When sailing is in your blood, it is there at an early age and it remains for a lifetime. Both Judy Lugar and Morag McLean, who became the first Nova Scotia females to win a world sailing championship in 1985, got their starts as youngsters. “I bought a Sunfish when Judy was eight and she loved it,” recalls Judy’s father, Tony Lugar. “All three of our children took sailing lessons, but Judy had the greatest passion for the sport,” adds mom, Rexanne, a past president of Sport Nova Scotia. Judy’s competitive sailing career began with Sunfish racing at the St. Margaret Sailing Club when she was 9. She moved into Laser racing in 1974 and by 1977 was chosen as a member of the National Women’s Sailing Team. She held the National Women’s Single-Handed Sailing Championship from 1980-82 and again in 1987.

Morag shares a similar story. “All of my five children went to sailing lessons,” says Morag’s mother, Agnes McLean, former executive director of sailing and badminton at Sport Nova Scotia, “and some liked it more than others.” Morag was one of the children that loved it. She began sailing at the Bedford Basin Yacht Club in a Cadet, a small two-handed dinghy. At 16, she convinced her father to lend her the money to buy her own boat, a Laser 2. She raced it on the local circuit and competed in two women’s nationals prior to sailing with Judy. The two were each racing with other people when they decided to join forces. They put together a campaign in the 470 class after the Canada Games of 1985. While their personalities clicked, they did encounter some challenges. Morag had to teach Judy how to communicate during the races because Judy was used to being a single-handed sailor. Also, neither had ever sailed a boat as complex as the 470. Although it was relatively easy to sail, it was very difficult to keep at full speed. The duo was surprised when they earned a spot on the national team in June 1985 in their first 470 North American event. After coming first at the national qualifying regatta in 1986, Judy and Morag won the World Sailing Championship in Salou, Spain, making them the first women from Nova Scotia to claim a world title in sailing.

“We were just thrilled,” says Tony of his daughter’s win. “It’s really quite something, quite emotional.” Agnes echoes that sentiment: “It was great, but a lot of hard work.” Judy and Morag came first at the national qualifying regattas again in 1987, 1989 and 1990. In 1987, the pair won the Canadian championship, followed by the US National championship in 1989 and the North American championship in 1990.

They were named Nova Scotia Yachting Association Sailors of the Year in 1985 and 1986. In 1987, they were named Sport Nova Scotia Team of the Year, Nova Scotia Yachting Association Team of the Year and Canadian Yachting Association Women Sailors of the Year. Judy lives in St. Margaret’s Bay with her husband and nine-year-old son. She is a neurology physiotherapist at the Nova Scotia Rehab Centre site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre. She also has a private practice and some research contracts. As an occasional sailor now, Judy enjoys cruising on the family keelboat and owns a laser that’s in storage. She is the director of the junior sailing program at the St. Margaret Sailing Club and also judges at local and international events. Morag lives in France with her husband and two children. She teaches English to business students at the Université de Technologie, part of the Université de Bretagne Sud, and is also the academic dean for first year students. Although she has not done much sailing in the last few years, Morag has recently started dinghy sailing with a colleague and some students.

Bio courtesy of  Kelly Skinner