Commodore's Message Archive

2011

2011 is a big year for the Canadian Albacore Association. Not only are we hosting the 20th Internationals Regatta, in September, we are also CELEBRATING the 50th Anniversary of the CAA.

With over 8,100 boats worldwide the Albacore is clearly one of the most popular dinghies sailed today. It remains popular among recreational sailors as well as racers active in hotly competitive fleets. Loaded with features, the new and improved Albacore continues to embody quality workmanship and boasts a loyal and active fleet with strong class association support. Changes made to the design over the past 50 years have broadened its accessibility, making it more affordable and easier to manoeuvre, while keeping it a thrill to sail.

Though the Albacore has grown from "cottage boat" to competitive class, the planing Albacore still has the same effect on sailors. The 2011 Albacore is a popular racing boat across Canada. The class is especially strong in Ontario, Hamilton, Toronto, Nepean, and Muskoka; as well as in other provinces such as Nova Scotia and British Columbia. The Toronto fleet boasts over 100 active boats and sails mainly in the city's Harbours and on Lake Ontario. The Toronto Friday night series starts with 45-60 boats on the line every week in races held from early May through September. The Albacore has evolved from its humble beginnings to become a high-performance one-design boat raced across Canada.

The Class has a history supported by a well established Class Association. The Association has come a long way on the strength of its volunteer Executives and members since 1961. As strong as our past is, our goal is to ensure that the Class continues to stay strong for the next 20 years. The 2011 Executive have been working very hard planning training sessions, scheduling regattas and working on class development to make this a memorable year.

The season begins in a few weeks with training sessions and the Mid-Winters Regatta in Sarasota and will end in October. Every weekend from May to October you can find a regatta to travel to, competitively race and have some serious social fun.

The Albacore International Regatta returns to the waters of Lake Ontario September 16 - 23, 2011, drawing top international sailors and Olympians from a variety of classes. This year Canada hosts the 20th event held bi-annually at venues alternating between the United Kingdom and North America. The Royal Canadian Yacht hosted the first Internationals in 1971 with over 100 boats on the starting line. The Canadian Albacore Association has again partnered with the Royal Canadian Yacht Club to provide a world class venue for competition for the 2011 event. The Canadian Albacore Association invites you to CELEBRATE 40 years of International competition! Expect a week packed with great racing and a fleet size of over 70 boats.

See you in Toronto.

Good sailing,

Jeff Beitz
Commodore

January 2010

Ahoy Sailors and Happy New Year!

I hope you had a restful and happy holiday season and best wishes from the Canadian Albacore Association Team for a Healthy Happy and Windy 2010!

Your CAA Executive has been working on establishing a new list of events for the 2010 season. Thank you to our 2009 executive members who have passed on their torches; Michelle Arnot (training), Allan Measor (race calendar) Jelina Balic (Shackles) and Henry Pedro (class promotion). Welcome to our new executive members, Sarah Bury, Jefferson Hall and Ken Yamazaki. Sarah has some cool things planned and is lining up a team of expert facilitators while the snow falls. Jefferson Hall is also busy working on the coordination of the 2010 Race Calendar and is evaluating venues for the 2010 Provincial Championships.

I have been working through the International Albacore Association issues with our Chief of Specifications and Chief Measurer and team in the hopes that we may be able to move the situation forward in a positive way. You may recall, at the AGM in Hamilton in September, Raines Koby outlined some of the challenges we face as an International organization. Since then, meetings have taken place with the IAA and the USAA and now we are reconnecting with our UK counterparts to describe our needs and to devise a permanent solution. I plan to communicate with our CAA membership in a separate mailing on the status of this situation once we get a response to a recently sent letter with our recommended approach to get your feedback.

Until we resolve the administration of our Class issues, we are really unable to alter or re-define our current rules and so we are now trying to establish some clear deadlines for the IAA, RYA and NAA to follow in advance of the next season's start.

If you are in the mood for some great sailing - consider the Mid-Winters in sunny, warm Sarasota, Florida, March 19 - 21. I hear a number of Canadians plan to make the trip south to get in some early sailing. Stay tuned for a pre-CAA Training event planned for early spring.

