JSA instructors in 500 mile catamaran race

Two JSA instructors will be competing in the Tybee 500 this week, which is a 500 mile catamaran race from Key Largo, Fla to Tybee Island, Georgia.

The 500-mile route is shown at www.tybee500.com/waypoints and daily updates from May 11- 16 are at http://www.tybee500.com/

The team consists of Morgan Kellogg (head instructor at Indian Harbor YC) and his classmate at Colgate, Tyler Burd (coach at Riverside YC). They have their own team website at http://www.mooseburd.com/

195 Optimists on the Severn River in Annapolis

Nearly 200 kids from around the country sailed Optis out of Annapolis YC at the foot of the Eastport Bridge on May 1.

The US Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) 2008 Team Trials, the most competitive junior regatta in the country, is taking place May 1-4 out of host club Annapolis YC .

Junior sailors aged eight to 15 have flocked to the Sailing Capital for this international qualifying event, which is the first major USODA regatta Annapolis YC has hosted for 10 years.

The Optimist sailors on the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay this weekend have qualified for this event at National or Regional Championship events. Top finishers this weekend will qualify to represent the U.S. at the World, European, and North American Championships, as well as international regattas in Belgium and the U.K.

This is not just a bunch of kids on boats. These are serious sailors, who are the future of our sport. Go check them out! (from www.floatline.com).

Many of these sailors are members of LISOT from the JSALIS area, so follow their progress at these links:
- Annapolis YC
- LISOT

Big Boat Sail Training Reduced at Naval Academy

Richard du Moulin, well known for his support of the Storm Trysail Club Junior Safety at Sea training, wrote today in Sailing Scuttlebutt #2574 about reports that the US Naval Academy was severely reducing the opportunity for midshipmen to experience the traditional summer cruise aboard offshore sailing yachts. See Washington Post story.

His comments echo some of the reasons that junior big-boat sailing is popular with JSA LIS sailors:

"Midshipmen at the US Naval Academy need sea-time aboard grey ships, and dinghy racing is a great sport fitting for the Academy, but sail training (ocean racing and passages) provides the basic skills and judgment that every commissioned officer needs.

Aboard a sailboat with a small team, the Midshipman is given immediate responsibility and learns hands-on navigation, seamanship, leadership and boat handling, forming a basis for a successful naval career. Aboard the smaller vessel, the Midshipman usually gets more responsibility than on a bigger ship.

About 35 years ago, the US Navy had a series of ship handling mishaps resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of damages and many lives lost (one was a collision of a carrier with a destroyer). I recall the Navy followed up with a fleet-wide seamanship test which had a surprising finding that officers with Academy sailing program experience did significantly better than other officers. That "discovery" served to re-invigorate funding for sail training.

Today the daily cost of a ship, and the cost to train an officer, is higher than ever. Sail training is a very smart investment for the Navy."

Financial Aid to Junior Sailors

Did you know that aid is available to assist junior sailors compete at the chamionship level?

Recently announced by US SAILING is a new financial aid program, named Sailorships, aimed at providing financial assistance to junior sailors between the ages of 13 and 19 who are interested in competing in US SAILING Championships and/or clinics. The goal of the program is to assist young sailors with the development of their sailing careers regardless of their financial resources. The program, made possible by a generous donation from two US SAILING members, offers travel funds to youth sailors traveling to US SAILING Championships and/or clinics. Read More

Locally, for over twenty years the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation has provided individual support for juniors and former junior sailors, as well as sponsorship for the Advanced Racing Clinic that is now held in conjunction with the JSA. It helps sailors get where they might not be able to get on their own, with coaching, clinics, and funding. Donations may be mailed to the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation, P.O. Box 720, Oyster Bay, NY 11771-0720. Gary Knapp is the contact.

Organized five years ago, the Southport Sailing Foundation is in a fund raising mode to establish a website for youth and young adult sailors for obtaining information on conducting campaigns, locating regattas, finding coaches and fundraising. Donations may be mailed to The Southport Sailing Foundation, P.O. Box 946, Southport, CT 06890. Mary von Conta is the contact.

