Press Release
March 16, 2017– Sail1Design is pleased to announce that Gill, NA has joined our Airwaves team as a sponsor. Sail1Design is a grassroots organization, by sailors for sailors, dedicated to the youth, high school, college, and one-design sailing communities. What’s more, Gill has committed to be our new exclusive sponsor for the very popular S1D Coach of the Year Award. We are excited to begin this partnership!!
Gill NA, with headquarters near Atlanta, GA is the exclusive importer and distributor of Gill-brand foul weather gear in North America including Caribbean, US and Canada. Gill is a worldwide apparel and accessories brand serving the marine industry with over three decades of experience . Gill specializes in high tech, breathable waterproof clothing. The company develops and markets a variety of performance-oriented, award-winning apparel and accessories for virtually every type of boating activity with product lines that include foul weather gear; interactive layering systems; footwear; gloves; bags; junior gear; scholastic gear and team wear.
Says Gill North American Manager David Pritchard, “Gill is pleased to now be part of the Sail1Design Team. As a business we have successfully utilized the Sail 1 Design brokerage and staffing services and now look forward to leveraging the Sail1design platform to promote the Gill brand . Our heritage is sailing and in particular one-design ….so lots of synergy with the Sail One Design platform. Gill is particulary pleased to now be providing the top coach of the year award; this is a very prestigious award presented to the most talented sail training coach by their peers.
Our goal at Gill is to help keep our customers , dry , comfortable and high performing when on the water . Rain or shine . We simply exist to help our customers enjoy their time on the water to the fullest . Racing , Cruising , or power boating. Please visit our site to learn all about our products www.gillna.com or visit your local Gill dealer. Also please register for our monthly free gear giveaway at:
https://www.facebook.com/gillgear/app/143103275748075/?ref=page_internal
Please consider Gill gear for your sailing program. Our team of suppliers, APS, KO Sailing, West Coast Sailing, and Sturgis Boat Works all sell this awesome brand!
Blog
ICSA News: Boston College Shows Up to Win the St. Mary’s Team Race.
March 12, 2017–Winter reigns on as the College Sailing spring season continues in MAISA and SAISA. The St. Mary’s Team Race at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, The Navy Spring Women’s at The US Naval Academy and the John Jackson Memorial Team Race at Georgetown University were all sailed in frigid condition while the Charleston Coed Regatta was sailed in Charleston.
The St. Mary’s Team Race featured many of the projected top team race teams, including the Boston College Eagles who made their team racing debut in victory. Boasting a 10-2 record, a presumptive National Final Four team, The Eagles showed up to the scene in a big way. All indications show that this team is ready to challenge Yale University for the top spot in NEISA. Boston College started Erika Reineke (‘17), Harry Koeppel (‘17) and Charles “Scotty” Sinks (‘18) at the helm with Hannah Lynn (‘17), Tara Ferraris (‘19), Lily McGrath (‘18), Peter Lynn (‘19), Allison Ferraris (‘17) and Fiona Walsh (‘17) crewing by committee.
Finishing in a close second at the aforementioned event was the Navy Midshipmen. A final four team at the Bob Bavier Team Race the following week, Navy has started their season off strong. In a conference that appears wide open, Navy looks to be a legitimate contender for the MAISA Team Race crown. Dillon Paiva, Assistant coach at the Naval Academy, had this to say of the regatta.
“St. Mary’s team race was brutally cold but an excellent regatta as always. Uncooperative wind forced the race committee to abandon the second round robin half way through and go straight to a final four. Most teams got in fifteen or so races on the weekend even if the scores didn’t show it. It was good to get a look at some of the NEISA schools and I’m sure they liked the chance to finally get on the water. Happy with a second place finish, but still lots to clean up during our spring break trip in charleston this week.”
Hobart and William Smith Colleges squeezed into third with 7.5 wins, just ahead of fourth place George Washington Colonials who had 7 wins.
