A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch . Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared artificial ice.
21-582: The Stu Sells Toronto Tankard , also known as the Stu Sells Tankard , is an annual bonspiel , or curling tournament, that takes place at the High Park Club in Toronto , Ontario . The event is held in a triple-knock out format, but was held in a round-robin for many years. The tournament is sponsored by Stu Sells, a local real estate company, and is part of the "Stu Sells Series" or events, which includes
42-595: Is held at the High Park Club in Toronto , excluding 2023 when it was moved to Barrie under the name Stu Sells Tankard. The 2015 event was a flash point in the Broomgate scandal, as it featured teams using Hardline icePad versus teams using the Balance Plus Black Magic heads, the latter of which were debuted at the event. The effectiveness of the Balance Plus brooms was so strong, that it was noticeably damaging
63-510: Is one of the few in New Zealand to have conditions suitable for outdoor curling, and is also a fitting site for the sport given that Otago 's original European settlers were mainly from Scotland. Several artificial and natural lakes around the towns of Oturehua , Naseby and Patearoa provide good conditions, on average every second or third year. The national bonspiel has been held when conditions permit since 1879, with Oturehua's Idaburn Dam
84-399: Is possible from the shore and by boat. To the south of the loch lies Ben Vorlich , a steep sided pyramid shaped peak. At 3,232 feet (985 metres), this is a popular climb and the views from the top are spectacular. Just east of Lochearnhead, on the south side of the loch, is Edinample Castle , built by 'Black' Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy in 1584. Further east is Ardvorlich House, home to
105-555: The Dunedin Ice Stadium ), and in the towns of Naseby, Otago and Gore, Southland , and also further north in the country's largest city, Auckland . Open air ice rinks exist in Naseby and Alexandra . A cashspiel is a bonspiel played for money, and a carspiel is one played for the prize of an automobile. There are different types of cashspiels, some are small, with prizes in the hundreds of dollars, and others are quite sizeable, with
126-686: The Royal Caledonian Curling Club 's own pond at Carsebreck Loch in Perth and Kinross served by the society's own private Carsbreck railway station . Dozens of bonspiels are held in European countries every year. Switzerland hosts multiple Curling Champions Tour events. Curling bonspiels are held when ice conditions permit in the Maniototo , part of Central Otago in the South Island . The region
147-603: The Stu Sells Oakville Tankard , the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic , and a number of other junior and local tour events. The men's event became a World Curling Tour event in 2011, but was later discontinued after the 2019 edition. The women's event became a World Curling Tour event in 2016, but was also discontinued in 2020. Both the men's and women's events are also part of the Ontario Curling Tour . The event
168-537: The Black Magic heads back for the final. Team McEwen refused, and so the final featured the two teams and the rival brooms in action. The game, which lasted seven ends, ended up taking 3 and half hours, more than an hour longer than normal, as the McEwen rink had to "clean up" the ice after every Team Howard shot due to the damage the Balance Plus brush heads were doing. Ironically, it was this damage that ended up ruining one of
189-906: The Howard team's shots, resulting in the team losing the game. The 2020 event was held at the KW Granite Club in Waterloo, Ontario , as the High Park Club had yet to open for the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto . Bonspiel Curling Canada , formerly known as the Canadian Curling Association, is the national governing body of the sport in Canada. While bonspiels originated in Scotland ,
210-474: The Stewarts of Ardvorlich from 1580 (rebuilt in 1790). Loch Earn is unusual in that it has its own apparent 'tidal system', or seiche , caused by the action of the prevailing wind blowing along the loch. This wind pressure on the surface causes the water level to build up at one end of the loch. As with all damped mechanical systems , applied pressure can result in an oscillation , and the water will return to
