Canadian sailor and sailmaker Ed Botterell has died at the age of 93.
Ed grew up in Montreal and sailed at the Royal Saint Lawrence Yacht Club.
He represented Canada at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan and continued to compete in a variety of different one-design classes.
In 1968, Ed began his sailmaking career joining Ted Hood at Hood Sails to open the Canadian loft in Kingston.
Ed bought the sail loft from Ted in 1978, left Kingston and moved the Hood loft to Toronto.
In 1991, Ed left Hood and changed his loft to Doyle Sails, running it with his wife Garlyne until 2002 when she became ill.
Ed continued selling sails and servicing Doyle customers.
Among many other Canadian sailing endeavours, he was a strong advocate of the Nonsuch sailboat classes, making sails and offering advice along with designer Mark Ellis.
Yacht builder
Ed was also instrumental in putting C&C Yachts – formerly Cuthbertson & Cassian – on the map as a leading racing yacht builder.
C&C Yachts was a builder of high-performance fiberglass monohull sailboats with production facilities in Canada, Germany, and the United States.
The company was founded in 1969, and at the peak of its market success, the company supplied 50% of the Canadian market and 20% of the US market.
Ed logged more than 45,000 ocean racing miles over the course of his life, notably at the Fastnet race, at five Marblehead to Halifax races, at six Bermuda races, as well as at 13 SORC circuit and six Key West series events.
“On behalf of the Sail Canada community, I would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ed Botterell,” said Kate MacLennan, chair of Sail Canada’s board of directors.
“Ed’s passion for sailing took him to the 1964 Olympic Games. Beyond that, as a sailmaker, he was a key part of the Canadian sailing scene for over 50 years sharing his passion with countless Canadian sailors young and old.”
