Radio controlled sailboats race at Strathmore Lakes

By Jacob Miller Times Reporter

The Calgary Model Sailing Association was at Strathmore Lakes July 19 to race their sailboats around the lake.

Club president Andrew Baak says the club comes to Strathmore Lakes because it is a beautiful location to sail and that it is almost perfectly designed for model sailboats.

“The lake is perfect for us, it’s long north/south with the prevailing wind from the north, and the people are friendly,” said Baak.

Another reason the club comes to the lake is because the water is clean and there are barely any weeds in the water, which is good for the boats meaning they will not get caught up. 

This iteration of the club has been around since 2004, with a previous club running from 1996-2002. The club currently has 35 members, but on race days they usually get 15 who race on the weekends.

The club rotates the location of the race every week, from High River to Strathmore. 

Mark Verrey, a member of the Calgary Model Sailing Club, has been with the club for a few years now.

“A friend of mine a few years ago liked sailing and he knew that I used to sail large boats like Laser One, Laser Two and stuff like that, and he said he just joined a club and he asked if I wanted to come along for a look,” said Verrey. “I found out that these quite large radio-controlled boats are basically miniaturized versions of an American Cup boat.”

Because the boats are mini versions of actual sailboats, the club follows the same rules as if they were sailing actual sailboats. The boats follow a circuit on the water marked out by buoys. The race begins with everyone trying to get behind the starting line. They have a minute to do that, then the race begins. The circuit is quite simple, from the starting line to a marker a few feet away, the boats then have to make a clockwise or counter-clockwise turn around the marker. They then go to the next marker, then the next, and so on, till they cross the starting line again. A race usually lasts a couple of minutes, depending on the difficulty of the course and the strength of the wind.

The weekend races are held just for fun, but the club also hosts an annual event.

“We host an event once a year, it’s called the Blenders (regatta), and we actually have an old blender that’s been painted silver,” said Baak. “We’ve been doing that sort of thing since the beginning.”

The regatta brings in quite a few people from all over, including as far away as Vancouver and even the U.S.

“This year we’ll only be able to do it as a one- or two-day thing locally, so no out of town guests,” said Baak.

In the future the club would love to host a large event like that in Strathmore.

“We really enjoy the hospitality of Strathmore, and hopefully we can continue to do this,” Baak added. “We hope one day host a larger event and if we do, we’ll probably host it here if the city allows us.”