Friday, January 13, 2012
4pm - 9pm

$100 per person (advance sales only)
To purchase a ticket, click here.

Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place
Toronto, Ontario

Attend The Premiere Night Of Canada's Largest Boat Show!

• Come experience the Toronto International Boat Show in a truly unique & magical way
• Celebrate the boating lifestyle while visiting over 550 marine exhibits
• Surpass your expectations with an amazing way to shop the show
• Support charities with 100% of the evening's proceeds being donated
• Incredible value! $100 ticket price includes:
• Preview of the entire show without large weekend crowds
• Food and bar stations throughout the show floor (delicious cuisine, three drink tickets per person for beer and wine)
• Live musical entertainment
• Live auction
• Over 100 silent auction items
• Free General Admission ticket to return to the show any other day (January 14 - 22, 2012)

Since 2000, the Special Preview Night has raised more than $560,000 in the past 10 years for boating-affiliated charities.

To date, The 2012 Charity Recipients are:
Ontario Sailing: Able Sail, Access BOOM Program
Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund

Top Live Auction Item!! Pride Marine Group and Chaparral donate H20 18Sport

Life just took a major turn for the better. Imagine Chaparral style, innovation, quality and reputation at a sticker price of $22,979*. And that price includes the trailer. Amazing. The bottom-line is we did the value guys one better in every way, shape and form. MerCruiser power delivers stout wakeboard pulling power, efficient midrange and enough top-end to venture where ever your favorite compass leads. Incorporating DNA from our award-winning SSi Series, the 18 Sport offers unmatched style in this price range. The boat simply looks, feels and runs better than you ever thought possible at this length and price.

Meet & Greet Canada's Boating Olympic Athletes

Marnie McBean
Speaker, mentor and broadcaster, Marnie McBean uses her experiences working on, and with, seven Canadian Olympic teams to motivate, inform and inspire others. With three gold and a bronze medal from Olympic rowing competitions, Marnie McBean is Canada's most successful Summer Olympic Athlete. After her 15-year career with the Canadian Rowing Team she is now a specialist in Athlete Preparation and Mentoring with the Canadian Olympic Committee. She uses her experiences and adventures to mentor Canadian athletes competing in Summer and Winter Olympics. London 2012 will be her eighth Olympic Games.

Marnie is currently finishing her first book. After the overwhelmingly positive feedback that Marnie received from athletes of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Team as their Team Mentor, she decided it was time to share her stories with a wider audience. Every competitor, be it in sports or business, will glean valuable lessons from The Power of More, which will be published in May. McBean has a degree in Honors Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario as well as three honorary doctorates. (Western, Laurier and Mount St.Vincent). The Governor General has presented her with the Meritorious Service Medal and she is a member of Canada's Sport Hall of Fame. Marnie is an ambassador for Right to Play, and Plan Canada's Because I am a Girl initiative.

Tyler Bjorn
Tyler Bjorn was born into a family bred for sailing excellence. Tyler's father sailed for Canada in the 1972 Olympics; his brother, Kai, crewed for Ross MacDonald at the Sydney 2000 Games.

Tyler Bjorn started sailing at the age of 12 and jumped right into a single-handed Laser boat when he was 15. It was way back then that he became fast friends with his current sailing partner, Richard Clarke. As a linebacker/defensive end on the top ranked Canadian university football team (Bishops University) during the early 1990's, Bjorn juggled his college football commitments while holding down his spot on the Canadian Sailing Team. He sailed the Finn (Single-handed, heavy-weight class) with success from 1993 through 2000. After a hiatus from elite sailing, Bjorn put together his dream team. He persuaded his lifelong friend, Richard Clarke, to sail with him in the Star boat (Double-handed, heavy-weight class) at the 2009 Star North Americans. Clarke's father also sailed in the 1972 Olympics in the Finn class.

Clarke and Bjorn, were not only competitive at this event, they placed 2nd overall. Based on their success, they decided to pursue a modest Star campaign in 2010. Their modest campaign posted tremendous results including winning the 2010 Star Western Hemispheres in Nassau and placing 3rd in the 2010 Star European Championship, the largest regatta in the Star Class' history to date.

Satisfied with their first year of Star sailing together, Clarke and Bjorn purchased a new boat and committed to a full-time Olympic campaign. That investment has proven to be very lucrative having just recently qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Bjorn currently lives in Montreal, QC with his wife, and two children.