Optimist International Events During Easter Vacation

The Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound (JSA) again has a large group of sailors heading off to represent TEAM USA in international events this Easter vacation.

There are three international Optimist regattas - The International Optimist Dinghy Assocation South American Championship is in Paracas, Peru, from March 13 to 23, while the 23rd Magic Marine Holland Easter Regatta is in Braassemermeer, Netherlands from March 21 to 24. Concurrent with the Magic Marine Easter Regatta is the Lake Garda International Optimist Meeting, March 20 to 23 in Riva del Garda, Italy.

These US Teams were selected last October at the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) Atlantic Coast Championships, in Norfolk, VA. Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont YC) and Colin Murphy (Shelter Island YC) are part of the 15 member South American Team while Olivia Crane (Noroton YC), Max Simmons (Norwalk YC), William Greer (Indian Harbor YC), Matthew Mollerus (Larchmont YC), Ian Storck (Centerport YC) and Reinier Eeenkema van Dijk (Larchmont YC) are members of the 20 sailor Holland Easter Regatta team. Veteran optimist sailors Markus Edegran (Larchmont YC) and Declan Whitmyer (Noroton YC) are members of the 10 sailor Lake Garda Team USA.

These events can all be followed on event websites at:
IODA South American Championship - http://www.sudopti2008.com
Magic Marine Holland Easter Regatta - http://www.braassemermeer.nl
Lake Garda International Optimist Meeting - http://lakegardameeting.fragliavelariva.it/

Sailing Movie Listing

So it’s still February and for most of us in the US that means cold winter. What can keep us motivated and interested in sailing all winter long? Sailing Movies!

The folks at Regatta Promotions have a nice list of movies, complete with their own personal rating scale. So rent one of the 4 star movies and settle down in a nice warm chair to get ready for the warmer weather when you are out on the waters of Long Island Sound.

See the movie listing at this link

Kings Point Sailors at Farr 40 Worlds

Each year the coaches and sailors from the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point on Long Island Sound support the Storm Tyrsail Club Safety at Sea Seminar, which trains junior sailors in safely handling big boats.

The USMMA offshore team gets its skill and experience from participating in events such as the Farr 40 World Championship.

For 2008, they have a great blog site with profiles of each team member who will be on the boat in April. One of their team was on the Morning Light Trans-Pac project and stated that his best day of sailing included, "...trimming spinnaker and duck-diving waves while being more than 25 feet from the bow the entire time we were on port ...as we logged an average of 32 knots of wind and boat speed of 20 knots ...which resulted in us taking green water all the way back to the pedestals."

See the complete blog at http://usmmafarr40worlds.blogspot.com/

Junior Yacht Racing Activities in 1932

The Booklet "Junior Yacht Racing Activities" published in 1932 by the JYRA LIS was recently found in the office of the YRA LIS and returned to us.

Clifford D. Mallory, the first president of the organization today known as US Sailing, wrote in the foreword, “The development of Junior activity is, in my opinion, the finest work that yachtsman in general can undertake, for in the development of the Juniors, we are looking to the future, when they assume the leadership of the sport.”

This is what JSA is still all about today.

The booklet, with a survey of the earliest junior sailing activities across the USA, has been scanned and is available for download at this link.

America's Best Young Sailors Aim For Denmark

The future of American sailing will be on display January 18-21 when Alamitos Bay Yacht Club hosts the 2008 US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier and US Youth Multihull Championship.

See full details at http://www.sailing.org/21930.php

LISOT's Antoine Screve Wins 2007 Orange Bowl

This year’s Orange Bowl was one of the most competitive regattas in US waters in 2007, as well as an event that actually had some decent breeze.

2007 ended on a high note for team LISOT (Long Island Sound Optimist Training) with Antoine Screve winning a very competitive 2007 Orange Bowl Regatta. Congratulations Antoine for an outstanding regatta – and winning the hard way... without a single bullet.

