The Club 420 Class concluded the New England Championship this summer for 70 competing teams (but not actually in New England), at the Shelter Island Yacht Club in New York. Top ten results below after 7 races, and click HERE for full results. Congratulations to Liam O’Keefe and Libby Redmond!






Jewels in the crown of the ClubSwan calendar are the Rolex Swan Cup, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (Porto Cervo), and the Nations Trophy, dedicated to the Swan One Design yachts (ClubSwan 36, ClubSwan 50, Swan 45, ClubSwan 42).
By Airwaves writer Pearson Potts– As dinghy team racing has lulled in recent years in the U.S., young, post-college sailors have substituted dinghies for inter-yacht club keelboat team racing. There is a circuit of roughly 30 events each year between yacht clubs in the northeast for varying levels of crews and skippers. Unfortunately, those who do not join a club to compete I have noticed often fade away in local PHRF series and keep a low profile. The problem is that these keelboats, such as Sonars and J22’s, don’t sail well with
the slim female crews that dominated college sailing. The incentives for crews have seemingly flipped –where crews were rewarded in college for being lighter, they are now asked to be heavier. The boats want to be sailed flat and the sails require more strength to be pulled in compared to a 420 jib. Event organizers know this and set the maximum crew weight in the NOR to allow larger sailors. As a result, teams edge as close as they can to the limit to hit the high average per crew member which are typically male. These high averages crowd out talented female sailors from ever sailing in such events.
It is not only about my girlfriend or females in general though; weight is the core of the issue regardless of gender as we know is largely determined by our genetics. I enjoy sailing with my friends who happen to be a bit runty, thus I rely on competing in match race events where I can afford an extra crew member on board. I competed at the Ficker Cup in Catalina 37’s this year where the crew maximum mirrored the Congressional Cup that capped the maximum number of crew at 6 people with an average of 192 lbs. Forget females, it is not easy to find male sailors my age at that size. Come to think of it, I don’t recall a single female on any boat at the event despite it labeled as an “Open” regatta. According to the CDC, the median weight for males aged 20-29 in the U.S. is 168 –for women it is 132 lbs. The question is how can sailing adjust to accommodate such weights.



However, boat buyers are not who they used to be –and Zim knows it. Gone are the days where you buy a sailboat, join a yacht club and race it every weekend. Instead noncommittal millenials in early adulthood live in the land of Uber, AirBnB and TaskRabbit where boat ownership is not a thought. Zim has adapted and supported large community boating centers and yacht clubs who want a fleet of boats. They drive nearly 100,000 miles a year to attend events with only 25 sailors to national championships with 400. Few adults can be found in a dinghy after college save a group of lasers frostbiting. Summer camps are also poised to replace their archaic, brittle, fiberglass boats for rotomolded RS boats. Zim sailing has done its part to support sailing’s youth. 


Congratulations (again) to Point Loma High School for winning the S1D/Lon Gundie High School Sailing Team of the Year Award! From start to finish, PLHS was a
dominant force in PCISA sailing, and then at the National Championship Cressy, Mallory, and Baker events. Here are just a few highlights from this team’s season:
personal drive of this one man.
\




So, when you look to your coaches for advice or to get to that next level, or if you are a interested in sailing in a college program, take a moment and check out the coaches resumes, just as they will most assuredly be checking yours. The list that makes coaches good coaches should be there for sure, but see if the coaches list how, or if, they stay current in their profession and have the passion to go out on the racecourse themselves. Great coaches usually always have a story, and very recent one, of a lesson learned at a regatta they sailed in themselves. They love to sail and get better, if only to become a better sailor and coach.
knots. After a long day, the first qualifying round was complete, save for a few re-sails. Antilles School won the day, with an impressive 10-1 record.
