The 420 Midwinter Championship is arguably the most competitive 420 regatta on the circuit. Each year, teams from all over the country make their way to Jenson Beach, Florida over President’s Day weekend to battle it out. This is a particularly challenging event for teams from the north who have not been training on a consistent schedule. This year there were 92 teams at the championship. The Annapolis Yacht Club team of Nick Floyd and crew Lilli Salvesen found themselves on the podium in second place at the end of the tough three day event. Lilli was the top placing female and is our Sail1Designer of the Month. Congrats Lilli and Nick! Here is a brief interview with Lilli.
S1D: Where did you grow up sailing?
LS: I grew up sailing in Annapolis, Maryland. I have sailed out of Annapolis Yacht Club the entire time.
S1D: Who are your sailing role models?
LS: My sailing role model would probably be my high school coach Alana O’Rilley. I had to learn to skipper 420’s this fall so I could be the third skipper for the Annapolis High School team, and she has been encouraging me to keep skippering the entire time.
S1D: What is your training regimen like, how did you prepare for Midwinter’s since it is wintertime in Annapolis?
LS: I have a couple friends that like to frostbite on big boats, and a couple of my more extreme friends like to frostbite lasers, but I hate sailing in the cold so I stick to working out with Harry Legum at Annapolis Sailing Fitness.
S1D: How did you and Nick start sailing together?
LS: Nick asked me to sail with him for Orange Bowl. I was very excited for an opportunity to sail with someone new.
S1D: What came together at midwinter’s to get you guys on the podium?
LS: The great thing about sailing with Nick is that even though we are both short tempered we are quick to forget. If there was an incident on the water while we were sailing, by the time we had crossed the finish line we had forgotten what had made us angry. It also helped that we both know a lot about tactics. My goal as a crew is to never stop talking. If I see anything on the race course and I mean anything, I tell my skipper about it. This communication is very important because it allows nick to have a mental image of the race course in his head. This is a lot more information than most skippers have that enables nick to focus on boat speed and have more faith in the tactical advice that I give him during the race.
S1D: How did you and Nick prepare for each day of racing?
LS: A lot of sailors have a strict pre race routine, but Nick and I always felt better when we were more relaxed pre race. We would go out on the water adjust our settings according to the conditions. Then go upwind with one of our friends to make sure we felt fast. We would go find Alana and see what trends she was seeing on the water. After that we would wait in a spot where we could look upwind and joke around until the race committee went into sequence. Then we would check our upwind angle by rounding the race committee boat and start the race.
S1D: What are your goals for the upcoming sailing season?
LS: I am going off to college next year so I have to coach sailing so I will have spending money while I’m at school. I am planning on sailing youth champs with Nick. After our results at Midwinters, my goal is to win Youth Champs. There has also been discussion in the family about me skippering for my little brother, Nicholas Salvesen at the North Americans regatta at Brant Beach Yacht Club. He is 13 years old and just moving up from Optis. So I am excited for a chance to teach him how to crew. Hopefully there won’t be too much fighting!
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A Sailor's Response to the Rules that Apply to Them; 2014 Season
Sail1Design welcomes your thoughts in our forum at the bottom of this article. Enjoy.
Earlier this winter, coaches from all over ICSA met in Utah to discuss the new year of college sailing. What resulted was a number of changes in the rules and regulations that apply to all the teams and events within ICSA, and it seems this year was the year of rather progressive and drastic changes. It is clear by the tenor of some of these changes that college sailing seems to be going the route of the NCAA, with stricter time restraints and even rules regarding sailor eligibility. This shift is admittedly extremely gradual, and will inevitably have its perks and downsides, but the most important thing for this season is adjusting to the rules that will apply right now. This article, therefore, is a response from me and others involved in college sailing to the most dramatic changes in the 2014 seasons.
The rule change that stood out to me the most at first is the new policy in which there will be a 10-race limit per day in college regattas. This means that after both divisions have sailed 10 races, no more races may be sailed on Saturday. By nature Sundays often have much fewer races because of the “no sail after” time, which is now 3 pm for most events. At first, this new rule seems like a bit of a hindrance. After all, the ultimate goal of any regatta is to get as many races as there are teams, because the more races there are the fairer the results become. But, upon further consideration, I think that this rule will provide a lot of benefits to sailors in certain venues. Everyone has sailed that regatta: 2 fleets of boats so breaks are minimized, or maybe even rotations on the water so you never get a break. When they do bring you in for “lunch”, you have just about enough time to viciously struggle out of your dry-suit and dash to the bathroom before they are calling for your division to get back on the water, where you will likely keep sailing until after sunset. These regattas, while noteworthy because they usually accomplish the desired number of races, often leave the sailors fatigued and dazed beyond recall. Your coach will ask you about an instance in the race and you find yourself drawing a blank because the entire day has blended into an endless loop of a W-4. With a 10- race limit, timing becomes more relaxed. If the sailors need a 30-minute break for lunch because the conditions are particularly brutal, they can take it because the race committee is only trying for 10 races, not 16. Also, this rule means that Saturdays will likely end earlier, giving college sailors (who are also college students) time to unwind and do work before they have to get up in the morning and sail all day again. This is particularly important for venues like Navy, which hold big inter-conference regattas that require most teams to travel far from home by van or even plane. These events absorb entire weekends, so having the spare time that the race limit can provide to do even a few regular student things will be of the upmost value.
The theme of some other proposed rules was increasing the safety precautions for the sailors. Concussions within college sailing have been increasing steadily over the years, and understandably so with a big pole made of metal hovering a couple of inches over your head whenever you are in a boat. One proposed solution was making helmets mandatory for all sailors; but this did not pass. The cost per school would be very high, and it did not seem like the most reasonable solution to the voters (and, more likely, all of the sailors who refused to wear helmets.) Some more experimental methods have been proposed, and have started to be tested. For example, Fran Charles (head coach at MIT) has proposed that all booms be made of carbon fiber, so as to reduce the weight of the boom and therefore the risk of serious head injury. All of the FJ’s at MIT already have carbon fiber booms, and they seem to sail as well as the normal collegiate FJ’s. The only difference is that they do not have a track to feed the foot of the sail through, and so a clew strap is necessary. These often break, and so present a sort of nuisance to the sailors right now, but if this flaw gets perfected I think that the carbon fiber booms are an excellent solution to the safety problem. Harvard has gone another route; two of the boats in their fleet of FJ’s have booms that are about 6 inches taller than normal. The masts are also longer, so there is no change in the sail area, but this is still the more controversial method because it may have a more influential change in the way the boats sail. 8 other schools are following suit with this, and have been approved for use for these new masts. Only testing of the two methods over the season will tell which is more effective.
Overall, it seems that the committee is trying to change the dynamics of college sailing to better fit the health of the athletes that compete in it. “At the NEISA annual meeting it was encouraging to see how healthy the conference is,” says Peter Bailey, Brown University Junior and Undergraduate Vice President of NEISA, “the leaders are taking steps to make college sailing more safe and competitive.” The more the rules change to be mindful of the sailors, the more that college sailing will start drifting towards the standards of the NCAA. I think I speak for all of us when I say it will be extremely interesting to see how the sport will develop in the near future.
Here’s a LINK to the official ICSA Procedural Rules
Tactics With Mike: Regatta Goals and an Effective Debrief
To learn more about Sail1Design Performance Coaching,click here!
I am changing the way I set goals and debrief at regattas. Why? Because I Just got done coaching racing skills leading up to a Midwinters in Miami and in describing to them my approach I realized my method was flawed. I realized that I do not write down specific achievable goals that measure process (not results). And I don’t consistently review and improve this process. (To read Mike’s earlier piece on Goal setting, CLICK HERE)
Sure, we talk about a few goals, and we try and remember to talk about what we can do better, but not in a clean consistent way.
Here are the goals we came up with for the team I was coaching for their Midwinters.
Here is a deeper explanation of the Goals
Start: The start goals were based on an inconsistent approach to the practice starts I had observed.
· They tended to set up at random times making it difficult to know when to accelerate
· If they thought they were early, they would often put the bow down, which is a sure way to lose their hole
· Struggling with when to accelerate to the line
Boat Handling: The sets and douses were excellent. They just needed to clean up the turns.
