Sailing
in Manitoba has had a long involved history that goes
back to the earliest days of the fur trade and continues
on to this very day. The history of the Manitoba Sailing
Association is much more recent and has its roots in
the early 60’s when sailing really began to expand
in Manitoba and North Western Ontario. Such clubs as
the Falcon Yacht Club, the Victoria Beach Yacht Club,
the Gull Lake Yacht Club, the West Hawk Yacht Club,
the Moose Lake Yacht Club, the Caddy Lake Yacht Club,
the Pelican Lake Yacht Club, the Clearwater Bay Yacht
Club and the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club were
all active at this time.
The first indications that people wanted to form a
provincial association came from the Executive of the
West Hawk Lake Yacht Club who asked their Commodore
to test the idea out on other sailors from across the
Province. In the beginning this group was convened
during 1964 and 1965 by Dr. Allan McCulloch a member
of the West Hawk Yacht Club. Such meeting venues as “Pierre’s Restaurant” and
the X Ray Therapy Department of the General Hospital
were used for the first meetings. From these meetings,
the participants found that they had common ground
and decided to incorporate a new body to represent
sailing in the Province. On August 5 at 1020 hrs. at
the old law office of Aikins, MacAulay and Co. in downtown
Winnipeg, the association was officially incorporated
and the president of the Association, Dr. Max Desmarais
was elected. The founding directors as listed on the
minutes of the meeting were as follows:
Dr. Max Desmarais President
John Higham Vice President
Bert Bristow Vice President
Dr. Hugh Tayler Secretary
Clark Popham Treasurer
Dr. Richard Johnstone Director S.E. Region
Graham Lount Director S.E. Region
Forbes Carter Director N.E. Region
Tammas Scott Director N.E. Region
Jack Yellowlees Director S.W. Region
The Association grew quickly during the sixties largely
as a result of the growth of the Y-Flyer, the Fireball
and the Lightning Class, which were boats that could be
easily constructed and trailered by the average person.
Hundreds of these boats were built and Winnipeg saw its
first sailboat manufacturer start up. The company, Western
Sailcraft, started by Dr. Richard Johnstone, built fireballs
and Cadets. Later as the demand for all out racing boats
ebbed, the Albacore became very popular and was a standard
line of the company.
One of the first projects of the infant sailing association
was the creation of a mobile sailing school. The project
was undertaken by Dr. Richard Johnstone, who began
to build wooden Cadets in his basement in Winnipeg.
Soon there were four Cadets traveling the province,
teaching hundreds of kids how to sail. Indeed many
members of the Association today can still remember
when the mobile sailing school with Peter Moss, Angus
Campbell, and Cam McCulloch first came to their lake
close to 40 years ago. The school continued until 1968
when many of the clubs began to run their own instructional
programs. Perhaps the crowning achievement of the sixties
for the Manitoba Sailing Community was the hosting
of the Pan Am Games. In the space of a year, a province
that was just becoming organized in sailing, built
the Gimli Yacht Club and was visited by some of the
best sailors in the world. For years after, the momentum
of the games helped the association grow and become
part of the fabric of Manitoba’s sporting community.
Dr. Desmarais continued as President of the Association
from 1965 to 1969, until in 1970, the Presidency changed
hands, as the MSA developed the custom of electing a new
Executive for one or two years terms. It was about that
time that Charles Fleming of Coldstream Industries became
involved as Secretary/Treasurer, a post which he held
until his death in 1975. Mr. Fleming was a long time sailor
who took a very active part in organizing the financial
and administrative aspects of the MSA. He also donated
the Coldstream Cup in recognition of a season of excellence
within the MSA.
In 1969, Alan Cool became the first editor of the Porthole
Magazine, the Association’s primary communication
vehicle. The second editor of the porthole was Chuck
and Barbara Page who carried the magazine through its
early years, doing all the work by themselves and establishing
the Porthole as an institution on the Manitoba sailing
scene. In the late seventies, under the editorship
of Greg Pilot, the Porthole expanded to a glossy magazine
format that was the envy of the entire country. Unfortunately,
the company that distributed the magazine, Pemex Ltd.,
went into receivership, forcing the Association to
reduce the size and scope of the production. In 1985
this magazine had a circulation of 700 and had a part
time staff of three.
During the 70’s, the MSA witnessed the boom of
the Laser generation and the Keelboat generation. Hundreds
of new people started sailing these new fibre glass
production boats which emphasized low upkeep and excellent
durability. This technological change was traumatic
to sailing as it saw the disappearance of the expert
craftsman who took pride in the upkeep of his boat.
Instead he was replaced by the Tupperware generation
who replaced their boats rather than fix them. In terms
of racing, the Tupperware generation abandoned two
man dinghies for the single handed laser and the four
man keelboat.
Traditional dinghy yacht clubs suffered membership
declines while new keelboat yacht clubs sprang up in
many locations. As the 70’s progressed, the catamaran
generation surfed out of California and landed in Manitoba
causing sailors here to re-think how they had fun.
Hoards of speed demons criss-crossed our lakes, flying
hulls and reaching new speed records effectively re-writing
the sailing manuals according to Hobie.
The eighties have seen many things; the recession,
the new Mobile Sailing School, the Provincial Sailing
Team, the Quebec 84 Challenge, the Judges training
program, the Governor General’s Cup, the Learn
to Cruise program, the Board Patrol and the beginning
of the Club Council, but they all pale in the light
of the Boardsailing boom. In less than ten years, literally
thousands of people have started sailing on small plastic
planks with no formal training or real economic investment.
