Sail1Design Editor

Profiles in Pro Sailing: Adam Werblow

June 14, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

Adam Werblow will be entering his 28th season as the head coach of the St. Mary’s sailing teams during the 2015-16 season. During his tenure, the team has amassed 15 national titles, while Seahawk sailors have earned over 150 individual All-America honors.
A 1988 graduate of Connecticut College, Werblow was the captain of the sailing team. From 1989-1992, he was a member of the U.S. Sailing Team in the Flying Dutchman class.
Werblow has been the head coach for U.S. Youth Worlds Team eight times and led the team to two gold and two silver medals in 1991, the best record ever at those world championships. In 1999, he was named the Developmental Coach of the Year by the U.S. Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee.
Werblow is married to Amy Moore and the couple resides in St. Mary’s City with their two children, Meredith and Michael, and their labrador, Fluke.
What, in your opinion, is the very best thing about our sport?
At the most basic level I love the sea and playing in the wind. Beyond that, as a competitive beast, I enjoy the competition itself and sailing against people who have the same passion for the sea and quest for excellence.

England “Knights” people. Elton John, Paul McCartney, and of course Ben Ainslie (I mean, Sir Ben Ainslie). If you could “Knight” 3 American sailors, who would they be?

Carl Buchan
Paul Foerester
Jonathan McKee

Are pro sailors ruining, or saving, One-Design sailing in fleets like the J/70, Etchells, etc?
Racing against the very best people is fun. The fact that there are people in our sport in a variety of classes who dedicate themselves to elite performance is terrific. But the manner in which “professionals” has developed in our sport has forced me to ask the question. . . “What if Jerry Jones wanted to be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys instead of just the owner and general manager?” The obvious answer would be that could never happen because the product on the field would be significantly diminished. Why, therefore, is it ok in competitive sailing for the least talented and experienced person on the boat to be on the helm?
What is your absolute top, favorite, one-design class?
I spent a lot of time racing an FD (Flying Dutchman) and really thought the boat was a performance machine upwind. Learning how to foil is clearly the next calling.
Many people, including players, say that Pro Football will be gone in 25 years. Where will college sailing be in 25 years?
The best thing about College Sailing are the college sailors. Sailors traditionally have a strong belief in the value of education–intellectual curiosity is inherently valuable to success in our sport. The founders of College Sailing wisely recognized the value of higher education yet wanted people to enjoy competing at the highest levels of our sport while they attended college. Our short course format and passion for team racing has made for an intense game that is fun for all involved. In recent years, college sailing has become better funded, more competitive and yet, the essential core mission remains the same–study first and sail next.
The America’s Cup is in AC foiling Cats. Good thing, or bad thing? If bad, what should this event be sailed in?
There are a lot of intelligent, passionate people who work hard to promote and sail for the Cup. I do not feel qualified to answer that question.
Should the sport of sailing continue to try to get on TV? Why or why not?
I think given new technologies with tracking and drones, when edited, sailing can have some broader appeal. Additionally, there are about a million channels for every niche out there–why not sailing?
US Optimist Class: Great for the sport, or too much, too soon?
My children are about to enter the Opti circuit so give me a few years before I can give an educated answer. I learned to sail on a terrible boat that was really hard to keep out of irons–the Dyer Dhow. I am hopeful the Opti will be a better performer and my children will fall in love with our sport.
ON COLLEGE SAILING
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the competency, professionalism, and the overall state of US Sailing Umpires and Judges? Why?
I am very pleased with the caliber of the umpires we get in at our top level team races in MAISA. We have a committed group of people who love the game of team racing and commit thousands of hours to help make the game fair. I believe we are lucky to have them and don’t thank them enough.
Overall, what is the weakest thing about college sailing? In other words, where, or in what realm, can the ICSA improve the most?
I would like to see College Sailing re-align the seven conferences to make for more efficient travel. We are too tied to the traditional regions and should instead look at where the specific colleges and universities are located and make leagues based off that data.
ON COACHING
As a coach, how do you fit in your own personal sailing? If your answer is “I don’t”, then do you miss competing, or does it not bother you?
It is a tricky thing. . . I spend most of my time helping others to be prepared to race. I have not, therefore, found it terribly much fun to go race completely unprepared. I am, however, looking forward to sharing sailing with my family this summer.
College sailing is a sport where women can compete with men, on equal footing. This is rare. Does this affect how you coach?
We try to help each sailor to push themselves to new heights–skipper, crew, male, female. Whatever the skills of the individual, we hope to help them to turn their weaknesses into strengths and their strengths into weapons. The only real difference for us is that some members of the team can compete in women’s only events and some can’t.
What problems, if any, can this create on a team?
Because women have the opportunity to compete on two different circuits (women’s and coed); sometimes it is difficult to give outstanding sailors who are women enough time off.
What positives, if any, can this create on a team?
People are recognized for their skill.
PERSONAL STUFF
Do you remember the very first time you went sailing? If so, tell us about it.
I was fortunate enough that my father taught me how to sail and together my parents provided the amazing opportunity for me to grow up sailing with my friends at Larchmont YC (Long Island Sound). People with whom I am still exceptionally close today.
Why have you been with St. Mary’s for as long as you have?
In short, I love it! If I were to win the lottery tomorrow, I would be back with the Seahawks the next day (ok–maybe there would be a wild bender first, but I’d be back within days). I believe in small class sizes and an enriching environment for students to explore their intellectual selves. As The Public Honors College for the State of MD, St. Mary’s is set in an idyllic setting on the water. In this manner, St. Mary’s provides an academic utopia for motivated athletes that is really unique. The Chesapeake has beautiful long fall and spring seasons making it ideal place to train for College Sailing. Our central location amongst the most prestigious hosting venues means that the major national regattas are often in our backyard.
Based on your experience in the sailing industry, what advice might you give to those seeking a similar career path?
I believe College Sailing was the best game in the world. For those who want to help student-athletes achieve, it is the greatest job in the world.

