2025 Albacore Canadian Championship at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club

by Matthew Aldous-Horne 4 Sep 05:26 UTC August 29-31, 2025

The Royal Weekend is a highlight of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club's (RCYC) regatta calendar, with multiple fleets racing under the watchful gaze of the CN tower. In 2024, RCYC invited the Albacore fleet to race their 2024 Canadian Championship, and after a successful event, the Albacore fleet was invited back for their 2025 Nationals from August 29 to 31, 2025.

Summer seemed to have finished the week before (typical), with a cool northerly breeze greeting sailors on the Friday morning. The wind was 10 knots gusting 20 straight from downtown Toronto and it was shiftier than the US trade policy. A 40-degree course change before the first race set up the windward mark under the Centre Island Pier for some grandstanding and judgment at the mark rounding.

Race 1 kicked off with a solid left-hand shift on the first upwind, with Barney Harris and David Byron making the most of it. They had received no hassle at the border so were in good spirits (according to the RCYC bartenders). The five time International champion gave his sales pitch for the "Barney Boat" with a steady 1st place, followed by local stand-outs Darren Monster and Mabel Chan in second, and the husband and wife team of Paul Clifford and Mia Brandt in third.

Race 2 saw a building breeze with some dark clouds rolling off the land. US team Greg Jordan, with expert crew Dave Huber, lead from start to finish, winning their first national level race as a pair. A big second beat shift allowed British/Canadian duo Matthew Aldous-Horne and Scott Watson to sneak into 2nd, with Darren and Mabel close behind in 3rd.

Greg/Dave took to celebrating their first win by backing it up with another bullet in Race 3, with Barney/Dave in close pursuit to make it a US one-two. A cracking race from married duo Christine Kelly and Tony Zakrajsek put them in 3rd place, despite a less than auspicious course change throwing a spanner in the works.

With left being the "right" way to go, Matt/Scott made it to windward in first place in race 4, followed by Barney/Dave chasing down in their boat Gale Warning. After overtaking Matt/Scott, Barney put another tariff on the Canadians, ensuring the first 4 races were all going to American teams. Raines Koby and Stephanie Mah cruised in at 3rd place. This finish was some redemption after a capsize in the first race (and the only capsize by any boat in the entire series), and unconfirmed reports were that Raines was trying to drown his crew.

In an effort to get the "Elbows Up", Darren/Mabel capitalised on the only right-hand shift of the day to score their first and only win of the regatta, putting one on the board for Team Canada. Rob Koci with substitute crew Ilian Halbertsma got a clean race coming in second. The oldest boat in the fleet (5009), crewed by Mike Lemon and Stephanie Stalinski, proved that age is just a number if you have good varnish and/or botox, crossing in third.

After knocking out 5 good races in very tricky conditions, the race committee seemed parched and called it a day, retiring to the club house for the sunset and some socialising.

Day 2 greeted sailors with more of the same, with 8-12 knots forecasted from the North. Weather forecasting and being a politician are the only jobs where you can be wrong and still get paid, and wrong the forecast was. After two hours of light and shifty breeze the race committee set a similar course, but this time off the shelf on Lake Ontario, and got the sequence under way. Raines/Steph and Matt/Scott spent the first 4 minutes of the sequence at the pin watching the Snow Birds aerial team practise their routine, unaware of the sequence under way. Matt/Scott first realised a start was under way and generously alerted Raines/Steph, and they got away clean at the massively favored pin in 3 knots of breeze. With new wind filling in from the left, four boats stole a half-leg lead on the first beat and extended to a full leg by the end of the race. Matt/Scott managed to hold off Barney/Dave to log a race win in their Ovington boat, with Raines/Steph close behind in third.

