The 2019 College Sailing season is underway, with several TR regattas now in the books. Take a look at the updated rankings, and click on each team to see our coach panel analysis!!
Go to the RANKINGS
Blog
2019 Sunshine State Optimist Championship Results
Jensen Beach, FL 03/03/2019: Two hundred six boats (206!!) sailed this past Sat/Sun in the Sunshine State Optimist
Championship, and most all of the top Optimist sailors in the country were there competing. The regatta featured light and shifty winds mostly, till race 5 on Sunday, when the wind built to 20+ knots, allowing the heavy-air sailors some opportunity to show their stuff.
The top 3 were separated only by a point each, so this one was close, after the throw-out. Congratulations to JACK REDMOND(12 pts) of Lauderdale YC for a great win at a highly competitive event!! Rounding out the top 3 was Freddie Parkin(13pts) and Tommy Sitzmann(14pts). Top Girl? Laura Hamilton(26pts), 2 points ahead of Samara Walshe.
TOP 10 OVERALL
For full Results CLICK HERE
Junior Sailing Essay Contest: Win, and Foil!
From Windcheck Magazine:
Foiling is the hottest thing in sailing right now, and our friends at Sail Black Rock in Bridgeport, CT and Oakcliff Sailing in Oyster Bay, NY have teamed up with WindCheck to present a unique writing contest with perhaps the most exciting prize in the history of youth sailing!
The winning essay will appear in an upcoming issue of WindCheck (No, that’s not the prize), and the author will receive a scholarship for a one-week Oakcliff Foiling Camp July 1-7 (a $2,030 value)!
Utilizing the fastest boats in Oakcliff’s High Performance fleet (WASZPs, foiling Nacra 17s and foiling carbon Nacra 20s), Foiling Camp will get you up and flying. And because fitness is essential for foiling, Oakcliff’s expert coaches will provide personalized advice on how to take your training to the next level and earn your wings at Oakcliff Airlines.
Official Contest Rules
Topic: “Why I Want to Fly – In Sailing & In Life”
Eligibility
This contest is open to applicants ages 14 to 19 (inclusive) that have some sailing experience and a desire to go foiling.
Essay Structure
• Essays must be original works of written art.
• The maximum length is 700 words (excluding title & biography). • Please don’t include applicant information on the essay page(s). • Please use 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced.
• Please don’t include graphics, borders, colored fonts, or photos.
Biography
• Please list your name, grade, address, phone number, and email address. • Include your sailing awards & achievements, school & community activities, and plans for college.
• Include your high school’s name, address, and phone number.
• Please limit your biography to one page.
Submission
Entries must be submitted as PDF files, and attached to an email sent to [email protected].
Deadline: All submissions must be received by Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
Selection: Essays meeting the criteria above will be accepted and judged by representatives of Sail Black Rock, Oakcliff Sailing, and WindCheck on the following criteria:
• Creativity and clarity of thought
• Organization and topic content
• Grammar and spelling
Prize: One (1) scholarship for Oakcliff Foiling Camp, to be held July 1-7, 2019 in Oyster, Bay, NY, will be awarded to the author of the winning essay.
Conditions: The winning essay will be published in WindCheck. All contestants agree that their essays may be published in WindCheck and on the WindCheck, Oakcliff Sailing, and Sail Black Rock websites.
Contestants must agree that if their essay is chosen as the winner, it will become the property of WindCheck, Oakcliff Sailing and Sail Black Rock. Contestants further agree that the winning essay may not be submitted to any other contest or used for any other purpose.
About Sail Black Rock
Founded in 2011 and located at Captain’s Cove Seaport in Bridgeport, CT, Sail Black Rock is the home of the Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University sailing teams. Under the leadership of Program Director Dave White, Sail Black Rock hosted more than 500 visiting collegiate and scholastic sailors last year. Regattas include high school national qualifiers, intersectionals such as the Catholic Cup, intercollegiate performance ranking races including the SHU Trophy and Fairfield Cup, and the New England Freshman Championship for the Priddy Trophy. In addition to variant sea conditions of Long Island Sound, participants enjoy post-race pizza parties sponsored by Regatta Ginger Beer.
