Nikola Girke and Luke Ramsay dream of reaching the
2016 Rio Summer Olympics and it got a major push Friday night at the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
This is when they held a fund raising event to raise the much needed funds for their journey and I can say it was well attended with friends and supporters.
Nikola and Luke are hoping to put their stamp on attending the games in the summer of 2016 in Rio de Janeiro in the sport they love in raising the required funds as Olympic athletes to attend the games.
Both Nikola and Luke got their start in Vancouver out of the
Eagle Harbour Yacht Club and world class in the field of their sport and the idea of the two sailing together was born on the end night of the London games in 2012 for the newly inducted Nacra racing boats class to be introduced in the 2016 games in Rio.
Together they are one of the top tandems in the world in the class of wind sail racing in tandem racing in catamarans and something completely new to both of them.
Their overall dedication in the sport allowed them to quickly rise as one of the top North American teams in their first year together seeing them finish 19th in 2013.
As they pushed each other faced with injuries and setbacks, Ian Andrewes has worked with them this pair of athletes and their hard working coach
Nikola and Luke have been on a upward trajectory storming to the front of the of their fleet.
Crowned North American champions in February this year and then following it up in a world cup event in France taking home a race win and finishing 9th overall.
Leaving them in top form as they strive to qualify Canada for an Olympic berth this July at their World Championships.
Nikola got her start out of the Eagle Harbour Yacht Club and is an esteemed racer in her field becoming an avid windsurfer while attending UBC.
There she received her Bachelors of Human Kinetics where she began to race boards then moving to Maui to “hone her skills” some more.
Nikola was asked to crew in the women’s 470 class that finished 13th at the
2004 Olympics in Athens setting her dreams on windsurfing.
The realm of the Olympic dream of competing in the 2008 and 2012 reaching her dream of attending the Olympics representing Canada for her would be a dream come true.
Given the drive and work ethic she displays that are unmatched in the sailing world allows her to be the best she can be in her field and that alone is her goal.
Luke unlike Nikola began in the sailing program at the
Royal Vancouver Yacht Club which specialized in single-handed boats allowing him to make his appearance on the International scene in 2006 at the World Youth Championships in the Laser Class.
Upon completing his Engineering degree at UBC in 2010 he officially started sailing in double-class and quickly rose through the ranks and qualified for the
2012 London Games in the 470.
An amazing transformation as Luke showed true dedication to his goal by losing 50 pounds and learning an entirely new class just 18 months after the Olympics it is the dedication and hard work that he begins to every part of his life.
The idea of Nikola and Luke sailing together came to realization at the London games, but not until the end of the London games as the newly created Nacra 17 class was introduced.
This class would officially set “sail” in the 2016 Olympics and this class is an a fast cutting edge design sailed by one Male and one Female.
This would be the opportunity to showcase and amalgamate their talents with Luke as one of the best skippers as the helmsmen and Nikola taking the demanding role of the “one person crew”.
Both of these two great athletes have accomplish their goal of representing Canada in Rio in 2016, but they need YOUR help, to which several come to mind.
One such way to offer or show your support to help them realize their dream is with that of any domination of dollar value donation.
It’s not easy to fund an endeavour such as this and costs incurred are as followed.
- Boat Gas for a day $50.00
- Team Accommodation (per night) $100.00
- New Jib $700.00
- Flight to Europe $1500.00
- New sail $2500.00
- Title sponsor for our team to go to go Rio 2106.
These are only a few on the ways in which you can offer them your support and Sportswave encourages you to get involved and show your support for these two Canadian Olympic Athletes.