· Occasionally, they would slow down while they prepared to turn. They need to stay full hike, trimmed right, and on the correct angle up to the moment the turn starts. Then when the turn is done, they need to be on the new course at full speed ASAP.
· We worked on smoothing the turn itself
· For big turns, it is difficult to find the correct angle right away, so using the mast head fly to get close was a handy tool
Speed: There always has to be a speed component to goals.
· We tried to eliminate the number of times the driver would “space out” and drift off the wind.
· The rig tune sets up the power, so that is important to get right!
Other: This is the catch all category that often has to do with attitude
· We clearly defined everyone’s roles in practice. We wanted to make sure they stuck to those roles
· With those roles, we defined clear concise communication. But in training, we figured out that they would occasionally forget and either not communicate what they were supposed to or communicate something that was supposed to be communicated by someone else
· Helicopter: This comes from a theory that if you were plopped by helicopter into a boat halfway through a race you would have no idea what happened to get there and therefore only focus on getting to the finish as fast as possible.
· The last two make sure they actually reviewed the goals after each race, and were not afraid to modify them if they were not fitting the needs exactly, or they learned of others they needed to add.
Debrief: After each race, in their wet-notes, they rated each 1-5. And added a comment if there was something specific that could be done to improve. One person (the tactician in this case) was in charge of moderating. Their job was to do it quickly (without rushing), keep it positive, and write it down.
Essentially, the team did well on most of the goals. But there were some very specific things to improve on:
· Start
o Stay high instead of killing speed low and losing their hole
o In the real starts, since there was more traffic and dirty air than their practice starts, they needed to accelerate to the line sooner
· Boat Handling
o Nothing specific for that race
· Speed
o The driver fell off the wind a few times, so besides just plain concentrating harder, the team decided to make sure the trimmer was more aware of this so he could jump in and make the driver aware of it before the boat lost too much
o While they set the rig for the conditions most of the time, the lulls were big and it was more important to set up the rig looser (more powered). That way they could get through these lulls without losing too much.
· Other
o The person sitting in the mast position (2nd back behind the bow person) needed to be more involved in both keeping track of compass numbers and discussing them with the tactician
o The bow person needed to be really clear about the way he called traffic, particularly approaching starboard tackers.
o They needed to add some tactical goals to the list
Based on the debrief, that night, we had a discussion on how to set some tactical goals. Specifically, I observed from the coach boat that they were spending too much time in dirty air, and they needed to avoid laylines/ other bad lanes. So here is what we came up with:
The process worked surprisingly well to get their process on track. But it did some other beneficial things we had not thought of.
An interesting and unexpected result was that it tabled any tension during the race. Everyone knew that if they had a problem, there would be a process to address it, so they did not feel they needed to bring it up until after the race. It allowed them to put it behind them (that helicopter theory) and get on with the race.
Another surprise result is that it addressed issues without it becoming personal. If there is no method and someone wants to bring something up, they have to initiate it and it can be awkward. By having a moderator there and a list to go over, it there is always a way to bring things up more casually therefore keeping everyone’s attitude positive.
The process works if the moderator keeps it brief and positive. The goals and debrief are to enhance the racing skills by improving always in almost real time. If instead it drags on, gets negative or the conversation goes into a rat-hole, then it will detract from racing and that defeats the purpose.
Different teams will have different goals depending on skill level, what mistakes they recently made, or just the way they approach sailing. The goals may change over time. Perhaps some universal goals like roles and communication should always stay on, but others will likely go once it becomes habit. For example, the tactician may get good at lanes so we take that off and maybe put doing a better job looking for wind on. Each new one will likely be more refined and there is always something to improve on, so they will always be there no matter how good we get!
2014 J/24 Midwinters Daily Report and Results
BECKER’S BLOG, By Airwaves Writer/Coach Geoff Becker
Check out Becker’s Blog, a compilation of regatta reports/tips on Airwaves! Geoff’s reports are not the same old regatta report. He spends time offering insightful thoughts, tactical/technical advice, and his reports have become for many a very valuable virtual coach!
Team Helly Hansen
Skipper, John Mollicone; Tactician, Tim Healy; Trimmer,Geoff Becker Mast: Collin Leon; Bow, Gordon Borges
Day 3 – Final Day
2 races (all races course 4, 4 legs w/downwind finish) Wind 6-12 knots from the SE.
For the final day of the J-24 Midwinters, at the Coral Reef YC in Miami, FL, it was more of the same in both conditions and results for Team Helly Hansen. Remarkably, the conditions were exactly the same as Day 1 and 2, with a light to moderate SE breeze with very little change in direction during the day. Going into the final Day, only 2 races remained of the scheduled 10 for the regatta. Our team had a 7 point lead over second place and 8 points over third. The regatta was being scored with one throw out race and our worst finish beginning the final day was a fifth place in race 2. This meant a good score in the first race of the day could lock up the regatta for us.
After considering our scoring options, we decided to sail our own race in Race 9, using the same strategies as Days 1 and 2 and stay clear of other boats as much as possible. We were able to get a great start in the middle of the starting line and jump out in the front pack right away. From there we worked our way to the front and were able to hold the lead to win Race 9 winning the J-24 Midwinter Championship for the second consecutive year.
Knowing our throw out race was a keeper race, it was tempting for us to aim our focus on the boats behind us in the standings and cause them to have a bad race and use our throw out that way. We instead decided that what had been working for us the first 2 days was a much better plan and we had the confidence that even if the first race didn’t work out, we could make our that plan work for the second race.
As I have talked about in my other race blogs, our team has a very ritualistic and effective routine each day before getting to the racecourse. Because of that, we are normally well prepared for the first race of the day and quite often we are able to sail at a high level in the first race of a day. This regatta illustrated that as we won the first race each of the three days. That confidence added to our decision to come out and sail our best race in Race 9.
Our takeaways from Day 3 are…
1. Keep to your routine every day.
2. Sailing your own race is often the best way to score well.
3. The five members of Team Helly Hansen are the reason we sail as well as we do!!
Final Results
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Day 2
4 races (all races course 4, 4 legs w/downwind finish)
Wind 6-12 knots from the SE.
Day 2 of the J-24 Midwinters is in the books and with 8 races completed, 2 remaining, Team Helly Hansen still holds the overall lead. The conditions today were very similar to Day 1 in wind speed, direction and the amount of wind shifts. That is to say that while the wind velocity did oscillate up and down some, the direction remained relatively consistent with a total range of only 10-15 degrees during the day. With the somewhat consistent breezes, the most important race factors became boat speed and positioning to make gains on the racecourse.
Because boat speed was so important today, we made sure to check our setup before each race to make sure we could get the most from our boat for the conditions. Rig tension, genoa halyard tension and genoa lead position are always important speed factors and with such consistent winds like today, and those and other settings were crucial to make sure we had speed on the first upwind leg.
As for our strategies during the race, we also considered the fact that most of our gains would come from boat speed and not from wind shifts. Because of that, we looked for the areas of the course that seemed to have the most pressure and stay out of the bigger holes on the course if at all possible. In some ways that can be easier, because looking for wind is one thing, guessing if the new wind is a lift or a header can be much more difficult. Since we were mostly concerned about more wind vs. less wind, identifying those areas with stronger puffs was our primary goal.
After looking for the areas on the course we thought had the most wind, our final big picture strategy was to make sure we were able to sail our boat at our best speed. That meant, like on Day 1, we preferred to get in our own water without being affected by nearby boats preventing us from sailing our best course. As a result, we were quick to tack away from packs of boats, especially shortly after a start or mark rounding, in order to get clear and have freedom to make our boat sail at full speed. Sometimes we were even willing to sail away from what could be more wind if we had a nearby boat affecting our overall speed.
Having the freedom to sail your boat at its best by avoiding the negative effects of nearby boats, is a strategy that will work in a large percentage of sailboat races. Of course in most races, there are many other factors to consider, but having the ability to set your boat up the way you want and sail your own fastest course is a great starting point.
Our takeaways from Day 2 are…
1. Make sure your boat is set up for the race conditions.
2. Look for larger puffs when the wind isn’t shifting much.
3. Sail in your own water and use the freedom to sail your fastest
Results after day 2
__________________________________________
Day 1 4 races (all races course 4, 4 legs w/downwind finish) Wind 6-12 knots from the SE.
