYC)
• Bill Cote, Bob Matthews and Judy Day (RVYC)
• Luke Ramsay, Rachel Green and Jessica Hirschbold (KYC/RVYC)
• Claire Rawlinson, Ian Weekes and Jane Henley (KYC)
• Jeremy Smith and Tara Smith (RVYC)
• Ran Vered and Eli Mann (RHKYC)
• Richard Walsh, Monica Walsh and Daniel Hansen (TRSC)
• Ross Bailey, Nancy Bailey and Don Shanks (TRSC)
• Chris Duncombe, Ignacio Vulliez and Deb Willis (Kitsilano YC)

Two other teams from the USA are also registered.

As of today, 12 Canadian sailors have qualified 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) and Justin Barnes (Pickering, ON-RCYC)
• 49erFX (W): Ali ten Hove (Kingston, ON, KYC) and Mariah Millen (Toronto, ON, RCYC)
• Nacra 17 (mixed): Galen Richardson (Toronto, ON-RCYC) and 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)
• Sunfish (M): Lee Parkhill (Oakville, ON, OYC)

More information on the Canadian Sailing Team for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games is available here.