Boardsailing has revolutionized how one goes about
sailing, what people think about sailing, who participate
in it, and how much it costs to get involved. This
truly is the free spirited sport of the eighties, and
one that has profoundly effected the MSA and all sailing
in Manitoba.
With the advent of lottery dollars sport funding improved
dramatically in the 80’s. The MSA was a major beneficiary
of this support and for the first time was able to support
a provincial team program. Coaching, mobile sailing schools,
provincial team funding and major regattas were all supported
by the MSA. In the space of four years the MSA went from
an obscure sport to one of the top funded sport governing
bodies in the province. An amazing feat when you consider
our climate and the numbers of sailors in the province.
A dedicated group of volunteers focused making Manitoba’s
sailors the best in the country. Results soon followed.
Although sailing’s profile was ever increasing,
sometimes it was not as every one had wished. In the spring
of 1988 the MSA was thrust into the media when its team
trailer broke loose and skewered a hapless Honda Civic;
exploding the Civic’s gas tank and burning the car,
the trailer and two lasers to the ground. The coach of
the day, who is now a prominent physician, was quoted
saying, “ I know I put the safety chains on the
trailer!” Fortunately no one was hurt and the only
complaint was “Why can’t sailing get into
the news when we have something good to say?”
An impressive list of regatta’s were hosted by the
MSA and the Gimli Yacht Club: The Canadian Laser Championships,
The North American Laser & Laser II Champs, The Mistral
Canadians, The Canadian Hobie Cat Championships, The Canadian
Youth Championships and The Western Canada Summer Games.
Volunteers from Gimli and all MSA’s Yacht Clubs
came together to make these events possible and to
develop an impressive race management and judging legacy.
Manitoba was admired for its well run events and its
world class sailing conditions.
As the 90’s came into being the MSA continued to
focus on its athletes. Amazing results were soon coming
regularly. Murray McCaig won the Mistral Canadian and
North American Championships, Mike & Doug Couture
won the Laser II Canadian Championships, Sharlene Hermiston
and Kelly Hand won the Laser II women’s Canadians.
Kelly Hand and Kelly McCaig each won gold medals at
the 1993 Canada Games. Numerous other sailors were
winning major events and attracting attention as it
was a golden age for the MSA. During the 1993 Canada
Games in Kamloops Kelly Hand was selected as the flag
bearer for Team Manitoba during the opening ceremonies,
an honor never given to a sailor before.
The MSA hosted some of its biggest regattas in the
90’s.
The Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club hosted the Women’s
Canadians which was selected as the best run regatta in
that year by the CYA. In 1994 the Gimli Yacht Club and
the MSA hosted the World Boardsailing Championships. Over
240 athletes from 42 countries descended on the Town of
Gimli. During the 1st weekend of the event the RCMP estimated
that 18,000 spectators were down at the beach watching
the competition; the most spectators to watch a sailing
event in Canada. Later that the year the MSA and the Gimli
Yacht Club were awarded the CYA’s volunteer of
the year award for their remarkable job of hosting
the second largest windsurfing event ever. In 1997
the Pelican Yacht Club played host to the Canada Games.
In the space of three years the club raised close to
half a million dollars to improve their facilities.
In 1999 the Gimli Yacht Club and the MSA hosted the
Pan AM Games in Gimli. 32 years after being created
to host the 1967 Pan AM Games, Gimli was ready to do
it again. Superb race management, friendly volunteers,
and one of the finest sailing venues in the world made
the event an outstanding success.
In 2002, the Gimli YC hosted the Canadian Youth Championships
and again a cohort of volunteers make the event happen.
Again it was the Gimli Yacht Club who hosted the Western
Canada Summer Games in 2003. The Gimli Yacht Club established
itself by now as the Sailing Centre in Manitoba. 2003
was also the year of the Canadian Optimist Championships
at the Lake of the Woods Yacht Club. With a huge renovation
of the clubhouse and new sailing facilities, as well as
a new fleet of Optis and 420s, the club members celebrated
their 100th anniversary.
With hosting WISC and the Mobility Cup in 2004 the
Pelican Yacht Club was put back on Manitoba's map
again. With Sail West in 2005 and the Laser Canadians
in 2006 the volunteers at the Gimli YC showed their
commitment to racing one more time. Being just a small
Club the volunteers at the Falcon YC did an amazing
job to organize Sail West in 2007.
In 41 short years
the MSA has grown to become a mature Provincial Sport
Governing Body. It has seen many up and downs; but
it has survived them all because of the strength
of its member clubs and associations. The future looks
bright and the next 20 years look just as exciting
and dynamic.
MSA Past Presidents
1965 - 1969 - Dr. Max Desmarais
1970 - Dr. Hugh Taylor
1971 - Mr. Clarke Popham
1972 - Mr. Gord Konantz
1973 - 1974 - Mr. Chuck Page
1975 - 1976 - Capt. Don Freudenberg
1977 - Dr. Ian Peggs
1978 - Mr. Jim Kern
1979 - 1980 - Mr. Frank McKendry
1981 - 1982 - Mr. Arno Giese
1982 - 1984 - Mr. Charles Burns
1984 - 1986 - Mr. Egon Frech
1987 - 1988 - Mr. Jim Richardson
1989 - 1991 - Mr. Richard Walls
1992 - 1994 - Mr. Steve Pellerin
1995 - 1996 - Mr. John Gosselin
1997 - Mr. Van McLean
1997 - 2003 - Prof. Dr. Peter Loewen
2004 - 2007 - Mr. Kevin Stewart
2008 - Ivan McMorris |