The forecast for Day 1 at the J-24 Midwinters predicted 15 knots, or more, from the southeast, however, the breeze that arrived was somewhat less. A 10-12 knot SE breeze for Race 1 slowly died to 5-8 knots during Race 2 and then picked up again to 8-10 knots for Races 3 and 4. During the day, while the breeze strength varied, the direction remained relatively consistent from the southeast. Team Helly Hansen sailed well today, with 1st in Races 1, 3 and 4, and a 5th in Race 2 to take the overall lead after Day 1.
Keys to our success today included keeping the boat powered up, sailing at full speed whenever possible and sailing in our own water. As the wind decreased today, we would try and keep the boat more powered up on the windward legs. To do this, we paid close attention as to not over trim the genoa and keep from pinching, especially in any chop or waves. By sailing a little lower at times and keeping the trim on the loose side, we were able to keep the forward speed up and carry better momentum trough the lighter spots and occasional choppy waves.
Another key for us today was to keep space from other boats and sail in our own water. Today, this meant picking lanes upwind that allowed us the freedom to sail the boat at the angle we felt was best for us. When other boats are near us in a race, we often need to adjust our trim or sailing angle to avoid feeling the effects of the other boat. For example, when a boat is off our leeward bow, it might be necessary to sail a higher course to avoid falling into that boat’s backwind. Today, and in many instances, when we caught ourselves changing our sailing mode based on the position of another boat, we noticed we were not sailing our best speed or course. In those cases, we would look for a way to free ourselves from other boats and find our own water where we could sail our own race.
Putting your boat in a position to sail your own mode and then keeping the boat rolling through the lulls in the breeze, can make a big difference when sailing in lighter or dying winds. Since the winds today were not all that shifty, the focus on the upwind legs definitely shifted to boat speed over wind shifts. It is often possible to pass, or beat boats that might have a speed advantage if you can sail free in your own water. Even a fast boat will slow down when forced to adjust to another boat with better position, and if you are able to do your own thing, you can find yourself working your way toward the front of the fleet, by slowing down less.
Our takeaways from Day 1 are…
1. Keep the boat powered up and full speed in light wind and lulls
2. Sail in your own water whenever possible.
3. Use good position to sail your boat in your best mode.
Results after Day one:
1 13/ 5235 Helly Hansen Mollicone, John/Becker, Geoff/Healy, Tim/Leon, Collin/Borges, Gordon 1 5 1 1 8
2 28/ 799 USA 799 Brown, Robby/Hyatt, Ron/Liebel, Mark/Rubin, Jeff/Blodgett, Arthur 3 2 3 2 10
3 30/ 5432 Honey Badger Odenbach, Travis/Wilson, Patrick/Milez, Rossi/Morgan, Chris/Williams, Emery 2 1 5 8 16
4 90/ 4618 Scaramoush Olcese, Luis/Sas, Christian/Raffo, Joe/Razetto, Joaquin/Stewart, Alek 4 4 6 3 17
5 14/ 2917 Long Shot Poulson, John/Viladabro, Nate/Fisher, Doug/Brills, Rob/Kaidos, Stephen 5 3 9 4 21
6 19/ 5287 Team Tar Heel Bill, Peter/Abdullah, Paul/Griffin, Scott/Smith, Scott/Gilliam, Tucker 7 11 2 5 25
7 23/ 2785 Al White, Carter/White, Molly/Klein, Mark/Gold, Barbara/Lopez, Steve 6 7 9/20% 6 28
8 26/ 5277 Gill Racing Team Dieball, Skip/Shaffer, Chris/Ewerson, Geoff/Wiggins, Bill/Gemperline, Mike 8 12 7 9 36
9 22/ 2314 Zia Frisch, Patrick/Dillard, Lori/Rech, David/Marshall, Stephen/Humphreys, John 10 6 10 13 39
10 18/ 5476 Velocidad Stone, Christopher/Fitzgerald, Tim/Murphy, Patrick/Russell, Brad/Toney, Doug 11 9 16 7 43
11 27/ 78 Buschwhacher Busch, Dan/McJames, Bill/Heath, Bill/Muller, Peter/Surguy, John 12 8 19 12 51
12 20/ 4025 Lifted Maloney, Ben/Naidoo, Erwin/Oulahen, Evan/Leighton, Katrina/Layton, Hugh 14/20% 19 8 11 52
13 29/ 451 J-Peas Anstey, Paul/Smyth, Kyle/Schmitz, Cheryl/Gallagher, Kevin/Drake, Brian 17 10 14 16 57
14 00/ 3336 Summertime Treese, Taylor/Kinsman, Bob/Stukus, Chris/Bourke, Jerry 15 18 12 14 59
15 25/ 2843 Muy Muy Sly, Patricio/Mintzias, Claudio/Mendoza, Ernesto/Sein-Messer, Lorie/Renan, Atilio 16 13 11 20 60
16 10/n3416 Scouts Honor Bill, Jim/deLisser, Eamon/Banks, Tim/Aydelotte, Jillian/Galvin, Isabel 13 17 15 15 60
17 34/ 230 Joe Cool Baugh, Lionel/Sanchez, Pilar/Ferres, Mauricio/Urquiola, Christina/Billar, Andres 20 15 13 15/20% 63
18 50/ 216 Team Exit Strategy Jarchow, Jr., Rick/Noonan, Bobby/King, Jack/Martinez, V. Andres 19 14 20 19 72
19 21/ 4242 Mobile Home Rathbun, Timothy/Soya, Bernie/Holts, Lynn/Dybas, John/Dybas, Bev 21 16 21 17 75
20 70/ 5333 Scouts Pride Sprague, Gary/Walker, Trish/Kvaltine, Scott/Scheuermann, Taylor/Manson, Nikki 14 24 18 21 77
21 80/ 99 I’ll Go Segal, Zachery/Wemple, Allyson/Kresge, Dan/Chavez, Jason 24 22 17 23 86
22 16/ 5020 Dr Feelgood Lai, Lambert/DePeters, Jack/Gardner, Edgar/Sorlie, Paul 18 23 24 22 87
J 24 MIDWINTER 2014 CORAL REEF YACHT CLUB
Friday, February 21, 2014 4 races scored Provisional results
Life After College (Sailing, that is)
Sail1Design would like to welcome our newest writer, Sara Morgan Watters. Ms. Watters is a former St. Mary’s College All-American dinghy sailor, has a great deal of coaching experience, and will be reporting for Sail1Design from her new home in New Zealand. We are excited to learn more about youth and one-design sailing from Sara Morgan in the coming months, so stay tuned here for those articles, and also for an exciting youth sailing exchange program announcement coming up soon!
A lot of people talk and write about the transition from high school to college sailing, (see Grace Lucas’s From High School Newbie to College Recruit, or Lydia Whiteford’s Transitioning from High School to College Sailing)but what about life after college sailing? There are many different directions you can take including professional sailing which was just discussed in an article by Sail1Design, Steve Hunt in Paid for your Passion: From College to Pro Sailing. You could also plan an Olympics, or just sail for fun. Here I’m going to tell you about how I approached life after college sailing, in which I was able to pursue two of my passions; traveling and sailing.
It was three years ago this month that I boarded a plane for Barcelona and didn’t come back until two and a half years later. Although I hadn’t anticipated staying in Spain for so long, after graduating in 2010 from St. Mary’s College of Maryland I knew I wanted to immerse myself in a different culture, learn Spanish and if possible keep sailing.
Once I was settled in Barcelona with a place to live, a good sense of my way around the city and some jobs teaching private English classes, I started to focus on how I could get involved in sailing. Hoping to find a job coaching, with the help of my Basque (a region of Spain) roommate, I sent out a grammatically sound email about coaching opportunities to just about every club up and down the Cataluña coast, the area of Spain where Barcelona lies. Of the twenty or so clubs that I emailed, I heard back from two. Perhaps, this was because the Spanish economy was so poor that hiring (an American) just isn’t in the budget nor does the government make it easy to contract foreigners.