See full details at the LISOT blog , including some great photos.

Screve's win was also reported in Magnus Wheatley's blog ; apparently Screve sails under the flag of San Francisco Yacht Club, as well as LISOT.

Full details, including results by division - including many other JSALIS sailors - and video links are at the Coral Reef YC site.

Teen's First Ocean Race

It's summer in Australia, now, so we notice more news about juniors in sailboats from the the southern hemisphere than from our cold and snowy area.

Here is a story about a 15 year old who is going on his first ocean race. How did he get started? He sailed radio-controlled model boats to learn tactics and racing rules.

Read full details at this link.

Emily Dellenbaugh Nominated

Nominees for US SAILING's 2007 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award include Pequot Yacht Club member Emily Dellenbaugh.

Emily's successes in 2007 included Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, Kingston, Canada (1st/18 29ers); 29er European Open Championship, Gottskar, Sweden (1st/101 boats); 29er Midwinters East, Sarasota, Fla. (1st/31 boats); 29er North American Championship, Kingston, Canada (3rd/63 boats); and U.S. Youth Sailing Championship, New Orleans, La. (1st/19 29ers).

See full list of nominees at http://www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex and more detail in press release at http://www.ussailing.org/pressreleases/2007/yofyshortlist.asp

Youthful Crew in Sydney-Hobart Race

19-time race veteran Bill Sykes is leading a young team aboard Wot’s Next in the 2007 Sydney-Hobart race, most from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Youth Sailing Academy and most of them women. There are five young women, four from the Academy and watch captain Stacey Jackson. Sykes is a big believer in encouraging women in the sport. 'I work in a very difficult environment, it can be really hard, and most of the people I work with are women,' he says. 'They make up for any lack of strength by working as a team.'

Most of the young sailors are still at university. 'One is training to be a doctor, another is doing climatology, our bowman is learning mechanical engineering and getting high distinctions,' Sykes remarks, 'there is so much diversity in the group.'

The team has been together much of the year, competing in offshore and round the buoys races to hone their skills. Though the skills side of it really isn’t the point of the program. 'It’s all about shaping up, taking responsibility, focusing on the job you have to do…self coaching as much as anything, turning yourself into a more confident, well-rounded sailor and person.'

See full details at this link

Mary Savage Honored by US Sailing

US SAILING has presented its Harman Hawkins Trophy for excellence in race management to Mary Savage (Larchmont, NY).

Presented annually, US SAILING's Harman Hawkins Trophy is awarded to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the sport of sailing in the field of Race Administration (Judging, Umpiring, Race Management, Appeals, Racing Rules, and Competitor Classification).

Those of you who have been at major JSALIS regattas such as Law Trophy, Larchmont Race Week and JSA Champs may know Mary well, especially if you have been in a protest hearing!

Read about Mary's long list of race management and sailing credits by clicking here.

Old vs. New Boat Classes

Sailing Scuttlebutt had an interesting juxtiposition in its November 20 posting: a brand new keelboat class just introduced at American YC (RS K6) and an old centerboard class being reinvigorated at Lauderdale YC (Cape Cod Mercury).

Comparing the articles shows that hot new technology can co-exist with the tried and true, though perhaps at different clubs!

So read them yourself and decide where you'd prefer to be:
- KG article
- Mercury article

Cedar Point YC Wins One Design Award

At US Sailing's One-Design Sailing Symposium Cedar Point Yacht Club of Westport, CT, received the One-Design Club Award for administrative excellence, fleet growth, creative programming, regatta support and member contribution at regional, national and international levels of one-design sailing.

This year, Cedar Point hosted numerous one-design regattas for various classes. In addition to these regattas, the club continued its own busy one-design racing schedule, which has five one-design fleets on the water every Saturday (Atlantics, Stars, Thistles, Lightnings, and Flying Scots).

More details about the One-Design Symposium, including a link to obtain the book of handouts, are here.

