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2018 Optimist National Championship Results

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(photos courtesy of Regatta Central)
This year the Pensacola Yacht Club hosted the Optimist National Championship, with nearly 260 sailors competing for the fleet racing championship, and 66 sailors competing for the girls championship (team racing is 7/20-7/22). The Nationals attracted sailors from several countries and territories, including Australia, Great Britain, Denmark, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the Virgin Islands, The weather was a little up and down this year, and 7 races were sailed for each division over the 4 day regatta for fleet championship, and 3 official races for the girls championship.
The staff at PYC and all organizing authorities worked very hard to make this a fun, friendly, and enjoyable event. An opening ceremony for all was held at the Saenger Theater where we all were treated to a presentation by American Magic, the NYYC America’s Cup Syndicate.

Stephan Baker defended his title this year, continuing his outstanding sailing and dominance of the US Optimist class. Top Ten:

  1. Stephan Baker
  2. Malthe Ebdrup
  3. Cort Snyder
  4. Peter Foley
  5. Thommie Grit
  6. Laura Hamilton
  7. Thomas Sitzmann
  8. Sara Schumann
  9. Griggs Diemar
  10. Ryan Satterberg

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP TOP 5

  1. Samara Walshe
  2. Sara Schumann
  3. Emory Friend
  4. Anna Vasilieva
  5. Anne Samis

FULL RESULTS HERE
Girls Championship Results HERE

The Carolina Yacht Club is Hiring!

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The Carolina Yacht Club is located in the heart of historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina and is currently seeking a full-time Sailing Director. We currently provide spring, summer, and fall sailing sessions, as well as an adult sailing program and several certification courses. To learn more and apply, click HERE.
The Carolina Yacht Club is a sailing and social club, with membership by invitation only.

The Carolina Yacht Club was founded in 1883 by young men wanting to share their interest in sailing and yacht racing. The Club was incorporated in 1888, and moved into its current location on the Cooper River waterfront in 1907 from a small room over a wharf warehouse a few yards north of its present location.

The Club resides in an old cotton factor’s office, with expanded ballroom and reception facilities. The Boathouse, a family oriented bar and grill located on the waterfront itself, is open during the spring, summer and fall. The South Property adjacent to the original North Property is home to the dining facilities, and includes a large ballroom. The Club also boasts updated floating docks, along with boat ramp and boat hoist.

Carolina Yacht Club is a member of US Sailing and of the South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association. Our sailing program is open to youth and adults and runs all year long. We teach learn-to-sail classes, and offer a variety of advanced clinics. The junior sailing program runs spring through fall and uses the Optimist, O’pen BIC, Club 420, and J/22. Carolina Yacht Club offers a dynamic summer sailing program popular in the Charleston area.

The view from the Carolina Yacht Club is over the Cooper River into the Atlantic Ocean. The Club’s Members have use of a private boatyard, floating docks, jet docks, a boat ramp, and two hoists. We have a full-time sailing director and dock master on staff, supported by many part-time instructors and dock hands.

2018 Laser North American Championship Regatta Report

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The Moorings 2018 Laser North American Championship hosted by the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, California concluded with some fantastic racing by the classes top competitors. 167 sailors, representing 26 countries competed in the Laser, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 classes. The Laser classes saw competitors ranging in age from 14 to 63, a true testament of the classes solidity. The event was also a qualifier for next year’s Pan American Games for many countries. The Alamitos Bay Yacht Club has a history of hosting great events. Regatta Chair Ed Spotskey said, “this is the kind of event ABYC likes to do. Our team really puts our best foot forward to make this a special event for the international sailors.”

The event saw tight racing with Charlie Buckingham of the USA winning the Bruce Kirby Cup in the Laser class. Brenda Bowskill of Canada taking first place in the Laser Radial class and USA sailor Abbie Carlson winning the Laser 4.7 class.

