Hans Fogh One Design Regatta and Canadian Championship

written by David Crysdale  on  June 10  of  2019 and read by 1328

Downwind sailing
@Ellen De Vries

The 2nd Annual Hans Fogh One Design Regatta June 7- 9 was a great success thanks to regatta chairman Thomas Fogh. The cool place to be was Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Canada! This was Soling excitement at its best dedicated to everyone's good friend sailing legend, Hans Fogh.
At the stellar awards presentation all the teams were acknowledged and given a prize. Star boat skippers and crew jumped at the opportunity to race on a Soling. World-famous star sailor, Roger Cheer (Hans Fogh's long-time awesome middle man) was back at it at this important high level Soling regatta, as was superstar Gord deVries, (Hans Fogh's all time fantastic foredeck). It was all about new and old friendships, helping out each other down to the last detail, and having a blast sailing those beautiful action packed Solings!

On first day of racing the temperature was over 70 degrees with beautiful sunshine, and a breeze which filled in across the course from the east at 11am. The average wind speed was 10 knots.
In the first race, the starting line was slightly pin favored and was set perfectly for the 12 boat fleet. There were good puffs along the coast at the left side of the course, however, toward the windward mark, a strong breeze blew from the steel plant on the right side of the course. The Royal Water Rats CAN 1 skippered by Bruce Clifford won a thrilling first race.
Throughout the day during the second race, the wind picked up to around 12 knots. The fleet started with a square start line, and raced in more breeze that the forecast predicted. Skippered by Manfred Kanter, Purple Lamborghini CAN 231 (who finished second in the first race) won the second race.
In the third race, Gord deVries finished the day strong with a win in the third race and was leading the regatta by 3 points.

Day 2 brought more sunshine but cooler temperatures on the water. Teams prepared for a fantastic day of heavy air Soling sailing. The wind picked up with gust to 20+.
All the sailors in the regatta sailed at a very high level. They competed in very tactical races with shifty winds and lots of puffs. With massive downwind boat speed the fleet was closely packed. At the conclusion of the second day, the top 4 boats were only separated by 2 points Sunday would be a thrilling final race to decide the Canadian Soling Champion! This regatta was definitely exciting with an extraordinary high level of competition.

On Saturday night, after racing in high winds all day which tired everyone out, it was wonderful to relax outside at the yacht club in the warm sunshine and enjoy an elegant dinner. Kristin Fogh told great stories about her wonderful life with Hans. She and Thomas spoke about Hans and his encouragement to all interested in the sport of sailing. It was a night to remember for all.

During the final race on Sunday many lead changes were seen and the overall title came down to the final leg. Bruce Clifford and his crew of Matthew and Nathaniel Abbott charged forward to win the final race which secured their spot as champions.

Due to the expert work of the race committee chair Steve Reid it was decided to race 4 races on second day. Little did we know that the last day of racing would be so tight. The genius was It allowed participants from far away to leave way earlier than their original schedule. This made team Typhoon so happy on their way back home in Milwaukee!

Complete Results

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Boats leaving Hamilton Harbor
@Ellen De Vries

John Finch and Thomas Fogh, organizers of the regatta awarding the champions
@Ellen de Vries

Second place CAN 225 Peter and son William together with newcomer Martin Robitaille
@Ellen De Vries