However, I did receive one promising response from a small club that had a strong junior sailing team based out of a club on the beach about 50 miles south of Barcelona. The club leader who happened to also be associated with the Catalan Sailing Federation, was keen on the idea of offering “Sailing in English”, as I was calling it, to their Opti race team. He was able to use my U.S. Sailing Level 1 certification to issue me their equivalent certification to be able to coach (more or less) legally. As I suppose it is the case in most places, knowing the right person makes the biggest difference and little did I know this first contact would set me on a path that I’m still on today.
The next summer, 2012 I tried again. With the help of my new “connections”, I got a one-off job teaching “sailing in English” for a small group of Opti sailors at a much bigger club 25 miles north of Barcelona. Although they let me drive a motor boat when I really wasn’t legally supposed to and I was getting paid under the table, I had my own class of Opti racers who were eager to learn English. After all, speaking English is “cool”. This week went so well they hired me for another week to coach a regular summer week of beginner Opti sailing in Spanish. I can tell you that the second week was much more challenging! A week or so later I got asked by the same club to do a classroom style 2 hour presentation on “advanced sailing in English for adult members of the club. The “Sailing in English” fever was starting to spread.
Some of the adults that came to my class had children in the club’s program. So, after my class, I can honestly say it just occurred to me, why not bring these young sailors to the English language instead of bringing them a native speaker. My idea was to create an opportunity for these racers to come to the U.S. so they could train with a local team and live with a host family and get a true cultural experience while doing what they love! To my surprise, the parents thought it was a brilliant idea and I was beginning to think so too.
That’s when I contacted Joel Labuzetta, the junior program director at Annapolis Yacht Club and proposed the idea. He was on board right away and even offered boats for the Spanish sailors during their stay. I gathered all the information, prices, regatta schedule, host family logistics etc and prepared an official information packet to distribute (with the help of my new sailing connections) to Spanish families and Clubs around Cataluña.
Fast forward to this past summer, I finally returned home and just days later so did five Catalan sailors. One sailor came for the full month of July and participated in the Opti Nationals. The other four came for about two and a half weeks. To my relief all went well. In fact, the AYC families enjoyed the experience hosting as much as the sailors did. As Tomás Ruiz de Luque, the AYC Opti Head Coach and exchange coordinator puts it, this program bridges culture through the love for sailing. Now referred to as the “Sailing Exchange Program” Tomás and I along with Magda Resano, the coordinator in Spain, are working to put together this summer’s exchange program. As the title suggests, this summer the Americans will have the opportunity to travel to Barcelona and the second half of the summer the Catalans will have the opportunity to return to Annapolis. You can check out the website to learn more www.youthsailingexchange.com or visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sailingexchange.
In addition to my experiences starting this exchange program, I got out on the water myself by joining a local team who raced on a Beneteau First 40.7 on Sundays. I enjoyed the slow paced Sundays where we would arrive at the club at a decent hour of 10:30 (remember, people stay out late on weekends!), have a breakfast of authentic tortilla (Spanish omelet made of potato, onion and egg), and head out on the water to do one one-hour race. Granted the racing was competitive for that hour, it was the experience as a whole that I loved because I was learning about the culture through sailing. This group became like family to me. I’ll never forget the time we sailed from Barcelona to Menorca (an island off of Spain) in an overnight race. The regatta overlapped with a major Spanish holiday called Sant Joan, which among other celebratory efforts involves horses running through small streets so crowded with people that someone always gets their foot stepped on. With out my sailing team, I would never have experienced this tradition at the epicenter of where it is celebrated in Spain.
From my own experiences abroad as well as my efforts to create a program for others to have the abroad experience, I’ve learned that there is no better way to learn about a different culture and place than by sharing something in common, in this case, sailing. Although I didn’t really start my professional career in Spain as there often is pressure to do after college, I have grown as a person and want to make it possible for others to have an experience similar to mine. So my biggest advice to the soon to be graduate is pursue your sailing and personal ambitions in whatever direction that might be. Now is the time to try it and you never know what path you’ll find yourself on.
Sail1Design Brokerage Newsletter February 2014
Sail1Design Brokerage Newsletter February 2014
Greetings from Sail1Design! We hope this newsletter finds you well. Along with Cruising Yachts/Sail California, Sail1Design offers some of the finest performance sailing yachts in the world, and our team has decades of cruising, racing, and blue water experience to help our clients make all the right choices. http://marketplace.sail1design.com/
Meet the brokerage team: http://www.sailcal.com/our-team/
Below is a short list of just some of our offerings. As always, I am more than happy to research and help with your individual yachting interests, so please do not hesitate to call or email with questions! We always appreciate referrals, so if you know someone interested in selling or buying, please send them our way!
Selected Brokerage Yachts
USA-5432 This 2012 J/24 is ready to win. USA-5432 is a better-than-new Waterline/US Watercraft J/24 with an impeccable racing record. All the right gear, in all the right places, perfectly prepared. This boat is a turn-key boat, with trailer, ready to win your weeknight series, the Worlds, and any event in between.
Santa Cruz 52 The Santa Cruz 52, no question one of the finest racer/cruisers ever built. Renegade was built as the ultimate racer/cruiser with the standard keel and a carbon rig with swept back spreaders for both ease of handling while cruising and great performance while racing. Easily handled by a couple, the 52’s interior finish and accommodations rival that of the finest yachts in the world. Finished in teak and beautiful fiddleback maple veneers, Renegade’s spacious two stateroom layout and well-appointed main salon and galley will comfortably accommodate owners and guests for an extended cruise or a complete crew for an extended ocean race in complete comfort and style. Renegade is on the East Coast, ready to go. US $495,000
Reichel-Pugh 44 All carbon boat, extremely well built by SOCA Yachts with a stiff mast/hull.
Farr 40 Astra, (Latin word for star), is a turn key Farr 40 ready for the Wolds in San Francisco this summer. She is still owned by her original owner and has proven to be a very fast hull. When she came out of the factory she went right to Waterline Systems for the full fairing job.
Tartan 4100 “Prime Number” is a prime example showing the Tartan qualities, graceful, powerful and classic ! A Tim Jackett Design with carbon fiber mast and vacuum-bagged epoxy hull construction. ” Prime Number” carries a Schaefer full batten IN BOOM furling main system with a Harken electric halyard winch, and a 110% furling jib on a Harken furling system.
C&C 110 White NPG/ISO gel coated hull, vacuum assist laminate with alternating layers of strand mat and uni-directional “E” glass and Kevlar in vinyl ester resin locally reinforced Vinylester Resin throughout laminate for moisture resistance and high strength
Owen Clark OPEN 60 O Canada was originally designed and built 2005 to compete in the short handed events globally. She had a total upgrade/refit in 2009, was used as a training boat for the Canadian Sailing team culminating with the Transpac in 2011. Since then she has been out of the water in storage and has just been put back together and sailing again. US $749,000
SANTA CRUZ 53 C New Listing. Known for their successful ultra-light racers, Santa Cruz Yachts built the Santa Cruz 53C as a fully dedicated performance cruiser. The Santa Cruz 53C has the same hull form as the racy 52 but incorporates a multitude of features that have simplified it for shorthanded sailing and has made it a much more offshore cruising oriented boat. Conceptualized for couples doing long-distance cruising, the main can be reefed singlehandedly from the cockpit with all control lines for everything aft as well. US $649,000
Transpac (TP) 52 Braveheart Transpac 52 in full optimized IRC trim, excellent ocean boat. US $395,000
Custom Bakewell-White 50’ Offshore Cruiser If you are looking for the ultimate short-handed 50 footer to see the world in this is it. Brisa is a modern, custom performance blue water cruiser with a large enclosed hard dodger. Hull and deck are vacuum bagged epoxy sandwich construction using closed cell foam core with carbon and Kevlar in high stress areas. The design includes 2- 265 gallon fresh water ballast tanks which increase stability and comfort on up wind passages without adding any additional weight. US $549,000 call 443-220-2089
Owen Clarke Open 50 Truth is an Open 50 designed by Owen Clarke and built by McConaghy in Australia. Construction is prepreg carbon with Nomex core., canting keel and dual dagger boards. Originally launched as Artforms in the Spring of 2003. After an extensive refit at Eric Goetz’s yard in Newport RI, Philippe Kahn raced her as Pegasus to victory in the double–handed Pac Cup. Truth is dry stored at the KKMI boat yard in Richmond Ca. US $295,000
Schooner Creek Fox 44 Is racing in the Pacific Cup or, TransPac on your bucket list? Do you want to go on a fun, fast, ride? Then Ocelot is the boat for you. She is totally tricked out and ready for ocean racing. Ocelot, a Fox 44 carbon fiber racing sloop, with Wylie hull from the Wildcat mold, and Kernan designed sloop and deck layout, built by Schooner Creek Boat Works. She has a proven race record: 2012 PV race 3rd place overall finisher; 2010 OYRA offshore series champion; Podium finish in 3 windjammer races; and 3 coastal cup races; Winner of the 2007 windjammers race. US $253,000
J/130, Offshore Ready SOLD The J/130 Ram is a perfect example of a performance cruiser: plenty of space for crew, and gear without sacrificing speed or sail control. This fully loaded J/130, has been cruised all over the Pacific by her current owner. She is set-up for ease and comfort while underway with three (3) reef points in the mainsail and custom carbon dodger for protection in all weather conditions. The shallow draft enables you to select safe, protected, anchorages at your favorite cruising destinations. US $195,000
Want to Learn How to Sail in College? Click Here
SAILING COLLEGIATE DINGHIES CLINIC
…is a three-day clinic intended for high school and college sailors who wish to learn collegiate sailing techniques and practice like one of the top college sailing teams in the country. It will be a great opportunity for sailing teams that need a little extra coaching boost to get some additional instruction.