2016 505 North American Championship Results

June 7, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

Bellingham Yacht Club
The final day of racing again saw mostly clear skies, but a little more finicky wind. We were able to get in one long race today with winds of 6-8 knots easing in the last half of the race. With this race, the total count for the regatta was 10 races which gave the competitors another throw out. Interestingly, the additional throw out did not change the positions of the top 5 sailors from yesterday. Congratulations to Riley Gibbs and Reeve Dunne for a well sailed regatta to capture first place and become the 2016 North American Champions.
The organizing committee would like to extend our sincere thank you to the sponsors for all of their support, to the race committee for their hard work in providing fair, challenging races, to Mike Allsop for hosting the spectators on his yacht La Siesta, to all of the many volunteers who helped in a myriad of capacities to make this regatta a success, to the judges who donate their time and expenses to ensure the racing is fair, and most of all, to the competitors for making their way to Bellingham to race in our beautiful venue. We hope to be hosts to the 505 fleet for more of these events.
TOP 25:

For all of the final results, click on the link below.
505 Fleet Results

ICSA Coed National Championship Report & Results

June 5, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

San Deigo, CA By Tyler Colvin
Coming off a wild weekend at the Laser Performance Team Race Nationals, spirits and expectations were high for the start of the Gill Coed National Championship in San Diego, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club. In the same format as Women’s Nationals, Coed nationals are 2 days of qualifying and 2 days of finals; the top 9 teams from each of the two divisions moving on to the finals.
After a wind delay on the first day of semi finals, racing began in a light and lumpy 5-10 knot westerly. The May Grey was in hard in southern California and consistency was difficult for all but a handful of boats in the light, shifty conditions.
At the conclusion of Day 1 in the Eastern Semifinals, perennial MAISA powers Old Dominion and St Mary’s sat atop the leaderboard, accompanied by dark horse South Florida. In the Western Semifinal, Coast Guard and Women’s College Sailor of the Year, Nikole Barnes led Georgetown and George Washington Universities.
Day 2 of the Semifinals saw similar light winds but from the southwest around 5-10 knots. It was difficult to get races off in the conditions, and only six more races were completed for a total of 12 in each fleet. Qualifying from the Eastern Semifinals were Old Dominion, St Mary’s, Navy, BC, Stanford, Yale, USF, BU and Fordham. In the Western Semifinals, CGA dominated over Georgetown, Charleston, Brown, RWU, Conn, Hobart and William Smith, George Washington and U Penn.
The Coed Finals got underway June 2^nd. A welcome change from the previous few days, the marine layer burned off and the pier warmed up to the low 70s, a little more Southern California-like than the earlier June Gloom. Racing was underway on time at 10:30am in 6-10 knots of choppy, shifty races. The wind was up and down, often with hiking conditions at the top of the course and drifting at the leeward gate.
Mid afternoon, the current started picking up which caused for some interesting mark rounding situations in the light air. With all of the challenges on the course, leads were exchanged often depending on who could find pressure. Consistency was the name of the game, and Yale was able to minimize double digit finishes, coming out on top after 10 races at the end of the day.
Day 2 opened with Yale leading Georgetown, BC, CGA, USF, ODU, Stanford, Navy and Brown in the standings. The goal of 18 total races for the regatta was well within sight after completing 10 on day 1. Long shifts and pressure discrepancies on the course again made for challenging racing. The top 4 teams of Georgetown, CGA, Yale and BC traded firsts for last place finishes as the battle for the top was a brutal one.
The wind steadily dropped off throughout the afternoon and tensions rose. Going into the final rotation, BC sat in 4^th with 242 points, 5 points out of a podium spot behind a resurgent CGA Bears (237 points), and still in the hunt for the top with Yale (227 points) and Georgetown (224 points). In true Yale fashion, A division skipper Ian Barrows turned in 3 straight bullets in races 14, 15, 16 to keep his team in the hunt. Flashes of Jane Macky in 2009.
Drama was the special of the day as the entire regatta came down to the last race. In 18A, Georgetown’s Nevin Snow, College Sailor of the Year, was bullied to the back of the fleet and into last place; their once 18 point lead was down to 7 points. Second place was a 3-way tie between BC, Yale and CGA, all with 261 points.
Race 18B, for the championship, saw Yale, Georgetown and CGA all in the lead pack off the line with BC looking slow on the wrong side of the course. Nikole Barnes showed the blistering speed she has exhibited all season and ran away with the bullet. Georgetown hung on to a 3 for the win and Yale turned in a 5 to round out the top 3.
Congratulations to the Georgetown Hoyas and coach Mike Callahan on a hard-fought championship!

