The SWS Race Club is a group of racers who organize and participate in races at the Spit. By joining the club you can participate in local and international IKA and ISAF races. The annual membership dues are $35.  Click on the Race Club Info tab below to see how your dues are used.

To join the club just send an email with your name, email address and phone number to  SWS.Racing@gmail.com and let us know that you want to join and race with us this year.  Then, next time you see Chris Glazier or Don Campbell, you can give one of them your $35 dues.  You can also send, or email the dues, to them if you wish. You can click on the SWS Race Club Membership List tab below to see the paid up membership list.

See you on the race course.

    Race Club Info
    SWS Race Club Membership List

    The  SWS Race Club is affiliated with BC Sailing, Sail Canada, ISAF, CKA, and IKA. For all Squamish races and all other IKA and ISAF races in international locations, racers must be a member of a club like the SWS Race Club.  

    Please read further for explanations on:

    • Why the Race Club was originally formed
    • Affiliations with Local, National and International Associations
    • Where the annual dues are spent

    Abbreviations used, in the order they first appear:

    SWS – Squamish Windsports Society

    RC – Race Committee

    NOR – Notice of Race

    SI’s – Sailing Instructions

    RRS – Racing Rules of  Sailing

    ISAF – The International Sailing Federation

    PRO – Principal Race Officer

    SC – Sail Canada

    Racing at The Spit currently takes 3 forms:

    • Informal Racing
    • SWS Summer Series Racing
    • Canadian National Championships

    Informal Racing is when racers head out around some marks, usually starting without a RC.  There is no NOR, no SI’s, no set of rules, no timing, no protest procedure, no results.   This all works well because there are no trophies at stake and no prize money. It is all very casual. The races may not be fair at times, but it is still fun.  Racers manage to keep it safe by using some basic agreed upon rules, and they know the consequences of  a collision so try and avoid each other..

    At our SWS Summer Series, and our National Championships, we set marks, send out an NOR and SI’s, we have a RC, we “borrow” a set of rules, we time races, have a very informal protest procedure, and score finishes to produce results. We have managed to have good racing, and have been lucky enough to have some RC with experience, but we are lacking:

    • A set of rules we are allowed to use.  The rules we have been “borrowing” are the RRS, and Appendix BB, the Experimental Kiteboarding Competition Rules, produced and administered by ISAF.  Although we have “borrowed” these rules, we should not be using them, since we are not members of the organizations who make up and administer these rules. With a few exceptions our racers do not meet the criteria of  Rule 75.1 To enter a race, a boat shall comply with the requirements of the organizing authority of the race. She shall be entered by: a member of a club or other organization affiliated to an ISAF member national authority, such a club or organization, or  (c) a member of an ISAF member national authority  In order to keep everyone safe and playing on a fair playground it is beneficial to have everyone in the world using the same rules.  A lot of time and effort has gone into producing the Experimental Kiteboarding rules and we should consider supporting the organization that administers them.
    • A PRO race management official.  At our big event of the year it would may be helpful to have a PRO to help get out the NOR, SI’s and over see the race management.  There are people who specialize and have great experience in race management.  They are organized by BC Sailing, CYA  and ISAF.  Unless we are members we cannot ask for assistance or legitimately use their publications on race management.
    • Jury members.  Sailing judges make decisions on protests. They are also organized under the banner of BC Sailing, CYA  and ISAF.  Again, we need to be members in order to find judges for our events.  This can be very important when we have high level competitors coming to our events.  They want to see a fair system in place.

    So, the compelling reasons to join the various organizations is to help us provide racing that is:

    • Safe
    • Well managed
    • Fair
    • And run in a way the races are all over the world.  So, when our racers go to other venues they will know what to expect.  And when visitors race with us they will know what to expect.

    Many of us who have travelled to races in other places where the racing is anything but Safe, Well Managed, and Fair, because they lack the knowledge and are not affiliated with the organizations who administer racing.  Racing without proper rules and procedures can be very scary.

    The organizations involved are:

    BC Sailing Association

    • BC Sailing is made up of sailing clubs in BC. and administers sailing activities
    • BC Sailing has a provincial race coach, organizes the provincial judges and race management officials amongst many other things.
    • See their website for more information  http://www.bcsailing.bc.ca/
    • Clubs pay dues of $22 per club member per year to BC Sailing
    • BC Sailing  forwards $11 per club member per year to CYA
    • Since most kiters do not belong to a sailing club we could start the SWS Kite Racing Club and become members of BC Sailing.

    Sail  Canada

    • SC is made up of Provincial Sailing Associations and Sailing Class Associations.  SC is the national administrative body for sailing.  Part of what they do is publish the Canadian version of the RRS and run the national sailing team (racing). SC has national race coaching staff, organizes the national judges and race management officials,  oversees national and Olympic sailing and lots of other activities.
    • See http://www.sailing.ca/en  for more information
    • SC is funded through various government and corporate sponsor ships as well as the dues from the Provincial Associations like BC Sailing and class associations like CKA.
    • SC pays dues to, and is a member of ISAF

    The International Sailing Federation

    • ISAF is the world sailing administrative body.  They coordinate all the national associations, put on the highest level racing events, administer the rules, and a whole raft of other things.
    • See http://www.sailing.org/home.php for more information
    • IKA is one of the members of ISAF
    • ISAF is financially supported in part by memberships from National Sailing Associations like CYA in Canada, as well as International Class associations like IKA

    Canadian Kiteboarding Association

    • The CKA is a class association.  It represents the interests of kiteboarders in Canada.  This is a very new group formed in 2010.  At present it just provides a way for racers to compete in IKA events. In the future it is hoped that CKA will work on beach access issues and be a voice for any other issues that will come up for kiteboarding.
    • Contact for CKA is through www.facebook.com/CanadaKite
    • CKA is a member of IKA.  It is a requirement of IKA that each country have a kiteboarding association.  CKA supports IKA with a membership fee of 100 Euros per year. 
    • It is also a requirement of IKA that national kiteboarding Class Associations be members of the National Sailing Associations (CYA for us).  This costs CKA $100 per year.
    • Up until now a few of the racers and directors have paid the fees to CYA and IKA

    The International Kiteboarding Association

    • IKA is made up of all the National Kiteboard associations
    • IKA administers international competition for kiteboarding
    • See  http://www.internationalkiteboarding.org/  for more info on what IKA takes care of
    • IKA is the organization that spearheaded the successful drive to get kiting into the Olympics

    Memberships and Dues

    SWS Race Club as a venue for our racers to join BC Sailing, and CKA.  This also makes each racer a member of SC, ISAF and IKA.   The cost of membership is $35 per person per year.  This covers the $22 per person dues to BC Sailing and $13 per person to send to CKA.

    CKA needs to submit dues of $100 to SC each year as a class association.  CKA also needs to send about $140 to IKA.  Total CKA expenses are about $240. There are about 20 racers in Canada.   $13  from the 18 or so active SWS racers will almost cover these expenses.  The few racers from the east can put in a few dollars as well.

    With this system our racers will be able to race at any IKA/ISAF event, which is virtually every event in the world.

    Because we have new racers entering the game locally, they can always enter any informal racing at the Spit.  We also let them try out a race in the SWS series before signing up for the SWS Race Club and paying the dues.  It may be that some people will try racing and find they will not continue.  

    Paid Up Membership List as updated July 7, 2014

    Don Campbell
    Chris Glazier
    Stefano Rista
    Kyle Touhey
    Mark Leng
    Marcus Hooper
    Paul Sabiston
    Carl Campbell
    Colin Ernst
    Stan Tse
    Bret Wilson
    Grant Mounce
    Catherine Dufour
    Cory Lynam

    Members Who say they will be racing in 2014 but have not seen Don or Chris to pay the dues.

    Andy Wong
    Adam Vance