About Oakcliff Sailing
Located in Oyster Bay, NY and led by Dawn Riley, the first American woman to do four America’s Cup campaigns and two Whitbread Round the World Races, Oakcliff Sailing is an unparalleled training facility with an innovative environment that infuses sailors with a culture and drive for success. Over the last eight years, Oakcliff has placed graduates in such programs as Vestas 11th Hour Racing in the Volvo Ocean Race, Red Bull Foiling Generation, and New York Yacht Club’s America’s Cup team, American Magic. If you’re ready to Elevate Your Game, visit www.oakcliffsailing.org.
About WindCheck
Launched in 2002, WindCheck is your source for Sailing the Northeast. Headquartered in Darien, CT, WindCheckpublishes 10 issues per year…and has almost certainly had more foiling boats on the cover than any other publication. Visit WindCheck online at www.windcheckmagazine.com.
Good Luck!
Ocean Beach Youth Group (Fire I.) is Hiring!
Thank you for your interest in OBYG. We are a non-profit community day camp founded 60 years ago which provides an engaging array of activities for children ages 3 to 13 and a CIT program for 14 year olds. Our wonderful staff comprised of teachers, arts professionals, certified coaches, college students and older teens provide a comfortable environment to ensure our campers enjoy exciting and meaningful summers. Many of our counselors attended OBYG as campers and return later as parents, reinforcing their commitment to our program. 
Summer Day camp in beautiful Ocean Beach Fire Island, NY, is looking for a dynamic Sailing Director to build and lead our sailing program. Enjoy a special summer on a unique car-free island rimmed by a world-famous beach and bay. Housing is available in the OBYG senior staff house, steps from the beach. To learn more and to apply, please see our job ad HERE.
We are looking to create a strong teaching and technical sailing program on the beautiful Great South Bay that appeals to those campers getting out on the water for the first time as well as our intermediate and advanced sailors. We have a full fleet of Optis, JYs and motorized chase boats and are budgeted to upgrade our fleet based on suggestions from the Director.
Ida Lewis Yacht Club is Hiring!
Ida Lewis Yacht Club is a family oriented club of members who actively participate in yachting activities. Our mission is to foster excellence in yachting and yacht racing with an emphasis on traditions, sportsmanship, education and camaraderie.
ILYC is hiring a Junior Sailing Program Director. This position is a full-time salaried position (approximately 40 hrs/wk) from mid-June to mid-August. The position is also salaried part-time from mid-August to mid-June with an average of 8 hours offsite per month to prepare for the season ahead. Sailing classes run for 8 consecutive weeks and the Program Director will be responsible for one week of setup prior to classes beginning and one week of breakdown after classes end. For more information, and to apply, CLICK HERE.
The Ida Lewis Yacht Club derives its name from the nationally famous daughter of the keeper of the Lime Rock Light on the southern side of Newport’s inner harbor.
The Lime Rocks are a series of limestone ledges located approximately 900 feet from shore. They were at one time noted for the quality of their lime used by Newport’s builders. In the 1850s the Lighthouse Service decided to place a light on the largest rock and in 1853 they completed a tower with a rough shed or “sentry box” which later did duty as a washroom. Here the keeper found shelter when forced by foul weather to stay on the rock. His family lived ashore. Three years later the Newport Mercury reported, “One would suppose that there was hardly room to swing a cat on the Lime Rocks and yet a spot large enough has been found for a commodious two story brick house with ample space in front…with a walk leading to the lighthouse and the little beach where the keeper hauls his boat.” This house, which has weathered several hurricanes, is now the Clubhouse of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club.
