Whitecap: The Canadian Sailing Podcast (SEASON 1)

Richard Clark is undoubtably one of the most successful male sailors in Canadian history 4X Olympian in the Finn and Star class (with Crew Tyler Bjorn), 2x Melges 24 world champion Member of Illbruck winner of the 2001 Volvo ocean race, Winner of Sail Canada's Gerry Roufs award as well as Male Athelete of the year and Rolex sailor of the year.  This rollicking interview covered olympic anxiety, offshore glory and the real reason for the anti banana superstition!

Richard Clark is undoubtably one of the most successful male sailors in Canadian history 4X Olympian in the Finn and Star class (with Crew Tyler Bjorn), 2x Melges 24 world champion Member of Illbruck winner of the 2001 Volvo ocean race, Winner of Sail Canada's Gerry Roufs award as well as Male Athelete of the year and Rolex sailor of the year.  This rollicking interview covered olympic anxiety, offshore glory and the real reason for the anti banana superstition!

Since year one of the podcast I've been presenting the Whitecap Cup as an award to sailing programs that serve the outsiders of our sailing communities, those without access to the sport we love, or simply a program that doesn't fit nicely into our regular yacht club structure. Previous winners were the broader reach program in Armdale NS, SaskSailing, and the broad reach program in Toronto.  This year I'm pleased to present the 2024 Whitecap Cup for greatness in alternative sailing programs to the Nova Scotia Mobile Sailing school. The Nova Scotia Mobile Sailing School offers communities across Nova Scotia the opportunity to introduce sailing to places that don't have their own learn to sail programs.  To explain the program and accept the award are Executive Director of Sail Nova Scotia Frank Dennis and Sophia Josenhans, technical director of Sail Nova Scotia.  

Today we're counting down the top 10 Canadian sailing stories of 2024 with John Morris, online editor of Canadian Boating and curator of Sailing In Canada (sailingincanada.ca).  Featuring: AC40's, Sail GP, Olympics, Canadian Sailing hall of fame Class of 2024, a special section on grassroots races you've never heard of, and of course the winner of the 3rd annual Whitecap Cup for greatness in alternative sailing programs (GRASP).   #1  Halifax pulls off an amazing Sail GP event #2  Canadian Sailors at the Paris Games #3  Team Concord Pacific Youth and Women's America's Cup #4  Sail GP Canada new owner Dr. Greg Bailey of Juvenescence and new skipper Giles Scott #5  Canadian sailing Hall of Fame Class of 2024 #6  Olympic qualifiers #7  Carlos Charabati wins ILCA 4 worlds #8  Sullivan Nakatsu 10th at World Youth championships. #9  Grass roots events you've never heard of:  Lowisa, Race To Kingston, Aylesford Lake National One Design class boats, Guelph Lake Palm D'Or) #10 Whitecap Cup goes to…Sail Nova Scotia's Mobile Sailing School!

Today we're talking to Northstar Sail GP's flight Controller Billy Gooderham!  After season 4, things were looking a little grim for the future of Canada's Sail GP team.  They had lost a 2025 regatta in Canada, there were questions about ownership, and there had been radio silence from the social media sites. On November 6th that all changed when the team came roaring back with a new owner (Dr.  Greg Bailey of biotech company Juvenescence), new skipper (2 time olympic gold medalist Giles Scott!) and a confirmation of an event in Canada in 2026 (gotta be Halifax, right?).   We talked about the hopes for the new season, life at the start line for an F50 flight controller, and the new T foils he tested which should lead to even faster speeds for Season 5!!

Canada's first foray in the Americas cup since 1987! Concord Pacific, out of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club assembled entries into the youth and (FIRST EVER) women's America's Cup that took place in Barcelona.  I spoke to return guest Isabella Bertold, skipper of the women's team, as well as Andrew Wood and Georgia Lewin LaFrance from the youth team!

