Hello world! Your 2016 albacore.ca Promotions and Communications guy here.

For those who don’t know me, the name is Graham. Welcome to your new Albacore home base on the web that we’ve been crafting in recent weeks.

I landed in this auspicious role mostly (I think) because the last couple years I discovered Toronto’s J-Town club, fell in love with the place, and then started writing about it as J-Town’s Communications rep. Along the way I also discovered the emoticon :).  Some people seemed to dig what I wrote, and one thing leads to another, and now here we are at albacore.ca. And we’re about to go on an adventure.

It’s the “one-thing-leads-to-another” bit in that last statement that, for me, bears fleshing out. A board vacancy opened up for someone to handle the communications/website/promotions part of the CAA’s business. “Nothing much to it really,” they told me. And I have trouble saying “no” when friends ask for a favour, so next thing I know I’m wearing this new hat.

The thing is, I’m relatively new to the Albacore world (3 years now and completely enamoured, with a last-place finish at the North Americans to show for it 🙂 ), so the last couple months I’ve been getting introspective and analytical. I’ve been trying to broaden my slightly insular perspective on the Albacore world and the CAA. I’ve been thinking hard.

What I’ve come to is this (and I believe it’s very important)….

The Albacore isn’t the boat. It’s the community.

Without getting too deep about it, here is the thing. For a couple years I figured I was a club guy. I’d discovered a club, and I sailed my boat at my club, and life was good. On further reflection though the reality is, as much as I’m a club member, I am also an Albacore guy.

I love my club, and that’s where I get my Albacore fix, but there’s something bigger going on.

We who sail Albacores are a community. We find a club, we learn the sheets, we sail, we socialize. For some of us that’s all on the grounds of one club, and it is social and educational, recreational and/or competitive. In short it is awesome. Like meeting new lover. Whose family is cool. And they own a sweet cottage no less 🙂 And parts of the relationship aren’t even monogamous. We can sail Lasers and Cats too!

And for some, that lover opens our eyes to the world. We race that first away regatta and it’s a trip to a new country, a new culture. Or we hit up a neighbouring club’s summer party and it’s like a whole new cuisine we didn’t know existed. Ours isn’t the only club on the strip at all!

Turns out people who sail Albacores know people who sail Albacores, and they’re cool too. Some live just down the road. Some in distant parts of the country. Some even get together for meet-ups at Internationals every couple years.

No matter where you find yourself in the community, if you think about it you can’t help but realize how amazing it is. With the least bit of effort, the Albacore community opens up. It’s embiggening. It’s rich with rituals that bring us together. We share stories, and food, and drink. We entertain and teach each other.

But… On reflection… If there is one weakness in this amazing Albacore community, it seems to me to be this…

We could better share our stories and our friends.

How so, you ask?

The Albacore, with its awesome clusters of fleets, is dispersed across Canada (and even the world). Some of these fleets grow, while some contract. There are cycles. Our meet-ups are too infrequent. And sometimes, even in places like Toronto’s Outer Harbour, we lose track of what the neighbours are up to. We can even lose track of what our friends and club-mates are up too.

All these amazing sailors, and amazing stuff happening all over the country and in our own backyards, but so much of it passes us by. Like Albacores sailing in the night 🙁

So now here we are, you and I, having ruminated these last few minutes, in a way, on the “Albacore state-of-the-union.” Enlightened, to an extent. And it is what is it is, as the old saying goes.

Which brings me to the adventure, mentioned above, paragraph 3…

It is true that we could carry on keeping on, much as we have, and things would continue, one assumes, much the same in our world. There would be those of us who fall in love with the Albacore, and some who drift away. Good regattas and less good. Boats will be built, but how many?

It’s my great hope that, with some little effort in the right direction, there will be many more Albacore lovers than leavers. And therein, the Albacore community achieves new heights.

With this little observation, and a bit of creativity, great things are to come. This is to be the beginning of an invigoration. The Albacore community is set for growth. We stand at the brink. More students in our classes. More boats on the start line! More friends! More lovers!

For 2016, with your help albacore.ca and the CAA will be better than ever. But how, you ask? What more can you give? The answer, we believe, is simple. We need you to tell us your Albacore community stories. Share your adventures. Just minutes a week is all it will take. Do this, and you help us make albacore.ca a destination. A place to meet your neighbours. To renew old friendships. To absorb sailing and Albacore culture. We want to know what makes your club so freaking fantastic. We want a 20-year member of TISC to tell a buddy from HBSC about that unbelievable thing that new member did out in Shelburne.

We call this endeavour RAW FISH. You, telling your stories. Quick and dirty, sharing the love and excitement.

Foremost, we want you shooting video. Tell us about your club. Capture what’s going on. Recap the latest races. Show us the new CANSails rigging up. Introduce your local legends. Got a killer tuning tip? Get creative.

Post your best clips to our Youtube channel (we’ll tell you how soon). Drop by the new albacore.ca for the latest, plus community race results and standings, Shackles & Cringles, and much more. Willing to broadcast a live Periscope feed, or Twitch, to show off your local events? Tweet it out and the community will share your highs!

The Albacore community – its core – are among the most dedicated community members there are. I’m looking at you, sailor.

For the love of Albacore, let’s tell our legends! This will be big.

RAW FISH 2016!