Burin sea cadet PO2 Oguz Aras of Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Zaadam is among Canada’s top 50 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet sailors converging on Kingston, Ontario last week.
The annual Sea Cadets’ National Regatta, staged by the Navy League of Canada and the Canadian Forces, pits each province’s top sailors against each other in four days of competition, testing not only their teamwork, seamanship and sailing strategy but also their tenacity and physical endurance.
Teams from each province earned the right to compete in the national event by dominating their division (provincial) competition.
Each crew of two cadets (skipper and mate) sailed up to 12 races in the waters off Fort Henry and the Royal Military College of Canada, where Lake Ontario flows into the upper St. Lawrence River.
Crews compete in ‘Pirate Class’ sailboats with a spinnaker and trapeze, requiring a high level of sailing experience and expertise.
For a sailing town like Kingston, usually up to its gunwales in sailboat races, one more regatta might not make much of a ripple in Navy Bay. It is, however, a big deal for the sea cadets travelling the length and breadth of Canada to get there: from St. John’s to Victoria; from Surrey and Summerside to Campbell River and Trois-Rivières.
They’ve anticipated the challenge for months. They’ve sailed their best, been tested at the provincial level, emerged victorious and had embarked on the toughest challenges of their young lives: meeting their sea cadet peers to sail in unfamiliar waters.
Competition started Tuesday and results will be posted daily on the National Regatta website, ‘http://www.navyleague.ca/regatta-regates’.
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