Annie Haeger is winner of US sailing's 2015 Yachtswoman of the year, a  youth worlds silver medalist in, US women's college sailor of the year, and she placed 7th at the Olympics in the 470 in Rio, she is currently the chief strategist and Co pilot for Sail GP CANADA. After a bitter end to her olympic dream, and two years not sailing at all, she was able rediscove the fun in sailing through foiling, and ultimately back to the high performance world! This was a great conversation including tips on seeing wind lines for lake sailing perspectives on US college sailing and an in depth look at the strategist's role on Sail GP.    

Drew and I taked sailmaking, distance sailing, the bluenose one design and of course all thinggs CHESTER RACE WEEK! Drew grew up sailing at the Lunenburg Yacht Club in Nova Scotia. He has raced on and coached high performance one design sailboats for over 20 years. He managed the North Sails Vancouver loft for over a decade and has recently moved back to Nova Scotia picking up a dream job of  buying North Sails Atlantic! Drew races in the many of the biggest high performance keelboat fleets, highlights include the Farr 30 North Americans and Melges 24 PNW championship..  In distance racing his experience includes winning the Van Isle 360, racing the 2017 Transpac on a TP 52, Vipodium finishes in the Chicago-Mackinac Race, Victoria to  Maui(podium) transpacific race. He was part of Team Canada for the 2023 Star Sailor League as trimmer.  He has been a North U coach for the last 10 years working with sailors on and off the water from across North America to refine their racing skills.

Ken is a Canadian coaching legend and since 1990 has been the High Performance Director, Chief Training Officer and Head Coach of the national sailing team.      Paris 2024 is the 9th Olympics he's coached in as well as 4 Paralympic games, 6 Pan Ams and hundreds of World Championships.  We spoke about our Canadian olympic hopefuls, Ken's philosophies and impressions of our all time great athletes, and the size of the mosquitos in Gimli, Manitoba!

Ryan Kelly is the CEO of Sail Canada.  Ryan is a lifelong sailor, having worked in support of the sea cadets program, president of Sail Newfoundland and Labrador and as a Sail Canada learning facilitator.  He's been a dinghy coach, skiff sailor and is presently developing his chops as an offshore racer.  Our conversation was wide ranging, covering the development off Canadian Olympic hopefuls, improving the growth of the sport from coast to coast to coast, and of course the glories of sailing in Newfoundland's Conception Bay!

!!SEASON 3 PREMIERE!! Captain Glenn from BELOW DECK:SAILING YACHT!!     With over 250k followers on IG Captain Glenn Shepard, a Montrealer, is without question the most famous Canadian sailor on earth. He is the star of the wildly popular and  highly entertaining  Bravo reality series Below Deck Sailing Yacht.    Captain Glenn gets into detail about the famous scene of running the transom 177 ft super yacht onto a cement dock in Croatia,  he confirmed that he would be in the cast of an upcoming season 5 and he expressed how closely he follows SailGP Canada and would love to get a ride with Phil and the gang someday!       Now in its 4th season The show follows the trials and tribulations of Captain Sheppard and his crew as they go through a series of charters aboard the superyacht Parsival 3. Captain Glenn thanks for being on

With me today is Gwenn Duval, member of Femina Ocean Challenge team who will be racing in the famed transatlantic Quebec a St Malo race in June 2024    Gwenn is a masters student in Oceanography and has been sailing since she can remember. She spent two years teaching sailing in the Mediterranean and Brittany, has a Yachtmaster Offshore certificate in England, did a transatlantic crossing from West to East in the middle of COVID, and is now one of 4 crew preparing for the Quebec a St Malo race in their class 40 Equinoxe This episode is brought to you by North Sails.

Today we're previewing. The princess Sophia, Regatta, and Palmer Spain with me is Rob Hemming Rob is a former member of the national team competing in the Finn class from 2012 until 2017 where he  rose to a top ranking of 30th in the world.  He was also a coach at the 2020 olympics and most recently was the helmsman for Canada's entry into the star Sailor's league gold cup world championships in Spain.  Outside of competing, Rob is also on the Sail Canada Board of Directors as an athlete Director

Fresh from their 8th place finish and OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION!!, Georgia and Antonia take us through their experience at the 49er Worlds in Lanzarote, Spain, including their emotional last day, coming 2nd in the medal race and capsizing right AFTER the finish line live on the broadcast. 