View the Cedar Point website that has a copy of the award nomination letter and lots of good boat class write-ups and photos at www.cedarpointyc.org

Big Boats vs. Dinghies

US Sailing's 2007 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship was won by Sally Barkow and her crew (including Debbie Capozzi of Bayport LI) for the third year in a row.

But we think the comments by Anna Tunnicliffe, who took third place, are of special interest to the junior big boat sailors in JSALIS.

Anna normally sails the Laser Radial dinghy and won the U.S. Olympic Team Singlehanded Trials last month. “I use these events for tactical sailing,” she said of sailing with a team. “The Laser is very physical, and if you’re mad you hike harder and catch somebody with your strength. With these keelboats everyone goes a similar speed, so you have to be able to outsmart somebody and set your boat position up right. That’s why I enjoy these events because it’s a different type of sailing than Laser sailing.”

On making the transition from singlehanded sailing to being part of a team, Tunnicliffe said, “I think it’s about the trust. You have to trust yourself in the Laser and trust your crewmembers in the keelboat. If you don’t have the trust, you can’t work together as one. We did well toward the end of the event, working together as one.”

See full details from US Sailing at http://www.sailing.org/21496.php and a super tack-by-tack wrap up at http://www.nautica.it/service/notizie.htm?2007-11-268

Junior Sailing Committee Volunteers

It's November and junior sailing in summer 2008 is over six months away, so plenty of time to relax and enjoy the upcoming holidays, right?

Not so for junior sailing program volunteers at the sailing clubs on Long Island Sound. The program committees are busy with planning enhancements to their club junior programs and interviewing for just the right mix of capable staff.

And the "old-man-of the-Laser," who writes the Proper Course blog, has just penned a post that really lets us all know about how much work is involved in getting such activities to work just right. Take a look at his inspiring words.

Keel boat racing is an essential skill

In response to the news from the ISAF Events Committee that keelboats, such as the Star class, may not be part of sailing in the 2012 Olympics, comments included this:

"Keel boat racing is an essential skill in sailing. It links dinghies to yachts and forms a progression for sailors to get to the higher echelons competition.

Come on ISAF, give it some consideration..."

SCUTTLEBUTT 2472 – November 8, 2007 (www.sailingscuttlebutt.com)

Apparently the ISAF Council did give it some consideration and in a close vote, turned down the recommendation of the Events Committee. In the final voting by the Council, the keelboat event remained on the list for 2012; see full reports at http://www.sailing.org/meetings

Four Sailing Events at 2010 Youth Olympic Games

A total of 100 athletes, aged between 15-16 years, will compete across four events at the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled for 2010.

The events are:
- One person dinghy men
- One person dinghy women
- Windsurfing men
- Windsurfing women

ISAF Deputy Secretary General Jerome Pels said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for the sport to showcase the depth of sailing talent around the world and a huge inspiration for young people to get involved in sailing.”

See the announcement at http://www.sailing.org/21198.php

Alex MeVay Finishes Mini Transat

During October 30 Alex MeVay finished the Mini-Transat 6.50 in Brazil, becoming only the 6th American to finish the race in its 30 year history. The 3,100 nautical mile leg from Funchal to Salvador took Alex approximately 24 days. Alex finished 30 of 41 in the production class and 69 of 83 overall.

Alex is the former JSA LIS sailor whose start in this race was featured in our September 20 blog posting .

Last summer Alex sailed solo, nonstop from Boston to Port Camargue in the Mediterranean, a 4,135 nm journey that took almost 36 days. That is almost certainly the longest single passage ever done on a Mini by anyone.

Well done Alex!!

Ralf Steitz Honored for Sail Training

Congratulations to Ralf Steitz, the Offshore Sailing Director at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point NY, who has received US SAILING's Timothea Larr Award for his lifelong commitment to quality sailing education. The award is the US SAILING Training Committee's highest honor, presented annually to an individual whose vision and guidance has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of sailor education and training in the United States.

