Monday, August 18, 2014

Okanagan Race Week wrapup

The first ever ORW is a wrap and what a fantastic success it was.  The week started down in Summerland for the 2 day around the cans, and middle distance race.  The fleet was fortunate to have the fresh breeze that the South end of the lake is well know for.  15 to 20 knots of wind out of the North tested teams in fully powered up conditions for the two days.  Monday featured the Rattlesnake Island Passage (RIP) from Summerland, 22 miles North to Kelowna.  We had fantastic breeze for about 2/3rds of the way up, however it faded approaching West Kelowna and left lots of opportunity for swimming in our crystal clear waters.  Wednesday night the entire fleet joined in for the KYC race night.  This was the same course that would be used the following weekend, and gave everyone an opportunity to tune up for the following weekend.  The grand finale was the Commodores Cup at the KYC.  We had strong attendance this year and welcomed several out of town boats to the regatta.  The race committee managed to get 6 races run over the weekend despite lighter than ideal winds.  We have now successfully laid the ground work now for what we know will continue to grow into the premier destination regatta in the interior of BC.  Please help us spread the word and attract even more new teams in 2015.  Thank you to all the countless volunteers and sponsors of this event and a big thank you to Panama Red Rum for helping make this event possible.

Marc Noel