The eighth annual Okanagan Women’s Regatta was held at West Kelowna Yacht Club on the July 4 and 5 weekend. Three keelboats from the Vernon Yacht Club attended this regatta and all three placed in their fleets.
This spring a small group of women met and decided to resurrect Women’s Sailboat Racing out of the Vernon Yacht Club. So in May, 19 women began training and racing on Thursday nights with the goal of attending the Okanagan Women’s Regatta in West Kelowna.
After eight weeks of training, we had two mentored boats (Phoenix and Mystique) and one non-mentored boat for the Santana fleet (Captivator) ready to travel to West Kelowna Yacht Club.
Captivator, helmed by Carol Craske with crew of Edie Doerksen, Cathy Appleby and Del Welsh, placed first in the Santana Fleet. Mystique, helmed by Colette Laplante with crew of Daphne Reid, Genevieve Jackson, Mary Ann Petryshen and coach Lyle Enns, placed first in the coached fleet. Phoenix, helmed by Nancy Murphy with crew of Heather Morel, Kate Stefanuk, Shelley English and coach Keith Sangster, placed third in the coached fleet.
The regatta is not only a competitive event but also a social one. There were onshore boat races, dinner and dancing and many new friendships were formed. The season wrapped up here in Vernon with a wonderful evening meal at the Vernon Yacht Club where crews formalized plans for next season.
Next year’s Okanagan Women’s Regatta will take place July 16 and 17 and training will start in the spring of 2016. For more information see http://vernonyachtclub.com/sailing/
Carol Craske is a member of the Vernon Yacht Club; Colette Laplante was skipper on Mystique during the race.