Around the corner at the Naval Academy, the Navy Spring Women’s Interconference was sailed. The Stanford Cardinals finished first overall at the event with 177 points after twelve races sailed in each division, despite two OCSs littering the scorecard. The Coast Guard Academy Bears finished second overall with 182 points while the Yale University Bulldogs finished 3rd overall with 183 points.
Greer Wattson (‘17) of St. Mary’s College, sailing with Grace Papp (‘19) and Elizabeth Dinnison (‘17), finished 1st in A-Division with 71 points, while Sophomore, Martina Sly and Freshman, Madeline Bubb from Stanford finished first in B-Division with 66 points.
Photo by Brian Swingly
The young ladies in B-Division for the Cardinal sailed extremely strong in heavy breeze throughout the event, finishing with five races in the top three. Their low point score helped stave off a charging Coast Guard Bear team that surged once the breeze dropped on Sunday. The impressive second place finish, behind a 22-point-Sunday performance by Dana Rohde, shows the depth of the Coast Guard Women’s team as the defending National Champions. Coast Guard’s head coach, Brian Swingly said, when asked about the Bear’s performance, “with so many competitors sailing well across a range of conditions, the regatta came down to the final few races. Several teams were in contention to take home the win. We put on a late charge and were happy to get back to second after being in ninth to start the day. Stanford sailed a great series and are showing their strength early in the season.”
In SAISA, the Charleston Spring Coed Regatta was sailed at The College of Charleston. The Harvard University Crimson won in tight fashion over Georgetown. Harvard finished with 175 total points, while Georgetown tallied 179. The Boston University Terriers rounded off the top three overall with 205 points. Will Logue, a freshman from Georgetown won A-Division with Jack Crystler (‘20) and Albert Kraus (‘17), totalling 72 points throughout 17 races. The Hoya A-Division only recorded one race outside the top-8. The future at Georgetown looks very bright today.
Harvard’s Nicholas Karnovsky (‘19) with Julia Lord (‘17), Kevin Coakley (‘18) and Jessica Williams (‘20) finished tied for first in B-Division with Charleston’s Gerald Williams (‘19), Payton Alexander (‘19) and Kelly-Ann Arrindell (‘20). The two teams finished with 95 points through 17 races.
Georgetown University won the John Jackson Memorial Team Race with a 9-1 record. The US Coast Guard Academy Bears finished second and The Connecticut College Camels third with 7-3 and 6-4 records respectively.
“John Jackson was one of the best kids we have ever had on our team. He was a walk on and he got very good at sailing. He did it to have fun with his friends and while he was part of some great championship teams John had fun whether we won or lost. When we lost him in a tragic accident it was a big blow to all of his. He was larger than life and we are proud to have a regatta named after him so we can keep him in our thoughts. The goal of the JTJ team race is to go out and sail and have fun and win or lose enjoy the time spent competing with your team.” – Georgetown University Head Coach, Mike Callahan.
Written by Chris Klevan [email protected]
Club Profile: American Yacht Club
News Flash: American Yacht Club is hiring a full-time Assistant Sailing Director!Much has changed in the 120 years since “robber baron”, Jay Gould and a group of his friends founded the American Yacht Club in New York City. By 1887, clearly in need of a shore station, the club purchased “12 acres and some rocks known as Scotch Caps” from the Wainwright family at the tip of Milton Point in Rye, NY. The price was $6000 for what has become one of the outstanding locations on Long Island Sound.
In the beginning, all the boats enrolled in the club were steam yachts. However in 1889, the first American Yacht Club sailing race was held. In a “blow”, 6 yachts completed a 20 mile course and established a tradition for what was to become one of the preeminent sailing clubs in the world. In the club’s fleet have been America’s Cup Defenders, Trans-Atlantic and Bermuda Race winners. Its sailors have been Long Island Sound, North American and World Champions in a number of classes. They have captured Olympic medals – most recently in 1996 when Courtenay Becker Dey took a bronze in the Europe class. Four AYC skippers have won the US Women’s Sailing Championship.
Through the years, the American Yacht Club Annual Invitational Cruise has been a test of sailing, boats and seamanship, as well as a family competition and plain old fun afloat.
