At around 10 a.m. participants set out with their sailboats onto the Ottawa River with the goal of completing the marked course in fastest time possible.

Like most sailing races, the course was set in a triangular pattern with three buoys spread out at different points in the water, according to the event’s organizer Jamie Alexander.

“Ninety per cent of boat racing around the globe is like that,” he said. “Unless you’re ocean-racing from point A to point B, it’s all done in a triangle.”

With 11 teams participating, the event comprised of two kinds of races.

The first featured Y-Flyers, which are smaller sailboats with two-man crews. The other showcased keel boats, which look like small sailing yachts and require a larger crew to maneuver.

Each race lasted around 45 minutes and at the end of the day participants gathered at Alexander’s cottage for an informal awards ceremony.

The winner of the keel boat race was Rob Oakes and his crew, while Richard Hart and Carl Swail came out victorious in the Y Flyers category.

Alexander noted that the event was one of the most well-attended Labour Day Classics in recent memory.

The event started 20 years ago when Alexander and a few of his friends decided to organize a sailing race for bragging rights to wrap up the summer.

“Four of us had the same type of boat and we decided to have a race on Labour Day Sunday,” said Alexander.

For Alexander, the event is always an enjoyable one as he gets to do what he loves while surrounded by good people with similar interests. He believes sailing should be a more popular sport considering its affordability and the joy that it brings from being out on the water.

“Sailing is completely inexpensive and everybody seems to busy to do it,” he said. “Motor boating is great but you hop in the boat, it burns gas and you have insurance and you go from A to B and you’re done. In a sailboat, you hop in and sing songs… and it doesn’t cost you anything. It’s a lot of fun.”

Swail and Hart get their boat ready for the big race on Sunday morning.

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