Canada qualifies two additional spots in sailing for Santiago 2023 Pan American Games

Canada qualifies two additional spots in sailing for Santiago 2023 Pan American Games © Sail Canada

Canada has qualified two additional spots for the sailing events at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games to be held October 20 to November 5 in Santiago, Chile, following the reallocation of spots in 49erFX and Nacra 17 classes by Panam Sailing.

Because the last qualifying competition for these classes in Clearwater, FL, was cancelled early in February, Panam Sailing had to move forward with the procedure for the reallocation of unused quota spots, as outlined in the Panam Sailing qualification criteria (panamsailing.org).

Similarly to the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 classes, Canadian sailors in 49erFX and Nacra 17 will look to qualify their team and themselves to be nominated to Team Canada's Santiago 2023 Pan American Games squad by being the best from their country at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma, Spain, April 3-8.

As of today, Canada has qualified five spots in the 13 events that will be held at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. Will Jones (Jerseyville, ON-RHYC) and Justin Barnes (Pickering, ON-RCYC) in 49er, Mac Morrin (Kingston, ON) in men's Kiteboarding, as well as Rebecca Heller (Dunrobin, ON-KYC) in women's iQFoil, have all qualified to be nominated to Team Canada's Santiago 2023 Pan American Games squad, based on Sail Canada's Internal Nomination Procedures which are available at www.sailing.ca/sc_event/2023-pan-american-games.

Competing at the 2023 Pan American Games will be one of many opportunities to qualify spots for Canada in sailing for the 2024 Olympic Games.

An additional spot in women's Kiteboarding?

Athletes in Kiteboarding will take part in the last qualifier to earn one of the last three spots available for their country in this event for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games when the 2023 Formula Kite Pan American Championships will be held in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, March 9 to 12.

On the Canadian women's side, Emily Bugeja from Vancouver, B.C. (RVYC), will aim to finish amongst the top three athletes of countries not already qualified in this event. At the present time, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and the USA have all secured a spot in women's Kiteboarding for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

At the last qualification event held in Clearwater in February, Emily Bugeja was the top Canadian, but finished fourth amongst the countries that had not already qualified while the top three earned their ticket.

"Clearwater brought on some tough conditions," said Emily Bugeja. "Even though I didn't qualify Canada for the Pan Am Games there, I'm really proud of how I sailed and how much I improved. The goal in Cabarete is to get that country spot."

More information on the selection process for the 2023 Pan American Games is available at www.sailing.ca/sc_event/2023-pan-american-games.