I like to take the winter to re-connect with all those non-sailing friends I have abandoned during the regular season, do some curling and read sailing books - it helps me pass the time as I wait to get back on the water.

We will have a presence at the Toronto International Boat Show from January 9 - 17 as well, stop by the booth to say hello if you are in the neighbourhood. This is an annual event for us, and last year we connected with a number of folks who had lost track of the Albacore Class and ended up re-joining after making this connection at our booth.

Otherwise - Stay warm and dream of sailing....

Till the snow melts,

Cathyann White
January 2010

Late Summer 2009

As I write this letter I am just getting over a terrible head cold – at the end of summer! I just finished reading a letter from my Curling Club and was thinking about how fast this summer has gone by – and how weird the weather has been.

Lots of great sailing took place this season all over the country and I am just beginning to hear the stories from Shelbourne and the East Coast Championships – and the Hurricane (Bill) that shortened the event on the Sunday – but NOT the enthusiasm. Ralph Glass - the guy I usually sail with was sailing with a Junior Helm and they do have a wonderful Junior program in Shelbourne. This marked the 2nd Junior CAA sanctioned event that took place this summer, the first was in the Muskokas in early August. We are delighted to see young people gaining an appreciation for the Albacore Class and fleet.

I had the provilege to travel to Scotland in July for the Internationals and sailed at a great venue with wonderful people, in awesome wind.

Ottawa, Peterborough and Parry Sound all boasted terrific events and there’s still more to come.

The Ontario Championships, at the end of August were hosted by the Buffalo Canoe Club – which promised and gave a fastastic venue – big breeze and waves. This coming weekend we are holding the Canadian Championships and our AGM in Hamilton.

We had a number of sold out Education Workshops and Clinics this season all organized by Michelle Arnot - and all received very high satisfaction results upon evaluation and you – have told us that you want even more- so that will be on the docket for next season – some suggestions have come forward for us to do another Rules Clinic as well as some Race Committee training.

There is still lots of sailing to do in the next month – so I am popping an Advil and heading out to get my boots on.

Cathyann White

February 15, 2008

Commodore Teresa Miolla's Notes for Winter 2008

Hey Sailors,

I'm looking outside and everything is covered in a foot of snow with another storm beckoning and I'm wondering if Wiarton Willy really saw his shadow predicting an early spring...hardly believable until I look at the calendar and realize that The Midwinter Regatta in Sarasota Florida, is only a month away!!

Meanwhile back at Albacore central all the executive members having busy beavers. Henry and his energetic team once again set up at the International Boat Show. I had the pleasure to spend a 3 hour shift in the booth and found it interesting to hear how many people learned to sail in an albacore or had one at their cottage. Many friends old and new stopped by to say hello, the furthest from our new fleet in Shelburne NS! Meanwhile there were 4 albacores floating around in the RICOH Centre demonstrating how easy it is to sail one of these fine machines. Special thanks to Lianna Giovanda, who organized the event from start to finish and all the Outer Harbour community sailors who participated. There are pictures on the website (http://albacore.ca).

Thanks to Janet Duff, our Membership Director who organized our first ever "Member Appreciation Party". We had a good group show up (even our newest member, Tom all the way from Buffalo) to enjoy complimentary "beverages" and enough snacks to sink an albacore.

The schedule is almost complete with a little tweaking still underway. For the first time you will see a regatta in Nova Scotia and a new fall series to be held in the Outer Harbour, prolonging the season.

Michelle Arnot, Training, has been busy corresponding with "special mystery instructors from afar" to coach a mid fleet session, as well as a refresher course and a Women's session. Keep checking the website for updates. Speaking of which, we are undergoing a renovation on our website, hoping to roll it out as soon as the spring.

On a personal note I would like to publicly congratulate John Miolla, Commodore of the Outer Harbour Sailing Federation, who was presented with Ontario Sailing "Award of Excellence" for his tireless contribution to saving the Outer Harbour. Countless number of hours, boxes full of correspondence and endless number of meetings have gone into this project which silently works in the background to save our idyllic paradise for sailing, learning how to sail and racing that is affordable and open to so many people who might not have ever been exposed to this sport had this framework not existed. Thank you John for all your work!