Day 1: The first day of racing had wind starting at 6 knots and building to 14 knots. Charlie Buckingham took the lead in the first day in the 69 boat Laser class, finishing with a 3,2,1. Closely behind with a tied 7 points were American Chris Barnard and Brazil’s Bruno Fontes. The Laser Radial class also saw tight racing with Canadians Brenda Bowskill and Sarah Douglas separated by just one point. Abbie Carlson of the USA and Spencer Leman of Canada were tied for first in the Laser 4.7.

2018 Laser North American Championships, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, Long Beach, CA ©Tom Walker

Day 2: The large fleet of racers took the water for the second day of the event. A handful of siblings decided to attend the championship and make it a family experience. David, 17, John, 15, and William, 13, race on West Okoboji Lake, a six-square-mile finger of water near the Minnesota border. In a van laden with SAT workbooks, towing a tier of Lasers, the Alexander family made last the minute road trip to ABYC because of the large field of competitors. All three have their sights set on the Olympics. As David pointed out, “We figured we’d just go out and give it our best shot.” The trio has David and William racing full rig Lasers, and John in a Laser Radial. Another sibling duo was Jessica McJones, 21 and her 17-year-old brother Gavin, of nearby Rancho Palos Verde. While Gavin has been on a summer sailing circuit including the Youth Champs in North Carolina and Nationals in Houston, Jessica has just returned from her sophomore year at the US Naval Academy. Competing in the Laser Radial fleet is reminiscent of their Opti sailing days, Gavin said, when his focal point was beating his big sister. “I would just go tack on her,” he laughed, “and I still do.” Gavin said, “I’ve never sailed in such a large fleet, with so many boats on the start line. It makes racing more challenging. You can’t always tack when you want, if you don’t have a clear lane, so you can miss the shifts. And it’s hard to play the waves on the downwind run. It’s way more defensive driving.” Gavin stood 11 positions ahead of his sister at the end of six races. “It’s all very competitive and I want to do well,” Jessica said, but secretly admitted, “I’m kind of rooting for him.”

In the Laser Radial class, Brenda Bowskill had an impressive day, posting 1,2,1,1,1,1 finishes. Sarah Douglas held onto second place and Joseph Hou of the USA moved into third place.

2018 Laser North American Championships, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, Long Beach, CA ©Tom Walker

 

Day 3: No racing was held on the third day.

Day 4: The final day of racing culminated with all the excitement of a major championship, including collisions, general recalls, knock-downs, and dismastings. The fleets attempted to unseat the leaders who had set themselves on the top from the first day.

Olympian Charlie Buckingham, USA, who has dominated the Laser Standard division since day one, triumphed for the 2018 Bruce Kirby Cup. With half his finishes in the regatta first-place bullets, the four-time Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association All-American, from nearby Newport Beach, held off an attack by three-time North American Champion Chris Barnard, USA, and Olympian Bruno Fontes, BRA, who finished second and third.

At the top of the leaderboard in the 80-boat Laser Radial fleet was Olympian Brenda Bowskill, CAN, who never relinquished her clutch on first place since the first day. Bowskill sailed for Canada in the 2016 Olympic Games and her performance had opponents noting she was ‘one with her boat.’ Fellow Canadian Sarah Douglas, another Olympic hopeful, took a solid second, followed by Joseph Hou, USA sailing at his home yacht club.

In the 4.7 class, Abbie Carlson, USA, and Spencer Leman CAN, were tied or trading places throughout the regatta. In the end, Carlson edged out Leman, for the Laser 4.7 honors with Erik Hou, brother of Joseph Hou, taking third.

“What makes me most proud, as Race Chair for an event of this caliber, is all the teams from around the world and the US who make a point to come up and tell us what a wonderful event this is, and how terrific the hospitality is at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club,” said Spotskey. “They truly appreciate being here, competing at and enjoying this awesome venue. That makes us feel pretty special. That’s why we do this.”

Tom White, representing The Moorings, added, “It’s an honor for The Moorings to be a part of the International Laser Class 2018 North American Championship, hosted by the beautiful Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. We could not have asked for a better platform to showcase our yacht charter vacations.” With a global field of people who love to sail, from teens to septuagenarians, the Laser class an ideal alliance. “All of us at The Moorings look forward to working with the ILCA again in the future.”

