Dozens of athletes took to the waters in Maple Bay this weekend to compete in the 2018 BC Summer Games reggatta in the Optimist and Youth age groups.
BC Summer Games hosts four divisions of sailing: Optimist Dinghy (which is a small pram used worldwide for young sailors to learn racing), Laser Radial and Laser Classes, and the two-person 420 Dinghy.
Representing Zone 2 out of Kelowna included Lyle Wright, 10, Tyler Rubadeau, 12, and 13-year-olds Lauren Gray and Ava Halperin.
The group of four, alongside other Zone 2 athletes compete most of the season on Okanagan Lake – a body of water that carries enough wind and waves to mirror ocean rapids.
“My favourite part about sailing is probably the speed because other sports you might not get as much,” Rubadeau told Black Press Media at the Maple Bay Yacht Club.
“I like getting splashed and having the adrenaline rush before races,” Wright added.
A handful of BC Games alumna have found success on the international stage, including three-time Olympian Nikola Girke and Isabella Bertold – who first tested the waters along the B.C. coastline.
But for Gray and Halperin, their love for the sport doesn’t so much depend on medaling as it does simply getting out on the water on weekend’s as sunny as this one.
“Yeah it was really nice out on the water, and I had fun – I always have fun,” Halperin said.
Results:
Boys/Girls 420
Gold – Ilya Sharikov, Victoria
Silver – Joshua Jeffers, Nanoose Bay
Bronze – Callum McGufffin, Saltspring Island
Boys/Girls Optimist Red Fleet
Gold – Cruz Custodinho, Vancouver
Silver – Matthew Young, Vancouver
Bronze – Bryce Stanger, Vancouver
Boys/Girls Optimist Blue Fleet
Gold – Rory Walsh, Vancouver
Silver – Charles Harland, West Vancouver
Bronze – Andre Deseau, North Vancouver
