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CYC Junior Sailing Sustainability Fund
Donation protected
Hello members, sailors, family and friends of Chester YC Sail Training & Racing!
My name is Christine Cragg Santimaw and I am the Director of Sail Training & Racing at Chester Yacht Club. Our members, parents, grandparents and friends of the program have been the reason we have been able to operate successfully for so many years now. We are always so grateful for your support of and participation in the program; at the end of the day, it seems we all recognize that the juniors are the future of the club itself.
This year alone, our accomplishments have included:
- Alex Graham and Silas Conlin-Morse won the Bronze medal at the 2022 Canada Games in 29er Male (and both 29er teams - Male and Female - came from the South Shore)
- Liv Lee (Opti) will be part of Team Canada, representing Chester at the Opti North American Championship in the Bahamas in November
- Kate Kanallekos joined Team Canada, representing Chester at the Opti South American Championship in the Brazil in October
- Three CYC juniors named to the Sail NS Provincial Sailing team (Alex Graham, Silas Conlin-Morse, Ryan Santimaw)
- Max Baker (Opti) won the NS U15 Provincial Championship in July
- Sara Santimaw was crowned Top Female Overall (16/99) at the Opti Canadian National Championship
- Opti Race Coach Spencer Dalzell named as co-coach for Team Canada at the Opti North American Championship in the Bahamas in November
- We co-chaired the Opti Canadian National Championship
- We created and launched our womens adult sailing program Broad Reach
- We co-founded The Dinghy Locker with Jacob Saunders, a donation-based gear repository where sailors “in need of a lift” can anonymously request gently loved sailing gear to help ensure a successful (warm and dry) sailing season
- We led the return of the 29er fleet to Chester YC in support of Sail NS’s 29er Skiff Squad and one of only two Sail Canada-approved pathways/fleets for competitive sailors
- We continued to act as all around champions of sailing, encouraging sailors of all levels to get on the water and develop a love for the sport of sailing
Additionally, we founded the club's first shoulder season program, STAR (South Shore Sail Training + Racing), which this year was the largest dinghy shoulder season program East of Montreal.
However, we are in dire need of a new coach boat. I have donated the use of my family's personal RIB as a coach boat for the past two years and we have even asked coaches to use personal boats at times. Obviously, that is not acceptable.
We have many opportunities and goals in our sight line and want to be able to sustain our world-class program to ensure our children have the impactful and positive developmental opportunities that learning to sail provides.
We also need new 420 sails and spinnakers; 420 dollies; and trailers (ideally a large Opti trailer).
As you can see, there is a lot of need right now so no donation is too small (or too large!) and you can give anonymously.
We have been able to maintain the program due to the commitment of a very small group of coaches, staff and volunteers but now we need the help of the friends, members, parents and grandparents of our junior sailors. In the meantime, rest assured our coaches and staff are delivering a great and safe program to the kids who register in our program. We need to ensure that we are able to continue to do so going forward.
Many thanks in advance for your continued support. We are so grateful for our junior community and supporters.
Speed, height, friendship,
Christine Cragg Santimaw
Director of Sail Training & Racing
Organizer
Christine Santimaw
Organizer
Chester, NS