 

LASER STANDARD

  1. Charlie Buckingham USA
  2. Chris Barnard USA   
  3. Bruno Fontes BRA
  4. Henry Marshall USA
  5. Juan Maegli GUA

LASER RADIAL

  1. Brenda Bowskill CAN
  2. Sarah Douglas CAN
  3. Joseph Hou USA
  4. Ricky Welch USA
  5. Maura Dewey CAN

LASER 4.7

  1. Abbie Carlson USA
  2. Spencer Leman CAN
  3. Erik Hou USA
  4. Katherine Nelson USA
  5. Sammy Farkas USA

Results

https://www.sailwave.com/results/2018_Laser_North_American_Championship.htm

Coaches Locker Room: Trust & The Mental Game in Optimist Sailing

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By Airwaves Optimist Reporter Bernat Gali Bou
The Optimist class is commonly the first step for many youngsters who decide to try sailing for a wide range of reasons: family tradition, the love for the water, the area where they live…whichever is the reason, the sport of sailing is quite bipolar: or you love it, or it’s really not for you at all. It can take one second, or it can take one year, but when it gets inside you, sailing will be a part of you for life. If it doesn’t, well you’re missing quite a lot.

Being the premier introductory class in the World, the boat-handling and technique in order to sail the boat in the fastest way possible isn’t exactly rocket science, and the usual combination of hard work, commitment and a bit of talent often propels any sailor to the summit.  Where do outstanding Coaches stand in the equation here? I believe right between the sailor reaching a high level of boat speed and technique, and the mental skills needed to reach her or his

Herb Brooks wasn’t coaching a Dream Team. He was coaching a team full of dreamers -Jim Craig

maximum potential.

This is a vital point to consider, and in fact, this applies to coaching at many levels, in many sports, not just Optimist sailing. It’s also very helpful for life after sports too. Why did the 1980 USA Hockey team beat the heavily-favored and superior skilled Soviet team, for example? Mental toughness, preparation and focus was a key part of Herb Brooks coaching.
Throughout 3 years in the USA, I’ve met many Coaches and several of them are really close friends. With some you share some sort of style, with others you couldn’t be more different, some like long chalk talks and others are more intense on the water, but not surprisingly we all share something: the goal to shape little persons on and off the water, to teach the importance of working the mainsheet accordingly but at the same time teach as well values like sportsmanship, respect or positiveness.

Please don’t get me wrong when I said outstanding Coaches only work on mental skills when the sailor is fast enough. I believe mental skills are taught pretty much everyday, and every sailor comes with many of them of factory (say genetics). Some of those natural mental skills are really useful (positive, tough, smart, organized) and others might make our job more challenging (too competitive, low concentration, lack of commitment). Honestly, every sailor has a unique mixed set of mental skills and I believe it’s what makes our job so unique and at the same time so difficult sometimes. What makes me love this job? Obviously not the hot weather in Texas (bad joke..), but really the constant necessity of developing new styles of coaching for those sailors that, for one reason or another, are a challenge and seems like you’ll never find the button to click and finally help the sailor achieve all his goals.

I absolutely believe mental preparation is an essential part when coaching Optis, and following my first article, it all comes from the trust you earn from them along the path of coaching. If they trust you, parents trust you, and to make those necessary changes in his mental skills will become less of a critical situation. Trust it’s itself a very important skill while sailing (parents send their precious children to the ocean in little boats every day and they just send an adult with a RIB..crazy right?) and it fills all the first level of the pyramid when it comes to develop mental skills. When we help shaping a sailor’s character on the water, it actually shapes the sailors personality onshore as well, and as Opti Coach, I believe we teach many lessons that will be useful in the future in many ambits of the sailor’s life.

