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ICSA News #2: Boston University & Navy win the Showcase Quals; Stanford wins the Stu Nelson

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The Coed sailors qualify for the Coed Showcase Finals- The Fiske Harriman Sleigh at Connecticut College; Stanford and Harvard look strong before the Women’s Showcase Finals.

October  7, 2019,  Written by Chris Klevan —   The United States Naval Academy won their side of the Coed Showcase Qualifiers, at home. The regatta was a full 36 race event and the drama extended throughout the event as Georgetown, the regatta leader from race 1B to race 17A were overtaken by Navy during the final set of the regatta.

Navy’s success came as a team effort as sophomore phenoms, Joseph Hermus and Sally Johnson won A-Division narrowly over Sean Segerblom ‘20 and Annabelle Ayer ‘22 of Georgetown. Meanwhile, Parker Loftus ‘20 and Kimmie Leonard ‘22 of Navy finished the regatta with a 1,2,1,1,1 to spark Navy’s run to pass the Hoyas. Navy has now won the last four doublehanded, fleet race regattas sailed at home.

Hermus sailed primarily B-Division last year while Loftus sailed in A. Things have changed since then and the coaching move seems to have benefitted the Midshipmen. “Both skippers have been really good for us,” said Navy Head Coach Ian Burnman. “But Hermus has been sailing particularly well since the end of last year. We thought he was ready for the challenge of the A-Fleet and he seems up to it so far. It took Loftus a few races to get used to the B-Fleet, but once he got his starts figured out he really dominated at the end of the regatta. Having great crews and tough competition at practice is huge for these guys as they settle into new roles.”

“Home has been good to us lately,” continued Coach Burman “I think we’ve gotten into a good routine since we host so many events and it’s always nice to be in our boats on our waters.  Our team also feeds a bit on the alums, parents , team members and other supporters that come by to cheer us on during the home regattas.”

Emily Haig ‘21 and Marcus Abate ‘20 of MIT won B-Division with 89 points. The MIT tandem finished 2 points ahead of Jack Brown ‘21, Katherine Lounsbury ‘20, Hunter Skinner ‘20 and Noelle Owen ‘23 of Charleston. Haig was the leader of a division which saw an uncharacteristic number of female drivers, 6, who sailed the entire regatta for MIT, Brown, Yale, Cornell and UPenn, with Ava Esquire and Lenox Butcher, both female, splitting time on the helm for UPenn.

Both Georgetown and Navy can be looked at as title contenders this year. Though Georgetown and Navy finished 6th and 3rd, respectively at last year’s Gill Coed National Championship, four of the top 6 teams lost starting skippers. Four of the top 5 A-Division skippers at the Nationals graduated, leaving Segerblom as the only returning skipper from the top 5. Loftus, of Navy finished 7th in A-Division last year.

Hermus returns as the reigning B-Division champion with 54 points between him and the next returning B-Division skipper, Leo Boucher ‘22 of St. Mary’s. Chalres Miller of HWS graduated. Will Logue ‘20 and Caoline Teare ‘21 of Georgetown return after finishing 8th in B-Division at Nationals.

Charleston finished 3rd overall last weekend with 211 points. The Cougars were 12 points behind Georgetown and 28 points behind Navy. Those three teams, along with Yale, MIT, Brown, Connecticut College, Bowdoin and University of Pennsylvania qualify, in order, for the Coed Showcase Finals, also known as the Fiske Harriman Sleigh, to be sailed at Connecticut College.

“We’ve gone up to New London for a few regattas already in 2019 and our players are becoming more comfortable sailing there,” said Coach Burman. “We’ll be working on our starts a lot before the next regatta there as well as our boat handling and ability to hold tight lanes.”

Boston University won the Coed Showcase at St. Mary’s, the other half of the 36 team qualifier for the Coed Showcase Finals, after a tie-breaker with Harvard. Like Navy, BU charged late in the event to take the lead late from a hot Harvard team. Each of the top three finishing teams, BU, Harvard and Coast Guard held the lead at some point throughout the regatta.

Harvard jumped out in front at the waning stages of the event but the Crimson couldn’t put BU away. The Terriers around to tie the event after a 2,2 final set by Javier De Urdanibia Panos ‘21 and Katherine Bertolini ‘21 in A-Division and a 1,1 final set by B-Division winner, Maia Agerup ‘20 with Grace Mooradian ‘21 and Garbiella Schmidt ‘22.

BU took the tie-breaker because the finished the event with seven first place finishes to Harvard’s six. Normally a tie-breaker is determined by head-to-head record, however BU and Harvard were split even head-to-head.

“BU sailed fast in both divisions, and generally started well,” said BU head coach Stan Schreyer. “In some of the races where they didn’t start well, they were able to work back through the fleet. We had some deep races, but not too many.”

“The Harvard team is very strong,” continued Coach Schreyer. “They have had good results in the early part of this season, and I expect they will continue to do so. They are fast, and they sail smart.”

A-Division was won by Eli Burnes ‘21 and Emily Wang ‘21, who now have finished 3rd at the Danmark, 5th at the Hoyt and 2nd at the Harry Anderson. Wang and Burns finished strong with 4 of the final 7 races in the top-3.

Agerup, Mooradian and Schmidt beat of Gage Schoenherr, Christina Nothacker and Walter Gnann of Coast Guard behind five top-2 finishes in the final 8 races of the event.

Coast Guard had 239 total points, 15 behind Harvard and BU. Boston College, Dartmouth, Stanford, Hobart and William Smith, St. Mary’s and Tufts round out 4-9 in order. Those 9 team will move on to sail the Coed Showcase Finals at Conn College in two weekends, October 19-20.

Stanford won the only women’s interconference regatta of the weekend, the Stu Nelson at Connecticut College. What ended up being a two team battle, Stanford and Harvard traded blows throughout the event. Third placed Brown finished 57 points behind second place Harvard. Stanford had 119, 11 points ahead of Harvard, though the regatta win was not settled until the final set.

Two Frosh, Michelle Lahrkamp and Abigail Tindall won A-Division by 30 points, beating Emma Kaneti ‘22 and Emma Jakobson ‘21 of Harvard, 53 to 83. Lahrkamp and Tindall finished in the top-3  in the first 5 races sailed as well as 10 of the 14 races sailed in A-Division.

