The third annual CanAm Challenge Regatta was held in Stowe, VT on July 30 & 31.
This event is definitely growing in popularity: we had 10 boats in the inaugural year of 2009, 13 boats last year, and 23 boats this year. There were 12 boats from Canada (8 from the Halifax, NS club and 4 from Ontario), and 11 from the USA. The USA contingent is almost entirely represented by the Stowe club (Glenn Chalder from CT joined us this year). We need to work on bringing in more boats from the Northeast next year.
George Dean and Bob Letwenski, our RD’s, dealt with light & variable winds on Saturday, but managed to keep the pace moving right along. With 23 boats, we ran two-fleet racing under the Odd/Even system. This system was consistent with the theme of the regatta: “A Friendly Cross-Border Rivalry”. It is essentially a random selection process, which had the top sailors mixing it up with the newer sailors. And speaking of “newer sailors”, we had 4th grader, Ben Conabree, grandson of Robert & Gloria Langlois, race in his first regatta. He hung in there and had some moments exhibiting some solid racing prowess (with a bit of mentoring from the grandparents). The racing was based on individual performance – no team racing allowed. However, the individual scores were then applied to the Team scoring, with the top 5 scores from each country applied to the Team results for that race. In this manner, any sailor could help out his team by scoring in the top 5 for his team in any given race.
Nine races (18 heats) were run on Saturday, with 1 throw-out allowed. Jim Goddard ended the day with 11 points, closely followed by Bruce Nourjian with 12 points. Charlie Berry was in the hunt with 16 points. Charlie was unable to race on Sunday, but Niels Olsen filled in for him. They would not count in the individual scoring, but could help out their team’s score. The U.S. group held a solid lead in the team scoring at the end of the day, with individuals holding the 2nd through 7th positions.
Sunday treated the group to a building breeze throughout the day. After light & shifty conditions for the first race, a fairly steady southwest breeze filled in. The RC managed to run 7 races (14 heats) before the 2:30 deadline. Jim & Bruce continued their battle right to the wire, with Bruce winning the regatta by just one point over Jim. Paul Fixx, Glenn Chalder, and Phil Tonks rounded out the top 5. The Team Award went to the USA group for the third straight year. The chant from Team Canada: “Wait ‘til next year!” The camaraderie both on and off the water showed that there will, indeed, be a next year.
The Corinthian spirit of this regatta was in full display at the dinner on Saturday evening. The USA team had donned patriotic red, white & blue pinwheel “curb feeler” headgear at the Saturday skippers meeting, in answer to the Canadians wearing red and white hats adorned with the Canadian maple leaf. The Canadians outdid themselves when they showed up for the casual buffet dinner wearing striking red ties declaring their Canadian allegiance. Several of their wives wore complementary scarves with a maple leaf motif. Following supper there was a lively exchange of banter interspersed by even more lively singing of Canadian classics led by Bob “Boots” Boutilier and his wife Anne. Somewhere in there, Gary “Doc” Bugden presented the top skippers with drug test sample collection kits left over from his family’s top secret endeavors.
There is no question that the “friendly cross-border rivalry” is now quickly becoming a tradition. There was strong support to hold the CanAm Challenge next year, again at Stowe. The 2012 date will be determined and promoted well in advance to avoid as many conflicts as possible and to build support from other U.S. and Canadian clubs.
Summary Version:
Event: CanAm Challenge Regatta
Class: Soling 1M
Date: July 30 & 31, 2011
Location: Commodores Inn, Stowe, VT
Host Club: Stowe Yacht Club (#159)
Entries: 23
Winds: Variable, 2-8 mph (Sat); SW 5-10 (Sun)
Races completed: 16 (32 Heats)
Scoring System: Two-Fleet Odd/Even; Low Point
Regatta Committee: George Dean, Rosemarie Fitzhugh, Bob & Suzan
Letwenski, Charlie Berry
2011 S1M CanAm Challenge Regatta Results — 16 Races (32 Heats); 2 Throw Outs
Place Skipper Club Points
1 Nourjian, Bruce Stowe, VT 20
2 Goddard, Jim Halifax, NS 21
3 Fixx, Paul Stowe, VT 37
4 Berry, Charlie & Stowe, VT 47 **
Olsen, Niels
5 Chalder, Glenn Simsbury, CT 47
6 Tonks, Phil Stowe, VT 48
7 Stone, Tim Stowe, VT 50
8 White, Bob Dartmouth, NS 68
9 Boutilier, Boots Bedford, NS 71
10 Rusi, Ben Lunenburg, NS 75
11 Lindeijer, Fred Bedford, NS 79
12 Varall, Ken Stowe, VT 83
13 Wilmshurst, Brian Hubley, NS 85
14 Bugden, Gary Bedford, NS 86
15 Clay, John Brighton, ON 88
16 Townsend, George Stowe, VT 93
17 Langdon, J. D. Stowe, VT 103
18 McKinney, John Woodstock, ON 104
19 Stotler, John Stowe, VT 109
20 Lovitt, Victor Halifax, NS 127
21 Conabree, Ben Port Stanley, ON 155
22 Smith, Bob Stowe, VT W/Draw
23 Langlois, Gloria Port Stanley, ON DNS
** Not eligible for individual award.

