SUBMITTED BY SSI Junior Race Team
In light winds and strong currents, two junior sailors from Salt Spring were first overall in the Club-420 division at the Sail Canada 2024 Sail West Championships at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (RVYC) on June 22-23.
Team skipper Izzi Pugh Aucoin said that she and her partner Reuben Sol began the racing on Saturday morning with a first and second place in their first two heats. In the afternoon, however, the winds became light and variable, requiring careful directional changes in order to make the most of them.
In the third and last heat of the day, Pugh Aucoin and Sol had rounded the first mark when they noticed a slight change in the wind direction. They were able to use that to their advantage and outpaced the other teams, who had yet to notice the change in air. By the time the other teams changed their courses to match the wind, they were far behind the Salt Spring team. As Pugh Aucoin and Sol crossed the finish line, the wind died and a strong current caused all the other teams to be unable to complete the course within the allotted time.
On Sunday, again with variable winds, Pugh Aucoin and Sol placed first in the first two heats, with a third in the final, leaving them on top of the standings overall.
The regatta at RVYC caps a successful spring of sailing for the Salt Spring Island Sailing Club’s junior racing team. Pugh Aucoin and Sol also won the C-420 division at the Spring Dinghies Regatta held at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club in May, and they were named to the BC Summer Games Team for Zone 6, Vancouver Island. They will be joined at the games by their Salt Spring teammates Malikaa Clement and Maeve FitzZaland, who will also be competing in the C-420 division.
The BC Summer Games will take place in Maple Ridge (with sailing at Rocky Point, Port Moody) from July 17-21.