College Women’s Nationals: A Look into Women’s Sailing

June 1, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

By Airwaves High School Reporter Sammy Pickell
The competitive spirit innate in all types of sailing is truly no exception at women’s regattas— every talented team projects unmistakable focus and determination an effort to to dominate the other teams. Off the water, spectators and parents alike have often noted that the overall environment t women’s events is composed of calmer sailors, seemingly exhibiting less hype over each rotation and each start watched from the shore. However, at the collegiate level especially, the calm of women’s regattas is traded time and time again for strong sailing and competition the moment the boats leave the dock.
Over the course of four days, women’s college sailing teams from all across the country traveled to San Diego to compete for the national champion title after battling it out in separate eastern and western semifinals. During the finals on Thursday, the conditions were as variable as the results— the morning began with a light, shifty breeze that put most teams’ scores all over the place. However, throughout Friday’s equally light conditions, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy managed to secure a strong lead over its competitors and never dropped a place after that.
Many of the female sailors we questioned reiterated their advice to young girl teams: the key to getting high ranks on the scoreboard and remaining there at any championship event is focusing primarily on consistency. In a high-scoring event such as college nationals, with eighteen races for both divisions, each team is bound to end up with some undesired races regardless of skill level. Keeping errors to a minimum and not allowing the weight of such an important event to facilitate these mistakes results in success for teams. As an example, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Brown University both managed to capitalize on the power of consistency, ending with a fairly strong lead over the fluctuating teams below them.
Many women made clear that the Sperry Women’s Championship event and women’s events in general prove to be some of the most rewarding experiences of being on their teams. Hope Wilson, a graduating senior on the Dartmouth sailing team, had time to reflect on her years on the women’s team. Hope said “My favorite part about being on this team is definitely the people. We have such an awesome group of people who are always excited about getting better every day, so it is hard not to have a good time with all of them.” Hope later reflected on the laughs shared within the women’s team and the irreplaceable experience women’s sailing has been for her.
Although in high school and college sailing the majority of girls still tend to crew for male skippers, the support and domination of girls in the sport of sailing has increased significantly in the past few years. Youth regattas such as the Junior Women’s Doublehanded National Championship, commonly referred to as Ida Lewis, draw women club 420 sailors from all across the nation as well as renowned coaches. Likewise in coed i420 events, the girls consistently manage to beat the male teams. At the 2015 i420 North Americans, Youth Worlds competitors Christine Klinger and Victoria Thompson won the event over the best i420 male teams in the country. With the women’s teams gearing up for the Olympic Games in Rio, the admiration and support of young girl sailors continues to rise.
So, it is evident that people may comment as to how the girls teams tend to stay reserved and calmer while on land. But sailors know well that how the wind blows on land often differs in intensity from a windier breeze out at sea. Girl teams in the sport of sailing never fail to rise to the challenge and race extremely competitively whether in coed or all-girl regattas, and the College Women’s Nationals is proof of that.
About the Author
Sammy Pickell, West Coast/High School Sailing Airwaves Reporter
Sammy started her sailing career at age five in the “Starfish” program at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club (BCYC) in Corona del Mar, CA. She raced her first regatta at seven and was soon Sabot racing throughout Southern California. Sammy graduated from Sabots to C420s and CFJs, club racing for BCYC and as a varsity member of the Corona del Mar High School Sailing Team, where she helped the Team win the 2016 Pacific Coast Championships. Sammy is a volunteer coach at BCYC, aspiring doctor, and rising junior at Corona del Mar High School. You can reach Sammy at [email protected]

Yale Wins 2016 Team Race National Championship!

