The Manitoba Provincial Optimist Championships will be co-hosted by the Falcon Sailing Club (FSC) and the West Hawk Lake Sailing Club (WHLSC) at the Falcon Sailing Club at Faloma, Falcon Lake, Manitoba.
Sailors must pre-register by August 21, 2025. To sign up for the championship regatta, go to our Checklick page. There is no in-person registration. Check-in will be at FSC from 9-10:00 am on August 23, 2024.
Sail Manitoba is hosting an optional Optimist Training Camp at FSC on Friday August 22, 2025. Registration for that day is via Checklick using the following link: Checklick Training Camp page.
Although it felt like there were many afternoons when conditions were unfavourable for sailing, we completed a record number of races this dinghy racing season. We were somewhat less lucky with keel boat sailing.
This year, our club motorboats worked reliably and setting up the races went smoothly when the weather cooperated. Many thanks to Deb Woods and the Kellys who helped run many of the races.
Working with the MSA and the West Hawk Sailing Centre, we had a very successful Manitoba Juniour championship and Laser District 4 regatta. Thanks to all those who volunteered to help make that event such a success.
The FYC Dinghy Racing Series
We ran a total of 53 races in the series this year. 24 skippers participated, including 9 women. We recorded 343 dinghy starts, an average of 6.5 boats at each start. This year, Thirteen skippers won at least one race: B Kelly, Feavers, Dave L, B Woods, Wendy, Roger, Sharlene, Craig B, Phil, Penny, Jean, Gavin and Sara.
Our races followed a typical distribution over the summer, with a strong August.
Falcon 2024 Dinghy Championship
11.1 The scoring system is as follows: The Low Point scoring system of Appendix A for “series longer than a regatta” (Rule A9) will apply to all races official club races completed in the year, of which 15 races will be required to be completed to constitute a series. A boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores, excluding her 16th best score and all those below it.
Ten skippers completed 15 or more races, and two completed 14 and with the DNS penalty were still competitive in the FSC Dinghy Series.
Results for 2024 FSC Dinghy Series
1 Sharlene 15 2 Wendy 28 3 Roger 34 4 Phil 34 5 BWoods 35 6 B Kelly 54 7 Dave L 54 8 Jean 54 9 Feavers 56 10 Dave H 75 11 Anna 76 12 Patti 89
Sharlene won a total of 18 races!
Most Improved Sailor
Each year, we watch with interest the progress of sailors as they learn to manage their boats in a variety of conditions. We celebrate this progress by naming one “Most Improved Sailor” every year.
The most improved sailor for 2024 is Phil McAmmond
2024 FSC Keel Boat Series
The weather was not very cooperative on keel boat racing days, we were only able to hold two keel boat racing days this season.
Scoring for keel boat races is based on each boat’s results for half the total number of races in the series, rounding upward for an uneven total.
This year, we completed five races, so a boat’s best three scores were counted.
Our methodology for rating the very different boats is limited by the available data; one boat is not rated with any handicap, other boats have ratings, but they may be based on different equipment, for instance some are rated for a spinnaker.
Four skippers participated in the KB series. We completed a total of five races, so “at least half” represents three races. All four skippers completed at least three races to qualify.
It looked like we had some wind for keel boat sailing, but it was not consistent, so at times the boats stopped moving. Eventually we all made it over the finish line.
Conditions were favourable for a scheduled keel boat race for the first time this year, so we took full advantage and ran four races. Since Deb and Maureen volunteered to run the races from the committee boat, dinghy sailors were also able race with a separate start.
Winds were reasonably brisk from the north, north-west, which kept all the boats moving nicely.
Keel Boat Results:
Skipper KB position RACE 1 Feavers 1 Al 2 Garth 3 Ian 4
RACE 2 Feavers 1 Ian 2 Al 3 Garth 4
RACE 3 Feavers 1 Ian 2 Garth 3 Al 4
RACE 4 Feavers 1 Ian 2 Garth 3
Dinghy Results:
Skipper UK position RACE 1 Craig B 1 Wendy 2 Sarah 3 Cole B 4 B Woods 5 Anna 6
RACE 2 Sarah 1 Craig B 2 Dave L 3 Cole B 4 Wendy 5 B Woods 6 Anna 7
RACE 3 Craig B 1 Wendy 2 Dave L 3 Sarah 4 Cole B 5 B Woods 6 Anna 7
The rain held back for our club closing operations, the AGM and the BBQ this weekend.
Here are the series racing results announced at the meeting.
We ran a total of 52 races in the series this year. 24 skippers participated, including 9 women. We recorded 358 dinghies starting, an average of 6.9 boats at each start. This year, the top end of the fleet was exceptionally competitive, while at the same time other sailors were racing for the first time.
11.1 The scoring system is as follows: The Low Point scoring system of Appendix A for “series longer than a regatta” (Rule A9) will apply to all races official club races completed in the year, of which 15 races will be required to be completed to constitute a series. A boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores, excluding her 16th best score and all those below it.
Ten skippers completed the 15 or more races required to be competitive in the FSC Dinghy Series.
Results for 2023
1
Dave L
15
2
Sharlene
19
3
Feavers
29
4
B Kelly
35
5
B Woods
35
6
Wendy
50
7
Patti
54
8
Roger
64
9
Phil
66
10
Ian
91
2023 FSC Keel Boat Series
The weather was not very cooperative on keel boat racing days, but we were able to hold three keel boat racing days this season.
Scoring for keel boat races is based on each boat’s results for half the total number of races in the series, rounding upward for an uneven total.
This year, we completed seven races, so a boat’s best four scores were counted.
Five skippers participated in the KB series. We completed a total of seven races, so “at least half” represents four races. All five skippers completed at least four races to qualify.
2023 FSC KB series scores
Charles
4
1
Garth
7
2
Al
9
3
Marcello
15
4
Ian
16
5
Most Improved Sailor
Each year, we watch with interest the progress of newer sailors as they learn to manage their boats in a variety of conditions. We celebrate this progress by naming one “Most Improved Sailor” every year. The most improved sailor for 2023 is Jan Waters
We had fun hosting the provincial juniour championships for young sailors in Optis and Laser Radials. Friday was a training day, and Saturday we held a regatta. The MSA coaches ran the training, and Paul from West Hawk helped us run the regatta.
Both days were windy — very windy later in the day. Fortunately, on Saturday we were able to run two races in reasonable conditions between the absolute calm in the morning and the strong afternoon winds, so medals were duly awarded on the basis of those races.
Brisk winds from the Northwest made the keelboat race challenging and exciting. Lots of members got out on the water to enjoy the event, and the BBQ after.