All aspects of sailing the Collegiate FJ and 420 will be covered. Specific topics will include straight-line speed, tacking, gybing, and boat handling for starting. Please note, strategies and tactics may be covered in the clinic, however the focus will be on sailing the boats well.
Sailing will take place in Harvard’s fleet of FJs and 420s.
NO HOUSING IS PROVIDED.
DATE: April 22-24 (Tuesday – Thursday)
LOCATION: Harvard Sailing Center, 45 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA
COST: $210 per sailor
For more information:
Visit our website: http://www.crimsonsailingacademy.com/clinics.html
Email us: info@CrimsonSailingAcademy.com
Call us at: 85 – SAILING – 1, (857) 245-4641
Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CrimsonSailing
ICSA Team Race Pre-Season Diagnostic
By Airwaves writer Martha Pitt
Spring Diagnostic Pre-Season Team Race Technical Evaluation of Participants and College Sailing Teams Nationwide
As we dive into the spring season, it is time to take a look at each conference and who the projected team racing leaders will be over the next few months and into the championship season. Our coaches’ panel returns to help identify the potential leaders! The teams and sailors mentioned below represent some, but certainly not all, of the talent that will emerge from the various districts this spring.
Thanks to Matt Cohen (MIT), Ward Cromwell (College of Charleston), Bill Healy (Yale), Ken Legler (Tufts), Brendan Healy (Navy), Clinton Hayes (Stanford), and Jeff Bresnahan (Conn. College) for their contributions to these conference evaluations. Stay tuned throughout the season for our ICSA Team Race Rankings!
PCCSC
Stanford: Stanford is once again returning all its starters and looks to put the pieces together this season for a shot at a National Championship. The starting team is not known yet but look for 2 time All-Americans Oliver Toole ’14 and Kelly Ortel ’14, this year sailing together, Mateo Vargas ’14 and Tally Buckstaff ’14, along with Kevin Laube ’14 and Yuri Namikawa ’14. 5 of these 6 were the team that placed 3rd at this year’s Hinman. Also looking to factor into the equation is last years Nationals starter Kieran Chung ’15 sailing with All-American Haley Kirk ’15, also Hans Henken ’15 and Antoine Screve ’16 will be strong starting candidates. Senior crews Helena Scutt (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) and Mckenzie Wilson will contribute throughout the wind range. Stanford’s new recruits will add great depth to practice. Look for freshmen crews Quinn Vangelos and Nikki Obel as potential starters with some of the Junior and Senior drivers. Having lead the rankings all last spring and but not quite able to keep it together for the big event, Stanford will surely be honing in on their skills to finish this season on top.
University of California Santa Barbara: UCSB will look to use its great recruiting class to make an impact at team race nationals. Sophomore Ian Stokes has some good fleet race results and will return this year to help the team racing campaign. Freshmen Stephen Long has been impressive this fall qualifying for Singlehanded Nationals and winning B Division at PCCs. He will certainly start as well. The 3rd starting spot is more of a question mark. Freshmen Keenan Chung, younger brother of Kieran from Stanford, may start but took most of the fall off from sailing. Other possible starters include Cobi Allen ’16 and Grant Rickon ’16. For crews, certainly look to sophomores Natalie Davidson and Ginger Luckey to make the team. Also look for Kristina Miller ’17 and Preston Beye ’14 who both started at PCCs this fall.
University of Hawaii: Hawaii will compete against UCSB for the 2nd qualifying spot out of PCCSC at Team Race Nationals. Long time team leader Adam Pokras ’14 will lead the way along with Women’s team leader and team race starter from last year Madeline Kennedy ’14. Their crews from this fall Ana-Melissa Kea ’14 and Katrina Berry ’15 will likely start. Judging by fall and early spring results Giacomo Paoletti ’15 is a likely candidate for the 3rd spot.
California State Long Beach: CSULB has had some really good results including a 3rd at Fall PCCs. The team will most likely include top match racer Shane Young ’14, Mark Ryan ’15, and John Hill ’14. For crews look for Foya Lazare ’14, Nicholas Santos ’15, and Anna Rubino ’16. This team has some real experience under their belts and could very easily steal a spot at Nationals.
California Maritime Academy: Cal Maritime is always a threat and just barely lost out on Match Race Nationals this fall. They have 2 coaches and a good facility but can they put in some disciplined practice and quality for Nationals? For Starting skippers they are looking at Chris Vilicich ’16, Andrew Lamb ’14, and Scott Doyle ’14 with crews Elisabeth Mckee ’17, Stephen Katz ’16, and Eileen Welch ’14.
University of Southern California: UCS has some good experience in Cam Hutcheson ’14 but will struggle with depth. Possible other starters include John Coakley ’16, Kendall Sanson ’15 and Pravan Chugani ’16. For crews, look for Adity Radhakrishna ’17, Taylor Dupont ’17, Hollis Barth ’16, and Caroline Carney ’16.
University of California San Diego: They were impressive last year and got to the final 4 in the McIntyre Team Race but with inconsistent fleet race results it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll show up this spring. The team will likely include skippers John Olson ’14, Nicholas Delfino ’16, and Tyler Wooldridge ’14 along with crews Elsa Felgar ’16, Cheyenne Wright ’16, and Hayley Chong ’17.
NWICSA
University of Washington: Washington is a very strong west coast team with some good results to back it up. Senior Karl Haelsig sailing with Sarah Redmond ’15 have been their best boat followed by Kris Thompson ’16 and Caylin Cordray ’14. Lily Grimshaw ’15 and Molly Utter ’14 have some good coed results and may be their 3rd.
Western Washington: Western Washington had the top 2 spots at their singlehanded qualifier with Paul Foley ’14 going to Nationals, so they have potential to be a threat.
University of Victoria: With a better than mid-fleet finish at Fall PCCs, Victoria could be a team to watch. It is still very unknown how they’ll show up for team racing.
University of British Columbia: This is another Canadian team competing a lot in the Northwest this fall. They had a great 2nd place finish at the conference’s North-South but are still untested in team racing.
Oregon State: Oregon State qualified for Match Race Nationals and seems to be a solid top 5 team in the Northwest. Lets see if they can take that match race experience into the team racing season.
MCSA
It’s been a rather tough winter in the upper Midwest. Unless they are ice boating, they are likely watching more basketball than sailing until March Madness settles down.
University of Michigan: Michigan seems to have taken over from UWisconsin as the strength of the Midwest. The team has been on the rise for a couple years now and they just took a pretty big leap forward with the addition of junior transfer (from Navy) Alex Ramos who sails with the very dedicated Karinne Smolenyak. Combined with senior skippers Will Cyr and Ryan Seago, they should easily win the MCSA champs and possibly beat some top ten teams at the show. It seems the tradition of combining Naval Architecture and college sailing is alive and well in Ann Arbor. Big Blue traveled to seven East Coast Regattas this past fall, and posted wins in three keelboat regattas. Closer to home they won their second straight Timme’s and dominated the Big Ten Team Race.