May 30, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

Check out the S1D Team Race Nationals Predcitions
Today was the third and final day of the LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship on North San Diego Bay. This event is the second of three collegiate sailing national championships co-hosted by San Diego Yacht Club and the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference this spring. After three days of racing Yale University is the national champion and winner of the Walter C. Wood Trophy for the fourth year in a row.
The day began with completing the top eight round robin. Racing got underway around 10:30 a.m. Competitors sailed in FJs on digital N courses for the top eight and final four rounds. The remaining 19 races were completed in the top eight round today. The conditions were cloudy with light winds to start the day from the west northwest and the winds picked up a bit in the afternoon around 12 knots under sunny skies. Temperatures stayed in the mid to high 60s.
The race officials kept the races going and by about 2:30 p.m. the competitors were into the final four racing. The final four was completed around 3:30 p.m. and a total of 157 races were completed in the event.
Today the teams were fighting to advance into the final four round. Due to the competitiveness of each team in this event, no one went through undefeated. Yale finished the top eight round with two losses, Boston College with four, Georgetown University with one and St. Mary’s College of Maryland with three. Going into the final four any one of the four teams had a chance at winning the regatta. However, after Yale won their second race against St. Mary’s, they clinched the regatta.
This is Yale’s fourth team race national championship title and Walter C. Wood Trophy win in a row. The last team to win four in a row was Tufts University in 1996.
“We are stoked,” says Bill Healy, assistant coach for Yale University, “Everyone sailed well and kept their heads on through the whole regatta.”
“Every race was tough and all of the competition was really good,” Healy says. “We were able to execute really well at the bottom mark on the course.”
Everyone on the Yale team will be returning next year, except for senior Charlotte Belling, who was on each of the four winning teams during her college sailing career.
The winning team members are Ian Barrows ’17, Meredith Megarry ’17, Malcolm Lamphere ’18, Chandler Gregoire ’17, Nicholas Baird ’19, Charlotte Belling ’16, Clara Robertson ’17 and Joseph Kiss ’17.
There were six total races scheduled in the final four, however in the first race of the round between Georgetown and St. Mary’s one of the tiller extensions in a St. Mary’s boat broke and they went from winning the race to losing it, so they were allowed a re-sail. Therefore seven races took place and St. Mary’s took the win. This meant that they displaced Boston College and took third overall while Georgetown clenched second place after beating Yale in the last race of the final four.
“Yale was tremendous and the best team won,” says Mike Callahan, head coach for Georgetown. “We had a lot of opportunities in the races that we lost, but we didn’t do it. We did have the best record in the final four, and that felt good,” he says.
Georgetown will graduate four seniors from their team race team this year.
Sailing for Georgetown was Sean Golden ’16, Isabelle Ruiz De Luzuriaga ’16, Nevin Snow ’16, Meaghan MacRae ’18, AJ Reiter ’17 and Bettina Redway ’16.
St. Mary’s winning their re-sail with Georgetown allowed them the last podium spot.
“We are really happy to be on the podium,” says Bill Ward, director of sailing for St. Mary’s. “All of our races were really close and we made some mistakes. It has been a long season and this was a good way to finish up considering where we came from.”
Sailing for St. Mary’s was Alexander Curtiss ’16, Shelby Jacobs ’17, Edmund Cooper ’17, Mariah Leffingwell ’16, Markus Edegran ’16 and Kaitlyn Noreen ’16.
Final Results, Top 8 (wins and losses) 1. Yale University, 21-4 2. Georgetown University, 19-6 3. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 18-7 4. Boston College, 17-8

College of Charleston, 15-7 6. Stanford University, 13-9 7. Dartmouth College, 11-11 8. Brown University, 8-14

Top 5

Visit http://scores.collegesailing.org/s16/laserperformance-team-race-nationals/ for full results.

#	Team	Win	Loss
1	Yale Bulldogs	21	4
2	Georgetown Hoyas	19	6
3	St. Mary’s Seahawks	18	7
4	Boston College Eagles	17	8
5	Charleston Cougars	15	7

Sportsmanship: The Integrity of Sailing

May 27, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

By Airwaves Writer Rachel Bennung
In the basic principles sportsmanship and the rules it states, “Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce. A fundamental principle of sportsmanship is that when competitors break a rule they will promptly take a penalty, which may be to retire.” Sailing is a very unique sport for many different reasons, but a major one is that we don’t have umpires or referees. We ourselves monitor the sport of sailing. As sailors we must be respectful to our competitors, and honest with ourselves when we break a rule. However, we still see sailors having a lack of sportsmanship on the water. Without sailors displaying sportsmanship sailing loses all its integrity.
Everyone defines sportsmanship a little bit differently. In an interview Dave Perry defined sportsmanship as saying, “It’s an attitude of respect for the game, the rules, the people you’re racing against and the officials. Respect means you go about your job of competing fairly within the rules and try your hardest to win, without doing anything that is unfair to others.” This definition of sportsmanship is spot on. In sailing we are always trying to win the race, but in doing so we must compete fairly. Not only does sportsmanship mean we compete fairly, but we show respect towards our, competitors, teammates, and race committee. Sportsmanship is the fundamentals of sailing that every sailors needs to follow and enforce.
There are several key components of sportsmanship in sailing:

Take your penalty turn even if no one saw what happened, or the boat you foul doesn’t protest you.
Enforce the rules.
Be respectful to your competitors, teammates, and race committee.
Be a role model.

Take your penalty turn even if no one saw what happened, or the boat you foul doesn’t protest you.

This component of sportsmanship can sometimes be very hard for some sailors to follow. They tap a mark and look around and no one saw it, they figure they can keep sailing. I have heard sailors say “Well I may have fouled that boat, but they didn’t protest me so I don’t have to do my spins.” This theory of thinking is completely wrong and is how sailing loses its integrity. As we know, we ourselves monitor the sport of sailing not a referee. We must be honest and play fair no matter what. A great story of honesty and integrity on the race course is the story of Peter Barrett a Finn sailor competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. While Peter was sailing upwind he tacked onto port and began ducking boats. He then felt his shoulder lightly touch the rudder of a starboard boat, however, the skipper and no one else noticed. Even though no one noticed the incident Peter did. In those days there was no penalty turns, but you had to retire from the race when you fouled. So Peter retired from the race which cost him the gold medal in the Olympics. Peter Barrett showed great honesty and respect for the sport of sailing that day as we all should even when no one witnesses our mistake.