See everyone soon, meanwhile I'm off to Thailand to see if I can keep one of those skiffs upright for longer than a leg!

T

January 3, 2008:

Hey Everyone,

Wow its hard to believe another sailing season has come to an end, but the snowfall certainly made it clear and Beaver Tales is once more snuggled up in the garage after a busy season. First a huge thank you to all the members of the CAA executive who were busy throughout the year making it another successful season for the Albacore fleet. We sadly say goodbye to Sandra (Sandola) Swiatilowski who once more topped herself by organizing another fantastic Canadians Regatta; Stephanie Mah (congratulations are necessary as she has gone on to become the Canadian Contender Commodore) who organized two separate training events in preparation for the busy racing season and finally Christine Short who was the editor of Shackles and Cringles and constantly providing the executive with great ideas and fabulous input. I will miss all of you but I thank you for your support. I'd like to welcome abroad to fill their positions: Kevin Soldaat, a keener from the Hamilton Bay Sailing Club, who has already begun to organize 2008 Canadian Regatta in Kingston; Jelena Balic who is going to report (and beg you for articles) all goings on in the Albacore world. Back for more is Ann Savege, the calm sage as Past Commodore; David Weaver, who with his team, spent the better part of 2007 rewriting the Alb specifications and rules to fit the ISAF format; Allan Measor who organizes the Race Schedule and who I heard may be a bit more "aggressive" next year; Henry Pedro who organizes the boat show and our website; George Roth our Chief Measurer who has designed a new measurement card which will be put into use this season; Cathyann White as secretary and scribe; Janet Duff our membership maven who also has a new membership card (get yours soon it could be a collectors item..ha) to be used for the first time. Our representation on the International Albacore Association will be Raines Kolby for another term and myself, with our goal on the next International event which will be held in Canada in 2012. A special thanks to retiring Barrie Farrell who has been the IAA secretary for the last 2 years.

Now we need your help.....we are looking at ways to extend the racing season by having a "Fall Series", possibly 4 Saturdays in September; we are currently looking at ways to improve the website (a website designer would be a bonus to us); the membership will be called on very soon to ratify the rules rewrite, watch for more news; an Appreciation Party sometime in the early part of the year; the Boat Show which provides a place for community clubs to sell their memberships so look for notices to fill the rotation. If you have any ideas or can help with any of these activities we would love to hear from you!! If you aren't already receiving our regular email notices please go to http://albacore.ca and sign on. Ongoing is the Paypal option to renew your membership and pay for CAA regattas and the Albacore forum where you can talk all things albacore.

On a personal note, I have had a fabulous season and have enjoyed meeting many new young sailors who are our life blood. It has been awesome to see a few more members go from the community clubs and buy their own boats to race regularly: don't give up its a tough fleet and we are proud to be the largest, oldest one design fleet in North America! This year we saw record speeds set at the International regatta that has brought about a great debate. Racing with George Carter has been an experience onto itself, even though he talks too much I have learnt a few more new swear words (usually directed AT me) it has been a lot of fun and he even turned me onto some new music....bonus!

Ahhhh Sarasota....seems so far away, but after the blast we had last year, I'll just count sheep until the day we hit the road with Beaver Tales, once more in tow.

See everyone soon,

T

Then you asked questions about sailing away from home:

When racing away from home its a complete immersion, there is no interruption to our discussing racing tactics, boat speed and even watching how different sailors trailer their boats differently. The entire experience is a full time learning proposition.

Its a great way to meet new people, some who have come from different classes and may provide a different perspective. Its also wonderful to see the friends I have made over the years whether they have come from the Shetland Islands or Ottawa and get caught up and share a few laughs and ok a few beers.

You have to get your head out of the boat and race with all your senses. There are different challenges, mostly waves, which we are not accustomed to, local factors that may affect the wind and/or things like tide and current which we in our little pond never have to think about. The competitors are different too, so you can't predict what a competitor might do in any given circumstance: "will they take me up if I try to sail over them" "can they point higher than i do" "do they take chances" "are they corner bangers" "will they stuff me at the start" After all we know most of our competitors at home and what they are most likely to do.

T