JSA LIS junior-big-boat sailors know Steitz well, because he is a member of Safety at Sea Committee at Storm Trysail Club headquartered in Larchmont NY. Steitz has been a driving force behind the growth of Safety at Sea training for youth and adults. He has been the lead presenter at the Junior Safety at Sea Seminar held the past 11 years at the Larchmont Yacht Club in New York. Each summer, with 20-25 borrowed big boats (35-50 feet) and many volunteer coaches under his leadership, the program trains about 225 juniors and their instructors in big boat team organization, sail handling, and man overboard drills.

See the news release and Andrea Waton's personal notes about Ralf .

LISOT in Berlin at European Opti Team Cup

The weekend of October 27-29 the LISOT team of Marlena Fauer, Deirdre Lambert, Evan Read, Antoine Screve, and Declan Whitmyer is attending the 20th Annual European Opti Team Cup in Berlin, Germany. They are representing the Unites States as a result of their win at the USODA Team Race Nationals in Lake Minnetonka this past summer.

The 16 teams attending were divided into two eight team groups. The 16 teams are from 15 countries. This is a record in the 20 history of the event.

The final day's competition was tough. In the end, Poland was the winner, Norway second while USA (LISOT) tied with Singapore for third but lost the tie-breaker to finish 4th - an improvement over last year's 6th place finish.

Once again LISOT proved they could sail with some of the best in the world. Congratulations to our sailors and their coach, Staffan Johannson, for another great team racing result.

See full details at http://blog.lisot.org/
and at http://www.pyc.de/new/html/regatta_opti-team.html

Mollerus wins USODA Atlantic Coast Champs

With 3 bullets, Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont YC) won The United States Optimist Atlantic Coast Championship October 5-8 in Norfolk VA. Marlena Fauer (Southampton YC) came in 5th overall.

273 sailors competed in this event, including many from the JSA region; see full results at http://www.norfolkyacht.com/files/overall_results.pdf and photos at http://www.photoboat.com/

Regatta Tips from the Coach

The Inter Collegiate Sailing Association is posting coaching tips from Ken Legler, the coach at Tufts since 1980. Ken started sailing when he was in the Larchmont YC junior sailing program from 1964-1971.

Here is a link to a recent post on fouls and penalties; others are at this link http://www.collegesailing.org/coachingtips.asp

Laser run over at regatta

The November issue of Soundings magazine has an item about a Laser sailor being run over by a 100-foot tour boat in Charleston SC harbor during a regatta July.

Though the captain of the tour boat was primarily faulted, the Coast Guard report seems to place collateral blame on many parties involved, including the Laser sailer and the Charleston Yacht Club regatta organizers.

A summary of this event is at this link and a July news article about the event is here.

Reading these summaries, it appears that:
- The tour boat maintained an inadequate lookout
- The Laser sailor maintained an inadequate lookout
- The regatta organizers submitted their application for an event permit too late to assure distribution through routine Notices to Mariners.
- The regatta organizers did not monitor the emergency VHF channel 16

Were there other things that you think the regatta organizers and participants could have done better? We welcome your comments, which may help run safer regattas on Long Island Sound.

2007 US Olympic Team Trials Completed

Not only did some current JSALIS juniors qualify and participate in the recent US Olympic team sailiing trials, some former juniors were successful in their quest.

Amanda Clark of Shelter Island NY and Sarah Mergenthaler of Harvey NJ have just won a spot representing the U.S. in next September's Olympic Games in Beijing in the Women's 470 event. Congratulations to Amanda and Sarah.

Read Amanda's comments and Sarah's comments.

Frostbite Sailing for Juniors

Frostbite sailing is not just for the seniors; juniors are welcome!

In fact, juniors have been involved since the inception of frostbite sailing in the 1930s as crews for their parents or other adult at their club. Initially the juniors were valued primarily for their ability to be nimble ballast. But they benefited as well from the lessons they absorbed as they watched their skipper distill 20-or-more years of experince into success on numerous short races on a winter Sunday.

