Smooth sailing

Their days start early, and they spend approximately six hours on the water competing but it’s all worth it.

McMaster University’s sailing team competed at the McMaster Invitational this past weekend. During the two-day event, seven Canadian university teams participated in the series of boat races better known as a regatta.

The Canadian collegiate sailing season lasts the entire fall, and teams compete in weekend invitationals governed by the Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Association.

According to McMaster’s regatta coordinator Ross Murdoch, the McMaster sailing team dates back to the 70s but was on hiatus until about seven years ago, thanks to the emergence of the CICSA.

Mac has a contract with the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club that allows them to use their boats, practice twice a week and use the facilities for their invitational. With help from Robert Monroe, member of the yacht club and proud McMaster alum, and the club’s vice commodore, Diane Crawshaw, Mac has been able to sail this year without a hitch.

“The way it works in collegiate sailing is that we have an A fleet and a B fleet,” said McMaster’s team president Emma Jackson. “So the A fleet will go out do some races and then rotate with B fleet. “Each team is sending four people and they all to get to race within their own fleet.”

According to the CICSA’s Performance Ranking System teams are ranked by the summation of the per-region score they accumulate over a season and their score in the same season’s CICSA fleet racing nationals. The team with the lowest number of points is the winning team.

"Unlike other sports... sailing is the most mental sport. It's all about your angles, geometry of the water, and how the winds change affects how you sail."

 

Joe Millar
McMaster sailing team

At the McMaster invitational, Mac placed a close second, loosing to McGill University who had a total of 27 points, while Mac had 30 points.

Earlier this month Mac also competed at the Laurier/Waterloo Invitational where they also came in second after unfortunately losing to Queen’s University.

Though Queen’s is known as one of the best collegiate sailing teams in Ontario, one of Mac’s newest sailors, Joel Millar, is ready to change that.

First learning to sail at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club’s “Learn to Sail” camp, it was obvious to his parents and coaches that Millar was an extremely gifted sailor. While most kids took four to five years to achieve all their sailing levels, Millar obtained his in one year, and has been sailing ever since.

As a member of Ontario’s sailing team and a first-year engineering student, Millar splits his days between his education and his love for sailing.

“One thing I love about sailing is that unlike other sports where it’s mostly physical, sailing is the most mental sport. It’s all about your angles, geometry of the water, and how the winds change affects how you sail.” said Millar. “There are so many influencing factors that affect you in the water.”

Millar aspires to one day sail a Finn sailboat in the Olympics for Canada, and is dedicated to making his dream a reality. Spending six hours each day on the water and playing hockey in the off season to stay in shape, Millar continues to match his natural talent with hard work daily.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what he does.” said Murdoch “’He’s definitely quite knowledgeable and a fun guy.”

With the new addition to their team along with the other experienced collegiate sailors the Marauders hope to continue to be smooth sailing for the rest of their season.