The 2018 Etchells Canadian Nationals was combined with the inaugural Hans Fogh Memorial Regatta. It was sailed out of the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, Hamilton, Ontario, which was the home club for Hans Fogh. The event included three classes that Hans sailed throughout his illustrious career including the Star, Soling, and Etchells. Thomas Fogh, Han’s son, commented about his father’s unique ability to communicate with many competitors to help them be more competitive and also noted that Hans won a silver medal in the Flying Dutchman in the 1960 Olympic games as well as numerous championships in all the classes he sailed. The event was sailed June 20-23, 2018 and included a variety of conditions on Lake Ontario. Kent Paisley led the pack on the first day with 11 points (2,5,2,2) followed by Paul Sustronk 12 points (3,3,5,1) and Jerry Wendt in third 13 points (5,1,3,4). The wind the first day 12-18 knots from the NW with the left side favored as Alan Leibel won the first race from the left. Day two brought more moderate conditions with three races being completed and resulted in a change on the leaderboard. Peter Shumaker won the day posting finishes of 1,2,2 followed by Alan Leibel scoring 2,3,1. David Leonard was third for the day with finishes of 3,1,5. The final day was greeted with thunderstorms and a postponement but one race was completed. The last race was won by Peter Shumaker, followed by Alan Leibel and Jerry Wendt in third. The over overall champion of the 2018 Etchells Canadian Nationals and Hans Fogh Memorial was Peter Shumaker (USA 1301) with 15 points, followed by Alan Leibel (Can 1247) with 18 pts, and Jerry Wendt (Can 968) with 26 pts. Next year the Hans Fogh will again include the Canadian National Championship and hopes to attract more participants from the Midwest and Canada.
