29er Midwinters

From February 9-11th, the 29er Midwinters East took place at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron in Sarasota, FL. Half the competitors came from Canada as this was our qualifiers for the 2007 Youth World Championship. The other half of the fleet were mostly from the USA with the exception of a few that came from as far as Sweden to compete in the event.

Quebec was represented my Nicolas Kroeger (who sails with Peter Soosalo from Ontario), Eric and Alex Chouinard (RSTLYC), Martin Lefebvre and Thierry Chalifour (RSTLYC).

The weather in Sarasota was cooler than usual with a northerly morning breeze and average daytime highs of around 19-21C. However, the sun was always up which led to a usual shift from NE to NW as the sea breeze came in from the Gulf.

After three days of light air training on Sarasota Bay, the regatta began:

Day 1

The fleet was held on shore this morning as the early easterly died out and the late morning sea breeze filled from the north. Once the racing was underway 31 boats sailed 3 races in 4-10 knots.

Day 2

Another onshore postponement kept the fleet on land this morning but only until 11:30am. The breeze filled Sarasota bay quickly and the fleet was soon racing. The wind picked up nicely throughout the afternoon and the last two races of the 5 total for that day had the crew fully trapping with wind speeds of 10-12knts.

Day 3

Sarasota Bay provided morning wind for the first time during this regatta to allow the fleet to race before the 1:30pm cutoff time. Two races were sailed in a dying, shifty easterly of about 5-8 knots.

By the finish of the second race the breeze was quite light and shifty so the RC decided it was time to call it a day.

Congratulations to Nicolas Kroeger (QC)/ Peter Soosalo (ON) and Alanna Foscarini(ON) / Alison Ludzki(ON) who will represent Canada in the 2007 Youth World Championship this July in Kingston.

Pictures can be found at quebesailingteam.myphotoalbum.com

Final results

http://www.29ernorthamerican.org/2007/MidEast/results.htm

Nicolas Kim
Head Coach
Quebec Sailing Federation