Today we're officially announcing the winner of the 2023 Whitecap Cup for diversity, equity and inclusion...Broad Reach Canada!   Based in Toronto, Their mission is to engage under represented youth in the development of knowledge, skills and social belonging through sailing, and 2023 was their 25th anniversary.    On the podcast are Margeurite Pyron and Eliana Cai.    Margeurite is the CEO of Broad Reach Canada and Eliana was a participant in the program in 2023.  It was a great discussion.  We touched on growing the sport into new populations, working in the marine sector, tall ships and some great songs about sailing, including sea shanties!

Rolex Sailor of the year Melodie Schaffer raced her boat Whiskey Jack in the Globe 40, a 35,000-mile, eight-leg, double handed around the world race in in Class 40s. Seven teams took part in the 175-day event which started in Morocco and endd in France. Overall, “Whiskey Jack”, Melodie and co-skippers: Gary Jacques, Mikael Ryking, Jeronimo Santos, Robert Phillips, Paul Stratfold and Tom Pierce, took 5th place, and set the overall speed record for the race with an average speed of 14.3kn, for a distance of 347 miles in 24 hours. Through the race, she also faced storms and countless broaches,  over a dozen sails repairs, a spinnaker wrap that took 36 hours to clear in 25 knots and 5m waves, had a damaged rudder and two incidents of smoke in the cabin.   In this wide ranging discussion we discussed her early days dinghy racing, getting the offshore bug later in life and a terrifying story of a run in with a modern day pirate ship.

Today Chris Watters (East coast singlehanded coach, Star Sailors league tactician) is back on the show to discuss the top 10 Canadian sailing stories of 2023.  From olympic hopefuls to offshore sailing, foiling and everything in between.  Another great year. The stories were determined solely and entirely by host Dave Cripton.  If you think I've missed something please reach out!

Today we welcome back Lee Parkhill to recap the action at the 2023 Pan Am Games, from his terrific gold medal performance, to other medals for Ali Tenhove and Mariah Millen, Sarah Douglas and Will Jones and Justin Barnes, as well as a recap of all of the other classes.  We get into the  heartbreakingly close finishes, performance improvements and an atmosphere about which Lee commented "I don't know if I've experienced a regatta in my career where the team was so connected!"

As we head into the off season in Canada, we've got authors of a new book called called "Plan Sail Track: The Ultimate Sailing Guidebook" on the pod, Thomas Fogh and Signe Ronka.   Thomas, is the director of sailing at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. As an athlete, he competed internationally in multiple classes before moving into coaching provincial, National and Olympic calibre athletes.  As an athlete he finished top ten at world and international championships in multiple classes including Solings, Lasers and Tornado classes   Singe Ronka  the owner and head coach of flexafit, an internationally recognized figure skating fittness training organization. As an athlete she has been on the podium in both national and international championships, and as a coach she has worked with skaters from beginner level to Olympic champions   This was a facinating converation where we got into sailing specific fitness programs, Thomas's famous father Hans's dedication to fitness, as well as the satsifaction these very accomplished coaches get from seeing their athletes improve.    The book can be purchased here:  https://flexafit.com/store/plan-sail-track

One of the most successful multi class Canadian sailors of the 2000's. Luke was the representative in the 470 class at the 2012 Olympics with Mike Leigh, and the Nacra 17 in 2016 with Nikola Girke where they placed 15th and were ranked as high as 5th in the world during that quad. Also, Luke won the 2006 world youth championships in Lasers and is a two-time Pan Am medalist in the sunfish class winning a silver medal in 2015 in Toronto (just days after sailing at the Nacra worlds) and silver again in 2019 in Peru.  He was also a member of SailGP Canada's inaugural season and is now headed to the Pan Am games in the Lightning class.

Today's podcast is a two part (very tardy) regatta report on Lighting Canadian Championships and Pan Am games trials, featuring the winning crew of Jessica Hirschbold (29er world youth championship participant), Rachel Green (2023 Canadian Intercollegiate National Champion from Queens U) and Luke  Ramsay (two time Olympian and two time Pan Am Games medallist). They explain how they put together a team at the last minute, and with the help of the very helpful Lightning fleet were able to learn enough to win the trials!