231-590: The United States are held indoors in dedicated curling facilities, but a few bonspiels are held outdoors if the weather allows it. One example of an outdoor bonspiel is the Sawtooth Outdoor Bonspiel held each January in the Sawtooth Mountain Range of Idaho. Bonspiels are popular throughout the United States during curling season, typically October through April. Some special bonspiels are held in
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#1732942188267252-463: The ice. Teams got so upset that they were forced to make a "gentleman's agreement" mid-way through the event to stop using either brush head so that the conditions were fair. However, when the Balance Plus sponsored Glenn Howard rink made it to the finals against the Hardline sponsored Mike McEwen rink, Howard gave McEwen an ultimatum: either stop using the Hardline brush heads for good, or we will bring
273-562: The most important cashspiels being part of the World Curling Tour (WCT). Many local curling clubs and other organizations in Canada also host casual, social bonspiels indoors, and a few are also held outdoors like the Ironman Outdoor Curling Bonspiel in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba . The United States Curling Association (USA Curling) is the national governing body of the sport in the United States. Most bonspiels in
294-639: The most notable competitive curling tournament in the world nowadays is the Canadian Men's Curling Championship, The Brier . For many Canadians, this tournament equals or nearly equals the importance of the Olympics and the World Curling Championship . The Canadian Women's Curling Championship is called the Scotties Tournament of Hearts . Several Cashspiels are played in Canada every year, with
315-408: The opposite end of the loch over time. In the case of Loch Earn, this has a period of 16 hours and the effect can be measured, but is difficult to observe. The resulting currents can create complex turbulence patterns, as higher layers of warmer waters mix with the lower lying colder waters of the loch. Other bodies of fresh water which experience this seiche effect include Lake Geneva , Lake Garda ,
336-440: The rewards running into the tens of thousands of dollars. Possibly from Dutch bond "league, association" + spel "game". Loch Earn Loch Earn ( Scottish Gaelic , Loch Eire/Loch Éireann ) is a freshwater loch in the southern highlands of Scotland, in the districts of Perth and Kinross and Stirling . The name is thought to mean "Loch of Scotland ", and it has been suggested that this might derive from
357-441: The summer as well as some that are hosted by clubs that play on arena ice as there are usually fewer scheduling conflicts with other sports at the area such as hockey and figure skating. In Scotland, outdoor bonspiels are now very rare; most lochs that formerly hosted bonspiels, such as Loch Earn , rarely freeze over anymore. The Loch of Aboyne was the site of a bonspiel in 1891 and the private railway station, Aboyne Curling Pond
378-451: The time when the Gaels were expanding their kingdom of Dál Riata eastwards into Pictland . It is a long narrow loch, 10 miles (16 km) west of Crieff and is approximately 7 miles (11 km) long, 3 ⁄ 4 mile (1.2 km) at its widest point (56.38N, 4.22W) and at its deepest point (approximately halfway along) about 285 feet (87 metres). Lochearnhead village is situated at
399-515: The venue since 1932. The most recent national bonspiel, the 66th, was held on 13-14 July 2015. Most New Zealand curling clubs are located in Otago , Canterbury , and Southland , and owing to the difficulty of getting teams to the relatively inaccessible venue, it is rare for teams to travel from outside the southern South Island to the bonspiel. Indoor curling rinks exist in Otago's main centre, Dunedin (at
420-532: The western end of the loch and St. Fillans village at the eastern end. From here, the River Earn flows eastwards from the loch, through Strathearn , and eventually joins the Firth of Tay some 50 miles (80 km) away. Lochearnhead is the centre for the water sports activities on the loch; water skiing , canoeing and sailing . The loch is also stocked regularly with brown and rainbow trout and fishing , by permit,
441-552: Was used for the event. The word spiel is sometimes used to refer to an informal curling game, as in parish spiel . The most important Cashspiels in Scotland are part of the Curling Champions Tour (CCT) The Grand Match was last held outdoors in 1979, although it was revived as an indoor tournament in 2000 and has been held every five years since. Between 1853 and 1935 twenty-five 'Grand Matches' or bonspiels were held at
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