After a great Tasar North Americans at Jericho Sailing Centre last year, the Tasar fleet was eager to return to English Bay for the 2025 BC Championships. Twenty-one boats showed up, a recent record, including six boats from Seattle.

The following article was submitted by the Northwest Tasar Fleet.

Saturday, September 6, was pleasant and the light easterly breeze slowly died, but not before two hard fought races. In the up and down conditions, no team was able to put together two good races, and it was basically a six way tie for the lead. The crews had a nice debrief on the terrace of Jericho Sailing Centre in Vancouver, enjoying the afternoon sun and new friends.

Fortunately, the wind showed up on Sunday, as did the 21 Tasar teams with all sorts of sailors, from novices to Olympic champions, siblings, parents, young and old. The broad appeal of the Tasar was evident in the diversity of crews. A newly energized Seattle group has been training hard—largely under-30 sailors—and the Vancouver Tasars have been getting good attendance at weeknight racing. Who would have the upper hand? The unknown was Thilo Geise, the enigmatic 10-time winner of the BC Champs. Could he come out of retirement again, sail with some family member, and win?

Conditions were perfect on Sunday, 8-16 knots of shifty easterly. Miles Williams and Farzana Mohamedali came out swinging, with a win in Race 3. Seattle’s Jonathan and Libby McKee are also on the trophy, and they showed it in Race 4. Then the newest team in town stepped up and won Race 5, Leif Hauge and Yuli Betebitsky of Bellingham, with the Giese family right behind and closing fast. Then the Giese’s won the next heat!

With five different race winners, the racing was very tight throughout the fleet, but the top group was especially competitive. Yet there was little yelling and no protests all weekend. Every overlap was hard fought, and the puffy and shifty easterly proved challenging, even for the top teams. Who could step up in the last two races and win the regatta? Showtime…

For Race 7, the fleet arrived close together at the first top mark and two reaches with intermittent planing followed. Somehow the McKees went from seventh at the top mark to a healthy lead at the bottom mark. They won the race and took the series lead. Then they won the next race too, showing why they are five-time World Champions. But there was an epic battle in the next group throughout the final race, with the outcome of the final places determined on the last run to the finish.

Thilo came from behind and finished second in the race and the series. Alyosha Strum-Palerm and Abbie Chipps had to settle for third after a solid regatta. The young upstarts from Bellingham ended up fourth, with Miles and Farzana rounding out the top five. Carissa Block and Jackson McKoy battled all regatta with Payne Donaldson and Kenna Reed, with the former winning by a point. Audrey Jacobs and Nils Watkins also had some good moments. Overall a great showing by the Seattle fleet and some new faces at the top!

Everyone agreed it was a competitive yet really fun event. Vancouver is so beautiful when the wind shows up, and Jericho did a great job with the racing and organization. It was fantastic to see the Tasar group in good health, with a mix of younger sailors and veterans, and a healthy dose of community and information sharing. Little known fact: The boat Libby and Jonathan sailed was 42 years old! The group is talking up the upcoming Tasar North Americans at CYC Shilshole Sept. 27-28, and looking ahead to the next Tasar Worlds is in Okinawa, Japan in June 2026.

For more details, visit jsca.bc.ca

Photos by Dominque Labrosse courtesy of Jericho Sailing Centre Association.