Just as Lahrkamp and Tindall were to A-Division, Sarah Burn ‘23 and Jessican Williams ‘20 of Harvard were to B-Division. Burn and Williams won B-Division by 19 points over Stanford’s other all-frost boat of Hallie Schiffman and Patricia Gerli. Burn and Williams had 9 finishes inside the top-3.

Portland Yacht Club is Hiring!!

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Portland Yacht Club, Falmouth, Maine, seeks one 420 Race Team Coach and one Opti Race Team Coach. Coach orientation week begins June 15th and the post-season wraps up on August 17th. Sailing instruction begins June 22nd and runs through August 14, 2020. Classes are structured in 4 separate two-week sessions. PYC’s well-designed curriculum guides coaches while offering opportunity for innovations in instruction. Competitive salaries are offered and based on experience. For more information and to apply, please visit our JOB AD.

Portland Yacht Club is located in Falmouth, Maine, on the shores of beautiful Casco Bay, just north of Portland.  PYC is a private club, open only to members, their guests, and visiting yachtsmen. PYC is a welcoming community where members enjoy a variety of boating activities, learn from one another, and cultivate a rich and proud legacy of yachting tradition. PYC promotes member enjoyment by providing easy access to the water for a variety of boating interests, including racing, cruising, and day trips on large and small yachts. PYC fosters a strong, friendly, internal community where members at every stage of life can socialize, partake in formal and informal educational opportunities, build skills, and make friends who also love the water. PYC safeguards the rich and proud legacy of yachting traditions through stewardship, preservation of Club history, and education of youth and adults.

The Junior Program mission is to teach sailing in a safe, educational and fun environment.  We aim to instill a life long love for sailing in our youth.  The Portland Yacht Club Junior Sailing program supports both serious competitors and recreational sailors of all skill levels, and is focused not only on building sailing skills but also promoting sportsmanship, fostering teamwork and strengthening respect for oneself and others. We welcome both member and non-member families.

ICSA News #1: Harvard, Yale Look Strong Season Begins

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The in-conference half of the season has concluded as conferences square off at two major inter-conference regattas in New England along with the women showcase qualifiers

September  30, 2019

Written by Chris Klevan

 photo by Rob Migliaccio

Harvard University won the Danmark Trophy, hosted by the United States Coast Guard Academy. The Crimson finished 46 points ahead of second placed St. Mary’s, led by a dominant B-Division performance by Henry Burnes ‘21 and Lulianna Tarista ‘20. The tandem defeated Luke Arnone ‘23 and Meredith Ryan ‘22 of Yale by 36 points. Burnes and Tarista scored only one race outside the top-8 and only had 3 races outside the top-5; including five first place finishes, three in the last four races of the event.

Harvard accrued 199 points while St. Mary’s finished second with 245 and Yale was third with 278. Harvard’s margin of victory was the largest at the Danmark since 2016 when Yale beat Coast Guard by 50 points behind Ian Barrows and Nic Baird.

Harvard’s A-Division boat, Eli Burnes ‘21 with Emily Wang ‘21 and Eric Hansen ‘22 managed fine compared to their B-Division and twin-brother-counterpart, Henry, finishing only 10 points away from first in the division. Eli Burnes, Wang and Hansen also finished with five bullets.

Earlier this season, Eli Burnes finished second in A-Division at the Harry Anerderson regatta at Yale. Brother Henry finished third in B-Division at the same event. The twin brothers, coupled with some experienced crews should push Harvard towards the top of the College Rankings whenever they are published.

“Part of our success was due to some talented sailors continuing to get better,” said Harvard coach Bern Noack. “That is a tribute to them continuing to work at it. The sailors started pretty well, seemed fast in all conditions but I think most importantly were really good at sailing the puffs and shifts on really long beats and runs.”

Mack Fox ‘20 and Brian Nelson ‘21 of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy won A-Division at the event, perhaps the most difficult division outside of A-Division at the showcase finals. The Bears’ A-Division boat were mostly devoid of deep finishes, only scoring one race outside of the top-12 and only three outside the top-10. Fox and Nelson, showing their veteran status, were much more steady in a division were it is incredibly difficult to be consistent. Fox also won A-Division at the Hatch Brown Memorial Trophy at MIT earlier in the in-conference season.

Yale won the Women’s Showcase, passing Harvard in the final race of the regatta. Yale finished with 147 points and Harvard had 151 points. Harvard had been leading with a slim margin over Yale throughout most of the day on Saturday. But after a DSQ was added to Yale’s A-Division boat, Harvard pulled ahead and remained in front throughout the day on Sunday. However, Yale hung around and made a late push led by Chrissy Klingler and Sonia Lingos-Utley in B-Division.

The regatta was a tough event that rewarded excellence as the one-track racecourse that developed throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday, despite opposite breeze directions, presented very few passing lanes and rewarded those who could hang off the crowded starting line.

The Bulldogs sailed very well, finishing fourth in A-Division and first in B-Division as Chrissy Klingler ‘20 and Sonia Lingos-Utley ‘21 defeated the next closest boat by 18 points, finishing with 56 points after 16 races sailed. Klinger and Lingos-Utley dominated, finishing in the top 7 in all but one of their races.

Yale was trailing Harvard by 15 with only two sets remaining. Klingler and Longos-Utley finished the regatta with six races all within the top-2, including three wins in the last 4 races. As good as Nordstrom and Loiacono and Mollerus are, (Nordstrom was a College Sailor of the Year finalist last year, Loiacono was an Honorable Mention All-American) for yale to win a National Championship, Klingler, Lingos Utley and, presumably, Nicolosi will have to continue this dominant effort in B-Division.

Emma Kaneti ‘22 and Emma Jakobson ‘21 of Harvard won A-Division with 67 points after 16 races, besting Michelle Larhkamp ‘23, Sammy Pickell ‘22 and Ashton Bocherding ‘22 of Stanford. Kaneti and Jakobson had only two races outside the top-7 as the Harvard A-boat led what was very nearly wire to wire win for the Crimson.

