Whitecap: The Canadian Sailing Podcast

Today on the podcast we have 49er sailors Will Jones And Justin Barnes. who just finished 4th at the US Open in Clearwater, good enough to qualify them to be nominated for the Pan Am games. They are a new pairing, but both have a long history in the class as Justin was a medalist at the last Pan Am Games, and Will went to the 2020 Olympics, both with different partners. We spoke about how they came together, how the trials came down to the last race, and their plans for Olympic qualification.

At the US OPEN: Clearwater, Rebecca Heller qualified Canada for a spot in the Pan Ams, and qualified herself to be nominated to the Canadian team!

We discussed the regatta as well as her sailing journey. Starting the 49erFX to falling in love with foiling through sailing Waszps and now the iQFOiL windsurfer. We got into future plans, the Pan Am Games prep as well as her dream of sailing at the Olympics!

We've got a new sidebar project in calling "Whitecap Regatta Reports. First up is the Clearwater US Open which was the Pan Am Games Qualifier. In this episode we're getting a report from Mac Morrin who qualified Canada for a position in Men's Kitefoiling, and nominated himself for selection at the games. We talk about port tack starts in kiting, his comeback in the last day of racing, and balancing his life as a full time registered nurse with his racing and training

Trevor Parekh is a 5 time Canadian 49er champion, a foiling advocate and president of 49.ca, Canada's dealer for 49ers, 29ers and Waszps. We had a great conversation about the current state of Canadian skiff sailing, SailGP, the weCAN foil program and how he built his business from selling line in the boat park to selling high performance dinghies.

Welcome to the Whitecap year end spectacular!! Counting down the top 7 stories of 2022 with Nova Scotia coach of the year and pro sailor Chris Watters!

Today on the podcast we're talking about Canada Ocean Racing, a new Canadian Offshore team who will be competing in the Imoca Globe Series, leading to the most grueling event in the sport of sailing, the Vendée Globe, a solo non stop unassisted around the world race. My guest is Scott Shawyer, Canada Offshore Racing's founder and skipper, who will be attempting to be the first Canadian to ever finish the Vendee, with his sights set on the 2028 race

Judy Lugar and Morag McLean are legends in the history of double handed sailing in Canada as well as role models for sailors like me growing up in the Maritime provinces. In the 470 class they were 4 time Canadian champions, US National as well as North American champions. In 1986 they achieved the pinnacle of the sport, winning the 470 worlds. They were recipients of 1987 Sail Canada female team of the year award, in 2006 they were inducted in the Nova Scotia sports hall of fame and this year, they are members of the 2022 class of inductees to the Canadian sailing Hall Of Fame. We spoke about starting out in Nova Scotia, they're heartbreaking finish at the Canadian olympic trials, and jury rigging a boom vang before the final race of the 1986 world championships!

Today we've got Isabella Berthold on the podcast! She's a strategist and co pilot for Sail GP Canada. Her accolades as a laser sailor for Canada include female Sailor of the year, fourth at world youth championships world cup medalist, and Canada Games gold medalist. She's also a professional cyclist and sustainability professional. This was a great conversation covering mental health with athletes, balancing life as a professional cyclist as well as a pro sailor ailor and what it's like to drive an F50!

Ali Tenhove and Mariah Millen are our the 49er FX team from the Tokyo Olympics, and currently campaigning for Paris 2024. as a team they have a combined 12 years experience competing for Canada on the world stage, they both have Sail Canada Awards, Mariah having won the Marvin McDill Rookie of the year award and Ali the Bill Burke award for youth Elite sailors. Ali also campaigned for the 2016 games in the 470 with Ali Surette, qualifying Canada for the games but sadly not competing. We talked about ovearcoming nerves, the tight competition with the Lewin Lafrance sisters and a great motto "Make friends, have fun, sail fast!"