On this episode is Andy Roy, truly one of my personal heroes in the world of sailing. We get into the early days of the laser where he and other Canadians dominated the 1982 worlds, the growing masters scene, and what the best bar in Freemantle Australia!   Andy was one of the top laser sailors in the world in the early eighties and continues to be one of the top ILCA masters sailors in the world today.  Career highlights include 2nd place in open worlds in 1982 and 6th in 1983 Also a pan am games silver in 1983 In Venezuela   He was tactician in the 1987 Canadian America's cup campaign in Australia with Canada 2 And was the principal helmsman on the Canada's cup, and Admirals Cup. As a Masters sailor he was 2nd at the worlds 3 times and is a a 3 time Canadian Champion, Including just this year in Montreal. 

Today on the podcast: 49er FX sailors Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance. These sisters are currently the highest ranking Canadian FX team in the world combining in 2018. In 2019 the won the Canadians and then went on an absolute tear in 2021 placing 3rd at the Europeans and 6th at the worlds in Oman, winning the Canadian Rolex sailors of the year in 2022.  Georgia has also been SailGP Canada's primary chief strategist and co-pilot, earning the nickname Speedy G from skipper Phil Robertson.   We talked about what it's like to race with your sister, the Bluenose one design fleet in Nova Scotia and Antonia deals out our best  advice yet in dealing with nerves "just put the bow down"

Lee Parkhill was the representative in the laser class at the 2016 Olympics, and was the bronze medallist at the Toronto Pan Am Games in 2015, other career highlights include fourth at the World Cup in Weymouth and ranking as high at 11th in the world. But even with all that success in the laser class, his key to the doorway of Canada's biggest sailing podcast was qualifying to be nominated for the 2023 Pan Am Games in the sunfish class!   We talked about his nailbiting qualification against friend and fellow olympian Luke Ramsay, bouncing back from missing the 2012 games and how he became E-Sailing Canadian champion!

The 2022 Whitecap Cup co-winner for equity inclusion and diversity goes to the Broader Reach Program (broaderreach.ca) a learn to sail program based out of the Armdale Yacht Club in Halifax, NS. In this special edition, we talk to Anthony Rosborough founder of the program. Their goal is to expand access to sailing to the broader community in the Halifax Regional Municipality and other communities in Nova Scotia.  The program creates impact by teaching sailing knowledge and skills to wider audiences while building connections between people and communities based on shared experiences. It unites people by a love of being on the water.   We had a good chat and as an added bonus some talk about shipbuilding in Halifax in the Early 20th century and a discussion of the biggest one design keelboat class in Nova Scotia: the Bluenose One design   Broader Reach's 2023 programs are supported by the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association and the Government of Canada.

Today on the podcast we're talking Fillah Karim, Canada's top ranked ILCA 7 who's stated goal since the age of 12 is to represent Canada at the Olympics.  After narrowly missing out in 2020, he's back, qualifying for the 2023 Pan Am games, and once again chasing the Olympic dream of competing for Canada in Paris 2024!   Fillah and I discussed his full time approach to the sport beginning outside the national team structure, how his mental approach to the sport has changed, and in the "highjack the guest" section Fillah gives up some gems on ILCA downwind technique. 

Today we're excited to welcome Sarah Douglas back to the podcast.  Sarah recently WON the Semaine Olympiques Française in the ILCA 6 class, beating 2020 gold medalist Anne Marie Rindom by one point in the process.  She also qualified to be nominated to the Pan Am Games.  We get to listener questions, talk about her match racing strategy in the medal race, and don't try to port tack at the start if she's at the pin!

Today a regatta report from Palma Spain, where Nacra 17 crew Madeline Gillis and Galen Richardson qualified to be nominated for the Pan Am Games.  They are a new team on the Olympic circuit with this being their first european regatta together.  We recapped the regatta, got into the Nacra 17 class changes to allow for upwind foiling and the crew commented on the state of mixed crew racing in general.