Michael Forgeron
Michael Forgeron is from the fishing village of Main-A-Dieu on Cape Breton Island in the Province of Nova Scotia. He is 2-time Olympian and a member of the Gold medal winning Men's eight at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Michael has also competed in the Commonwealth Championships, the World Student Games, and the Pan-American Games winning Gold, 2 Silver and Bronze medals. He is an inducted member of the Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and Canadian Amateur Sport Halls of Fame.

Michael lives in Mississauga with his wife Kimberly and 9 year old daughter Hannah.

Oskar Johansson, has been sailing all his life. He started to race on his own, when he was 14 in the Laser at the Oakville Yacht Squadron. In 1996 he was the first member to join the Royal Canadian Yacht Club's High Performance Team. In 2001 he switched classes to helm the Olympic Tornado. Oskar went on to place 15th finish at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece and 4th at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. He is also a Pan American Games Gold Medalist in the Sunfish. His breakthrough result was winning a silver medal at the 2008 Tornado World Championships. In 2011 Oskar was the Canada's Cup winning helmsman on the Farr 40 boat Vincere.

Oskar graduated from Queens University in 2002 with a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics. In 2002, Oskar co-founded the Nathan Cowan Memorial Fund (www.nathancowan.org) and is currently a member of the Canadian Yachting Association's Athlete Development Committee. He is a founding partner of Podium Developments.

He is currently lives in Toronto with his wife, Crystal and newborn son, Tor.

Hans Fogh

Born in Denmark to a family of gardeners, the young Hans Fogh was expected to continue with the family business. Fogh apprenticed in his father's greenhouse for five years, but he spent summers at his aunt and uncle's cottage which is where he fell in love with the sea and discovered the joys of sailing.

Fogh bought his first boat when he was 17 and, two years later, claimed his first championship at Copenhagen. He soon after took a job with Olympic and World Champion sailor Paul Elbstrom, from whom he learned the intricacies of sailing and the art of sail making.

Fogh quickly excelled in his sport. In 1960, he won the European Flying Dutchman title as well as a silver medal at the Olympics. He claimed additional Flying Dutchman titles at the 1962 World Championships and the 1964 Kiel Week Regatta. Fogh continued to claim sailing titles at regattas across Europe until his immigration to Canada in 1969.

The Canadian sailing world rejoiced when Fogh gained Canadian citizenship in 1975 and qualified for the national sailing team in 1976. He led the Canadian team to glory at numerous international sailing championship events over the next two decades, mainly in the Soling and Flying Dutchman classes. His greatest victory came at the 1984 Olympics when he skippered the Canadian boat to a bronze medal in the Soling class. The 24-year span between his first and second Olympic medals stands as an Olympic record.

Known as one of the finest yachtsman of his era, Fogh was ranked among the world's top ten competitive sailors. In all, he claimed three World Cups in the Soling class, eight North American, six European, and four Canadian titles in various classes of boats. He won more titles than any other Canadian sailor, was a member of seven Olympic teams, and was one of the only sailors in the world to excel in three of the seven classes of Olympic yachting.

In addition to these competitive feats, Fogh is skilled in the craft of sail making. His sail making company, North Sails Fogh Limited, created the original laser sail, which put Canada on the map as a supplier of yachting equipment.

Adam Kreek

A self-described "positive realist," Adam has spoken to over 100,000 people across North America on topics of leadership, teamwork and change management.

After a disappointing loss at the Athens Olympic Games of 2004, he powered his way to a gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. During his 13-year rowing career, Adam won over 60 medals, 27 in international competitions, with 43 of these being gold medal or first place performances. Adam was named Athlete Leader of the year at the 2010 Canadian Sports Awards, a lifetime achievement award presented to an individual who has provided outstanding contributions to sport as a leader advocate, change agent and builder.

Immensely involved in his community, Adam is an elected member of the Canadian Olympic Committee Board of Directors and Athletes Commission, where he promotes the benefits of sport across a broader Canadian society. He is an Ambassador for Right to Play, an international non-profit organization that uses play to rehabilitate youth in disadvantaged regions of the world. He is a Board Member of Clean Air Champions and speaks to groups across Canada about the benefits of taking care of human and environmental health.

Adam also serves on the Board of Directors of the Island Biodiesel Coop and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the BC Biofuels Network. He is a Big Brother, a Team Power Smart Leader with BC Hydro, and a representative of Act Now BC. Adam is also a spokesperson for Whitehall Spirit rowing boats and clubs, and an ambassador for the Robert Bateman Get to Know Program, an organization that connects hundreds of thousands of young people with nature through direct, hands-on and cutting-edge educational initiatives.

A loving husband and proud father, Adam lives in Victoria, BC and Ottawa, ON.