“I think the biggest key to our success last weekend was our ability to start and hold our lane to ensure we were in phase,” said Harvard coach Mike O’Connor. “Emma Kaneti and Emma Jakobson were fast and they consistently started well. Sarah Burn and Jessica Williams were very good at executing their plan even when their starts weren’t very good.”

The top-9 teams advance to sail in the Showcase Finals on October 12-13 at the US Naval Academy. In order, the nine teams that advanced from this half of the event are Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Navy, Stanford, Cornell, Boston University, Northeastern and Tulane.

The other half of the Women’s Showcase Qualifier was held by Brown University and won decisively by the home team, Brown, the reigning Women’s National Champions. Brown won both divisions and beat the next closest team, MIT by over 100 points after 15 races sailed in each division.

Last year’s Women’s College Sailor of the Year, Ragna Agerup ‘20 with Julia Reynolds ‘21, Caroline Bayless ‘23 and Emma Montgomery ‘22 won A-Division for the Bears, winning almost half the races she sailed. Brown’s A boat finished either first or second in 11 of the 15 races sailed.

This regatta was the first women’s appearance for Agerup thus far this season. She had previously sailed 3 in-conference NEISA coed regattas, including an A-Division win at the Hoyt trophy, also held at Brown.

Hannah Steadman ‘20 with Annabelle Hutchinson ‘21 and Emma Montgomery ‘22 in B-Division for Brown were perhaps even more impressive than their teammates. Brown’s B boat won by 32 points over the second place finishing team in that division. Steadman, Hutchinson and Montgomery finished either first or second in all but three of the races sailed and won 8 of the 15 races sailed.

In the first 14 races sailed in the two division combined, Brown had 10 firsts, three seconds and one breakdown scored.

“We sailed our top women’s group for the first time this season at the Showcase Qualifier at Brown,” stated Brown Head Sailing Coach, John Mollicone. “Many of them are returning members from the 2019 National Champion Women’s team.  We also added 2019 All-American crew Julia Reynolds to that group and Freshman Caroline Bayless as a crew.  Most of them are sailing the A-level coed events this year so they have had some really good regattas to help them further improve, particularly on the starting line.”

“Being at home certainly helps as they are really comfortable at our venue and in our boats of course,” continued Coach Mollicone. “It was windy the first day and for the beginning of the second day at the Showcase Qualifier, somewhat similar to what many of them sailed in at the 2019 Women’s Nationals in Newport.”

“They continue to improve on some small things from last year but I would say their ability to have really good starts throughout the weekend was the difference.  Their boatspeed, boathandling, and decision making was strong as well.  Most of the same group will sail the Coed Showcase Qualifier this weekend at Navy and then the Women’s Showcase Final at Navy as well.  It’s only going to get harder at both events, so we’ll see how we stand against the best coed and women’s teams during the upcoming weekends.”

Brown had 73 points. MIT finished second with 175 points and Tufts was third with 178 points. Like the other half of the Showcase qualifiers, 9 teams move on to the finals. After Tufts was University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, College of Charleston, University of Rhode Island, Georgetown and Fordham, respectively.

Stanford University won the Moody Trophy held at the University of Rhode Island on the Salt Pond. Stanford held a lead throughout most of the event that widened to 28 by the end of the event. The victory was driven by A-Division sailors Jack Parkin ‘21 and Taylor Kirkpatrick ‘20 who, despite finishing with a 13th, won the division by nearly 20. Parkin and Kirkpatrick finished in the top 4 in 7 of the 13 races sailed. However, the dramatic margin of victory came at the end of the event when the Cardinal’s B-Division boat, Wiley Rogers ‘22 and Abigail Tindall finished the event with a 2,4,1,1. That, along with two first and a second by Parkin and Kirkpatrick established the Cardinal’s lead and caused it to grow from three points behind Brown to 28 points ahead over the last two sets in each division.

First-year, Teddy Nicolosi and Catherine Webb ‘22 of Yale won B-Division with 53 points in 13 races. Yale finished third with 163 points, just one point behind Brown.

S1D Welcomes Newest Partner, Lon Gundie

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Sail1Design is thrilled to announce our newest partner, and Title Sponsor of our High School Team of the Year Award, LON GUNDIE!!  We sat down and caught up with them so please read on and learn more about this great company. Do NOT forget to get your next shirt order from this incredible place!!

  1. Could you tell the story on how you and your brother settled on the essential idea that led to the founding of Lon Gundie? / What drove you there?

Seth and I (Dori) have been in business together for quite some time. Our first company sold women’s functional yet stylish workout apparel. Seth was tired of investment banking and I couldn’t find great looking running gear for the marathon I was about to run. At that time, the big box labels: Nike, Adidas,Champion, etc. really only catered to their male legacies. Women’s assortments were pretty much monochromatic, drab, men’s t-shirts and shorts cut down to size. The idea to combine fashion and function is hardly a new concept today, but 20 years ago, we were ahead of our time!

In that business, Seth had the idea to do a base layer program. He saw an opportunity in the market not only for women, but men and children as well – we liked the idea of creating something for the entire family. We are a family of skiers, so we knew exactly how we wanted the gear to function and perform.

  1. Do you remember the first product you did? How was that feeling?

Yes. The very first product we created was a double-faced, reversible running bra… Super comfy and very cute.  At the time, we could not afford a fit model so I went with one of my besties. She put the sample on and we immediately burst out laughing. The “cups” completely missed the area they were supposed to support – somehow our spec’s didn’t take into account the fabric was stretchy and the cups were literally at her belly. And so we learned… By the time we started Lon Gundie, we had considerably more technical knowledge behind us and were able to transfer many of the processes we developed the first time around into our new product lines.

  1. Why Lon Gundie?

Do you mean why the name? When we grew up, we literally wore “long undies” under our ski pants. Cotton, waffle-like, sweat-absorbing pajama bottoms disguised as base layers. There was no such thing as base layers! I know… I’ve just really, really dated us. Anyways, the name Lon Gundie, is a playful twist on the idea of a long undie.

  1. How challenging is to do unique designs all the time? Why not to do just one?

That’s the fun part! Seth and I work very well together creatively.  Seth designs the majority of custom projects and together we collaborate extensively on our branded work. We constantly challenge each other to create the best possible artwork.

