CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The crew of the “Satisfaction” celebrated their 20th anniversary of sailing together by winning each race in their class during Charlottetown Race Week.
Skipper Randy Johnston's crew, which included Robbie Hambly, Dr. Wendy Drake, Jack Cahill and Steve Leclair, went 8-for-8 to win the J-29 class of the one design division during the annual regatta.
The friends compete in regular club racing most Monday and Wednesday nights in the summer and during the past two decades have won the club championship about a dozen times, said Johnston, who manages the famous Island potato salad brand that carries his family name.
This year's race week was probably the best ever, Johnston said. “Everyone is ecstatic about the weather, the wind and the sun and the racing.”
Twenty-two sailboats participated in four classes during the three-day regatta.
Another of the successful teams sails a J-70 named “Joy Ridin’”.
Skippered by Graeme Carr, the four-member team included Wade Arsenault, Alan McKearney and Ronny Switzer. They won all eight races in the regatta’s J-70 class.
“Sailing was challenging with a variety of conditions over the three days,” Carr said. “I would call this a ‘light air’ regatta, but we did have some ‘champagne’ sailing too. During the third race on Thursday, we were planing downwind and clocked 15.5 knots."
The team placed fourth in Canadian nationals held in Port Credit, Ont., in June.
“We are highly competitive here at home, but we are always learning when we race elsewhere,” he said.
Carr, a financial advisor at BMO Nesbitt Burns, is incoming president of the J-70 Canadian Class Association. It will host next summer's national championship in Charlottetown.
“The Charlottetown Yacht Club puts on great events and they have been doing it for years. We look after people when they come here for events and J-70 sailors are looking forward to return to the Island,” he said.
Peter Toombs, skipper and owner of HeadFirst 3, a Farr 30, draws attention to an initiative to connect junior sailors to keelboat racing. Several race teams included younger sailors on their race crews.
“It's a natural transition to make for them and there was an effort to include as many as possible who were interested.”
Toombs had an almost perfect record, winning seven of eight races in the A division.
“We had three of our regular crew but five were new to the boat,” he said. “All worked well and they came together very quickly. In sailboat racing, any mistakes are the skipper's fault and any wins are a credit to the crew."
Peter Scott and crew on the Etchells “Whisper” won the B division.
