Erin Rafuse

Biography

Erin Rafuse has dreamed of representing Canada since she started playing sports as a child. She first joined the national team in 2009 in the Laser Radial, in which she competed at the world championships from 2009 to 2012, recording a top result of 56^th in 2012. Now the skipper of the 49er FX, Rafuse teamed up with crewman Dannie Boyd in anticipation of the boat class’ Olympic debut at Rio 2016. Her career highlight was winning the national title in 2014, the same year they finished 27^th at the ISAF World Championships and the second straight year they had cracked the top-30 in the world. In 2015 the duo competed at the Pan Am Games in Toronto and achieved a career-best world championship result with their 17^th place finish in Buenos Aires that also qualified the Canadian boat for Rio. They also posted an impressive 11^th place finish at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth and Portland, Great Britain.

Getting to Know…

Family: Parents Paul Rafuse and Melanie Kelly… Younger brother Ben… Getting into the Sport: Started sailing lessons at age 11 because her father was heavily involved in the sport… At age 12 she was invited to join the Canadian Optimist Atlantic Sailing Team which allowed her to race nationally and internationally… Outside Interests: Graduated from Carleton University in 2013 with a degree in Psychology… Enjoys watching bad TV, baking and outdoor activities… Odds and Ends: Sports idol is Clara Hughes… Says she needs five alarms to wake up in the morning… Always travels with her pillow and headphones…