2021 Lake Ontario Offshore Racing Season starts this weekend with the 31st LO300 Challenge and the 4th LO600 Challenge
July 08, 2021
Keep your eyes on the north shore of Lake Ontario between Mississauga and Kingston this weekend for the first race of the 2021 Lake Ontario Offshore Racing Season.
Taking place since 1990, the Lake Ontario 300 (LO300) is a 300 nautical mile (NM) course on Lake Ontario, starting outside the entrance to the Port Credit Yacht Club on Saturday, July 10 at 10:25 EDT. The race allows solo, double-handed, and fully crewed keelboat racers to compete in one of the great offshore sailing races on Lake Ontario. The Lake Ontario 600 (LO600) allows participants to complete the course again for a total of 600 nautical miles (NM). The LO300/600 Challenge is a Category 4 Event under the World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations and open to monohull and multihull sailboats that meet the eligibility and entrance requirements and are 20 feet LOA or greater.
This year’s courses consist of the 300 NM Main Duck Course and the 192 NM Scotch Bonnet Course and comprises a racing fleet of 65+ sailboats from over 20 Ontario and Quebec clubs. To meet Public Health Guidelines the race will be solely in Canadian waters.
“It is truly great to see so many racers out to compete. Due to current public health conditions this year’s races are again solely in Canadian waters and the fleet only includes Canadian clubs,” stated Monica Doedens, Chair of the Lake Ontario Offshore Racing (LOOR).
“With sailboats taking multiple days of non-stop sailing to complete the races, LOOR believes details are in-place for an exciting race. The winds are currently forecasted to be from the east and light at around 6-8 knots for the start on Saturday, but picking-up to between 15-20 knots on Sunday and Monday, making for some ideal sailing conditions.”
Outside communication with shore is allowed and each sailboat may communicate with any person, competitor, sailboat, or outside source for weather or other information using any means available throughout the race. Due to the long-distance nature of the LO300/600 Challenge, for safety reasons all sailboats are also equipped with a YB Tracker – friends and fans can keep track of their favorite racer using YB Tracking at the following link – https://yb.tl/lo3002021.
Race First Warning is at 10:25 EDT Saturday, July 10 at the LOOR Start Area (43º 33.41’ N 079º 32.90 W) in the western-end of Lake Ontario, just outside the Port Credit Yacht Club (PCYC). The Race itself will be along the northern shore of Lake Ontario towards the Ajax Weather Buoy (NOAA Station 45159 – 43º 46’12” N 078º 58’48” W) with the Scotch Bonnet Course racers rounding the mark located on a small island south-west of Nicholson Island (43º 53.97’ N 077º 32.55’ W) and the Main Duck racers continuing further and rounding the mark located off Main Duck Island (43º 55.02’ N 076º 40.52’ W) in the east-end of Lake Ontario. Once rounding their respective marks, all racers return towards the the Ajax Weather Buoy and then towards the Burlington Weather Tower (43º 16.22’ N 079º 45.56’ W) with the Finish at the PCYC Finish Mark (43º33.62' N 079º33.22' W).
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For those fans wishing to compete virtually…Lake Ontario Offshore Racing (LOOR) welcomes Sailonline again, this time for the first virtual LO300 race. As its name suggests this is a 300 nm course - as above - covering the entire Canadian side of Lake Ontario, from and back to Port Credt YC and is our second outing on Lake Ontario with our Beneteau/First 36.7s, so...make it count! The course this year remains inside Canadian waters as the border with USA is still closed to non-commercial traffic (U.S. waters have been declared an obstacle in the real race).
Our first race with Sailonline saw 79 competitors finish the Virtual Susan Hood Trophy Race. This time the Virtual LO300 will run at the same time, over the same course, as the on-water participants. Register for free at Sailonline.org.
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Lake Ontario Offshore Racing (LOOR) of the Port Credit Yacht Club (PCYC), is dedicated to bringing the offshore sailboat racing experience to Lake Ontario. This is accomplished with its running of the Lake Ontario 300/600 Challenge Races (LO300/LO600), including the Solo Challenge, the Susan Hood Trophy Race (SHTR) and the Lake Ontario Short Handed Racing Series (LOSHRS) offshore sailboat races. This is augmented by LOOR’s educational series throughout the Lake Ontario basin and promotion of other activities related to offshore racing. A key focus of LOOR is the safety of offshore racing.
For more information regarding Lake Ontario Offshore Racing please visit loor.ca
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