National Yacht Club, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada earned the right to boast after hosting an incredible weekend of racing at this year’s 2022 Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championship Regatta, held September 9-11, 2022.
Everybody in the fleet, lucky enough to race in this year’s event, was treated to a welcoming, beautiful venue (NYC), in a gorgeous environment (downtown Toronto) and friendly atmosphere amongst fellow racers, as well as many supportive club members. Fabulous meals were enjoyed nightly, immediately following the free-flow of beer at social gatherings, debriefs with tip-sharing, and daily awards.
It became readily apparent that crews were sharing and learning from each other, primarily about rig tuning, sail trim and strategy for light air conditions, as vast improvement was seen in most teams, tightening things up in each subsequent race. Although we barely saw double-digit breeze the entire weekend, that spirit of helping each other to improve (a favorite feature of members of our Class Association) paid off, when teams could put what they learned into practice in similar conditions each race.
One of NYC’s home teams, “Zingara”, earned its sixth 36.7 NAC title at this 2022 event, providing another well deserved reason to boast within the National Yacht Club. Richard Reid is the VC-Fleet this year at NYC, as well as the Event Chair for this regatta, so it’s a sure bet that this win felt special to him, if not expected of his team by the rest of us. Team Zingara pictured below awaiting the “silver” presentation.
“Painkiller”, from Chicago, driven by Alice Martin (who chartered local Rob Bartholomew’s 36.7) gave Zingara a real run for the title, scoring (4) bullets on the last day, and finishing within five points of 1st. I’m sure they were wishing for another day of racing.
“Finale”, owned and helmed by Almir Tavares, showed the most improvement day over day, scoring some 1’s and 2’s the second day and maintaining solid performance the third day to land the last podium spot in 3rd.
I’d like to personally thank Richard Reid, his race management staff at the National Yacht Club, our own Chuck Norris, who traveled to provide inspection duties and other shore side assistance, as well as all those teams who came to sail at our North American Championships in 2022, for making the weekend as fun as I’ve had sailing since the pandemic began.
Prepared by: Mark Schimley, “Wind Chill”
President, Beneteau First 36.7 Class Association