University of Wisconsin: The Badgers are
not done and remain one of the largest and strongest teams in the country not near an ocean. It’s unclear if star skipper George Kutchenreuter still has one semester left as he did not sail in the fall. Without George they rely on depth as displayed when they finished 1-2 at the Sugar Bowl. Their top boat was sailed by John Kinzel with super I-420 crew (and soon to be skipper) Charles Bocklet. They also feature Connor Trepton/Elliot Busta and women’s skippers Leslie Poole and Laura Wefer.
University of Minnesota: The Minnesota Badgers could field an all women’s team racing squad with Emily Oltrogge/Emily Johnson, Alison Kent/Allison Forbes, and Sarah Ellis/Paige Boegeman. Then again their best skipper is probably Drake Lundeen but only when he is sailing with a member of their women’s team.
Other teams in the Midwest have a few experienced individuals but lack the depth to challenge the bigger powerhouses. Michigan State finished 4th at Sugar Bowl (MCSA teams sandwiched home team Tulane with 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th) as Bill Weiland/Elizabeth Dust led the way. Northwestern and Notre Dame also had some good individual performances this fall and the “A” division at the season opener – the Fall Fury at Wisco – saw a pair of freshmen from Iowa win! Let’s wait and see what else they do before talking Buckeye team racing.
SEISA
Even though SEISA is the largest geographical district in the country, it has one of the smallest participation rates with only four teams at last year’s team race nationals’ qualifiers. We will see if 2014 is the year for SEISA to show us the talent it has hiding away!
Texas A&M University at Galveston: Galveston dominated the SEISA qualifiers last year remaining undefeated, but their lack of regular team race competition during the season proved to be a challenge at the championship. Having graduated their three starting skippers from that championship team, the team is definitely in building mode having rotated through many skipper/crew combos this fall. We will see if Trey Hartman ’15, who finished 13th at the Men’s Singlehanded Championship last fall will be a factor, and if some of the other skippers like Jacob Hafemeister ’16 and Ryan Murphy can prove themselves on the team race course.
Tulane University: Tulane has always been a factor in SEISA, and they have the potential to make big moves with Coach Kaity Storck pushing them. Female skippers Alexandra Payne ’15 and Jessica Oswalt ’16, who represented the team at the Women’s Singlehanded Championship in the fall, lead the team through the fall season, and we expect that other regular skipper Michael Swanson ’16 might be the third to join the team racing roster. Keep an eye on the Green Wave to wash away the SEISA competition!
Texas A&M University: These other Aggies have shown that they could be in contention on the team race course this spring. Twins Tracy and Erin Hawk ’16 have shown themselves as both skippers and crews, and Travis Conger ’14 has sailed at the top of the conference fleets.
SAISA
SAISA will continue to see the same three teams fighting it out for the 2 spots to Nationals this year.
Eckerd: The Eckerd Tritons’ most likely leader will be Junior Tony Collins. Senior Bobby Savoie and Walker Banks may see some playing time, but we may also see freshmen Alejandro Monllor or Jason D’Agostino stepping up to the plate. The Eckerd crews will likely include sophomores Jessica Resnick, Sarah Hanson, and senior Meredith Weber to help carry the team through the season and into qualifiers. They have a strong squad to contend for a Nationals berth.
University of South Florida: The USF Bulls’ team leader will likely be senior skipper Christopher Stocke sailing with sophomore crew Ali Yarbrough. Sophomore skipper Fernando Monllor will likely see time with sophomore Rebecca Campbell, and Connor Brady, a junior transfer from Roger Williams will likely round out the squad with freshman crew Katie Berg, all helping to push the team to perform this season.
College of Charleston: The Charleston Cougars will play a young squad including sophomore skippers Jake Reynolds and Ryan Davidson paired with junior Ali Blumenthal and sophomore Emmy Stuart. Junior Nick Johnstone will likely round out the squad playing with sophomore crew Septima McAdams. Other skippers could include sophomores Dodge Rees paired with junior Tierney Driscoll, sophomore Reed Baldridge paired with Chloe Dapp as well as Chase Shaw, and Beka Schiff if the wind comes up. The Cougars will undoubtedly bring sound tactics and superior boat handling. They will be breaking in a few new team race drivers, but whomever they sail will be ready to compete! After just missing the Final Four at Nationals last year, the Courgars will surely be on the hunt to get back on top.
Other teams we hope will soon make the leap to team racing include the Jacksonville Dolphins with new coach Jon Faudree and the Miami Hurricanes.
MAISA
St. Mary’s: The Seahawks look to be the strongest returning powerhouse in MAISA this season, returning all starting skippers from their runner-up performance at the 2013 ICSA Team Race Nationals. Seniors Josh Greenslade, John Wallace, and Victor Diaz de Leon are all returning to school for the spring semester. Led by team race coaching aces Bill Ward and AdamWerblow, I’d look for this squad to be one of the best in the country, especially come championship time.
Georgetown: Another major player in MAISA and certainly on the national scale. Georgetown should be particularly strong this spring with skippers Nevin Snow and Alex Post. I would certainly expect playing time from the ICSA Men’s Singlehanded Champ, Greg Martinez, as well as some time from Sean Golden. Generally a quite disciplined team, I would look for this squad to be raging hard this semester. Winning the ACCS in very tough conditions makes you believe this group can do anything. They lost starters due to graduation, but seem to be ready to for their next hurdle. Look for the Hoyas to be very fast.
Navy: The Midshipmen should also be firing on all cylinders this semester with the return of senior skipper Mike Grove and last year’s Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year Finalist junior Mary Hall. Playing time from sophomore Mike Popp and freshman Patrick Snow should also be expected and should all contribute to Navy being quite a factor on the circuit this season.
Fordham: With Olin Paine returning and taking on more of a leadership role, Fordham should be a total spoiler on the road this season. Coupled with the help of Coach Reed, and skipper Connor Godfrey, the Rams are certainly not to be counted out.
Old Dominion University: Old Dominion should also never be counted out of the rankings. Esteban Forrer may have a tough time finding the support he needs to get his team up to strength however, but the leadership and help from crews Chloe Constants and Jill Fettibone should be extremely valuable, with the obvious guidance from a phenomenal coaching squad down in Norfolk.
SUNY: SUNY will certainly turn some heads this spring. Led by freshman star Nick Valente and Coach Russ
, the Privateers are sure to take some big wins. If Valente, with help from Julia Paxton, keeps up his hot streak from the Fall, this team should be tough to take out.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Hobart should obviously never be counted out of the lineup. The squad is going to be hurting this year a bit with the loss of senior Johnny Norfleet, but the Statesmen and Herons have a strong core group of crews in addition to the leadership of Coach Scott and Louis Padnos.
NEISA
Yale: The 2013 APS Team Race National Champions’ loss of Cam Cullman and Heather May due to graduation is big. Yale is returning All-American crew Kate Guamond, with skippers Chris Segerblom and Graham Landy. The hole left by May and Cullman will have to be filled by many including Max Nickbarg, Ian Barrows, Charlotte Belling, Sarah Smith and top crews Eugenia Custo and Amanda Salvesen and Will Feldman. Luckily for the Elis, this year’s recruits have proven to be remarkably fast in all boats and conditions. There is other young talent on this team that will push these starters, and as always, they will be a tough team to beat.
Brown: These guys won the NEISA Team Race Champs last year and finished 3rd at Team Race Nationals but they lost All-American skippers Colin Smith and Tommy Fink who had some of the best on the water communication out there. All-American crew Ashley Noble was also lost to graduation. Tyler Rice ’14 and two-time All-American crew Louisa Chafee ’14 return to anchor the team with skippers Luke Adams ’15 , Judge Ryan ’14, and transfer Pearson Potts ’16 with crews Helen Lord ’14, Lydi Whiteford ’15, and Jessie O’Dell ’16 all in the mix this year. Look for Brown to be competing to win. They have the experience and the talent to go all the way.