One of the defining moments in American Yacht Club’s history, however, didn’t take place on the water. On July 27, 1951 an electrical fire burned AYC’s landmark clubhouse to the ground. Galvanized by the event and the leadership of then Commodore William Crow, the membership rallied to support the construction – in little more than a year – of the comfortable building that now commands the view of what has been called “that magical point”.
Members of American Yacht Club sail on a wide variety of dinghies and keelboats, some of which are strict one design classes and others are rated differently under one or more of the common handicap systems. Many yacht owners choose to race competitively around drop-mark courses or over longer distances, while others prefer to cruise in our local waters and to destinations beyond. Our Club is proud of the considerable diversity in the types of sailboats owned by members that reflects the numerous ways in which sailing enthusiasts can enjoy being on the water.
Learn more about American Yacht Club, read our latest News!
News Flash: American Yacht Club is hiring a full-time Assistant Sailing Director!
Through the years, the American Yacht Club Annual Invitational Cruise has been a test of sailing, boats and seamanship, as well as a family competition and plain old fun afloat.
One of the defining moments in American Yacht Club’s history, however, didn’t take place on the water. On July 27, 1951 an electrical fire burned AYC’s landmark clubhouse to the ground. Galvanized by the event and the leadership of then Commodore William Crow, the membership rallied to support the construction – in little more than a year – of the comfortable building that now commands the view of what has been called “that magical point”.
Members of American Yacht Club sail on a wide variety of dinghies and keelboats, some of which are strict one design classes and others are rated differently under one or more of the common handicap systems. Many yacht owners choose to race competitively around drop-mark courses or over longer distances, while others prefer to cruise in our local waters and to destinations beyond. Our Club is proud of the considerable diversity in the types of sailboats owned by members that reflects the numerous ways in which sailing enthusiasts can enjoy being on the water.
Learn more about American Yacht Club, read our latest News!
News Flash: American Yacht Club is hiring a full-time Assistant Sailing Director!
ICSA Team Race Rankings, #1, Spring 2017
Brought to you by Dynamic Dollies
It has begun! Fast paced play changes, precise boat handling, a little bit of yelling, and lots of team work; finally, the team race season is here. There have been four team race regattas since our preview two weeks ago, the Mendelblatt at USF, McIntyre at Stanford, GW Team Race at you guessed it, GW, and the most competitive event, the Bob Bavier at College of Charleston.
Hannah Baylis Photo
The Bob is a major event every year since it is the first major Interconference regatta. Teams love going to Charleston for this event because, well its Charleston, which means beautiful weather to allow for tons of racing. This year however, the Bob drew even more excitement since College of Charleston will be the host of this year’s Spring ICSA National Championships. Teams competing at the Bob last weekend got to sail in the location where nationals will be hosted, with the Team Race Nationals PRO Ryan Davidson, and some of the same umpires too.
This week our coach panel ranked their top 15 teams in the country, and gave us some comments on the teams, their results and progress so far this season. Hope you enjoy!
