Canadian SeaSpray Association

Don Snell sent this video of him sailing on Lake Newell in Alberta in on a Sunday afternoon in mid-September. https://youtu.be/XLawW12zlmI

Another season is in the books and Don Snell has successfully defended his championship at Lake Osoyoos Sailing Club. This marks 5 straight National Championships for Don, but still a bit short of Dave West's record of 9 straight — only 4 more to go Don! For those who attend a lot of regattas, you know that the wind usually blows best the day before and the day after a regatta. This year started with great wind on Thursday and Friday's racing started in light wind, but it didn't stay that way! Wind speeds increased as each day passed as a weather system passed through the area ultimately blowing so hard on Sunday that racing was eventually abandoned. [gallery ids="442,443,444,445,446" type="rectangular"]  

Mike Butler from northern California won his first Sea Spray North American Championship at Huntington Lake, California.  Seven boats sailed in 9 races with Butler (USA) recording bullets in all 9 races to finish ahead of second place finisher Jay Gardner (USA)('96,'00,'01'04,'05,& 2013 Champ), and third place finisher Hamish Ferguson (CAN) (2009 Champ). Photos sent by Mike Butler. Click on first photo.. [gallery ids="419,420,421,422,423,424" type="rectangular"]

The 2016 Prairie Wind Regatta has wrapped up and the members of the Newell Sailing Club can now kick back and enjoy the rest of the sailing season. For those who have never sailed at the PWR, it has become one of the premier events on the Alberta Sailing Assn. calendar. From the NSC website: "Our 29th annual regatta is over.  Our winds were co-operative and blew for two days although starting later on Sunday morning.  The San Juan 21 North Americans were held jointly with the Glenmore Sailing Club hosting this event at our sailing facility from Thursday to Sunday.  There were 31 San Juan 21's registered and 39 registered for the Prairie Wind for a total of 70 sailboats.  Some of the San Juan competitors travelled a long ways to our lake coming from Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, California, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta etc.  The Prairie Wind Regatta had fleets of Fireballs, Lasers, Optimist Dinghies, Seaspray Catamarans and a number of other sailboat types.  A lot of...