On the SEASON 1 FINALE of Whitecap: Olympic Medallists John Millen and Frank McLaughlin, who won bronze in the Flying Dutchman class in 1988 in Pusan South Korea.  Frank is a 3 time Olympian including racing the 470 in 1984 with Martin TenHove, and John is a two time Olympian in the FD with Frank. They were 1981 World Champions in the International 14 class, and in the FD they were Pan Am Games medalists , as well as being on the podium at both the worlds and Europeans.  John was also a member of the crew on the two Canadian challenges for the Americas Cup. Finally, they were recently inducted into the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame.  We talked about the importance of family in sailing,  as well as many the behind the scenes tales from Canada's two America's Cup Campaigns, and heard the incredible story of their final race in Korea 88 which they had to win in order to get a medal!

On the podcast today we have kitefoiler Emily Bujega who finished 5th at the 2023 Formula Kite Panamerican Championships in Cabarete, Dominican Republic Good enough to qualify her to be nominated for the Pan Am games.  Prior to that she was top Canadian out of 4 riders at the Clearwater U.S. open which she says was the more difficult part of the qualification process. In addition to her recapping the regattas, she also got into her backround and her long time goal of going to the Pan Am's and future campaigning towards the 2024 Olympics.  

Agustin Ferrario, or Aug as he's pretty much universally known, has coached everything from Optis to foiling Nacra 17's and everything in between. He is a former Canadian sailing coach of the year and was Sail Canada's youth squad coach for numerous youth world championships. He has most recently been appointed the Program Director of Sail GP Canada's weCANfoil program.  He still actively races professionally and continues to sail in everything from classic wooden sloops to foiling wasps and kiteboards.

Today on the podcast we have 49er sailors Will Jones And Justin Barnes. who just finished 4th at the US Open in Clearwater, good enough to qualify them to be nominated for the Pan Am games.  They are a new pairing, but both have a long history in the class as Justin was a medalist at the last Pan Am Games, and Will  went to the 2020 Olympics, both with different partners.  We spoke about how they came together, how the trials came down to the last race, and their plans for Olympic qualification. 

At the US OPEN: Clearwater, Rebecca Heller qualified Canada for a spot in the Pan Ams, and qualified herself to be nominated to the Canadian team!      We discussed the regatta as well as her sailing journey.  Starting the 49erFX to falling in love with foiling through sailing Waszps and now the iQFOiL windsurfer.  We got into future plans, the Pan Am Games prep as well as her dream of sailing at the Olympics!

We've got a new sidebar project in calling "Whitecap Regatta Reports. First up is the Clearwater US Open which was the Pan Am Games Qualifier. In this episode we're getting a report from Mac Morrin who qualified Canada for a position in Men's Kitefoiling, and nominated himself for selection at the games.  We talk about port tack starts in kiting, his comeback in the last day of racing, and balancing his life as a full time registered nurse with his racing and training

Trevor Parekh is a 5 time Canadian 49er champion, a foiling advocate and president of 49.ca, Canada's dealer for 49ers, 29ers and Waszps. We had a great conversation about  the current state of Canadian skiff sailing, SailGP, the weCAN foil program and how he built his business from selling line in the boat park to selling high performance dinghies.

Welcome to the Whitecap year end spectacular!! Counting down the top 7 stories of 2022 with Nova Scotia coach of the year and pro sailor Chris Watters!   The stories were determined exclusively by host Dave Cripton, using unscientific means and no journalistic credentials.    #7 Awarding of the first annual Whitecap Cup for diversity, equity and inclusion.  The awards go to Saskatchewan Sailing Association AND the Broader Reach program from Armdale Yacht Club.   #6 The class of 2022 Inductees to the Canadian Sailing Hall of fame   #5 The new Canada Offshore Racing team entering the world of short handed offshore racing. The program has with the goal of being the first Canadian boat to finish the Vendée Globe with skipper Scott Shawyer.    #4 The proliferation of the foiling scene in Canada, with foiling week in Halifax, team Zigzag in BC, and the Sail GP program.   #3 49er and Nacra 17 worlds in Hubbards NS    #2 Sarah Douglas's historic win at the Princess Sophia Regatta in Palma    #1 The formation and tremendous success of Canada's Sail GP team!

