Canada was within a boat length of capturing a podium finish at this year's World Military Sailing Championship held in Victoria earlier this month.
The Finnish crew was the overall winner of the five-day Regatta with first and second place finishes in 10 of the 16 championship races.
The Italians came in second overall and the American crew featuring world champion Doug Kieler took third place – just two points ahead of the fourth-placed Canadian team.
“Technically we sailed a great race,” says Captain Warner Monteiro of Ottawa, a crew skipper for Canada’s national team. “
We competed against world-class athletes who weren’t prepared to settle for anything less than a win and we did our best to prevent them from accomplishing their goal.” This elite event is sanctioned by the Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM), an international sporting organization founded in 1948 to foster peace by using the playing field to build good relations between national military forces.

CISM is one of the largest sporting organizations in the world and is composed of 122 countries. It is the first time Canada is hosting the Sailing Championship in the event’s 36-year history. “We’re extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to host an event of this stature,”
says Lieutenant-Commander Larry Trim, the Regatta Organizing Chairman.
“The caliber of these crews is second to none and the competition was fierce.”
"It's a high point for us being able to compete in Canada" says Lieutenant(N) Peter Lawless, coach of the Canadian team.
"While we have gone to other events to show our flag overseas this time we had the chance to bring the world to us."

The Regatta Organizing Committee added some Canadian flair to the event by selecting racing boats designed and built in Vancouver. The host country has the right to choose the boat and to ensure that no team has an advantage each boat is carefully inspected and equipped with sails cut from the same design. "The goal was to make sure that all crews are competing on a level playing field," says Principal Race Officer Paul Ulibarri.
"Everything was done to ensure the fairness and crew skill was the determining factor."
While Captain Monteiro admits his crew benefited from being more familiar than other teams in the Martin 242 racing boats. But he added -Our advantage was short-lived as the rest of the pack came up to speed within a couple of races."