Skippers' Guide
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Photo Credit: Lorne Kelly, Carnwood Photography
HISTORY OF CHARLOTTETOWN RACE WEEK
Charlottetown Race Week has deep roots in the community. Charlottetown has hosted a popular mid-summer July regatta in various forms for over 180 years, since at least 1843.
On his website, Harry Holman describes the July 1843 "Charlottetown Regatta" that had a lot of the features of our modern Race Week. Like today, the Regattas back then were the highlight of waterfront life in Charlottetown for sailors and people ashore.
The Hillsboro Boating Club operated a popular Regatta at Charlottetown as far back as at least 1874, following the rules of the Royal Halifax Yacht Club. Like today, the 1874 Regatta attracted "fast boats from various towns and settlements on the coast". A grandstand was erected at Connolly's Wharf. During a week of festivities they held a public dance in the Drill Shed, a Grand Ball and a Concert. Over the years, commercial fishermen and professionals have competed in various regattas at Charlottetown along with weekend sailors.
In 1983, Gordon Millar, CYC Commodore was planning CYC’s participation in Quebec’84, the celebration of the 350 year anniversary of the founding of Quebec. The CYC’s part of this celebration involved the “Challenge Labatt Canada”, a 350 mile sail boat race from Toronto to Charlottetown. The “Challenge” was officially organized between 10 identical C&C 35’s crewed by sailors representing their respective province. When the month-long race started in June from Toronto, there were 23 competitors, then on the final leg of the “Challenge”, from Shediac to Charlottetown, there were over 100 yachts and 1,000 crew racing to invade Charlottetown Harbour and the CYC. See Harry Holman’s history of the Challenge Labatt at: https://sailstrait.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/a-friendly-invasion-from-the-sea/.
To keep the momentum of keel boat racing at the CYC, Commodore Hambly and his executive launched the modern annual Charlottetown Regatta and Race Week in 1985, with boats participating from clubs around the Maritimes and as far away as Ottawa. And the rest is history!
Charlottetown Race Week has deep roots in the community. Charlottetown has hosted a popular mid-summer July regatta in various forms for over 180 years, since at least 1843.
On his website, Harry Holman describes the July 1843 "Charlottetown Regatta" that had a lot of the features of our modern Race Week. Like today, the Regattas back then were the highlight of waterfront life in Charlottetown for sailors and people ashore.
The Hillsboro Boating Club operated a popular Regatta at Charlottetown as far back as at least 1874, following the rules of the Royal Halifax Yacht Club. Like today, the 1874 Regatta attracted "fast boats from various towns and settlements on the coast". A grandstand was erected at Connolly's Wharf. During a week of festivities they held a public dance in the Drill Shed, a Grand Ball and a Concert. Over the years, commercial fishermen and professionals have competed in various regattas at Charlottetown along with weekend sailors.
In 1983, Gordon Millar, CYC Commodore was planning CYC’s participation in Quebec’84, the celebration of the 350 year anniversary of the founding of Quebec. The CYC’s part of this celebration involved the “Challenge Labatt Canada”, a 350 mile sail boat race from Toronto to Charlottetown. The “Challenge” was officially organized between 10 identical C&C 35’s crewed by sailors representing their respective province. When the month-long race started in June from Toronto, there were 23 competitors, then on the final leg of the “Challenge”, from Shediac to Charlottetown, there were over 100 yachts and 1,000 crew racing to invade Charlottetown Harbour and the CYC. See Harry Holman’s history of the Challenge Labatt at: https://sailstrait.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/a-friendly-invasion-from-the-sea/.
To keep the momentum of keel boat racing at the CYC, Commodore Hambly and his executive launched the modern annual Charlottetown Regatta and Race Week in 1985, with boats participating from clubs around the Maritimes and as far away as Ottawa. And the rest is history!
Videos over the Years...
2018 East Coast Docks Charlottetown Race Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZxpyKo6rgU&feature=youtu.be
2015 Charlottetown Race - Pat Martel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASLSbM-xoMk
2010 Charlottetown Race Week Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mak8aDrar_s
1991 Charlottetown Race Week - Those were the days, viewer discretion is advised!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQdpjWLEo44Don
2018 East Coast Docks Charlottetown Race Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZxpyKo6rgU&feature=youtu.be
2015 Charlottetown Race - Pat Martel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASLSbM-xoMk
2010 Charlottetown Race Week Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mak8aDrar_s
1991 Charlottetown Race Week - Those were the days, viewer discretion is advised!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQdpjWLEo44Don
WE ARE A GOLD LEVEL CLEAN REGATTA - HELP US KEEP IT THAT WAY!
Thank you for joining us for Charlottetown Race Week! We are a striving to be a Gold Level Clean Regatta with Sailors for the Sea for the third year in a row. This means implementing a number of sustainable best practices. We kindly ask that you help us with these efforts by:
Thank you for joining us in the race for a healthy ocean!
Thank you for joining us for Charlottetown Race Week! We are a striving to be a Gold Level Clean Regatta with Sailors for the Sea for the third year in a row. This means implementing a number of sustainable best practices. We kindly ask that you help us with these efforts by:
- Bringing your own reusable water bottle.
- Participating in the clean-up.
- Properly disposing of your waste in the correct bins.
Thank you for joining us in the race for a healthy ocean!
Charlottetown Race Week is proud to announce that we have joined the race to restore ocean health with Sailors for the Sea’s Clean Regattas program. Protecting our local waters is very important to this regatta and we ask for your help in this effort. To learn more about this initiative visit http://www.sailorsforthesea.org.
Weather:
