RNYC Canada Games 2025

The Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club (RNYC) is the official venue for Canada Games 2025 sailing events..

Team NL | Canada Games 2025 Sailing

Sail Canada in association with the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club is proud to present the Newfoundland and Labrador Canada Games sailing team for 2025. From left to right are Head Coach Chris Tully, Joel Smith ILCA6 , Ben McDonald and Alex Fitzgearld (29er male team), Annaka Spracklin and Annika Philpott (29er female team), and Team Manager Bethany McDonald.

Meet Joel Smith – ILCA 6, Team Newfoundland & Labrador

Joel Smith, 14, hails from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and sails out of the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club. With six years of experience on the water, Joel discovered sailing through a Facebook post and never looked back. What keeps him hooked? “It’s fun to compete at a high level and it’s pretty cool,” he says. But beyond racing, it’s the memories with friends that keep him coming back.

Coached by Darcy Butler and Chris Tully, Joel has competed in major events such as the ILCA Nationals, RNSYS High Performance Clinic, Spring Dinghy Regatta, and capped off 2024 with a 1st place finish at the End of Season Regatta. He’s also sailed in Halifax and St. Margaret’s Bay, sharpening his skills in a variety of conditions.

One of Joel’s biggest challenges came when he finished last at the ILCA Nationals, a tough moment that shook his confidence. “Talking to Coach Darcy about it helped me keep going, and now I feel more confident,” Joel reflects. His sailing role model is Jean-Baptiste Bernaz, the world-class French ILCA 7 sailor and Olympian.

Representing Newfoundland and Labrador at the Canada Games means a lot to Joel: “It’s a great privilege. Not many people get this opportunity, especially at a young age. I feel lucky, and I’m going to go with it.”

His goals for the Games are to race hard, learn lots, and build on his experience for future regattas. After the Games, he hopes to some day to compete at the ILCA Youth Nationals in Kingston, Ontario.

Outside of sailing, Joel enjoys mountain biking and basketball. His race-day essentials? Snacks, water, and his lucky sunglasses. His favourite conditions are 10–15 knots with gusts to 18–22. If he could sail anywhere in the world, it would be in Greece or Italy. After a regatta, any food hits the spot.

His advice to younger sailors: “Have fun and don’t be scared of the water.”

Building Toward 2025: Raising the Sails for Youth Auction a Great Success

Dear RNYC Members, Raise the Sails for Youth Sponsors, Attendees, Patrons, Donors, Sailing School Parents, Young Sailors and Friends:

A big SHOUT OUT to all those who participated in the RNYC’s inaugural cornerstone fundraising event on Saturday evening’s Raise the Sails for Youth Dinner and Auction. While we are still closing off the accounts, we have to date raised an incredible $148,698 for the RNYC Sailing Program. This includes eight boats donated from the "RNYC Founder Level" initiativese these funds, less expenses, will be kept in escrow and allocated 100% to support the RNYC Sailing School and to ensure our readiness for the 2025 Summer Games.

We had a full house on Saturday evening with over 93 participants jockeying on raffle tickets, silent, and live auction items – all in a total of 115 fabulous prizes were donated! The Halliday Family serenaded our guests as we kicked off the evening with a champagne reception compliments of Scott Giannou’s Beverage Barron. Thanks as well to the other beverages donations, Dandurand, Collingwood Spirits & Wines and Quidi Vidi, whose contributions certainly helped “grease the ways” of the pocket books throughout the evening!

We were delighted to celebrate our event sponsors: Our Bronze Sponsors - Black and McDonald, HI- Tech Scales Ltd, Ameil Constructors Limited, Wesco, and KMK; our Silver Sponsor - TPH Investments; and Gold Sponsors - Robert Decker Remax and Oceanex.

A very very special thanks goes out to the Patrons of the “RNYC Founder Level”. These boats will proudly carry the names of the “Founders” inscribed on their hulls and will lay the foundation to strengthen the sailing school training fleet and to build a team for the upcoming Games. It was my honour to unveil the names of the “Founders” and their Patrons at the Dinner on Saturday evening. They were as follows:

I thank my fellow committee members who delivered beyond our expectations Kris Drodge, Amy Drodge, Matt Miller, Chris Bragg, Heather Elliott, Kathy Evans, Lyndsay Miller, Gail Parnham and Kerri Wareham. Also thanks to the volunteers from the MUN sailing school, Zik, Robert, Myrah, Masoud, and Kendell as well as Morgan and Nathan. Also a big sweet thanks for the dessert Donations from Dough Bys, Alex of Birchies Donuts, Gail Parnham, Volcano Bakery, and David Hurst.

Of course, the night would not have been complete without the staging of the dining room, the Michelin Star meal prepared by Chef Tony and his talented team and the incredible staff of the RNYC for all of their dedication and support throughout the day and into the early morning – you were all outstanding.

Last but not least I would like to thank our Auctioneer Wayne Bartlett for donating his time and skill in support of our cause. Watching Wayne work the room was magical.

This Auction was the first of a series of initiatives by the RNYC Raise the Sails Fundraising Committee that will ready the RNYC and our RNYC Youth Sailing Center to host and participate in the 2025 Summer Games sailing event. For those of you that were unable to make the dinner, or were not successful in your silent or live auction - yet still interested in donating to the Raise the Sails for Youth, I thank you and encourage you to contact Kathy. We will gladly open the account for any and all donations.

Once again on behalf of our young sailors a heartfelt thanks – let the Games begin!

Sincerely,
Moya Cahill
RNYC Commodore

RNYC to Host 2025 Canada Games

On April 22, 2021, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador was awarded the 2025 Canada Summer Games. The Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club (RNYC) is again hosting sailing events for the Games.

Sailing has featured on every Canada Summer Games program since 1969 and, with the exception of 1973, featured events for men and women. Events for athletes with a physical disability were added at the 2013 Games in Sherbrooke. RNYC first hosted the sailing events of the Canada Games in 1977 and the 2025 Games continues a long RNYC history of hosting sailing and sail racing events.