Enforce the rules.

Not only does sportsmanship mean that we play by the rules, but that we also enforce them on the race course. This doesn’t mean you go out on the water looking for people who are breaking rules. It means when you see someone break a rule and they don’t take their penalty you enforce the rules. This sometimes means you will end up protesting that boat. Some people may mistake protesting as being unsportsmanlike, however, its how the rules are enforced in sailing. When you are enforcing the rules you want to be respectful in how you speak to your competitors. Enforcing the rules can become unsportsmanlike if you are the boat yelling and screaming at your competitors. Remember sportsmanship means showing respect for the game, the rules, and your competitors. To be sportsmanlike in sailing we must not only follow the rules, but help enforce them since sailing is a self-monitoring sport.

Be respectful to your competitors, teammates, and race committee.

Showing respect is so important not only in sailing, but everyday life. When we give respect, we will receive respect in return. Being respectful can be shown by how we behave, speak, and react towards others. In sailing we need to show respect to our competitors, teammates, and race committee. We have all seen sailors out there that have no respect towards their competitors. However, we need to take the high road and be respectful by not screaming or cursing at our competitors. We also need to remember that sportsmanship doesn’t just apply to your competitors, your teammates and race committee are just as important. As sailors we need to show respect to our teammates by the way we communicate with them. Every team has a different way of communicating and together you need to come up with a way to communicate respectfully to each other. We also need to show respect towards our race committee, we wouldn’t be sailing without them out on the water. Show your appreciation by thanking the committee after completing a race. A simple thank you means a lot to people volunteering their time!

Be a role model.

As sailors we need to remember how unique our sport is. We police ourselves on the water without a referee. We need to show our younger generations how important sportsmanship is in sailing. Younger sailors will look up to you and respect you when you set good examples out on the race course. By you setting good examples and being a good role model we can be assured that sailings integrity will be carried on.
Paul Elvstrom, a famous Olympic sailor once said, “You haven’t won the race, if in winning the race you have lost the respect of your competitors.” This famous quote on sportsmanship is the essence of sailing. Sailing is a sport where you only win when you respect all aspects of the sport. We ourselves must monitor and protect the integrity of sailing. Sportsmanship is the foundation of the rule book, with the key components being; take your penalty turn even if no one saw what happened, or the boat you foul doesn’t protest you, enforce the rules, be respectful to your competitors, teammates, and race committee, and be a role model. Lets keep sailings integrity, and remember the next time your on the water the key components of sportsmanship!

S1D Coach of the Year Nominations OPEN!!

May 23, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

Sail1Design annually seeks your nominations for the Henri-Lloyd S1D Coach of the Year, for a coach that embodies the qualities (and more) listed in the article below. Sailors, this is your award! The Sail1Design staff chooses the winner only from our readers nominations! This is a great opportunity to recognize a coach that you feel makes a difference! Please write a detailed nomination letter to [email protected]
Nominations close on 15 JUNE 2016
Henri-Lloyd generously supplies the winning coach with a new HL Jacket, and a $500 gift card for Henri-Lloyd Online, to shop and get some of the worlds best sailing technical gear.
All good coaches, regardless of their chosen sport, share some important fundamental qualities that transcend technical knowledge, or specific x’s & o’s. In other words, whether it’s a basketball, tennis, hockey, football, chess, or sailing coach, there are certain key characteristics to good coaching, and none of these really requires technical knowledge of the sport they are in.
Here are some of those characteristics: logistics, organization, energy, leadership, passion, creativity, patience, dedication, motivational skill, humility.
I would bet that you could take a good coach, put him or her in a new sport, and that coach would find some success. Think about the best coach you ever had, and visualize that person in another sport, and you might see just how that person could adapt and still be a difference-maker.
However, we all know that great coaches not only possess these core qualities, but indeed they are also masters of the subtleties, rules, and technical chess moves of the sport they are involved in. Very often, great coaches are former players themselves, and often they are good, but not necessarily great players. In any event, it seems virtually certain that actually having been in the arena at some level, having been a true game player, is a necessary ingredient for a great coach.

