Prince Edward County is our back yard and the sailing conditions here are spectacular so it was an easy decision to start a regatta here.
It has become a world class destination in recent years although the locals always knew it was special. There are many non-sailing thing to do here but the highlights are the dozens of wineries, artists galleries and museums. Also the Sandbanks beach is second to none in Ontario. Here are some notable destinations.
Lake Ontario is the crossroads of the Great Lakes. To the east we have the St. Lawrence river and the Rideau Canal to Ottawa, and the Oswego Canal on the south side of the lake. To the west we have the Trent-Severn Canal which joins Lake Huron and Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario, and also the Welland Canal which joins Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. Sailing was once the mainstay of commercial activity in the area. The wind conditions here are excellent. The wind funnels down the lake with a 250km fetch and thermals build upon it. The 1976 Olympic sailing venue was in Kingston, at the eastern edge of the Around PEC course. www.cork.org
Americas Cup
- In 1881 the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club (BQYC) challenged the New York Yacht Club for the America’s Cup
- Club member Captain Alexander Cuthbert, one of the foremost 19th century yacht designers, designed, built and skippered the 78 foot yacht “Atalanta”. Cuthbert also designed and built the Royal Canadian Yacht Club’s (Toronto) Countess of Dufferin, the first Canadian challenger to the America’s Cup in 1876
- The Atalanta raced against the New York Yacht Club on November 9, 1881. Mischief, the defender, retained the Cup
- Following the race, the America’s Cup rules were changed; BQYC’s Atalanta was the last freshwater yacht to ever race in the America’s Cup
- In the past 150 years a total of 46 yacht clubs, world wide, have competed in a series of elimination races to earn the right for the winner to challenge the holder of the Cup.
- Of all these clubs, only 12 have made it to the finals. BQYC is one of these 12 Yacht Clubs, and thus has received a personal invitation from the Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron to race in the Jubilee Regatta
As such, Prince Edward County has a very rich maritime history. French and English explorers plied the waters as early as the 1600s. The French established a mission in 1668. The United Empire Loyalists arrived in the area after the American Revolution and the land was surveyed and given out in parcels by King Edward III. Prince Edward was the son of King Edward.
The Lore of the Marysburg vortex. The highest concentration of shipwrecks in the world.
Prohibition brought many people to risk their lives smuggling booze across to the states.
Geography
Prince Edward County is an island in Lake Ontario. The Bay of Quinte separates PEC from the mainland and was formed from glacial runoff from Lake Algonquin into Lake Iroquois which is now Lake Ontario about 8000 years ago. https://www.giantsrib.ca/shaping-the-escarpment/glaciation/