| Rank | School | Total Points |
| 1 | Yale | 73 |
| 2 | Charleston | 69 |
| 3 | Georgetown | 65 |
| 4 | Boston College | 63 |
| 5 | Navy | 55 |
| 6 | Dartmouth | 49 |
| 7 | Hobart William Smith | 38 |
| 8 | George Washington | 38 |
| 9 | UC Santa Barbara | 35 |
| 10 | MIT | 32 |
| 11 | Stanford | 29 |
| 12 | Tufts | 16 |
| 13 | St. Mary’s | 16 |
| 14 | Roger Williams | 9 |
| 15 | Eckerd | 8 |
Coaches who participated in the poll: Ken Legler (Tufts), Bill Healy (Yale), Clinton Hayes (Stanford), Johnny Norfleet (Fordham), Dillon Paiva (Navy)
Augustine Haile photo
| Rank | School | Ken | Bill | Clinton | Johnny | Dillon |
| 1 | Yale | First team race not until the Graham Hall but no reason not to rank the reigning champs #1. | No action yet and won’t have any until the Graham Hall TR in two weeks. Time will tell… | Clear #1 going into the season. Too far ahead in the preseason rankings to drop them for not competing last weekend. | Untested but still the best team out there until proven otherwise | Even though their first regatta isn’t until the graham hall, still have a tough time finding a reason not to rank #1. |
| 2 | Charleston | Cougars off to a fast start as usual winning at home with two seniors and four juniors. | Cougars take the first Big Team Race regatta on their home waters and earn my #1 spot. | Impressive and, for me, unexpected win at the Bavier. Probably should have expected a good performance on their home turf. | A big win at the Bob at home. The home field advantage for this team will be a factor at nationals | As I said in my preview, deadly in home waters. Excited to see them play at St. Mary’s this weekend. Congrats on win at the Bob. |
| 3 | Georgetown | Hoyas only a point behind Charleston at the Bob but with none of their superstar freshmen yet. | A good battle at the Bavier with Charleston moves the Hoyas up the rankings. | Close 2nd to Charleston last weekend. I’d expect them to improve a lot this season with a very strong 2nd team to train against. | Solid finish at the Bob with their team of upperclassmen. They almost certainly have the best 2nd team in the nation. Expect them to play with a lot of combos at the John Jackson this weekend. | I put them above charleston, and move into the spot as most likely to knock Yale off the throne. One win behind CofC at the Bob, and their second team had a very strong showing at the GW Team Race to make for some killer home practices. |
| 4 | BC | Eagles first team race will be at St. Mary’s but they scrimmaged at Brown on Sunday. | Again no early Tr action from the Eagles. They’ll be in action at arguably the toughest TR of the year at St. Mary’s. | Tough choice to place the Eagles since they haven’t sail yet. Not as stacked as Yale to rank them 2nd but they stay in my top 4 for sure. | Still untested until this weekend but looking good with a team of three experienced skippers | First regatta of the season for the Eagles this weekend. I’m looking forward to see their first test. |
| 5 | Navy | 3rd at the Bob with a couple new players Peter Hogan/Sarah Barkley where they struggled against the Florida teams but beat Dartmouth twice. | Couldn’t hang with Charleston at the Bavier TR last weekend but did sail pretty evenly with Georgetown. | Jumping Dartmouth in the 1st real rankings here. They’re looking good early on. | 3rd at the Bob keeps them in the top 5 | Only team in the final four at the Bob to use more than three drivers. Still building depth and discipline. |
| 6 | Dartmouth | The Green were rusty early, then won a bunch to make the final four but finished 0-3 in the finals. Their winning streak was when there was more wind. | Bavier was a good warm up for Dartmouth. Round one was “shake the rust off” round, round two was much better and the final 4 not what they were looking for. | Good result coming off zero practice. This confirms they’ll be a player this year. | Barely made the final four at the Bob Bavier but did so with freshman Jack McGraw. Expect them to be stronger later either with Pat Floyd returning or their younger players learning the game. | Fourth at the Bob is good, but no regattas this coming weekend when most schools are at one regatta at least. Home practice to stay sharp? |
| 7 | HWS | Legit freshmen Hector Guzman teamed with veterans to win the George Washington TR. | Good win for this group at the GW Team Race | Strong win at the GW Team Race. Need to see how they’ll sail against the beat though… | Got the win at the GW Team Race and look strong with Freshman skipper Hector Guzman, but they did lose two races to Fordham | Strong win at a MAISA event, I think their skills will be up to the challenge at the St. Mary’s Team Race this weekend. |
| 8 | GW | 5th at the Bob; I told you they would be good. | 5th is a good results to start their season | A strong early showing at the Bob for the Colonials have them looking like a strong nationals contender in MAISA | Lost the tiebreaker to make it into the final four at the bob, but sailed quite well up until that point. Also finished fourth at their home MAISA event. | |