The wind decided not to settle down, and after another 180-degree wind shift over the next two hours, race 7 got under way in a 2-3 knot lull. The new racecourse location put the start in the depths of Lake Ontario, with a long beat into the current, making the event feel more like an ocean venue (as Chris Gorton explained, the water from Lake Erie coming through Niagara Falls induces a current in the lake). Raines/Steph showed why they can never be counted out with their first win of the regatta. Multi-time former Canadian Champion Allan Measor and Ralf Fischer had also finished discussing tactics, coming in 2nd, closely followed by Darren/Mabel.

The wind eventually settled down from the south, with a steady 10-12 knots for the last race of the day. The Albacore fleet, however, thought this was no good and decided starting practise was more fun, with 4 general recalls before the time limit was up. The appalled RO sent the fleet home after finally having gotten a good course set.

Day 3 was a dubious one, with 0-5 knots forecast from every direction going, but the RO seemed confident and got the fleet out on time, albeit with some paddling and towing. Once the 3-knot minimum wind limit was reached, a course was set, and we were off. Having learnt from the previous day, it was a black flag from the get-go - no messing about by the race committee.

Race 8 got away with Darren/Mabel pulling off a textbook pin end start, working the left side of the first beat as the wind had begun to clock to the left. Allan/Ralf made their statement on the event, with their first race win in the light airs, followed by Barney/Dave in 2nd and Darren/Mabel in 3rd.

Race 9 was more of the same, with Alan/Ralf going back-to-back with their second win of the regatta, once again followed by Barney/Dave. In third was another multi-time Canadian Champ George Carter and Robbin Coedy, back from a year long hiatus, still showing they have the class to be at the front. With a combined age less than the majority of the helms, a notable mention was the father-son duo Adam and Cole Nicholson (7 years old), scoring their best result of the regatta coming in 6th.

After some speculation of whether the full series would be sailed at the start of the weekend, the RO gladly got the final race of the series under way. Another left shift after the start put Chris Gorton and Cristina Galeano in the mix, where they managed to clinch a victory in the final leg. Raines/Steph also got back in contention, with a second place closely followed by Michael Williamson (back from Newport Sail Week) and Rob Koci in third.

It was overall a challenging weekend for all involved - the RO, race committee, and racers, with results that showed that no one had a solid handle on what was coming. But consistency paid off, and big congratulations to Barney Harris and David Bryon for winning the 2025 Canadian Championships, the combined Ontario and Canadian Championships trophy, and the old men award. Congrats also to Cole Nicholson for winning the junior crew award, and Anna Sepko for winning the women's plate.