The artwork speaks to the personality of our customer or team. Sometimes you feel bold, other times, classic, maybe racer-like… The point of Lon Gundie design is to deliver a unique base layer every time. The gear is fun, happy, interesting, and smart and when you wear Lon Gundie, you are part of a team – our team – and we want you to feel like anything is possible. We want you to feel that you have the power to create “no ordinary moments”!

  1. What’s your connection with the athletes knowing you can make a difference in their performance?

We have many athletes wearing Lon Gundie; we have Olympians and Olympic hopefuls; world-class sailors, coaches, high school and collegiate sailors… all the way down to the Opti green-fleeter. We continually get feedback – a lot of feedback!! – on our fabric and functional performance. We welcome all the comments and love to hear what our customers think. It allows us to control our manufacturing process and develop a better product for them.

  1. How has the Lon Gundie journey been? Has it been rewarding?

Yes, it has been rewarding. The experience is both exciting and fun. We have met so many great people along the way. Our goal is to build a lasting brand. We approach our business with a mantra of “customer first”.

  1. What was the best part of founding Lon Gundie?

It’s very exciting to create something out of nothing and see your ideas come to life. But, the best part of Lon Gundie is working with family to create something lasting. Also, the people. We have met some truly, truly amazing people.

  1. Why partnering with Sail1Design? (Both are high performance and all about having fun on the water, etc)

We are committed to the sailing community and find no better source that shares our commitment like Sail1Design.

Airwaves Career Center Spotlight: Waterfront Program Director

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Norfolk Yacht & Country Club seeks a full-time Waterfront Program Director. Norfolk Yacht & Country Club is a warm and welcoming Club where its member families and guests have unique experiences which create lifelong friendships and memories. Our first-class waterfront setting provides a wide range of social activities and recreational facilities for member enjoyment and perpetuates a culture of camaraderie and fun among our members. Our Club is uniquely located on the Lafayette River on Hampton Boulevard between Old Dominion University and the Norfolk Naval Station.

Norfolk Yacht and Country Club (NYCC) is seeking a full-time year-round Waterfront Program Director – an experienced sailor with extensive prior coaching and program management experience, to continue building its waterfront programs. The club has made major progress in its youth programs over the past few years and is committed to taking its program to the next level with plans to expand in all areas: Jr sailing (Optis/c420s), high school sailing (FJ’s), adult keel boat sailing, one-design sailing as well as powerboating. The club is looking for an energetic team player who wants to take ownership of the expanding programs and bring fresh ideas to build the culture of yachting and Corinthian racing among its members, while managing the day-to-day operations and programs. Strong coaching and management communication skills are required in building our waterfront team.
This is a unique opportunity for a director with a passion for boating to build a program. For more information, and to apply, please visit our job ad HERE.

ICSA NEWS: All-new Partnership Offers Discounts on Coaching RIB’s to College Sailing Teams!

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Professional Boats, authorized representative of Tornado Boats (Denmark) it’s proud to be sponsors of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA).

Based on this alliance, we offer a discount to all ICSA affiliated colleges and universities between 8 and 10% and we will contribute an additional 4% to ICSA for each sale made of Our Coach Boats during the year 2019.

All our small and medium-sized RIBs are particularly suited for coaching, because their relatively short length make them fast, agile and 100 % reliable. And what makes Tornado RIBs ideal for the dedicated sailing coach is the classic V-hull design. This design offers comfort and safety in the hardest conditions, and ensures that you won’t feel beaten up, even after 8 hours at sea, which is why our coach boats are being used worldwide at Yacht Club practice and at championships and regattas.

Our company represents one of the most prestigious rigid inflatable boat brands in the world, based in Denmark and with more than 40 years producing the strongest RIBS in the world. In addition, we have the RIB rental service throughout the country with the best, most modern and best maintained coach fleet in the United States.

Our prices are amazing, the best in the Coach Boats market.

Do you want to know the boats prices? Click Here

Or visit our website and go to the section: Our allies

www.professionalboats.com

Email: [email protected]

 

 

—

Mitch Brindley

President, ICSA

CollegeSailing.org

Profiles in Pro Sailing: Tomas Dietrich’s Fearless Olympic Dream

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S1D’s Pearson Potts caught up with Tommy Dietrich, a well-known and very well loved Optimist/Laser coach here in the US, and spent some time chatting about sailing, Olympic dreams, and more. Tommy has been a very successful Optimist coach, and was one of the first inspirational coaches for many kids, including Tommy Sitzmann, who won this years Optimist US Team Trials. Tomas is campaigning with Fer Gwozdz, ARG-87, to become the Argentinian representative in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. This team is working extremely hard, and does not have a financial backing for a proper campaign, so it is amazing how well they’ve done considering. Please consider sending Tomas and Fer your best wishes, and maybe even a donation! They are are both great people, and make a great team together. Gwozdz-Dietrich 470 Campaign

Tell me about your history in sailing
I started going to optimist classes at my home club when I was 7 years old, but for my 8th birthday my parents gave me my first optimist as a present. My father started sailing when he was a kid and he met my mother in a regatta although she never sailed. So I’ve always been very related to the sport!

Tell me about your history coaching
I started coaching in 2010. My first formal job as a coach was as the optimist race team coach for fishing bay yacht club (Virginia, USA) in the summer of 2014. Later, I also did three more summers coaching there, becoming head coach for those consecutive years. I have the best memories from fishing bay, although today I am doing something I love, but I still miss coaching there. The parents, kids, and people from the club are amazing, they made me feel at home! I also did some coaching in LISOT, as well as coaching the Netherlands Antilles in the 2014 Optimist world championships.

What’s your life like outside of sailing?
I have to be honest and say my life is 98% revolved around sailing. I am also studying law, but now with all the traveling and time I spend overseas, my career as a lawyer is on standby. It’s my first project after finishing with this Olympic campaign, although I finished classes in law school, I still need to sit for 5 more exams to get my degree. I love sailing, I am always looking at videos and results from any regatta that is going around the world. Nowadays with the social media it has become much easier  –I live and breath the sport 24-7!

