Dylan Parker of Smithers and Tommy Ly of Prince Rupert jazz it up a little as they get ready for the Saturday morning sailing regatta at the Cowichan 2018 BC Summer Games. Their coach, Fraser Smith, helped them launch the boats this morning.  The teams are all part of the Sea Cadets program that provides opportunities for young athletes to excel at sailing. 

Zone 7 (North West) contestants qualify by sailing at Babine Lake. They then travel to Comox on Vancouver Island for a six-week summer camp to fine tune their skills. The Sea Cadets program is vital to their skill development by providing boats and gear to help these young athletes succeed. A series of prequalifying regattas lead the top four sailors in the Sea Cadet program to compete in Kingston, Ontario each year under the Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston program.  

Coach Fraser excelled in the Sea Cadets program and went to Kingston, Ontario to compete a few years ago. Now, he shares his knowledge and skills by coaching others in Northern BC to help athletes work toward competitions at the national level. Forming teams in some of the zones can be a challenge, as wind and water don’t always combine for ideal sailing competition conditions. However, sailing is an exciting and enjoyable sport within the summer games and coaches like Fraser keep the BC Summer Games sailing component alive.