A special thanks is once again owed to RCYC, its staff, our RO Melissa Clarke, and all the volunteers. With race winners hailing from each of the Albacore sailing nations, the 2025 Canadian National Championships was an apt warm up for the major event of the year, the World Championships at the Hampton Yacht Club, Virginia, USA, from October 11-17. With a container travelling over from the UK, this promises to be a cracking event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	USA 8261	GALE WARNING	Barney Harris	David Byron	PRSA & WRSC	1	4	2	1	[5]	2	[6]	2	2	5	19
2	CAN 7363	Dead Nuts	Darren Monster	Mabel Chan	OHCC	2	3	[20]	4	1	[9]	3	3	4	8	28
3	CAN 8161	None	Allan Measor	Ralf Fischer	Jtown	4	[11]	9	6	[10]	5	2	1	1	6	34
4	CAN 8188	Ochos Locos	Michael Williamson	Rob Koci	Mooredale	5	5	4	5	2	[OCS]	5	[10]	8	3	37
5	GBR CAN8207	None	Matthew Aldous‑Horne	Scott Watson	SJSC	[13]	2	7	2	4	1	7	9	7	[11]	39
6	CAN 8185	Keep Calm and Carry On	George Carter	Robbin Coedy	Mooredale Sailing Club	7	9	8	[24]	[20]	4	8	5	3	4	48
7	CAN 8183	Bruce My Ride	Chris Gorton	Cristina Galeano	MSC	6	10	10	[DNS]	[22]	13	4	8	5	1	57
8	USA 8256	None	Greg Jordan	Dave Huber	PRSA	12	1	1	12	6	12	[20]	[15]	12	7	63
9	CAN 7919	Licky Jador	Raines Koby	Stephanie Mouthy	OHCC	[29]	16	[DNF]	3	8	3	1	14	19	2	66
10	CAN 8206	Men II Boyz	Dylan Tredger	Ernest Ayukawa	SJSC	[19]	[21]	12	8	9	11	13	7	9	13	82
11	CAN 8147	Big Bad	Jeff Krause	Colette Laliberte	MSC	8	[19]	13	9	14	10	9	11	[17]	10	84
12	CAN 6731	Alpha Woof	Adam Nicholson	Cole Nicholson	RCYC/OHCC	11	[22]	17	11	[DNS]	19	11	12	6	12	99
13	CAN 8224	Tuna	Tristan Laing	Anna Sepko	J town	15	[DSQ]	19	[21]	15	6	14	6	18	9	102
14	CAN 8219	Private Puff	Chris Maslowski	Jen Forkes	SJSC	9	6	16	20	[24]	18	[22]	4	16	17	106
15	CAN 6857	None	Marek Balinski	Kevin Mahoney	OHCC	[25]	17	6	14	7	[29]	12	21	10	19	106
16	CAN 8154	TBD	David Tingle	Albert Chau	OHCC	10	[24]	5	18	17	7	19	[20]	20	20	116
17	CAN 8120	UNA	Pasquale Leone	Ingrid Gerol	OHCC	[22]	15	[26]	15	13	21	10	16	11	15	116
18	CAN 8155	None	Christine Kelly	Tony Zakrajsek	OHCC	18	23	3	7	18	20	[DNF]	13	[24]	22	124
19	CAN 8140	None	Richard Spirk	Pam Leeuwestein	OHCC	17	18	[22]	16	21	8	17	[27]	15	14	126
20	USA 8125	None	Michael Heinsdorf	Denis Illijanic	Potomac River Sailing Association	[DNS]	7	15	25	12	28	[DNF]	25	14	16	142
21	8184	None	Paul Clifford	Mia Brandt	None	3	8	11	10	19	26	[DNF]	[DNC]	DNC	DNC	145
22	CAN 7311	Vixen	Heather Macnaughton	David Dunphy	RCYC/Outer Harbour Centreboard Club	28	[DSQ]	[30]	22	11	16	21	17	13	23	151
23	CAN 8205	Enterprise	Kirk McGregor	Cathyann White	J Town	[23]	12	18	17	23	14	23	23	21	[BFD]	151
24	CAN 5009	None	Mike Lemon	Stephanie Stalinski	OHCC	[27]	25	14	13	3	25	[28]	24	22	26	152
25	CAN 7511	Captain Beaky	Simon van Wonderen	Caroline Kiernan	OHCC	26	13	23	[27]	16	22	16	18	[BFD]	21	155
26	CAN 8179	Blind Squirrel	Chris Bennett	Agata Michalak	Stjsc	21	14	27	[DNS]	[DNS]	15	15	26	27	25	170
27	CAN 8175	Good Winds	Dean Goodwin	Narges FS	SJSC	16	[29]	[29]	23	27	17	25	28	26	18	180
28	CAN 8203	Ice Cream Sundae	Kieran Colford	Ashley Crozier	Mooredale	[32]	27	24	26	28	23	18	22	23	[DNC]	191
29	CAN 8217	None	Stuart Lulling	Kelly Carey	Mooredale	[30]	20	25	[29]	25	27	26	19	25	24	191
30	CAN 8198	None	Michael Tersigni	Emily Newell	St. Jamestown sailing Club	24	28	21	19	26	24	27	[DNC]	[DNC]	DNC	203
31	CAN 8165	None	Alex Schubert	James Eberhardt	Mooredale Sailing Club	31	26	28	28	29	30	24	[DNF]	[DNC]	DNC	230