Why did you choose an Olympic campaign?
This is an interesting one…since I was a kid I have been dreaming about going to the Olympics but having said that in the last 3-4 years I realized I wanted to live the Olympic campaign as a process. No matter if I made it or not to the games. Before I jumped into the 470 in April 2017, I was very happy with the sailing I was doing. For the last three years (204-15-16) I was involved in good J70 teams in USA as well as doing a bit of the world match racing tour with 36 below racing from NZL. But having a lot of friends involved in Olympic sailing I realized I wanted to be there, I definitely wanted to live the Olympic dream.

What do you think about when you’re racing?
I think that when things go well it’s much easier to stay focused during a day or during a regatta, but when things go wrong or we are not having a good day on the water I try to get back into my routine while sailing. During the time off the water when things are not going well, I try to always remember to appreciate it, to remember how much I wanted to be doing this and living this life. All the sailors that travel the world representing their countries are SUPER lucky!

How do you prepare mentally to race?
In October 2018 we started working with Simon Paiz, a sports psychologist from Argentina. He is also a yoga professor and via different techniques he gets to help us to concentrate, and focus on what we need to focus on each part of the race. He also works a lot on our relationship as a team, between Fer and me as well as with our coach. 

Do you have any particular “rituals” or routines that you do before going out on the water to compete?
I have way too many rituals to start mentioning!! During a normal day of racing I am usually the first one of the team to arrive at the club, I like to get there at least  1 hour before launching time. In the morning while having breakfast, I check the forecast to know what settings we may use that day as well as reading some notes from the racecourse with that wind or important things for that type of wind we may have. When arriving to the boat I check the numbers (rake, prebend, tensions, etc) and I make sure the boat is ready to racing. I am also in charge of picking up the tracker device and doing the sign out.

What’s your typical day when you’re not racing?
When we are not racing but we are still sailing the day doesn’t change much. Probably the only thing would be that we need to organize the day to also have time to do the physical training that our trainer Ramiro gives us. On a day off before a competition I try to relax, most likely doing some running or light gym session in the morning and later going for lunch or coffee with a friend from Argentina or another country. I also like to watch races on YouTube, I’ve probably seen every olympic class race that is online!

How’s your campaign going?
I am happy with how our campaign is going, looking at the big picture a bit more than 2 years ago I had never trapezed in my life and had no idea about the 470. Fer has been mostly coaching for the last 10 years and doing keel boat racing. And in only 2 years sailing together I think we had a very steep learning curve, with the help of so many people, but working day and night to catch up with the top guys of the class. Now we have the most important 6 months of our campaign before the South American championships that will be the Olympic qualifier for us. 

Describe the relationship with your teammate.
We have a good relationship with Fernando. Of course sometimes in the boat we have our fights and because of the two of us being so competitive things heat up. It’s not easy to think rational and we can get angry. But I think we know the other one is giving his all and putting all we’ve got into this project, so in the end that’s more important. The commitment to the campaign is our priority nowadays and we are both fighting everyday to make it to Tokyo 2020 at our best.

What support do you get from ARG?
Unfortunately this year we almost haven’t had any support from Argentina. The country is going through a difficult moment and I totally understand that, however many times it’s frustrating to see that the money is not spent the right way in sailing and I think many times they don’t maximize the resources the ARG sailing team has. We have received help from many friends and people we have met along the way so we can continue this incredible journey. 

What’s been the toughest moment of the campaign?
We went through some tough moments, but the World Cup in Miami earlier this year was tough! I remember we did an amazing lead up into the event, we went there for training during the whole month of December with a great training group organized by Stu Mcnay and Dave Hughes with many top teams around the world. We learned a lot and we were feeling pretty good before the World Cup. But during that week, we made many bad decisions, our speed was not good and we were never able to find a way to sail at the top. However, now I look back at it and I remember a meeting we had after the last race with Marcos Lamas who was coaching us in that event and I think was a key moment to later have the great results we had in the European season.

Why the 470?
We’ve picked the 470 because it’s a boat that suits our body sizes. Although ideally I would be 10cm taller and same weight! But we are pretty close to ideal bio type. The good thing about it is that it is a similar sailing to the one I’ve been doing before (Lasers, J70, Lightning), very tactical and technical racing. Also it was good that in Argentina there’s a lot of know how of the 470. 

What’s the life like? What’s the hardest? What’s the most fun?
I would recommend everyone that has the chance to experience an Olympic campaign to do it. I have a younger brother that is 20 years and just finished 2nd in the Laser radial youth worlds in 2017 and I encourage him to pursue his own campaing every chance I can. It’s a life changing journey, much more important than

Genoa, Italy is hosting sailors for the third regatta of the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series from 15-21 April 2019. More than 700 competitors from 60 nations are racing across eight Olympic Events. ©PEDRO MARTINEZ/SAILING ENERGY/WORLD SAILING
21 April, 2019.

attending the Olympic Games or not. You make friends for life, you get the chance to travel the world doing what you love, representing your country and pursuing a long childhood dream. You will always become a better sailor and person. The life is a lot about planning well, picking your right training partners, getting to know yourself and your teammate to see how you prepare an important event to peak at your best. You discover your body, how important it is to eat well, sleep well and make the most of the short recovery time you have because sometimes is a nonstop roller coaster! The best is the people you meet, and the hardest part is missing your family and friends back at home. Al least that’s the only hard part for me. 

Should the 470 remain an Olympic boat?
It’s a tricky one to answer and I don’t think I am the correct person to talk about this, but my opinion is that it should stay. All 10 Olympic classes from Tokyo 2020 should stay, otherwise you are always running behind the carrot and you need to give consistency to the classes. The 470 is a very traditional boat, it also has very different VMG modes especially in the downwind and there’s no other Olympic boat that is similar. It’s technical and nowadays with the free pumping starting at 8knts it can get super physical. 