The first keeper was the half brother of Ida Lewis. A few months later he turned the position over to his father, Hosea Lewis, who kept it during his lifetime aided by his daughter. On his death, Ida became the keeper until her death in 1911. As early as 1869, she was famous as a one-woman life boat station. Up to and including that year, she had made so many daring rescues from the waters of Newport Harbor that she was written up extensively in Harpers Weekly, The New York Tribune, and many other publications including a book entitled Ida Lewis, Heroine of Lime Rock. She was constantly compared with the English lighthouse keeper’s daughter, Grace Darling, who made her reputation in one daring rescue.
Ida Lewis is officially credited with saving eighteen lives and unofficially several others. The burgee of the Yacht Club that bears her name has a blue lighthouse with eighteen white stars arranged in a cross representing the number of lives she saved. A beautiful clinker-built pulling boat was paid for by public subscription and presented to Ida Lewis in the summer of 1869. This boat with many other Ida Lewis items, including the lamp and lens tended by her, are on exhibition in the Marine Museum of the Newport Historical Society.
In the mid 1920s, all but a small piece of the Lime Rock, used by the Lighthouse Service for the light tower, was sold to the “Narragansett Bay Regatta Association.” This was made up of a group of yachtsmen interested in preserving the now historic house, as well as creating a yacht club and landing for the excellent anchorage in Brenton Cove. In 1928 they officially organized under the name Ida Lewis Yacht Club. (ANSWER TO ILYC TRIVIA QUESTION: $7,200 was paid for Ida Lewis Light House and all of Lime Rock, Per ‘Keeper of Lime Rock’ by Lenore Skomal) This is listed in 1929 for the first time among Newport’s clubs. The first Commodore was Arthur Curtiss James, owner of the auxiliary bark “Aloha.” The Vice Commodore was Marion Eppley.
A wooden walkway was built to the Lime Rocks and the lighthouse, which became the Clubhouse. Ida lewis is perhaps the smallest major yacht club, but at times one of the busiest. Floats and ramps were built to accommodate tenders and sailing dinghies. The Clubhouse is attractively furnished, which makes up for its size. Before the New York Yacht Club had its Newport station at Harbor Court, the Ida Lewis Yacht Club offered its facilities as a station and the burgee of the New York Yacht Club flew on an auxiliary flag pole.
C. P. B.Jefferys*
Newport Historical Society
*C. P. Beauchamp (“Cham”) Jefferys died on 18 February 1980 at the age of 82. He was during his lifetime an active, well-loved, and well-respected teacher, historian, and yachtsman who devotedly served the Ida Lewis Yacht Club for many years.
APS is Hiring: Sales & Customer Service Department Manager
The APS Sales & Customer Service (CS) Department Manager (DM) executes our mission – “APS is an enjoyable place to shop and work for all who share our passion for sailing. We are sailors serving fellow sailors to improve their time on the water.” They archive our vision – “APS is the preferred outfitter of high-quality apparel, hardware, line & services for all sailors. Sailors depend on APS as the leading resource for sailing knowledge and information and staff of sailors who provide an outstanding customer experience.”
To learn more and apply for this position CLICK HERE
MORE ABOUT APS
(originally published February 23 2017) By Airwaves Writer Taylor Penwell
Known to those in the sailing world as APS, Annapolis Performance Sailing is the capital sailing store in the United States that does business around the globe. The core values held close have been to stock a wide selection of products 
and their accessories, to have stock of hard to find items, and have a staff of active sailors who are able to help customers solve problems and make purchases with confidence. A team of up to 32 members in season calls APS home today and enjoys being able to walk out the door at the end of the day and be on the water sailing not too long thereafter. APS prides itself on its staff and their extensive sailing knowledge, this being the main reason it sets itself apart from other sailing stores. APS just celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016.
APS was founded in 1991, by company president Kyle Gross, the year he graduated from college. After competing on the St Mary’s College Sailing team and working at the college’s sailing center, he recognized the need for a business that would supply dinghy racers with everything they needed, from foul weather gear to obscure boat parts that seemed impossible to find.