In conclusion, an Opti Coach can create a strong impact in any Opti sailor career. It doesn’t matter the style, the approach or the origin, every Opti Coach strives to help on the best way they can to support, teach and help the sailor achieve all his goals and dreams and that’s what it makes our work worth the time in the water, regardless of results or events qualified.

Youth Championship 2018 29er Fleet Review

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By Lauren Elder (published originally HERE)
The Youth Championship regatta hosted by the U.S sailing association is an amazing opportunity to compete with passionate, advanced group of sailors.  I have many positive things to say about my experience at this regatta starting with the venue.  Carolina Yacht Club is a beautiful facility right on the ocean where one can frequently rely on a warm sea breeze to fill in, which creates a fun and exciting day of racing.  Although day 3 did not have any wind due to storm fronts moving through the area, I still enjoyed myself by going to the beach with my teammates, directly in front of the yacht club.  The volunteers and hosts were always specifically kind and went out of their way to either give us a hand getting our boats up the ramp or just starting a conversation about the day.
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In addition to the venue, the sailors made my experience very unique.  I have only been sailing 29ers for less than a year, but I feel a strong connection between many of the sailors and coaches both on and off the water.  The one special aspect about the 29er fleet that I have found different than any other fleet is that everyone is acquainted with one another. There is so much motivation to not only improve ourselves but our teammates too.  During our team debriefs we spent time asking each other questions and sharing information, reflecting off of what works well, and what should be avoided as opposed to keeping to ourselves.  We all try to learn from each other so we can advance together.
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I’d like to mention Richard Feeny, the 29er fleet coach, for keeping track of many, many boats and still being available for giving advice, energy bars, and ice cold water.  And also, Phil Muller for being an amazing ODP (Olympic Development Program) coach.  All of his kids performed very well and kept great sportsmanship and humbleness throughout the event.  As a beginner in this fleet I can’t wait to see how my teammates and I progress throughout the years.  I think this regatta was an amazing example of how skilled everyone is, and how absolutely passionate they are about the sport.  Unfortunately we did see a few injuries on the first day when the wind was blowing.  It is upsetting to see a teammate break a mast, get injured in a capsize, or get trapped beneath a sail (they all swam out safely!), but at the end of the day those kids remained positive and continued to support their teammates on the coach boat, despite not being able to continue.
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Overall the Youth Championship Regatta was a lot of fun and had some really strong racing.  For most of us, this regatta was a confidence builder and an opportunity to race against the top U.S. boats. Another thanks to The Carolina Yacht Club for hosting such a successful event. Good luck to those of you who are going to Worlds, sail fast!
Charlie and Nick make a splash in HKG

U.S. Youth Match Race Championship Regatta Report

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The U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship for the Rose Cup was held last weekend by Oakcliff Sailing and Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, in addition with the support of US Sailing and the event sponsors, Gill North America, Hobie Polarized Sunglasses, NBSSA and North U. The Competitors must have reached their 16th birthday, but not their 21st birthday during the calendar year in which the event is held. The U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship (“USYMRC”) for the Rose Cup is an invitational event based on Requests for Invitation from qualified skippers. The event is classified as a World Sailing Grade 3 event with teams consisting of crews of four with at least one male and one female and a maximum crew weight of 680 lbs. 10 teams competed in Sonars for this year’s event.

History: The Rose Cup started as an invitational youth match racing event in 2010. It was founded by members of Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California, and the Newport-Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association (NBSSA). Its mission is to assist in the promotion of youth match racing in the United States and improve the quality of US competitors in national and international competition. Thanks primarily to the efforts of US Sailing Match Racing Committee Vice-Chair and five-time US Match Racing Champion, Dave Perry, US Sailing made the event one of its three match racing championships, and it officially became the U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship in 2015.

At each USYMRC, the presentation of the Nick Scandone Sportsmanship Award is always a highlight. This trophy was named for the late US Paralympic Gold Medalist Nick Scandone who, in addition to winning the Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, was beating both able bodied and physically challenged competitors throughout the last year of his life as he fought ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” Nick’s persistence against seemingly insurmountable odds provides inspiration to winners of the Scandone Sportsmanship Trophy and to all sailors. The Rose Cup was named by NBSSA for America’s Cup, Congressional Cup and offshore tactician Andy Rose, for his contributions to youth match racing for the Governor’s and Rose Cups.