Who’s your role model?
I do have some role models, I feel very lucky to have ARG nacra team as teammates with their coach Juan De la Fuente (2 times Olympic medalists in the 470) , Santi Lange (2 bronzes and 1 gold) and Ceci carranza (1 gold). Juan has been the person that trusted the most our 470 project from the first day. He has also been able to coach us on his limited free time with the nacras. He won two medals as a 470 crew with 2 different skippers and he has taught me everything about doing an Olympic campaign. He is definitely my biggest inspiration, and now that I got the chance to know him better, I totally understand how he won 2 medals. He works like no one and is in all the details! Santi has always been a reference for any Argentinian sailor, now he has been helping us a lot giving us advice and we talk very often with him to ask him for recommendations. Ceci is from my same yacht club in Rosario, and we also went to the same high school (although she is 5 years older) we always had a very close relationship . She is also always helping me and giving me advice.

Ken Legler: A Jumbo’s Jumbo & His Priceless Contributions to our Sailing World

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By Airwaves writer Pearson Potts
You may not know it, but somewhere in his collection, Ken Legler probably has a photo of you on the water. Most likely, he also knows your name –in nearly 40 years as the head coach of Tufts Sailing, he rarely forgets a name or face. He’s the type of guy who will answer every question with a story. I frantically scribbled down notes and snippets of stories he recalled when I interviewed him for this piece. Most notably, he is a legend in the college sailing community, but he is also an esteemed race officer who has run numerous events such as Key West Race Week and the 470 Worlds. Aside from sailing, Ken is a fighter and twice survivor of throat cancer. Ken has been behind the camera photographing sailors and boats for decades, but today we will turn the lens on him.

It’s hard to argue that anyone else loves sailing in its purest form more than Ken Legler. While some enjoy it as an arena of competition, Ken revels in every dimension of the sport and especially the little things. As a kid, Ken sailed in squalls because there wasn’t radar. His passion for sailing started as a youth on his father’s cruising boat where he enjoyed dipping his toes in the water and gliding his hand through the water of the leeward rail. He also ensures that others also come back to shore with smiles when he coaches or runs races. I remember coaching in the Hyannis regatta in 2013 with him as the principal race officer. He repeatedly and frantically called the reach mark boat over the radio to guarantee that the crews were trapezing with their spinnakers flying. Ken spells win with the letters f-u-n.

Ken grew up with similarly exhilarating experiences at the Larchmont Yacht Club. It was the 1960s and while other kids were busy playing baseball and football, Ken was a small kid stuck in swim class. The only benefit to the swimming classes was that he could get to sailboat racing earlier and pass the yacht club’s swim test. Forget Optimists, they weren’t invented yet. Ken started sailing blue jays in the summer and when everyone else quit sailing for the winter, Ken would frostbite Dyer Dhow’s.  He loved the summer easterly winds on Long Island Sound every two weeks where big rolling waves come down from RI.

He enjoyed what many youth sailing programs lack today: fun. He pirated other boats, sailed far out into Long Island Sound and explored many different classes of boats. As a result, his natural thirst for competition developed. He yearned for victory in sailing when other kids were competing in other sports. One of his most memorable stories was a race in Manhasset Bay where he was racing Lightnings. A squall hit suddenly, and while other kids were zipping in the 30+ gusts to the nearest shore, Ken was laughing and peering beneath his boom insistent on finishing the race. One time his entire sailing class sailed around Saton’s Toe in Blue Jays, anchored, and swam to the beach for a picnic and raced back with a Lemans start. Ken’s skipper quickly swam to the boat while he caught up, pulling all the gear through the water. As he climbed aboard, his skipper was already hauling anchor and away they went with a breakaway back to Larchmont Harbor. A couple years later he stayed late after sailing class to match race Lightnings, Shields or Blue Jays with training partner and best friend Jamie McCreary. Ken competed and grew up with your famous sailing mentors including Dave Perry, Gary Knapp, Steve Hicks, Jimbo Cobbs, Steve Benjamin, Brad Dellenbaugh, Peter Isler, Mike Duncan, Pete Smith, Leila Jenkins, Bill Tripp, Lee Oldak and many others. It wasn’t long before he was hooked onto sailboat racing. 

Ken took his first love of sailing for a short while to Mamaroneck High School, but quickly left to attend Tabor Academy in Marion, MA where sailing was a priority. When he was selecting a new school he had to decide between girls and sailing: Chesire was a co-ed school with 35 girls, but Tabor had 90+ boats. Knowing there would be plenty of girls later in college, Ken chose Tabor. Ken’s mentor at Tabor remains his coaching role model. His coach, Art Ellis, was an Olympic Finn Sailor and taught Ken the fundamentals of tactics and strategy, but also skills that the young sailors of today do not learn, such as sail repair. The sailing team practiced two days of fleet racing and two days of team racing each week with regattas on the weekends. They practiced in many different boats including Puffins, Jet 14s, i420s and the infamous 92-foot Tabor Boy. In the winter he finally seemed to enjoy other sports like basketball, but under the dim lamp on his desk he drew up plays for 5v5, 4v4 and 3v3 team racing. By the time senior year rolled around, Ken was primed and ready for college competition.

The noble pursuits to sustain life, including medicine, law, business and engineering, were not for Ken; instead, he majored in sailing at the University of Rhode Island. He joined a squad of  sailors who would also become legends in the sport such as Moose McClintock, Ed Adams and Mike Toppa. His sophomore year he convinced his girlfriend to crew where they competed in Beverly Dinghies, Interclubs, i420s and by senior year, FJ’s. The new testament of college sailing was just beginning as schools transitioned from cat rigs to sloop rigs. Ken’s college sailing experience is a far departure from today’s athletes. Only a few schools in the nation had coaches including MIT, Harvard, and Tufts. There was no recruiting and teams like U Washington and people like Olympic Finn sailor Buzz Reynolds at Notre Dame were feared. Thanks to Skip Whyte, everyone in the New England area met in Wickford, RI on winter Sundays to race Lasers. And of course, everyone partied on Saturdays after the first day of an event.

Ken’s college sailing experiences should be put in a museum. Although he prefers dinghies, he once found himself at the Coast Guard Academy sailing keelboats and missing a crewmember. His third crew member had the alcohol flu and so he recruited a local high school sailor who used his cigarette to signal the light air wind direction. He singlehanded Beverly dinghies ill with mono and rested on a floating raft until five seconds before the start when he sheeted in to start each race. At another keelboat event at Coast Guard he found himself sandwiched between large South Boston Northeastern brawlers to leeward and legends Dave Perry and Peter Isler to windward. Just before the finish line a sudden squall, combined with a tugboat that roared unapologetically through the race course stirring up 6 foot waves, nearly sank his Shields, but Ken spun out with water up to the seats and accidentally won the race.  

