Shark Canadian Championship 2005

Montreal area sailors take the Shark Championship, and place well throughout the 33 boat fleet! The regatta was held July 23-24th at Kingston Yacht Club.

Tof Nicoll-Griffith sailing 1465 with Hugh Strudwick, and Kai Nicoll-Griffith are the new Canadian champions. Sailing with remarkable consistency Tof never picked up a bullet, but placed 2nd three times, 3rd once, and 10th once. They were able to drop a 12th placing in the 4th race, netting them 19 points overall, two points less than the 2nd place boat overall, Andrew Barlow's Marmoset. Tof sails out of Pointe Claire Yacht Club.

Jeff Mitchell's Frankly Scarlet from Bronte took the last podium spot, edging out North Sail rep Paul Davis' Shadfly from Kingston. Johan Koppernaes (current World Champ) from Nepean took 5th in Shark Poop.

George Stedman's Ketchup out of Pointe Claire YC placed 5th at the recent World's but didn't sail this regatta. More Montrealers did though, and did very well.

Jin Frati, sailing Blue Heron blew away the fleet in the first two races placing 2nd and 4th. Those were Blue Heron's best finishes, as some Ontario boats then pushed ahead. Blue Heron continued to sail in the top tier for 8th overall. Jin had Jamie Andre dela Porte, and Krista Burnham on board. Jamie is a regular in Montreal's Star fleet.

Paul Baehr, always a strong competitor, sailing Sudden Impulse with Sarita Maizel, and William Sishakley placed 16th overall, and plucked a 9th position out of the third race.

Newcomers this year to the Shark fleet, Don Osborne, Nick Van Haeften, and Tim Marshall placed 19th in Megalo Don. They pegged a 3rd in the second race of the regatta. Don and Nick are cohorts from a variety of fleets ranging from the Fireball to the J24. More recently they sailed in a Tanzer 22, Montreal's largest keelboat fleet, picking up a North American Championship. Tim Marshall is a Laser competitor, out of the Venture Sailing Club. One might speculate that this trio could be giving other Montrealers a hard time, a boat to watch!

Blue Heron, Sudden Impulse, and Megalo Don are sailed out of Beaconsfield YC.

See results at:
http://kingstonyachtclub.com/racing/results/2005/index.cfm?result=regatta/Shark%20Canadians%202005.htm