2025 Albacore Ontario Championship at Buffalo Canoe Club
by Steph Mah 21 Jul 16:58 BST
July 12-13, 2025
2025 Albacore Ontario Championship at the Buffalo Canoe Club © Linda Kramer & Jennifer Forkes
The Buffalo Canoe Club is a gem of a yacht club, sitting on the north side of Lake Erie where the sand is soft and clean, the water is warm, and the vibe is sunshine even if the sun isn't out.
BCC is the home of a highly competitive and multigenerational Lightning fleet, and on July 12 and 13, 2025, the Albacores were invited to race on Erie's waters for the 2025 Albacore Ontario Championships, alongside the Lightnings and their Lake Erie District Championships.
Over 31 Albacores signed up to race, mostly from Toronto, but also coming from Virginia, USA. As can, has, and will happen during any regatta, Day 1 of the Ontarios got a wicked skunking.
PRO David Sprague had some faint hope of getting at least one race in, but as forecast, the breeze melted away into the hot sun and never came back, possibly hiding in the BCC clubhouse drinking milkshakes. But there are many worse places to beat the heat than on BCC's beach, and after an afternoon of frolicking, the competitors were treated to a buffet dinner featuring buffalo wings, beef on weck, and very cheap tariff-free drinks.
Whatever shattered dreams were wrought by Saturday, Sunday swept it all away with a perfect southwesterly 12 to 15 knots with surfable waves. A certain local Lightning pro said right was the way to go, and during the three races, the wind indeed clocked, and the wave direction favoured a long port tack. In race one, Virginia sailor and the holder of a few International Albacore Championship titles, Barney Harris, led the race from start to finish, after starting at the boat and heading right catching the shift. Barney's crew, Ernest Ayukawa, could be heard screaming "whee" during the off-wind surfing.
In race 2, with a bit of a left skew, Raines Koby nailed the pin and was able to cross the fleet and hold the lead for the rest of the race, despite his crew, Steph "the Mouth" Mah, berating him for his fifth row start in the first race.
In race 3, Toronto icon Allan Measor, sailing his first title regatta with Dylan "Boy Band" Tredger, decided he also wanted a shiny first. Al and Dylan favoured the right side, fended off Raines (who caught up some after Allan lost sight of the gybe mark, possibly distracted by Dylan's foppish coif), and took the bullet. With second places in the other two races, Allan and Boy Band's consistency paid off and they took home the giant trophy.
A big thanks is owed to the Buffalo Canoe Club staff and the volunteers, the BCC regatta chair David Stark (and chair in waiting, Connor Godfrey), the PRO David Sprague, and Albacore race chair Steph Stalinski. Next up is the Albacore Canadian Championships hosted by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, in Toronto, Canada, from August 29 to 31, and then the Albacore International Championships which are being hosted by the Hampton Yacht Club, Virginia, USA, from October 11-17. A British container is booked, and the fleet is looking forward to the big event.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 8161 | Barely Legal | Allan Measor | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 7919 | Lucky Jador | Stephanie Mah | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 8261 | Gale Warning | barney harris | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 4 | 7363 | Dead Nuts | Darren Monster | 4 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 5 | 8188 | Ochos Locos | Michael Williamson | 9 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| 6 | Can 8149 | n/a | David Provan | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 |
| 7 | 8172 | Second Wind | JJ Hall | 6 | 8 | 3 | 17 |
| 8 | 8184 | Fire and Ice | Mia Brandt | 11 | 7 | 10 | 28 |
| 9 | 6857 | CAN 6857 | Marek Balinski | 12 | 9 | 9 | 30 |
| 10 | 8155 | Gran Turismo | Christine Kelly | 7 | 11 | 15 | 33 |
| 11 | 8124 | Blitzr | Marty Hublitz | 13 | 15 | 8 | 36 |
| 12 | USA 7966 | Sashimi Grade | Tyler Phillips | 17 | 10 | 11 | 38 |
| 13 | 8205 | Enterprise | Kirk McGregor | 10 | 18 | 12 | 40 |
| 14 | 8147 | Big Bad | Jeff Krause | 18 | 13 | 13 | 44 |
| 15 | 7511 | Captain Beaky | Simon Van Wonderen | 16 | 14 | 17 | 47 |
| 16 | Can 8220 | Interfrastically | Chris Gorton | 8 | 12 | 28 | 48 |
| 17 | 8219 | Private Puff | Chris Maslowski | 19 | 16 | 16 | 51 |
| 18 | 7970 | Once Upon a Tide | Eva Hogan | 23 | 17 | 14 | 54 |
| 19 | 8207 | Sail la vie | Anna Sepko | 24 | 19 | 18 | 61 |
| 20 | 8217 | 8217 | Stuart Lulling | 20 | 21 | 21 | 62 |
| 21 | 8240 | 8240 | Robbin Coedy | 21 | 23 | 19 | 63 |
| 22 | 7375 | Halfcoy | Michael Scardaville | 22 | 20 | 25 | 67 |
| 23 | 8243 | Shore Thing | Narges FS | 27 | 22 | 23 | 72 |
| 24 | 8154 | 8154 | Albert Chau | 15 | 32/DNF | 27 | 74 |
| 25 | 8175 | Mary | Dean Goodwin | 29 | 25 | 22 | 76 |
| 26 | 5009 | 5009 | Stephanie Stalinski | 14 | 32/DNS | 32/DNS | 78 |
| 27 | 8179 | Blind Squirrel | Chris Bennett | 28 | 32/DNS | 20 | 80 |
| 28 | 8138 | Knot A Clew | Cornelius Sawatzky | 30 | 26 | 24 | 80 |
| 29 | 8203 | Ice Cream Sundae | Kieran Colford | 26 | 24 | 32/DNF | 82 |
| 30 | 8163 | N/A | Julia BD | 32/DNS | 27 | 26 | 85 |
| 31 | 8221 | Free Speed | James Eberhardt | 25 | 32/DNF | 29 | 86 |