So then, what an important advantage sailing coaches have, since the sport allows lifelong top-level competitive opportunities. While it would be impossible for a middle-aged football coach to live, first-hand, what his players go through on the gridiron, middle-aged sailors and coaches can stay current, and can compete right alongside the world’s best sailors, and even win world championships in sailing. Opportunities exist in team racing, match racing, and all types of one-design classes offer regattas, year-round. In this manner, sailing coaches have the ability to get inside the sport, at the highest levels, learn more, and feel the same things that their players go through out on the race course. The empathy gained here is a very powerful tool that great coaches employ when coaching.
Getting into the rhythm of a sailboat race, realizing first-hand the excitement and frustrations of the sport, preparing mentally for each race, “knowing when to tack”, these are all things that coaches must be able to talk to their players about, and talking to them about these things is so much more clear and present when done by someone who is actually good at them, and has done them recently at a high level.
For example, it was always easy for me to say to a team, “make sure when you are in FJ’s at the starting line to allow yourself more leeward room to accelerate since the foils are small and the boats need to go bow down first before they start lifting.” It was really easy to say. It was quite another thing to actually do it, and to go out on the starting line, in FJ’s, and practice what I preached. That was a LOT harder, and I drew a great deal of empathy with my players from that situation and recognized better ways to talk about it and to talk them through it, having been there myself. This is especially true in team racing, where coaches can see plays easily on the coach boat or on the drawing board, but it’s one thing to talk about a mark trap at Mark 1; it’s another thing altogether to go out and be able to execute it. Without being, or having been, in the arena, sailing advice and technical coaching can be somewhat hollow compared to other sailing coaches who know it first-hand and live what they coach.
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.
While there is a short list of coaches who choose to (and can) do it all, many top collegiate programs now share these coaching qualities by hiring an assistant or co-head coach, who is very often a recent college sailing alumnus and is active in dinghy racing and brings that empathy, right away, to the team. The head coach then ties everything together with experience, maturity, management, and knowledge of the game.

If you’ve ever noticed, baseball coaches actually suit up for games even though they certainly won’t be playing. This historically comes from the old “player-coach” model, and perhaps, this connects them with the game and the player more intimately. Sailing offers the unique ability for all ages to compete at the highest levels of the sport, and great sailing coaches take advantage of this, “suiting up” themselves and making themselves better at coaching by sailing competitively.
About Henri Lloyd
Henri Lloyd was established in 1963 in Manchester, England. Mr Henri, as he is known, founded the company based upon hard earned principles of honesty, integrity and freedom and it is these principles that are the foundations of the Henri-Lloyd brand today. One of Mr Henri’s many talents, passed on to his sons who have steered the business for the last 2 decades, is the ability to treat everyone with the same level of genuine interest, wit and charm whoever they are.
Henri Lloyd’s staff are committed to providing the best service to you, and are always happy to help should you need any assistance in selecting your products.
Past S1D Coach of the Year Winners
2015- Frank Pizzo
2014- Chris Dold
2013- Steve Hunt

2016 ICSA TEAM RACE NATIONALS PREDICTIONS & PROGNOSTICATION!

May 20, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

21 MAY, 2016 – Sponsored by Dynamic Dollies, on the eve of the 2016 ICSA Team Race Nationals, here are our ICSA TR Coaches bold predictions and prognostications. Panelists include Ken Legler (Tufts University), Zach Marks (Eckerd College), Clinton Hayes (Stanford), and Johnny Norfleet (Fordham) and Bill Healy (Yale). Follow the action here: http://2016nationals.collegesailing.org/

SailFuture: A Compelling Mission

May 18, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

Editors note – Once in awhile, a company comes along with a mission compelling enough to stand up and take notice. Sail1Design had 2 job posts the other day from SailFuture, and we believe this is one of those companies. Sailing is a wonderful pastime, sport, and endeavor. SailFuture seeks to blend the inimitable joy of sailing with a challenging, but worthy mission, one which Sail1Design applauds. We wish them nothing but the greatest success, and we hope you will consider their career openings.
SailFuture is HIRING

Service Learning Teacher
Mental Health Counselor
SAILFUTURE UTILIZES THE OCEAN AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO INCARCERATION FOR HIGH-RISK JUVENILE OFFENDERS AND INNOVATIVE MENTORSHIP PRACTICES TO PREVENT AT-RISK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM ENTERING THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

SailFuture’s mission is simple: create transformational experiences that empower youth to transform
their lives.
This is not a typical group home. It is not just a place to sleep, but rather a community and secondary
family dedicated to building real and meaningful relationships. Youth will be held to exceptionally high
standards and constantly pushed to reach their full potential.
The SailFuture Group Home model engages crossover and defiant foster youth in a 3-month service
learning program where they live on board a 65-foot sailing vessel and sail around the state of Florida,
leading community service projects at each port of call.
Prior to departing for the service learning program, youth spend 30-days living in a licensed group
home to learn how to sail and determine if this opportunity is the right fit for them.
After the assessment period, youth depart for 3-months to sail around the state of Florida while
leading powerful community service projects and earning their GED or high school diploma through a
fully accredited education program while living on the boat.
During the sailing journey, each youth works with a mental health counselor to create their own
“Personal Development Plan,” outlining their employment, housing, and education goals.
Upon completion of the sailing journey, youth return to live in a licensed group home until their 18th
birthday. Youth work with the same counselor and teacher they lived on the boat with to make progress
on their defined employment, housing, and education goals. All youth are required to participate in an
internship or part-time job while finalizing their high school education or GED when living in the group
home.
Following their 18th birthday, youth will have the opportunity to join the SailFuture graduate living
community in a nearby apartment building, where youth receive subsidized rent and continued
counseling and support, as well as professional networking opportunities.
BOAT DETAILS
SV Defy the Odds is a 1990 MacGregor 65’ Pilothouse. The vessel has 12 beds and 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, a 110HP Yanmar turbo diesel engine, and a full racing sail inventory. The vessel was acquired in December ‘15 and a $100k overhaul was completed in May ‘15.
All youth will have individual beds in shared cabins. The Master Stateroom will be reserved for staff. In the case of an emergency, SailFuture does have a restricted room that can be used; the isolated aft cabin has a separated entry and exit from the rest of the vessel. In the event of a medical emergency, SailFuture has established response procedures and staff training to provide first responder care on board. A full trauma kit with epi-pens will
be on board at all times. Learn more here: http://www.sailfuture.org/

