Canadian sailors redesign Lake Ontario race courses to avoid U.S. waters (again)
Survey indicates 20% falloff if racers must go beyond Canadian waters
Canadian sailors have decided that the Lake Ontario Offshore Race Committee will alter all race courses to be run exclusively in Canadian waters during the 2026 sailing season, according to a newsletter shared with Shifting Gears.
This is the second year of the restriction, announced last year as having been made for the “safety and security of all our races” and to honor concerns of its racers.
Terry Kuehn, chair of the Lake Ontario Offshore Racing, told me on Wednesday, Jan. 21, “We had expected a drop in registration (in 2025) but we actually ended up slightly higher, which was surprising and encouraging.”
The race course alteration is not intended to discourage Americans, he said.
“We don’t want it to be a political statement. Our sole focus has been around maximizing the number of boats participating,” Kuehn said. “What drew our attention to it last year was, when we set our typical race courses, we started getting all these emails about not competing — and that included long-term racers.”
An estimated 500 participants sail in Lake Ontario races annually, Kuehn said. U.S. sailors come mostly from upstate New York, though sailors from throughout North America do participate. On average, 60-80 boats compete in each race with generally 3-4 crew members per boat, Kuehn said.
More younger sailors raced in 2025; one race had 30% first-time registrants.
American sailors invited
“We love our American friends and racers and we’d really love to see them come up and see them compete in our events,” Kuehn said. “If they could come join us, that would be terrific.”
Lake Ontario Offshore Racing Organizing Authority said in its update, “This decision is a continuation of the approach adopted for the 2025 season and, as before, is based entirely on feedback received directly from our racing community through a comprehensive racer survey.”
The 2026 survey produced “clear and compelling” results:
Nearly 20% of respondents indicated they probably would not, or definitely would not, participate if race courses included U.S. waters.
When asked about racing exclusively in Canadian waters, only 1 respondent out of 88 indicated they would not race.
“These results demonstrate that Canadian-only courses significantly maximize racer participation and strongly support maintaining this approach for the 2026 season,” the newsletter said. “These decisions are guided by our commitment to safety, accessibility, and maximizing participation across all events. This decision reflects those priorities and is based solely on the survey data provided by our racers.”
The Lake Ontario Offshore Race Committee Organizing Authority, which is based in Mississauga, Ontario, said it remains committed to delivering high-quality offshore racing and fostering an inclusive, international racing community on Lake Ontario.
Volunteers from yacht clubs throughout the Great Lakes make up the Lake Ontario Offshore Racing group. It runs races out of the Port Credit Yacht Club south of Toronto in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
In 2025, the decision created a lot of buzz in the sailing community that included heated exchanges on social media from some Americans who viewed the decision as a political play that has no place in sailing. Many voiced support for Canadians.
2026 race schedule
The decision will impact these 2026 races:
The Susan Hood Race, scheduled for May 29-30, is an overnight race held since 1955. It starts at night in Port Credit and goes to Burlington, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, and back.
Lake Ontario 300 Challenge, scheduled for July 10-14, is a 300-nautical mile race covering the length and breadth of Lake Ontario.
Lake Ontario Short Handed Racing Series involves six races that range from 20 to 100 nautical miles; from Lake Ontario crossings to overnight sailing. They’re scheduled for May 31, June 27, June 28, August 15-16, Sept. 19 and Sept. 20.
Tim Prophit of St. Clair Shores, past commodore of Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit and Detroit Regional Yacht-Racing Association, received the email because he participated in Lake Ontario Offshore Race events in 2025.
“Some people think it’s an overreaction and some people think we’re at war. I have a lot of Canadian friends. Any discussion of politics is not allowed on my boat ever,” Prophit told me a year ago.
“I just think it’s a sad state of affairs, the bull**it in Washington and the response from Canada,” Prophit said. “Honestly, I don’t blame the Canadians. We’re being, um, non-diplomatic. Let’s put it that way. I hate to see it come down to this.”
On Wednesday, Prophit said he doesn’t know if Canadian sailors are genuinely fearful of something bad happening on U.S. waters but honoring survey results is important.
The latest letter to Lake Ontario racers said the race course decision will be re-evaluated again in 2027 with hope of returning to full-lake racing in the near future.
More than 150 boats compete in long distance races on Lake Ontario during an average summer season, Kuehn said.
After the race course decision was announced in 2025, sailor James Roscoe wrote in a social media post to Lake Ontario sailors, “I am one of the many who sees too many unknowns to be willing to race into or through US waters. The unpredictability of the situation and the seriousness of the potential consequences make the risk, however small some might judge it to be, a totally unacceptable part of a friendly sporting event.”
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Thanks for the current state of sailing on our big beautiful waters!
In a few years, we’ll all be celebrating the return of normalcy, brotherly love with (Oh) Canada!
P S: No offense Canada, but the Red Wings are in first place!!!
Thanks for covering the topic of sailing and this race series, and for doing it honestly and respectfully.
As a Lake Ontario racer in the LOOR and LOSHRS (shorthanded) series, I applaud the decision to take a potentially big variable out of the equation. A pragmatic approach was taken based on actual racer feedback, not rhetoric from armchair political pundits that would never race on Lake Ontario. No one is being excluded.
I, for one, look forward to adding back a weekend race to Youngstown Yacht Club in NY. I attended many of the famous (infamous?) Youngstown Level Regattas in the 80s, 90s, and 00s...and lost some brain cells while there. And that was the first regatta I did with the woman who is my wife of 30+ years. She is also my doublehanded partner and mast/foredeck for crewed racing.