The first National Capital Regatta (NCR) was held at the Britannia Yacht Club on July 26 and 27, 1957.   In 2010, the NCR will be celebrating its 53rd year and will be held on the 14th and 15th of August.

For many years, 15 or more classes competed. These classes included everything from sailboards to large keelboats, as well as Lasers (all fleets), Y-Flyers, International 14s, 5o5s, Bytes, Lightnings, 420s, Optimists, Cygnus, Albacores, Catamarans in various sizes, Sharks, Kirby 25s, etc. All one-design classes are welcome; Contender, Finn, Moth.  Five boats consitute a class.  Fleets with less than five entries sail in a handicap class using Portsmouth number ratings. 

The aim of this Regatta is to bring together the novice sailor and the well-seasoned racer in an atmosphere of friendly competition and camaraderie.

In recent years, in order to attract more youth and junior team sailors, we have moved this Regatta to the weekend preceding the CORK Youth Festival in Kingston.   The NCR is considered by many to be a great training opportunity for competitors prior to moving to Lake Ontario for CORK.  During most Regattas there are three separate courses, with the possibility of as many as six classes on each course.

The record for the maximum number of entries was set in 1975, when 231 boats competed in the NCR (last year came close with 226 boats). The record for the largest fleet of any one class is held by the Lasers, with 106 entries one year (there were 101 in 1998). There have been competitors from the east and west coasts of Canada and everywhere in between, also New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Bermuda, Greece, and all over the United States.