Today many clubs have special winter memberships open to all, so juniors at such clubs may be skippers themselves even if their family is not a regular club member.

Look for a program near you at this list from a recent WindCheck magazine.

Some of the clubs have sent detailed information about their frostbite sailing programs, which you may read about at these links:

- Manhasset Bay Yacht Club NY 78th year of Interclub dinghy sailing commences October 28
- Pequot Yacht Club, Southport CT Dyer Dhow sailing on the protected Mill River basin

If your club would like to post its frostbite sailing info here, please email the JSA office.

Bringing New Sailors into Big Boat Sailing

Thirty-one big-boat-owners shared their boats and love of the sport with 235 collegiate sailors on October 6-7 at the Storm Trysail Club’s Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta hosted by Larchmont Yacht Club.

This regatta has become the highlight of the season for college sailors as well as the boat owners.

Race committee PRO Butch Ulmer said, “This is the way it should be; this is the way to bring new sailors into big boat sailing. These kids will sail for the rest of their lives.”

See full details at this Storm Trysail link

Your PFD can save your life

"If I wasn't wearing my lifie, there's a good chance I wouldn't be here today," says Lauren Gineo, who is the recipient of the 2007 Jamie Boeckel Memorial Fund Scholarship.

In an article published in the October issue of WindCheck magazine, Lauren also describes how she has been a model to her windsurfing buddies on Narraganset Bay who had previously "...chuckled at the sight of me and my bulletproof vest."

Read the full article about Lauren at http://www.jsalis.org/Jamie_Boeckel_PDF.pdf

Also see this note that was recently circulated to the college sailing crowd about using Coast Guard approved PFDs and this about a professional captain who fell off his yacht at the dock.

Rebuilding a Junior Sailing Program

Each season JSALIS gets at at least one call asking how to start up a junior program, or rebuild a program that had languished as members' children grew up and left.

Apparently that same question is being asked as the summer season approaches in Australia. At the Middle Harbour YC in Sydney the newly elected rear commodore, Carl Crafoord, hopes to reestablish the active junior dinghy sailing that he recalls as being such fun in his own youth.

A veteran of 19 Sydney-Hobart races and an executive with Lewmar Australia, Crafoord has a number of interesting ideas about joining forces with resources from outside the club itself to achieve that goal, which you may read about at this link http://www.mhyc.com.au/News.htm

12 Meter Yachts in Connecticut This Week

Junior sailors who aspire to crewing on big boats will want to take advantage of opportunities to see the classic 12 Meter yachts that will be sailing in Greenwich and Bridgeport this week.

Most of these yachts are chartered out of their home port in Newport RI, but there is one local boat berthed in Greenwich CT, America II.

If you have the opportunity to stop by the docks or get out on the water you'll be witness to the kind of racing that originated on Long Island Sound in the late 1950s when the post-World War II America's Cup events were relaunched using the 12 Meter class. Get a foretaste of the action with this video from on board Gleam during Nantucket Race Week 2007 - http://nantucket.plumtv.com/videos/ride_gleam

- The Connecticut Maritime Association, with members from the commercial shipping industry, will hold its Third Annual 12 Meter Regatta at Indian Harbor Yacht Club late morning to mid afternoon on Friday September 28. See the details at http://www.cmaconnect.com/2007Regattaflyer.pdf and photos at http://www.photoboat.com/

- The Belle Haven Club's Challenge Cup on Saturday September 29 is a fund raiser for Shake-a-Leg whose focus is to help individuals with disabilities develop their full potentials. See video at http://www.t2p.tv/guide/bhcc07.php

- The 12 Meter Challenge Cup, a friendly rivalry among various Connecticut clubs, will be held Sunday September 30. Hosted by last year's winner, Pequot Yacht Club, the yachts will be berthed at Captains Cove Marina in Bridgeport and will race in the area off Black Rock Harbor near Bell "2"; harbor start is at 11 am. See details at http://www.pequotyc.com/ click on Open Regattas.