After getting his pseudo degree in college sailing at URI, Ken bounced around helping coach the Naval Academy in the spring of 1978 and eventually landed a full-time position at Kings Point in the fall. It wasn’t long before he settled at Tufts University where he has become the legend that he is today. He was recruited by MIT Sailing Director and then undergraduate Franny Charles to coach the team in 1980.

Through his time coaching college sailing Ken has seen a significant development in college sailing both good and bad. He has no doubt that college sailing is more competitive today with many more teams able to win championships. Ken is drawn to the beautiful simplicity of college sailing where the focus is solely on performance. There is no tinkering of shrouds in the boat park and theoretical discussion of rig tuning. Recruiting efforts and the number of college coaches has exploded while many teams have multiple coaches. Hence, professionalism in college sailing has skyrocketed, but in Ken’s opinion, possibly at the expense of fun due to university pressure. Ken prepares sailors for life –not for 4 years of college. His team sails 16 different boats a semester. He also doesn’t pamper them like some other varsity programs who have full-time coaches, athletic trainers, psychologists and nutritionists. When one of his sailors asked where they would stay at a regatta for the weekend he replied, “What am I, a friggin travel agent?  You’re an adult now, figure it out.” His sailors camp out on the athletic fields of St. Mary’s College in Maryland for spring break training where they develop memories that will last a lifetime. My own cousin was caught crying as he departed the fields the last time senior year. There is plenty of fun for sailors at Tufts, but don’t let that fool you —there are no slouches on the team.

Since he started Tufts has won 20 national championships including eight women’s, five team racing, three dinghy, two men’s singlehanded, one women’s singlehanded and one match racing title.  Also during Legler’s career, Tufts has featured 121 All-Americans, and 27 honorable mention All-Americans. His teams have also included three College Sailor of the Year recipients. All the while his recipe for a good sailor has never changed –he looks for sailors with talent, passion and intelligence. 

Ken Legler has made a permanent impact on the sport of sailing. His camera continues to chronicle sailing through the years, but what he doesn’t realize is that he is integral to its story. 

2019 US Team Racing Championship (Hinman) Results & Report

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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Sunday, August 18) – The historic U.S. Team Racing Championship wrapped up on Sunday afternoon after three spectacular days of racing in Newport Harbor. The 2019 U.S. Team Racing Championship for the George R. Hinman Trophy featured 12 teams steeped in team racing experience and deep in college sailing talent of today and past years. In the end, a blend of current and former college sailors representing three different schools teamed up to win the historic Hinman Trophy.

A team named Holiday Sideshow won Sunday’s final series, 3-1, over San Diego Yacht Club and Friends to cap an exciting weekend of team racing.

Holiday Sideshow features Johnny Norfleet (New York, N.Y.), Christopher Klevan (Westerly, R.I.), Greiner Hobbs (Terra Ceia Island, Fla.), Miranda Bakos (Marblehead, Mass.), Ian Barrows (New Haven, Conn.), and Clara Robertson (New York, N.Y.). Norfleet, Klevan, and Hobbs sailed for Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Roberston and Barros are former Yale sailors, and Bakos sailed for George Washington. All six sailors collectively had never sailed together before.

Four of the six sailors were on last year’s winning team. Hobbs, Bakos, Norfleet, and Klevin were part of last year’s winning team, Boss, at the U.S. Team Racing Championship in Cleveland.\

They were the #3 seed through round robin play and the #1 seed and 2017 Champion, Jet Lag, selected Holiday Sideshow for their semifinal match. Holiday Sideshow edged Jet Lag, 3-2, to advance to the Final.

Final Results and Standings

“Everyone had their moment this week and each boat stepped up when they needed to,” said Klevan.

“We knew we had some kinks to work out between the three boats, but we knew we could work it out in the end. We just wanted to get to the knock-out round and be in position to win,” said Norfleet.

The squad from SDYC included Scotty Sinks (San Diego, Calif.), Allison Ferraris (Manhasset, NY), Will La Dow (San Francisco, Calif.), Taylor Kirkpatrick (Portsmouth, R.I.), Wade Waddell (West Palm Beach, Fla.), and Katherine Bowman (San Diego, Calif.). Wilson, Ferraris, and Sinks are Boston College alumni sailors, while Bowman is currently sailing for the Eagles. La Dow sailed at Stanford and Kirkpatrick is on the current roster.

The East Coast Drifters defeated Jet Lag in the Petit Finals, 2-0. The East Coast Drifters includes Conner Harding (Bristol, RI), Mike McBrien (East Patachogue, NY), Martim Anderson (Lisboa, Portugal), Marina Cano (Barcelona, Spain), Mackenzie Bryan (St. Croix, Virgin Islands), and Jennifer Agell (Orient, NY). Cano is a former college sailor from Brown, while the other five sailors are Roger Williams University alum.

Racing on Sunday featured plenty of pass backs, mark traps and dial downs in perfect sailing conditions with nice breeze and flat waters. Breeze was light in morning at 3 to 5 knots. The breeze shifted right in the afternoon at 6 to 9 knots.

This year’s entry list featured current college sailors, coaches and alumni from major programs including, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, Roger Williams, College of Charleston, Boston College, Dartmouth, Old Dominion, St. Mary’s, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, George Washington, Brown, and California Maritime.

Here is the list of 12 teams competing this week.

This premier team racing event in the United States is an invitational event. Interested teams applied by resume and international teams were invited to compete. The Championship was raced in three-boat/six-person teams (three skippers and three crews). Teams raced in the CFJ.

For results and standings, photo gallery, and more information from the 2019 Chubb U.S. Junior Sailing Championships, please visit the event website.

Championship updates, videos, and highlights are posted on US Sailing Instagram stories.

This US Sailing National Championship, hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club, is sponsored by Hobie Polarized and Sperry.

