WATCH ABOVE: Sailors at the Quebec Cup, showed off their skills in Pointe-Claire on Saturday. The race is touted as Eastern Canada’s largest regatta for disabled sailors. Billy Shields reports.
POINTE-CLAIRE – The largest sailing regatta in Eastern Canada for persons with disabilities rounded the markers in Lac St-Louis today.
The Pointe-Claire Yacht Club hosted the event with the Association Quebecoise de Voile Adaptee (AQVA).
The race is now in its 15th year, with about 30 boats split among two fleets.
“People don’t realize how independent these sailors are with the boats,” said regatta chair Pierre Carpentier.
“They’re fully independent.”
The Quebec Cup is one of the major stops on the disabled regatta circuit, with the rotating Mobility Cup being the top race.
There are two classes in the regatta: one at 10 a.m. and one at 2 p.m.
The fleet of adapted boats can allow a sailor to navigate even without the use of his hands through a “sip-and-puff” system that works the sheets and rudder.
“The first time I tried that boat, I was able to do something on my own, something I could compete in,” said AQVA founder Rene Dallaire.
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