Over the past several months Sail Canada has received many requests about Kite Foiling across Canada. While endorsed by World sailing as a new class it has not yet been endorsed by the IOC, and details have yet to come on what the event format will be like. Having said all of that Sail Canada will be moving forward with the following program for 2020.
In anticipation of inclusion at the 2024 Olympic Games, the Sail Canada High-performance team has made the following priorities for 2020
1/ Sail Canada will run two four day open camps in 2020. The first camp will be held in Kingston, Ontario, either before or after the FORK regatta, (date TBD) and the other to be held on the west coast before the St FYC kite regatta (August 2-6).
2/ In addition Sail Canada would like to see a Kite Foiling Canadian Championships and will invest in a coach for this event if it fits on the event calendar. We are inviting expressions of interest to potential hosts of this Regatta. Priority will be given to venues that can not only host the camp but also run a two-day regatta at the conclusion of these camps.
2/ Sail Canada will also nominate a 2021 Canadian Sailing Youth Squad in the Kite class (U20). Applications will be accepted to attend the Youth Squad Trials Camp which will be held in October 2021 in Canada (location TBD). Successful athletes will then be invited to the CSYS training camp (January 1-7, 2021 (Florida).
3/ Sail Canada is now in the process of selecting the 2020 National Qualifying Regattas for integration into the 2021 Canadian Sailing Development Squad and the Canadian Sailing Team. The National Qualifying Regattas will be determined by early March and will be posted on the Sail Canada website by March 31t, 2020. For more information on these teams https://www.sailing.ca/team-qualifications/ . Please note this is not the document for the 2020 team selection process but it will give you an idea of what it means to be on the teams.
4/ Sail Canada will provide coaching support at the 2021 Miami Olympic classes regatta in January of 2021 subject to the Kites being included in the event.
5/ Sail Canada will host two women in Kites initiatives in 2020 (dates and times TBD)
The Sail Canada High-Performance team is excited and looking forward to building the foundation of a successful, sustainable Kite program in Canada. While we work with a limited budget we believe the above will be a good start to Olympic medals in the future.
For more information please reach out to us. Through open conversation and dialogue, we can create a formidable country in this new class.
Mike Milner- High Performance Director mike@sailing.ca
Ken Dool – National Performance Coach ken@sailing.ca
Katie Yeo- High Performance Manager katie@sailing.ca
Lisa Ross- Canadian Development Squad Coach lisa@sailing.ca
