There was top-notch competition on hand at the Battlefords Sailing Club on Jackfish Lake for their annual Regatta on July 27 and 28.
Among them were several Team Saskatchewan participants in the Canada Summer Games taking part in Sherbrooke, Quebec, which runs Aug. 2 to 17.
Among those competing are skipper Heather Boyce of Regina and crew Tannis Kemp, originally from Calgary but whose family has a cabin on Jackfish Lake. Theycompeted in the open class at the Regatta.
"We've been training since the beginning of July on this boat known as the 29er," said Kemp.
The boat is a brand-new onefor both of them, because it is a doubled-handed boat.
"We're used to sailing single-handed boats, so I think one of the biggest challenges is learning how to communicate with each other and be able to solve problems together rather than on your own," said Kemp.
Getting used to the boat has been a challenge, too. "It's been tippy. We've been upside down a lot," said Kemp.
"There's been a lot of bumps in the road," admits Boyle, but she said "we've put a lot of work in it."
Their male counterparts are skipper Kendall Ross and crew Jordy Guillou, competing in the Men's 29er class at the Games. Their team is out of Saskatoon Sailing Club; Kendall is from Prince Albert and Jordy from Saskatoon.
Their boat was distinguished by a blue sail compared to the red sail used by the women's team, but it handled much the same. It's described as "almost like a surf board with a big mast," said Guillou. Ross described it as "very tippy and very fast," with three sails that can make the boat run very fast.
This is their second Canada Games, having previously been to the PEI games as 16-year-olds. They've been competing together for about five years.
"Sailing with two people in the boat was a little bit more exciting and fun than one person," said Guillou. That was one reason why they begansailing and competing on the 29er.
As for conditions at Jackfish Lake, Guillou described Saturday as "crazy - the heaviest wind I've sailed in in years."The wind gusts were estimated at 55 km/h.
"It was more about survival than racing," said Ross.
But the team finished every race on Saturday and they called it a good learning experience in advance of the 2013 Games.
Also going to the 2013 Games is Joe Gerlinsky, a Battleford resident who also competed at Jackfish Lake this weekend.
He will be competing in the Handicapped 2.4 meter boats in Sherbrooke. He uses a prosthetic leg, after losing his leg in a work accident 22 years ago.
"I'm competing in a boat designed for handicapped sailors," said Gerlinsky. He describes his boat as "very technical" and not as fast as some of the other boats, but "there's a lot happening in that little boat, there's a lot of activity in there when you're going."
He got started in sailing about 11 years ago and has been racing the last two years, starting out using the laser boats.
"I don't know what it's like to sail with two good legs, but it hasn't stopped me," said Gerlinsky.
He usually sails out of Battlefords Sailing Club but did a lot of his practising this year out of Blackstrap, which he described as a good lake to get the boat in and out of the water. He went through the whole process of learning how to launch the boat and bring it back out.
As for weather conditions, he's sailed in strong winds and also in very light conditions such as those seen Sunday. When Gerlinsky competes in Sherbrooke, he says he'll prefer it halfway in-between.
"Today was a little bit on the light side and yesterday a bit on the strong," Gerlinsky said.
