This year’s FAntastic Nepean FAll REgatta was held on Sept 6 and 7; Fifty-two boats representing six fleets on two race courses. The Ottawa River delivered big wind both days.
FANFARE 2025 had a strong showing from the Gatineau River Yacht Club, the Lac Deschenes Sailing Club and the Centre de Voile Grand Riviere (Aylmer). A big thank you to the coaches and parents for supporting young sailors in Optimists and ILCAs. It was a great learning opportunity for everyone.
Participants experienced strong winds on both days. On Saturday gusts were up to 20 knots. On Sunday the winds continued to be very strong, with one spectacular squall coming through at 30 knots. Every participant remembers where they were for that gust! The waves built up over the weekend, with whitecaps adding to the excitement.
Only the most hardy of sailors finished five races on Sunday; while other fleets saw multiple DNCs as the day wore on, the Optimist and ILCA fleets continued through to the end of racing!
Rick Nelson and Doug Corner were our two Race Officers. Together with a total of 23 volunteers plus race bosun staff, they did an excellent job as the Race Committee. With strong and shifting winds, the RC’s use of different coloured marks kept up with the wind shifts. And with six fleets on two courses, the Race Committee were kept very busy, starting, and finishing, a total of 56 races over both days.
A special thank you to the Support Boat volunteers, and Trevor Whitehouse for scoring.
Bravo to all the participants and a special thank you to all the volunteers and the club staff, we could not do it without you.
Please see the results page for the list of award winners:https://nsc.ca/nsc_racing/fanfare/results/fanfare-2025-results.htm
Link to photos: Best pictures