US High School Mallory Dinghy National Championship Report & Results

May 17, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

By Airwaves intern Jordan Newland
The Mallory Trophy is the pinnacle of high school fleet racing. The Mallory Trophy is ISSA’s double-handed national championship regatta in which the teams sail 420s and FJs. It was comprised of two fleets, A and B, and was hosted by the Collage of Charleston on the 14^th and 15^th of May. Twenty of the United States best high school sailing teams faced off in this regatta. They came from the seven interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) districts. To qualify for the Mallory Trophy, they must have made it to their districts’ Mallory Elimination regatta and be one of the top three teams overall in that regatta. With all of the diverse talent and Collage of Charleston’s new Z420 fleet, this regatta was a real testament to teamwork.

FULL RESULTS HERE
The first day was a beautiful 75 f with a breeze between 7-12 knots coming out of the west. They raced from 10:00am to after 6:00pm getting in an astounding 14 races per fleet, 28 races in total. These races tested the sailors’ skills with medium to heavy wind and current with its occasional 20-knot gusts and 5-½ foot tide. Clear Falls’ Knights from the southeast district ended the day in first place with a score of 119 points. They had a 56-point lead on the next team ChristChurch from the mid-Atlantic district. Point Loma Pointers from the Pacific Coast district followed ChristChruch with a score of 179 points.
The second day was shorter than the first; it only lasted from 9:30 am to about 1:00pm. It stayed a mellow 74 the whole day with a westerly breeze of 8 knots that weakened throughout the day. They finished six races per fleet before they called it a day and a regatta. Clear Falls kept the lead with a final score of 203. Point Loma came in second with a score of 241 points, and Shorecrest Prep came in third with a score of 276 points.
The sailors out did themselves with this regatta. They sailed fast and endured long days of continual racing with a total of forty races. No protests were heard the whole regatta and only two redresses were requested with is very surprising for a regatta of two twenty-boat fleets. Of course, these races would not have been possible with out all of the volunteers. A multitude of Collage of Charleston sailors helped with this regatta, from the coaches to students to dock men. There were also other volunteers such as Ryan Hamm and Ryan Davidson who lead the races and starts. The 2016 ISSA Mallory Trophy Championship ended up being an amazing fleet regatta for all of the teams present and was a great experience for all.

On Coaching

May 17, 2016 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

By Joe Cooper
With summer not far off, sailing programs around the country are gearing up for their sailing lesson sessions. There will be high school sailors teaching and coaching Opti sailors, college sailors teaching and coaching high sailors and adult coaches, coaching the college sailors. The interaction between instructor and student is an important one. I am in my seventh season of coaching the Prout High School team and have learned quite a lot about how to not only ‘coach’ but also how to mentor high school students in sailing teams. Here are some of the themes I have found to be important.
RESPECT
The first thing is to actually remember the names of your students. This sounds basic but with 20 sailors I see for only 2 hours a day, three days a week, it can get to be a bit, well entertaining. I discovered last year to my embarrassment I was calling Flora, Fiona and only found out abut it about three weeks in when Flora mentioned it to me, rather casually really.
How one addresses the sailors is important. Today’s society is very used to casual language and, ‘hey guys let’s go’, encompasses almost everyone. I am old enough to have been taught the courtesy of referring to females as Ladies. When I wish to speak with the group, rather than the common, ‘hey guys listen up’ I prefer the, possibly old fashion but more suiting to my personality of ‘Ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention’. If there is a small work party or some other similar small group of sailors I wish to address or instruct I use the same phraseology.
Respect is of course a two way street. Over the years I have made it clear to new team members that if I am speaking, I require their full attention. This includes actually listening to what I am saying, not speaking and NOT using their phones. If I see such inattention I simply stop talking and wait. I do NOT call out the person, but simply wait until either the silence, the stage whispers or the elbow in the ribs brings the attention of all back to what I am saying.
COMMUNICATION