Roger Williams: With coaches like Amanda Callahan and Colin Merrick, who can count these guys out? But you do need some talent and the Hawks have it. They are returning Tyler McDonald ‘15, Conor Corgard ‘16 and Henry Vogal ‘15. This is one of the only teams that is returning three skippers that sailed in last years nationals. However, they did lose College Sailor of the Year finalist Alec Anderson, which is huge! Some leadership from returning junior crews Abby Preston and Wendy Ruess and the Hawks will have three strong boats on the line. Winning the Hap Moore Team Race Regatta this fall should give the group some confidence this spring.
Boston College: A young group of well-trained and well-disciplined Eagles will continue their team racing dominance. After a disappointing finish at last year’s championship, the Eagles will surely be ready to soar this season. Will Bailey ’15 and All-American Raul Rios ’16 have the speed to take down many opponents, and surely Women’s Singlehanded Champion Erika Reineke ’16 and Dominic Bove ’15 will be players as well. Elizabeth Barnard ’15, Shelby Hamilton ’14 and Katherine Wysocki ’15 are strong crews to help carry the team to victory. Throw in freshmen Harry Koeppel and Max Simmons and strong crews like twins Doyle and Riley Calhoun, their formidable “A” and “B” teams will make for very strong training sessions. Coach Greg will have this group ready for opening day and it will be hard to find a soft spot in their game.
Tufts: The Jumbos have been the bridesmaid but not the bride in the last two New England’s, one position out of qualifying both years. They return two-time All-American Will Haeger and a duo of “thirds” from previous years, David Leibenberg and Alec Ruiz-Ramon at the starting helms. A wacky lake and Larks could be strong practice for a potentially wacky Conn. College race course for New England’s.
Dartmouth: Five of the Big Green’s starting six from 2013 NE’s return including all three helms – All-American Matt Wefer, last year’s Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year Deirdre Lambert, and Scott Houck, along with All-American crews Carissa Crawford and Avery Plough. With the changed team racing format in NEISA, the likely-still-frozen-in Big Green will have to utilize spring break training and early regattas to ready themselves for New England’s.
Connecticut College: Senior and four year starter Kevin Martland will be leading the Camels. Jordan Borthwick, Bryce Kopp, and IG Schottlander will see some time skippering as well. Returning starting crews Grace Medley, Lea Bushnell, and Kim Bolick will help guide the boats around the course, though senior David Rex and junior Ben Myers will jump when it gets windy. After a great performance at the 2013 Team Race New England Champs (7th), they followed up in the fall with a 3rd place breakout performance at the Hap Moore Team Race Regatta. Conn. Is hosting two huge team race regattas this spring – the SNETER (Southern New England Team Race) and the New England Team Race Championships. Camels may very well out-perform their 2013 record with the confidence from sailing on that tricky Thames River!
Harvard: One year older! The Harvard Crimson are making their move. Keeping a core group together through thick and thin has always been the Harvard formula. The Crimson return all three of their 2013 Ferrarone winning boats: Gram Slattery/Sarah Pierson, Brian Drumm/Jacob Bradt , and Michael Drumm/Richard Bergsund. Throw Andrew Mollerus/ Sydney Karnovsky in to the mix, and they could surprise a few. They rotate seamlessly depending on conditions and boats; you never know who you will be sailing against. They are aggressive and never give up on any race or any play!
University of Vermont: The Catamounts are returning their top four helms: Michael Zonnenberg, Jordan Factor, Nate Jermain and Michael Booker, and top crews Catherine Mitchell, Sara Anibal, Lauren Jones, and Bridget Murphy. The Cats are fast, and with some frigid early practices, could be quite fierce.
MIT: Inserting some new blood and fast boats to returning starter David Alfonso/Iris Xu, the Engineers will fill the final two boats with one of the following: freshmen Alec Stewart/Paige Omura; David Larson/Jordan Ladd; and/or Joe Paggi/Kayla Ngan. The Engineers, along with a few other NEISA teams, will need to sail themselves into New England’s before they can worry about Nationals.
Boston University: Returning all three starting helms from ’13, Ryan Astwood, Cam Fraser and Ian Towill, the Terriers always seem to be on the upswing during regional spring championships, so it’s hard to ever count them out.
Bowdoin: Many of their top sailors were studying abroad in the Fall 2013, but they project to have the same starting helms – Michael Croteau, Tom Peabody, and Kaylee Schwitzer – as their 2013 squad which nearly unseated Yale in the opening round of New England’s last year. The Polar Bears have learned the game well and just need to hit the water. Add in experienced V-15 team racer senior Pete Edmunds and a first year Jack McGuire who sailed A division for most of the fall. They are looking forward to having a solid second team to practice against, which will make a huge difference in preparation for some of the bigger team race events this season.
Northeastern: It’s hard to ever nail down who is sailing each semester for this school whose academics run on a one-on, one-off school/co-op program, but the Huskies can be fast and are beginning to gain some stability.
University of New Hampshire: They enjoy the team racing game, but like much of northern New England, the Wildcats might be iced-in through their qualifier INTO New England’s (and maybe even past Team Racing New England’s this year).
Team racing is in the air! Check out some of Sail1Design’s articles on this great part of our sport:
- Turkey Team Race: The Rebirth of Youth Team Racing?
- Team Racing Talk: Starting
- The Future of Team Racing
Tactics with Mike: Defending a Starting Hole
Defending a hole is a logical follow on to our last Sail1Design article: “Start: Tacking in a Hole”.
Don’t forget to check out and research all of our Tactics/Strategy articles here!
Almost as important as controlling the boat to windward is NOT being controlled by the leeward boat. Without a gap to leeward to put your bow down and go fast off the start line. To do that, we need to counter attack our port approach. I will leverage heavily off the wording in the last article, and show the counter to each move from the perspective of the Windward boat. Let’s define the perfect position from which windward boat is controlled –This is what we do NOT want to happen.:
· Leeward boat just ahead of bow to bow (1 in the illustration)
o That way we ( the windward boat) can’t bear off and accelerate
· Leeward boat not so far forward that we can bear off and go behind (2)
o We are “hooked” with no escape
· Anything less than a boat width apart is dangerous (3)
o Any further and we will have room to bear off and get speed to go over, or duck behind and re-establish to leeward
o Any closer and we risk contact and are really controlled
· We don’t want to be above close hauled (4)
o We don’t want to be slow and thus un-maneuverable
o And we can’t control the pace so we won’t be able to decide when to accelerate for the start
The windward boat is doomed; once in this position, red can control every yellow move.
We are constantly on the lookout. If we have a hole, we assume everyone coming want’s it (because they do!). I have an assigned crewmember on it. In our 3 person boat it is the middle, in a 5 person boat it is the tactician. Someone is always 100% in charge of watching for potential hole poachers.
Assuming we are the middle red boat, someone on our boat assumes that green will tack in and take our hole, even if they look like they are sailing behind.
Let’s discuss practical interpretations of the applicable rules from the windward boat’s perspective:
· Rule 13 WHILE TACKING “After a boat passes head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boats until she is on a close-hauled course.”
o This means the boat tacking in has no rights:
§ On port while they approach then head up
§ While they are passing head to wind
§ While they are bearing off
o Once the tacking boat has reached close hauled on starboard tack, they gain right of way
§ They don’t have to be trimmed in with the sails full, they merely have to be headed as if we were sailing upwind
o I find that many competitors don’t fully know or understand this rule, so we always assume they think they have right of way even though they have not truly completed their tack
· Rule 15 ACQUIRING RIGHT OF WAY “When a boat acquires right of way, she shall initially give the other boat room to keep clear.”
o Once complete the tack and become the right of way leeward boat, they need to make sure we (the windward and thus give way boat) can still avoid us
o The word “initially” I find important. If contact is immediate, we are probably in the right, but very soon after, we assume the onus to keep clear shifts to us
o In the protest room, immediately after the tack, the ruling could go either way –neither boat should want to let it get this close
· Rule 16 CHANGING COURSE “16.1 When a right-of-way boat changes course, she shall give the other boat room to keep clear.”
o We can bear away (“right-of-way boat changes course”) at the approaching / tacking boat, but we can’t so such that they can’t avoid us.