Original APS Store
With a clear strategy, lots of slog, a small bank loan, and help from his employer and friends, he opened the first location in Eastport, an area adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay, in the historic city of Annapolis, Maryland.
The first collection of hardware, line and apparel here at APS was limited. With no employees, Kyle worked seven days a week, and sailed in the evenings building the business, and relationships within the sailing community. He was quick to realize that the only way his business would grow would be if he had a direct relationship with his key vendors. So he bought a plane ticket, jumped the pond, and rented a car in England. Driving around, getting lost on narrow back roads, he managed to locate and introduce himself to the primaries of companies who were making equipment and gear for dinghy racing. Visits to many chandleries provided much insight. It didn’t take long for him to realize, there’s a big difference between the US and England in terms of the geographical spread of sailing.
In 1992, Kyle decided to produce a mail order catalog to bridge the gap between sailing locations and connect with customers nationwide and around the world.
APS Founder and President Kyle Gross
With technology being far from what it is today, the product photos were taken, trips to a photo shop to turn film into half tones were made, and actual cutting and pasting was the method for creating the catalog. Friends helped by modeling for apparel photos and were enticed with beers and pizza to stick address labels on finished catalogs. The initial circulation was around 3000.
The APS catalog grew in size and distribution year after year establishing APS as a serious mail order company. The addition of a dedicated and knowledgeable call center team increased customer service, further helping the company grow into an international presence.
APS catalogs were expanded to over 100 pages, full color with a distribution in excess of 100,000. The retail space increased in size twice, the APS website was launched, the rigging department was created and the product offering became much larger.
In 2003, Kyle designed and built the current 6000 square foot APS storefront and fulfillment center. Since then, our product offering has been expanded beyond 15,000 items, staff size increased and the Crugear department for decorating team gear was added.
APS Current Store
APS became known as the first-to-market sailing retailer by developing relationships with innovative vendors outside of the US and exclusively introduced new brands including: Zhik gear, Optimum Time Watches, Holmotro tools, Polilite rope, Rooster clothing and hardware, Sea Australia gear, and others. The company also has the most extensive offering of one design parts here in the United States. Another quality part of the store is its Rigging Shop staffed by top quality riggers who have the skills to help you with whatever technical needs and jobs you require.
APS continues to change, adapt and thrive as a sailing retailer in the digital age. In 2015 a new enterprise website was launched to further improve the customer shopping experience and the APS Advisor was introduced as the source for sailors to access the knowledge and information that is the hallmark of APS and its employees. The Advisor houses the hundreds of videos, articles and photographs developed by the APS team in-house. Be sure to check out Advisor for all your sailing needs and questions.
http://www.apsltd.com/aps-advisor/
Nothing represents the stores metamorphosis over these past 25 years than the catalog covers. They clearly show the evolution of a company that started out in dinghies, moved to keelboats, was an early adopter of online retail focusing effort exclusively on sailing rather than boating and water activities in general, and will continue to provide the widest selection of quality sailing specific products and services for apparel, line, hardware, and rigging at competitive prices. 
For all your sailing and racing needs APS is the store that is two legs ahead of the competition. Their friendly staff members can help you with your order over the phone, in their new websites online chat, and of course in person in the storefront.
Follow this link to check them out online,
http://www.apsltd.com/
A special thanks to APS Create Content Function Owner and friend Claire Davidson Yoste, and President Kyle Gross for supplying the information for this article.
APS is located at 104 Severn Avenue in Annapolis, MD. We can be reached at 800.729.9767 during business hours: 9:00am – 5:00pm US EST, Monday – Friday. Our Sales & Customer Service Center is closed on Saturday and Sunday – you can reach us by email by clicking here. Our storefront is open on the weekends from 8:00am – 5:00pm EST for walk in customers.
