Anyone driving along the Rothesay Road on Aug. 8 or 9 should see quite a sight.
The Rothesay Yacht Club is hosting a regatta, bringing 60 to 70 sailors to the area.
David Wells, the chair of the club’s regatta committee, said they are actually hosting two events.
“The first is what’s called the District One ILCA Championships,” he said.
ILCA used to be known as Laser.
“We’re drawing people in from all across the Martimes, Ontario, Quebec.”
The second event is the Rothesay Yacht Club’s annual circuit regatta, which includes Optimist Prams and 420s.
The big event is the ILCA championships.
Wells said that type of boat has been around since the mid-1970s and is raced in the Olympics.
He said it’s the kind of event that could help put young sailors on a path to such a goal.
“We’ve got some race teams coming in from Nova Scotia and other parts of the country,” Wells said.
“This is a great event for potential future Olympians.”
A team of volunteers has been working on the logistics to have the two events run along the Kennebecasis River, including a race committee boat that leads the events and other boats to mark out the courses.
Of course, there’s one important element that could mean the difference between successful races or not.
“As long as we have wind, I don’t care if it rains or if it’s sunny,” Wells said. “We need wind.”
The forecast as of Friday afternoon was for winds of about 10 km/h with gusts to 15 on Saturday, along with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Sunday’s forecast was for about the same, with slightly stronger winds.
Spectators will have lots of opportunities to catch a glimpse of the racers if they’re along the shore of the Kennebecasis River.
“If you can find a vantage point to see the river along the Rothesay Road, you’re probably going to see something,” Wells said.
Races are scheduled to begin between 10:30 and 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and each race takes about 30 to 45 minutes.
Wells said the club is hoping to host more events in the future.
