BY JENNIFER HOEGG
Kings County Advertiser/Register
Kings County’s Aylesford Lake is home to a special collection of sailboats: Canada’s only fleet of National One-Designs. Not long after plans for the sloop rigged 17-footer were published in the January 1937 issue of The Rudder magazine- designed by Snipe creator Bill Crosby- boats splashed into lakes in North America and Europe. By 1939, four wooden NODs were on the lake; three of which still sail today.
Described by the National One-Design Racing association as “a thoroughly modern, well balanced boat that is a joy to sail” the boats remains popular 70 years later, especially on inland lakes. More than 1000 are on the water today; more than 20 will compete at the NOD world championship regatta July 29 to August 1.
The lake played host to a Canadian championship’s in 1940 and the AYLC picked up the annual event from 1974 until this past weekend, but this is the first world regatta for the lake.
Aylesford Lake sailors’ love affair with NODs’ beauty began in the 1930s. Once fiberglass hulls allowed for mass production, more locals joined in the fun. After ALYC formed in 1969 numbers and, in 1976, NODRA fleet status was gained, even more hulls arrived and so did friendly competition.
Ken Sanford and Stewart Bishop have sailed on the lake since the late ‘30s.
“I’ve sailed Nationals since I was a kid,” Bishop says. “So I haven’t sailed many other boats to compare it.
“Nationals have a fairly tall spar, a fairly large jib and a tall narrow mainsail and an inboard rudder. This is the advantage making it very maneuverable. It’s very responsive; it does require someone with quite a bit of strength to hold the jib.”
Bishop can recall the history of each boat in the lake’s fleet, beginning with the first wooden hulled NODs built in Wolfville, Greenwich and New Minas by Robert Bishop (#95), Paul Davidson(#109), George Boggs (#182) and Barney Bishop (#214).
“I think they collaborated a lot; they were working back and forth, comparing notes,” Bishop says.
The four boat builders began a lasting tradition on the lake. More locally built boats followed, with Robert Stirling and Kenny Cavanagh adding fiberglass hulls to the local fleet in the 1970s. Fibreglass NODs weigh in at at least 400 lbs; wooden hulls are heavier, but Bishop says the older boats are “still competitive in our fleet”
Only one of the original Aylesford Lake NODs, #214, will remain on dry land this summer. She sits in Ken Sanford’s shed, not seaworthy, but too sentimental a vessel to sell, he says. There was sailing on the lake in the 1930s when Sanford spent summers in one of the lake’s first cottages; there were Sunday races with a shotgun start just like today, but boating dried up during the war. When he bought #214 NOD in the late 40s for $100 “it was the only sailboat out there and I was hassled by the motorboats.
“I sailed it around the lake for a year or two as a pleasure boat,” Sanford recalls. Races began again with a little friendly sport between n his boat, the Bishops’ #95 and the Stirlings’ #183. “On that particular day, we picked a place on the lake to race up to and back, then tied up to share a jug of cider.”
Sunday races began anew, with a growing group of sailors competing and socializing together. By the late 1960s, Sanford says there were more than 20 boats of all classes on the lake. Land was acquired from Scott Paper, walls from a surplus Aldershot building and members’ time and money built the Aylesford Lake Yacht Club.
Today, members sail their NODs and other boats off the club’s dock and race every summer Sunday. Kids five to 18 from the area train through the club’s Learn to Sail program- creating the next generation of sailors on the lake.
Sanford, whose grown children still sail, could give the juniors some advice on racing. “Get to know the quirky things of the lake, like the wind shifts along the shore. Figure out how the wind gives an advantage and watch the lee around the islands.”
NODs are a great boat for those wind shifts. “It’s a good boat for lakes,” Bishop confirms. “It’s too bad the boat hasn’t caught on more. It’s a sign of the time; it’s like cars- everyone thinks the new ones are faster or jazzier, but really a boat is a boat.”
Having more than 15 boats of the same design on the lake makes for exciting competition, he says. Two dozen on the lake for the world regatta will be “quite impressive.
“The advantage of it is the boats are basically the same, so there is a competition between the skippers, not the boats.”
“It becomes a matter of who is the smarter sailor; there is luck in it and being able to judge wind shifts, particularly on inland lakes.”
In his 70s, Bishop is still a sailor and plans to compete in the world races. “I’m going to be sailing, how many races I get in, I don’t know.
“It will be a real test of stamina having two regattas like this on two weekends. I’ll have to sleep quite a bit in between! It’s quite a physical sport.”
Hosting the world
The ALYC has planned fun filled days and nights for sailors and guests alike; barbecues on the club beach, excitement on the water and even an evening of entertainment for all to enjoy. Organizers have high hopes the lake will provide the winds it is known for to test the skills of competitors.
Racing begins at 10 a.m. July 30 continuing throughout the day, with a break for lunch at the club and ending with a chicken barbecue for sailors and visitors. A second full day of races July 31 wraps with hip of beef supper and live entertainment on the beach for all. One more morning of races August 1, rounds out the weekend regatta, with a closing and lunch to follow.
For more information, visit www.aylesford-lake-yacht-club.ca and www.nodra.org.
