Jr Worlds Gold fleet and top Canadians!
Thank you for selecting me as a recipient for the ADF fund this past season.
We are currently in Risør, Norway for the 2019 49er Junior World Championships. My brother, Sam Bonin and made our transition to the 49er class this past winter and this is our first test regatta against our European and international competitors of the same age.
We fought hard for 5 days of racing and ended 23rd of 53 boats in Gold fleet and placing top Canadian boat! I had been battling a horrible flu for the past three (3) days racing in wavy 18-22 knots. Our daily goals were to complete our races and stay upright. We did not come across the world to rest for the flu, our bodies had to be pushed past our breaking points.
In the final series, we got into a big collision with another boat as the right-of-way boat. A protest and redress would allow us to make up our races for the next day but unfortunately, Sam pulled his ankle during the collision. We are proud of our first international 49er performance because while we can not tangibly measure our progress with results, we know that we gave our full effort and that we will continue to improve.
The support of the ADF fund from all the RCYC members has been essential in covering travelling costs all over Europe for our recent regattas. Without your support, we would not be able to represent Canada and the RCYC at these major regattas and be able to make our future Olympic dreams come true.
Please follow us @BoninSailing on Facebook and Instagram!
Thank you,
-Will Bonin