Today on the podcast we're talking about Canada Ocean Racing, a new Canadian Offshore team who will be competing in the Imoca Globe Series, leading to the most grueling event in the sport of sailing, the Vendée Globe, a solo non stop unassisted around the world race. My guest is Scott Shawyer, Canada Offshore Racing's founder and skipper, who will be attempting to be the first Canadian to ever finish the Vendee, with his sights set on the 2028 race

Judy Lugar and Morag McLean are legends in the history of double handed sailing in Canada as well as role models for sailors like me growing up in the Maritime provinces. In the 470 class they were 4 time Canadian champions, US National as well as North American champions. In 1986 they achieved the pinnacle of the sport, winning the 470 worlds.  They were recipients of 1987 Sail Canada female team of the year award, in 2006 they were inducted in the Nova Scotia sports hall of fame and this year, they are members of the 2022 class of inductees to the Canadian sailing Hall Of Fame.  We spoke about starting out in Nova Scotia, they're heartbreaking finish at the Canadian olympic trials, and jury rigging a boom vang before the final race of the 1986 world championships!  

Today we've got Isabella Berthold on the podcast!  She's a strategist and co pilot for Sail GP Canada. Her accolades as a laser sailor for Canada include female Sailor of the year, fourth at world youth championships world cup medalist, and Canada Games gold medalist. She's also a professional cyclist and sustainability professional. This was a great conversation covering mental health with athletes, balancing life as a professional cyclist as well as a pro sailor ailor and what it's like to drive an F50!

Ali Tenhove and Mariah Millen are our the 49er FX team from the Tokyo Olympics, and currently campaigning for Paris 2024. as a team they have a combined 12 years experience competing for Canada on the world stage, they both have Sail Canada Awards, Mariah having won the Marvin McDill Rookie of the year award and Ali the Bill Burke award for youth Elite sailors. Ali also campaigned for the 2016 games in the 470 with Ali Surette, qualifying Canada for the games but sadly not competing.  We talked about ovearcoming nerves, the tight competition with the Lewin Lafrance sisters and a great motto "Make friends, have fun, sail fast!"

Today on the podcast we've got Canadian ILCA 6 sailor, Clara Gravely. Clara is a member of the Canadian Sailing Development Squad, gold medalist at the Canada Summer Games in 2017, and winner of  Sail Canada's Marvin McDill award for Rookie of the year in 2019.  We talked about the Canada Summer Games, what inspires her dreams of sailing at the Olympics and using process goals over perfomance goals to acheive success and limit discouragement.  

Tom Ramshaw is a one of the most successful Canadian dinghy sailors of the last two Olympic cycles, competing in Rio 2016, winning Rolex Canadian sailor of the year in 2018 and placing 10th at Tokyo 2020, in Finns. In 2022 he switched to the ILCA 7 and in his first regatta with that class  in over a decade, placed 2nd and top Canadian at the US Open. He's currently an integral part Canada's Sail GP team as a jib trimmer and grinder. We talked about being part of the Finn's last Olympics, his new hobby of wing foiling and what it's like to go 85 km/h on the F50.

In a special quick turnaround Whitecap podcast, professional sailor and coach Chris Watters joins Dave to talk about Canada's 2nd place finish at Chicago Sail GP.  Chris's current program is called East Coast ILCA. @east.coast.ilca on instagram eastcoastilca.com

Sarah is a member of the Canadian sailing team, a Pan Am games Gold medalist, placed 6th at the 2020 Olympics in the Laser Radial which is the highest finish for any Canadian Laser sailor male or female in the history of the Olympics. She recently absolutely crushed the fleet at the World Cup in Palma winning by 31 points with a race to spare.  She and Dave talked about trusting the process over performance, how to increase inclusion and diversity in sailing and the incredible pressure of an Olympic medal race.  

In our premiere episode, Dave talks to SailGP Canada Skipper Phil Robertson as he heads into his third season on the SailGP circuit. They talk about putting the Canadian crew together in extremely short order, how match racing might offer sailors a different pathway to success and of course, what crashing an f50 feels like!