§ Until the port approaching boat completes the tack, most of the onus rests on that poacher, but this rule is the exception; it limits what we can do to protect that hole
o Once the tacking boat is establishes as the right of way leeward boat, this rule limits what they can do. They can’t head up so fast that we can’t avoid them.
§ But as windward give-way boat, we are well aware that if we allow ourselves to get in this position, we would likely lose this protest
In short, to be safe, we make sure we don’t push the limits of these rules unless we are sure we are not going to foul. Rest assured, we will still aggressively use these rules to keep from getting controlled by a leeward boat. Here are our options of defense:
· We bear off at them (the most likely scenario)
o By heading at them, we force them to either tack earlier than they want to, or pass behind to look for a more friendly hole.
o If they tack, we keep heading at them to force them to complete their tack
o We then use our momentum to go straight upwind and widen the gap creating a hole to leeward
o We need to be super careful though, they will be trying to close the gap, we need to do everything we can to maintain that distance to windward
We need to avoid getting controlled. In this picture, we (red) did not force blue to complete their tack. We are in trouble!
· Sail control is important
o Vang off, main out all the way jib luffing will help the boat to bear off without really moving
§ The goal is to pivot, without covering much distance
o Then when it is time to head up, sheet in fast on the main, but keep the jib luffing and use the little momentum gained to drift to windward again
Best defense is to bear off without going forward too much, forcing the poacher to tack earlier than they wanted. Then head and drift to weather head to wind creating a gap to leeward.
Sometimes if the line is crowded and we are set up a little early, we will preemptively close the gap making it uninviting. That way even though we don’t maintain a large gap, at least we have some gap and any port tacker is likely to move on down the line looking for something better.
Defending a hole is not easy. If we have a big juicy hole, odds are that someone is going to go after it. The goal though is to make the best of a bad situation. We lower our standards and our new goal is not to be in that terrible position where the leeward boat is just below and ahead locking us in. Instead we want to have at least some gap to leeward so we can still accelerate off the line and hopefully hold our lane long enough to be in the front row.
Team One Newport Can Help Promote YOUR Program!
Let Team One Newport’s Merchandising Program Help Promote Your Program and Make You Money!
At Team One Newport, we are committed to helping our customers in any way that we can, which is why we have introduced our Merchandising Program model – a resource for programs, clubs, event organizers, and teams to provide customized imprinted apparel to members of their communities without the hassle or costs of managing the purchases and sales of the products! We work with the group to pick and design the best products and set up a webpage for easy viewing and access by the program’s community. Once a group’s custom program is set up, Team One handles the entire order process from production, to payment, to shipping, and then pays back to the program a 15% royalty of the sales, providing a simple and wieldy way for a program to promote itself and make money.
Team One has huge selection of products including everything from standard t-shirts and polos to top-of-the-line sailing gear, and will help you select and design the products best suited to the needs of your program. Team One’s in-house embroidery, sublimation, and heat press teams allow each product to be made immediately on-site and sent out in a timely manner. In addition to the selected program designs, we are also able to add personalization to any product. If anyone is interested in adding a boat name, sail number, last name, or any other customization, we can work with each customer to determine the best method and placement.
Among many who have set up merchandise programs with Team One are the organizers of Nantucket Race Week and the Opera House Cup. These two events are run by the Nantucket Yacht Club and Great Harbor Yacht Club together to support Nantucket Community Sailing. The events run over nine days of racing and social events, bringing in over 3,000 participants and serving as the primary fundraising event for Nantucket Community Sailing. “Team One makes the process easy!” said event organizer Diana Brown. “All we need to do is promote Team One to our participants. We have no ability to customize gear, and Team One handles that beautifully. We never get a complaint… [Team One’s program] allows our participants to purchase gear with the NRW and OHC logos that we do not sell ourselves,” though NCS is also able to stock a small inventory of product to sell onsite at the event. The merchandise program through Team One “allows our participants to customize NRW and OHC gear with the name of their boat or team, and provides NCS with a royalty check, which supports our youth sailing programs. Team One is a great partner!”
Also using a merchandise program through Team One is the Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, MA. Kim Berg, the Membership Services Director for the yacht club has been working with Team One on their program and has been very happy with the benefits that the program provides to her club and its membership. “By offering a Team One Newport Merchandise Program integrated on our private website,” says Berg, “our club no longer needs to stock those items in inventory. That makes it easier for us from a storage and management standpoint. Also, for members who custom order items, it allows them to get exactly what they want… not just what our club chooses to carry in stock. Team One has been great to work with – on this program and for other onsite needs for special regattas.” Beverly Yacht Club has also used Team One when they host the Buzzards Bay Regatta, which is the largest multi-class regatta in the U.S., generally drawing over 400 boats and 1200 sailors across a dozen classes.
Team One is involved with producing merchandise for many kinds of groups: yacht clubs like Chatham, Hyannis, and Fishers Island Yacht Club; non-profit groups such as Sail Newport, the Oliver Hazard Perry Educational Foundation, and Sail For Hope; other events such as the NYYC Invitational Cup and Qualifier Series, the Newport Bermuda Race, and the Marion Bermuda Race; and athletic teams and boat classes like the UConn Ski Team, the Oxbridge Academy Sailing Team, and the Snipe and Bullseye Classes.
For more information on Team One Newport and its Merchandise Programs, or to check out some of the existing programs, please visit www.team1newport.com, or contact Martha Pitt at pitt@team1newport.com.
Vanguard 15 Midwinters Retrospective: College Sailor’s Paradise
By Airwaves Writer Lydia Whiteford
Two days after Christmas, 5 of my teammates and I traveled from various places in the country to the US Sailing Center in Martin County, FL. There, through the use of planes, trains, and automobiles, we joined 7 other teams to compete in the Vanguard 15 Midwinter regatta.
This regatta, taking place over 6 days, included both a fleet racing and a team-racing event, all in V-15s. Though my own team did not participate in the fleet racing portion of the event, showing up a day early provided us with some valuable on the water practice hours before the team-racing event started. When the team-race regatta finally started, it brought with it steady breeze ranging from 12 to 20 knots for 3 straight days. Multiple round robins were sailed, and every race sailed was well won or hard-lost due to the great competition, despite there being only 8 teams on the roster.
When I signed up for midwinters, I saw it originally as a chance to spend a couple of days in Florida sailing with some of my best friends in a boat I really loved. Upon arriving, I was pleasantly shocked to see that I recognized most of the faces on all the different teams from college regattas. What made it even better was facing them on the water, and seeing that every race was treated with the upmost seriousness across the board. Teams consisted of sailors from Boston College, Vermont, Charleston, and a number of other highly competitive schools within college sailing. Nearly every race was sailed with the level of intensity that one would find at a qualifying regatta or even nationals. For an event that is viewed, understandably, as being pretty casual, it was nice to see my peers use every race to their advantage. It is for this reason that I will shamelessly lobby for all college sailors to consider this event every winter, even if their individual experience sailing a Vanguard is minimal. According to Judge Ryan, a senior on the Brown sailing team, midwinters was valuable to him because “ [he] was able to get a lot of team racing reps in before the spring season has even kicked off. It’s a great way to warm up for the spring.” Judge had never sailed or even rigged a Vanguard before going to Florida, but managed to glean a huge benefit because of the way the regatta was designed and whom it was geared towards.
The one slight detraction from the value of the event was the number of teams and boats that signed up, with there being only 8 teams in the team-racing regatta and 9 boats total for fleet racing. The quality of the competition was so great that it would be a real loss to the sport if this regatta dwindled into nonexistence over the next few years. “The Vanguard class is great because it brings together past and present college sailors to create competitive team racing available to anyone,” says Abby Preston, current Roger Williams junior and media representative for the Vanguard class, “midwinters is an awesome event to sail as a college sailor because it gives us a chance to get back into team racing with high level competition while getting to know everyone off the water as well.” Midwinters is a great way to reintroduce an off-season brain to the competition that it is going to face in the spring, and the only way to keep this excellent opportunity a reality is to keep signing up every year. For anyone who is interested, or is looking for upcoming regattas or general information about the fleet, you can like “Vanguard 15 Class Association” on Facebook.
Event winners, college of Charleston Graduates, team name “Bedroom Bazooka”
