Isabel Spence, 17, and Megan Aparicio, 17, of Meaford, represented Canada and Sail Georgian Bay Sailing School (SGB) of Meaford, at the recent 2026 RS Aero North American Championships, held at Cedar Point Yacht Club, Westport, Connecticut, on October 8-11, 2026.
The SGB team (Sail #1987 – Spence; Sail #3953 – Aparacio), expertly manoeuvred through many challenges of the sea, as conditions at times presented driving rain, two-metre waves, and wind gusts exceeding 25 knots. They raced side by side, over ten races with world champions, and captured 5th place for Isabel and 6th for Megan, in their class.
Forty-eight competitors representing Canada, the United States, Italy, Ireland, Colombia, Bermuda, and Poland competed during three days of exhilarating competition. Isabel and Megan have spent many years training and becoming certified instructors at SGB. They were thrilled to have competed at the international level while representing Canada and Meaford at this North American competition.
Sail Georgian Bay Sailing School will be bringing the RS Aero sailboat into their fleet in the spring of 2027, offering youth and adult training and racing programmes, in addition to their popular CANSail instruction programmes. Designed and built in the UK, the Aero is a very fast, modern, carbon-fibre, single-handed racing dinghy that holds official World Sailing Recognized Class status, and is raced extensively in Europe.
“North American Aero racing is rapidly expanding and Sail Georgian Bay is excited to begin offering Aero training and racing opportunities to local sailors next summer,” said organizers.
Sail Georgian Bay is a not-for-profit, Sail Canada certified sailing school, run by community volunteers, located at Meaford Harbour.
