Images of Lasers and Radials from the Spring Dingys Regatta
Kevin, Alexander and Ricardo
Isabella, Diego and Jaime

The Spring Dinghy Champs - Victoria

This past weekend, the team traveled to Victoria for the Spring Dinghy Champs, hosted by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.

Saturday was light and a little bit rainy, with winds out of the North from the top of Cadboro Bay. The Lasers managed to get one race off, while all the other fleets on that course ended up abandoned for the day.
On the Opti course, there were 4 races held. They stayed out after the other fleets went in for the day and had 3 races in a southerly wind.

Sunday was another light day, with the wind starting out from the North, and throughout the day shifting right until it was coming from the south west. We managed to get 3 races off, in very light tricky conditions, with a strong current adding to the difficulty.
The Optis had 3 more races on Sunday, finishing up the regatta with 7 races.

Royal Van had a great showing with Ricardo Montemayor winning the Laser Full rig fleet, Diego Reyes winning the Laser Radial fleet, and Alex Shepard placed 1st in the 4.7's.

The results are posted at:
http://www.rvyc.bc.ca/results/1209944674.htm

We are back training at home now for a week or so, and then part of the team is off to Medemblik, Holland for the grade one event, the Delta Lloyd Regatta.

Kitten Cup 2008 Day 2

Well we saw the very little wind this AM and then it started raining.

Not the most promising start to the day.

Guy tried getting a race off and we did get part way into a race before the wind died and it was cancelled , we waited for a little longer and that was it.

In the end it was Luke winning another KC in Lasers, with Andy 2nd and Kevin 3rd .

In the Radial Isabella's consistency in all the races gave her the win with Diego 2nd and Alanna 3rd

In the 4.7 class Alex and Tony tied for 2nd with Alex winning the tie breaker .

Well done to the whole team, were off to Victoria next weekend for the Spring Dinghy's regatta .

It was great having Jen on the course coaching over the weekend.

Back to work this week with training and fitness.

Al

Kitten Cup 2008

The Regatta started on schedule on Saturday with a nice westerly that grew to about 12kts by mid afternoon.

Guy Walters did a nice job of getting 5 races in.

The beach was favored more and more thru the day as the current was running hard later in the afternoon.

A battle was going on in the Laser fleet with Kevin Greirson Luke Ramsay and Andy Wong at the front.

In the Radial fleet it was a battle of Diego Reyes, Isabella Bertold and Alana Vitery.

Diego was unstoppable in the light and Alanna came to life in the breezy conditions .

In the 4.7 our boys were having lots of fun, with Alex Sheppard , Tony Henderson and Mark McBride fighting it out with the Seattle team.

Royal Van put on a good spread for dinner that evening , (we had big lunches on the water as well)

Thanks Rob Scott for alot of value for a $50 enrty regatta.

Over 25 members of the Laser/Radial/4.7 team came out for the event .

Al

Nice Start

Just noticed a picture from the Hyeres Regatta and when I blew it up a bit I realized that the boat at the pin end, well punched out, was Mike.

I guess this is one skill needed to win grade 1 events!

Nice start Mike, we'll see you at the Holland Regatta

(A good group of our team is off to the Holland Regatta mid May to train and compete against the worlds best).

Al

Mike Leigh wins the ISAF Grade 1 Hyeres Regatta in France

From the ISAF website:Paul Goodison’s (GBR) victory in the Medal race will not be enough to lift the British on the podium. Michael Leigh (CAN) and Andrew Murdoch (NZL) keep their earlier overall position on the podium, while Athens Silver medallist Andreas Geritzer (AUT) takes the Bronze after placing 4th in the medal race. The Canadian, winner of the 2007 Sydney International regatta, has made the podium twice before in Hyères with a 3rd place at the 2007 Laser European Championship and the Semaine Olympique Française in 2006.

Seems to us that Mike is now the best Laser Sailor that Canada has ever produced!

A great example to all the up and coming members of the Royal Van Racing Team.

Al

April Weekend Training

The forcast was for snow all weekend and it didn't look good when we arrived on Saturday morning.

Jen had a meeting at 10 for the sailors interested in going to Halifax for the Canadian Youth Champs in August.

Right on cue at noon the wind began to pick up and by 2 pm it had built into a solid breeze.
We worked our way up wind towards the bell bouy and sailed against a increasinf flood tide with many starts and finish drills being practised.

about 12 sailors came out, Alex H and Recardo kept going after we began to head home at 3.30 .

All in all a classic day for sailing in Vancouver in the spring.

Al

Patio Lounge

We tend to spend a fair deal of time in the Patio Lounge before and after sailing , especially in the winter months

Thanks Kat for the excellent service !

Looks like a cold weekend ahead , I recon will see alot of Kat.

Al Clark

Laser Worlds 2009

The Mens Worlds are being held in Nova Scotia and the Womens Worlds are being held in Japan, both in August 2009.

The qualification system has been announced by the NA Laser Class Association.

Go to: http://www.ilcana.org/, And see Laser Worlds Qualification System.

We hope to have a big group qualify to go to both events.

Al

Laser Radial Worlds – Takapuna Beach – New Zealand Mike Leigh crowned 2008 Laser Radial World Champion!

Last month ,prior to starting our new Blog, Mike Leigh won this major regatta and is on track to doing very well in the up coming Olympic Games in China in August.

Mike will have RoyalVan Racing members, Abe Torchinsky and Luke Ramsay as training partners in Europe thru the spring.

Good luck boys

Al Clark