Day 1: The first day of the National Youth Match Racing Championship for the Rose Cup was a sunny day with 7 knots of breeze from the Northwest in the forecast, but the only thing sailors had when they got onto the water was calm glass. The ten teams of four, most of whom hail from Southern California. All eyes were on these young, talented sailors to see what they can do, especially after two days of coaching from match racing legend Dave Perry.

Day one of racing started hot and windless. We saw signs of a Southerly and loaded the sailors into Seawanhaka’s Sonars to be towed out to the race course. While they waited for the wind, the kids kept cool and had some fun with an unofficial flip and dive contest. When the breeze filled in around 1pm, it was blowing 4-6 knots from the Northwest.

“Trust your eyes!” was the advice that coach Dave Perry shouted to the competitors as they prepared for the first flight of the day. With a fluky four knots of breeze, the teams that could spot the pressure came out on top.

“I would identify the puffs and the favored side, relay that back to the rest of the crew, and then we would all talk about it,” said Cameron Feves’ trimmer, Tanner Chapko. Feves and his team from Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club went undefeated all day. Another winning strategy was leading back to the line in the prestart. “A lot of competitors have been starting late but it’s too costly in this light wind,” said Feves’ bowman Lukas Kraak. “Most of our races were won at the start.”

Jack Parkin and his team from Riverside Yacht Club, who also went undefeated, employed the same strategy. In their Flight 5 match against Porter Killian they hit the line in the lead with speed and that’s where the race was won.

Day 2: Day two of the US Youth Match Racing Championship began the same as the first day: an AP flag drooping under the hot summer sun. Despite the heat and lack of wind, there was certainly no lack of youthful exuberance amongst the sailors or coach Dave Perry.

“We’ve had a lot of long hours waiting for the wind but we kept each other laughing and had a lot of really good conversations,” said Jack Parkin’s pit person, Ashton Borcherding.

The breeze filled in at about 4pm with a shifty 4 knots gusting 6 from the South. In Flight 7 of the first Round Robin, Parkin and his team from Riverside Yacht Club (CT) duked it out with Cameron Feves and his team from Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club (CA). The two undefeated teams went toe to toe in a classic East Coast versus West Coast showdown. After an intense dog fight in the playground they started neck and neck on the line but it was Jack Parkin who took the win.

“Our winning strategy has been something Dave Perry says to us often: you can’t really win races, you lose them,” said Parkin. “Everybody is going to make mistakes so it’s about minimizing how big they are and how often they happen.”

Defending champion David Wood and his team from Balboa Yacht Club finally ended Jack Parkin’s winning streak in Flight 9.

“We saw some big pressure coming down from the left and we knew there was less current too,” said Wood’s bowman Daniel Pegg. “We thought we could dig into that lefty and ride the lift up to the weather mark so we went for it and it worked out.”

“I couldn’t have been more proud of the way the 40 competitors dealt with the long hot delays,” said regatta coach Dave Perry; “they kept their spirits up, and as a result the racing was competitive with many passes on the course, which is the sign of expert match racing.”

Day 3: The lack of wind resulted in no sailing on the final day. Oakcliff Sailing organizer Bill Simon said, “We were happy to get the whole round robbin in given the weekend conditions.”

Winning team was Jack Parkin, Ashton Borcherding, Bram Backman and Wiley Rogers.

Results

  1. Jack Parkin
  2. Cameron Feves
  3. Ansgar Jordan
  4. Cole Harris
  5. Conrad Vandlik
  6. Porter Killian
  7. David Wood
  8. Jack Reiter
  9. Robert Turigliatto
  10. Christophe Chaumont

Link to Resultshttps://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_match_race_results.php?regatta_id=16679

 

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