This is very important in sailing for many reasons-Technical concepts, a new language, wind noise and your tone of voice are but a few of the variables a coach needs to be aware of and manage. I tell all my new sailors that they will be a bit confused at first by all these elements. This is made no easier coming from me. Apart from all of the above, I have an Australian accent, I tend to talk fast when excited and, although I am getting better at NOT doing this, I often use sailing slang when speaking in a hurry. ‘Crank the vang’ may as well be Urdu for ‘what’s for dinner’ to a new sailor. So use the terms that the sailors can understand.
Tone of voice is critical when addressing teenagers and in particular novices. Loudness can easily be confused with anger. Sailing can be trying enough for a 15 year old, with not much instruction, plunked in a boat, surrounded by an absolute deluge of new inputs all clamoring for responses, people using new and unknown words and on some days, plenty of wind, cold, wet and once in while, snow. My particular approach to the combinations of emotions on the new sailors face is to smile and say something like its ‘OK, you’re responding perfectly normally’. I tell them that my voice is loud simply to have them hear me and that volume is not to be considered criticism. Speaking of which:
It is of the utmost importance that a sailor not be berated in front of the team. Actually they should not be berated at all and unfortunately I do see this too. People do not generally make mistakes on purpose. If I see a team member struggling with something, my approach is to work on the basis that I have not given sufficient, correct instruction to the sailor. Violations of the behavioral standards you set is a different matter but again not to be conducted in front of other team members.
I should note here that for many reasons new sailors, or rather students with no sailing experience who join the Prout Team are not progressed through a standard sailing instruction program. Rather, I bring them in the RIB for a couple of days, give them a very broad over view of how boats work, balance of forces and so on, introduce them to the vocabulary of words they need to come to grips with and generally put them in a 420 with a skilled sailors within a couple of hours. I tell them before hand that I will do this and that: you will be confused, suffer input over load, will be somewhere from concerned to scared on the fear spectrum, you will get wet, may well be cold, end up with wet stringy hair blowing across your face and will have a blast. Over the course of 7 seasons and perhaps 30 or so such sailors, they have all come back…..I have every year several sailors graduate High School having come in as novice freshman and leave as skilled sailors totally in love with sailing.
TEAM
If anthropologists need groups of people to examine for proof that the Human is a social animal, they need look no further than high school students and H.S. sailing teams in particular. Sailing is the only activity where, when in competition, there is not a coach jumping up and down on the sidelines bawling instructions at the team. The sailors are allowed to go and make their own decisions successful or otherwise. This shared experience of the sailors together in pairs and in the three boats of a team, breeds strong bonds amongst the sailors. Throw in the environment and technical complexities of sailing and there is a great breadth and depth of shared experience. To keep this experience moving along is an important aspect of ‘The Team’ from my perspective. I do a couple of things to support the team idea.
Firstly, I dress as I ask them to dress, which in the New England region, is drysuits. This has the added benefit that I can jump into a boat and give a practical demonstration of some point I am trying to convey to a struggling sailor. It has on a couple of occasions allowed me to help recover a turtled boat with me ending up in the water. And in the event something really goes south I can jump into the water and not become a problem myself in the 45-degree water.
Every time I am out with the team I think of the young lady who drowned in Annapolis a few years ago and cannot imagine having to make that phone call. I carry with me on the RIB a small bag with light line, some tools, tape, a knife, some of the hand warmers that one shakes to effect a warm glow to the hands, and other items I have found to be useful over the years. I also carry a diving face mast.
The Pinnie is the uniform of sailing. I have our team wear their Pinnies all the time, practice or racing. I wear one too. I think this sets the tone that we ARE a team joined by like uniform amongst other elements. Being ‘in uniform’ has the added advantage of more easily identifying the Prout boats and when necessary me, from a distance. ‘Practice like you play’ is a refrain in use these days but I first heard it years ago.
In the 1980 America’s Cup, the syndicate brought in a man named Ron Barassi. He was the Vince Lombardi of Australian football and was there to give us pep talks, along the lines of what today would be called sports psychology. We were all given a book he had written and in the beginning paragraphs it described him showing up for practice with his team. He was kitted out in a clean and washed uniform, his football boots (leather in those far off days) were polished and shiny, the long white laces were spotless and HE was ready to play football. In contrast to the variety of clothing the players were wearing, he was a spotless representation of the Club. At the next practice everyone looked like him. This tale is an important lesson in making a group of individuals a team and is one I try and emulate.
MENTORING
Being huddled in a RIB, with a few teenagers, wet, cold and anxious, or doubled over from laughter is a situation few adults get to share with teenagers. I find that there is ample time to discuss what you are doing, point out the errors a sailor is making and then to highlight the increase in performance from the same sailor after a little coaching. There are a myriad of skills and disciplines used in sailing, apart from the sciences that make a sail boat go. This time in the RIB offers me a perfect opportunity to find out what makes these young men and women tick.
RESPONSIBILITY
The sailors must rig and de-rig the boats. It drives me balmy to see parents rigging and de-rigging the boats for their kids. There are so many reasons why this is a bad habit, it would be its own essay.
Early in in the season I allocate the novices and a less experienced members to a team led by an experienced sailor. These sub-teams allow the skilled sailors the opportunity to develop their own leadership skills and for the new sailors to become a part of the team from the beginning. Boats of course need to be rigged and un-rigged and put away in some kind of organized process. Any damage or failure of some kind needs to be noted and addressed. Making sure the procedure for both ends of the sailing day is clearly articulated and enforced is another critical aspect of the day. If something is not done according to ‘the rules’ then the members or leader of the sub-team is brought back to make it right. Politeness and courtesy is key to this discipline. I refer to this ‘not being your bedroom at home and your mum is not here to clean up for you’, in a jocular fashion (here is where the Australian accent is an advantage).
Coaching young people in sailing is a great way for those of us who have experienced the wonderful, (and the less so….), adventures sailing has to offer to pass on to the next generation. It is also in my case a wonderful way to spend some time with a great collection of young men and women.