Tuesday Night Racing

Carol Berry, Tuesday Night Racing. Oil, 16 x 20 inches. ©2008.
In the Toronto Outer Harbour, the wind often drops at the end of the day, as it had here for these unfortunate Tuesday night racers, a couple of summers ago. Dinghy racing was a way of life for me until my mid-twenties, so painting this familiar scene was very nostalgic for me. I grew up in a small town on Lake St. Louis near Montreal, Quebec. I spent every summer day of my childhood on the water, learning how to race and later while in university I spent my summers teaching sailing at the same yacht club. 
I now have a small sailboat, a pretty little Mirror Dinghy with varnished wood and colorful red sails. Although the nothing compares to the inner peace I feel while on the water, I am too busy to commit to a season of racing. Besides, last summer it rained so often that I only had one opportunity to get out on the water. I honestly think that the major role of sailing in my life has been is to give me something to dream about while waiting out the long Canadian winter.