Contact:
US Sailing Communications
[email protected]

Eckerd College is Hiring!

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Eckerd College is currently seeking applicants for the Assistant Intercollegiate Coach position.  This is a full-time position. The Assistant Sailing Coach is responsible for assisting the Head Sailing Coach with all facets of the Sailing Program. This includes on the water coaching, facilitating practice/training, providing sailing instruction, boat/fleet maintenance and promoting the varsity sailing program. For more information and to apply, see our job ad HERE

On a sunny lush plot of land on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Eckerd College might seem like the perfect spot for an easy college career, four years marked by sun, surf and sand. But if you’re looking for a vacation, you should enroll elsewhere.

In its short fifty-plus-year life, Eckerd has established itself as a little college that could – a place where a B student in high school could develop his potential as a thinker, problem solver, dreamer, and adventurer under the guidance of a faculty and staff as caring and creative as any in the country. Eckerd puts a premium on mentorship, so much so that faculty cannot get tenure without an obvious commitment to mentoring students. At the vast majority of American universities, tenure review committees care about research first; teaching comes in a distant second. But at Eckerd, the commitment to student growth is so significant, faculty invest not just in students’ academic learning but also in the development of them as whole people. The value of this kind of investment cannot be understated. It is life-changing.

Students call the professors who are academic advisers “mentors,” and everyone has stories about mentors and professors going beyond the call of duty to help a student. “My freshman year, I e-mailed a professor at ten p.m. because I had procrastinated, and I realized the night before my paper was due that I needed some help. He called me five minutes later,” a senior from Nashville says. A senior from Orlando told of her sudden medical leave because of heart problems sophomore year. “I had just chosen my mentor for my major, and she didn’t know me well, but she went to all of my professors and had everyone sign my withdrawal card. She handled all of the college-related stuff so I could focus on getting better.” Thanks to her mentor’s support, this young woman graduated on time.

Beyond their affection for students, faculty share an obvious fondness for one another, which is good news for students. The more collaborative the faculty, the more innovative they’re likely to be when dreaming up cross-curricular learning opportunities, and the more able they are to serve students. “My colleagues are fantastic,” says David Hastings, who teaches marine science and chemistry. Adds Dr. Kelly Debure, professor of computer science, “There’s something remarkable about Eckerd, about the level of collaboration among professors and students. I would not want to teach anywhere else.”

Perhaps because of its youth, Eckerd hums with a spirit of innovation. It was a pioneer of the 4-1-4 calendar (four classes in the fall, one during a January term, and four in the spring), now used by many colleges. Its 1,800 students have considerable power and responsibility for campus life. “We get to decide almost everything on campus, at least the things related to how we live together,” says a junior from Portland, Oregon. “We self-govern in a lot of ways, so we don’t have administrators stomping around enforcing a bunch of rules we hate. It’s really great to be trusted like that.” (A simple example: students staff the Pet Council, which oversees policies in the college’s popular pet-friendly dorms.)

And in a flurry of brilliance, Eckerd long ago dreamed up Autumn Term for freshmen. Three weeks before their upper-class peers come back, freshmen arrive on campus and take a one-course introduction to college-level thinking. A student’s Autumn Term professor becomes her first mentor and her professor in the Western Heritage in a Global Context course, a yearlong course that requires students to consider how human beings have known and expressed truth. The class reads a range of Western and non-Western works (from Homer to Dave Eggers’s What Is the What, about the lost boys of Sudan, for example) to fuel their learning.

The bookend to Western Heritage is the capstone Quest for Meaning, required in the fall of senior year. Through a combination of readings, lectures from various faculty, self-reflective writing, and a forty-hour community-service project, each students thinks about his purpose in life and his responsibilities to himself and his community. Second-semester seniors and alumni talk eagerly about the course’s seminal project: an essay and presentation called “This I Believe,” in which students have to write and then present their own beliefs in the context of the books and essays they’ve read in class. “It rocks you,” says a senior from Atlanta. “Nobody until that point in my life had asked me to write down precisely what I believe and why. Do you know how hard that is? I hated it, and then I loved it.”

A string of other innovations shows off the college’s student-centered culture: Professors’ offices open onto sidewalks, encouraging students to pop in to chat about academic work or life outside of class. The Freshman Research Associate Program funds about twenty first-year students who want to collaborate with professors on their research. And as students make their way through their college careers, each builds a co-curricular transcript that notes leadership, volunteer work, sports activities, and involvement in clubs. The transcript can supplement applications to grad school, fellowships, and employment to give a broader description of the student.

And then there’s the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC), which gives depth and nuance to this community of young scholars. ASPEC is a group of distinguished retirees with its own intellectual life, rife with forums, speakers, and events. But members of the group also contribute to college classes by participating in lectures and discussions. For students pursuing jobs or internships, ASPEC members conduct mock interviews, review resumes, and put students in touch with former colleagues. One student calls them “surrogate grandparents,” Another says, “I totally owe my internship to a woman from ASPEC who’s been mentoring me.”

Outside the classroom, Eckerd does just as fine a job focusing on the whole person. The most obvious example is the college’s emphasis on studying abroad. As many as 60 percent of students leave the country for a term or more. The 4-1-4 calendar allows students who have particularly tight schedules – like those on the premed track or double majoring – to leave for the month long Winter Term. Others, who have looser schedules, tend to go abroad several times. “It’s just part of what you do here,” says a junior who spent a semester in China and a January term in Eastern Europe. “Everybody’s talking about it, and your mentors are asking, ‘Where are you going? What’s interesting to you?’ When you come back [to campus], you just feel so much stronger and interesting – and you’re more interested in other people’s experiences too.”

While they’re on campus, students benefit from Eckerd’s impressive Waterfront Program, a blend of educational recreational activities that help Eckerd embrace its beachy locale. The Activities Center is well stocked with wakeboards, water skis, canoes, kayaks, fishing equipment, and a fleet of boats – everything a young adult needs to burn off some stress in the Florida sun. There are twice-daily water-ski and wakeboarding trips – eat your heart out, Syracuse – free to students. The college has a national sailboat team open to any student, and a Coast Guard–affiliated search-and-rescue team.

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