| 9 | UCSB | Beating Stanford at Stanford to win the McIntyre was huge for the Gauchos. | Still ranked pretty high from their win at the MacIntyre TR two weeks ago at Stanford, beating Stanford | 2 awesome weekends in a row beating Stanford then placing 6th in Charleston. They make my top 10! | A veteran team of skippers suddenly looking good after a win at the McIntyre | Impressive win over Stanford at the McIntyre, and shook it up at the Bob for sure. Glad to see more than one strong player from the west coast. |
| 10 | MIT | The Engineers open at home and at neighboring Harvard in two events this weekend. | This group of sailors will be the team to watch to pick off some of these top team. | Another New England team who hasn’t started their season yet. They look good on paper. | Another untested team still in the rankings for now based on their fleet racing prowess | Still haven’t seen them play yet but plenty of practice partners on the Charles, and some very fast sailors. |
| 11 | Stanford | Lost a tie-break to Santa Barbara by a wide margin and will be challenged at St. Mary’s next. | Still untested outside the Pacific Coast. Next action at the St Mary’s TR. This regatta will tell a lot. | With a loss to Santa Barbara at the McIntyre 2 weekends ago they slip a little in my rankings | Losing races to UCSB early may not look good but it means they will have more in conference competition | Lost to UCSB on tiebreaker at their home event, but will make it to the east coast more often I bet. Not long before they get back on top of their game. |
| 12 | Tufts | The Jumbos are just getting their feet wet early with their first big test at the Graham Hall. | Coach ken will get the Jumbos on track. No action yet. Not Until the Graham Hall in two weeks | Good results in fleet racing this fall. Interested to see how things shake out in team racing | Rounding out my top 10 based on fleet race results and a NEISA Championship on Mystic Lake | |
| 13 | St. Mary’s | The Seahawks have struggled early but they get to host this weekend. | Three Senior skippers need to pick it up to get this team through to the conference qualifier | Bound in improve as the season goes on. They always do… | Also still figuring out their top three boats. A decent result at the Bob considering what they lost to graduation. Give them time. | Respectable finish at the Bob, but surprised to see their second team last at the GW Team Race. Uncharacteristic for St. Mary’s, but plenty of time to bring it around. |
| 14 | Roger | The Hawks get to race at the St. Mary’s TR and are psyched for it. | No action yet. Not until in district action in two weeks. Last weeks event was blown and frozen out. | Still haven’t seen them yet but they show promise and are always well coached | First regatta will be this weekend at St. Mary’s. With a multi world champion team racer as coach, expect disciplined execution. | |
| 15 | Eckerd | 8th at the Bavier shows this team has potential | Beat USF in Charleston to take my last spot | The Tritons are looking good with some wins over strong teams at the Bob. Looking like it will be a fight for the 2nd SAISA spot for nationals | Took some big wins early at the Bob to turn heads, but faded towards the end. With plenty of warm weather and good coaching, don’t be surprised to see this team moving up. |
Larry Kennedy photo
Beat the Cold (and the competition): Wear Your Base-layers!
By Airwaves Writer Paige Hoffman
It’s safe to say that the most difficult aspect of spring sailing in the Northeast is facing the cold. Knowing how to keep yourself warm on frigid days makes all the difference in staying up to speed during practice and competition. Getting uncomfortably cold may seem like an inevitable part of spring sailing, but it certainly doesn’t have to be.
The cold weather has significant effects on your body, which in turn has a big effect on your performance on the water. Cold and stiff muscles are especially harmful when paired with the explosive kind of body kinetics involved in dinghy sailing. All the work you have put in at the gym in the winter offseason is useless if you’re wasting energy shivering and can’t even feel your fingers.
The most important approach to staying warm is having the right clothing. In 2017, sailors have more choices than ever for cold weather gear. Unfortunately, sailing is an expensive sport, and you may be tempted to try to save money on gear. However, if there’s one thing that you should splurge on, it’s having the right kind of equipment to sail efficiently. You wouldn’t go skiing wearing a tshirt and jeans under your pants and jacket, so why sail in the same kind of clothing? Base layers are the most important kind of clothing to invest in. As far as drysuits go, as long as your seals work properly it doesn’t matter what brand of drysuit you wear. Some may be more comfortable than others, but drysuits are designed to keep you dry, not warm. It’s what’s on the inside that counts, literally.When I first started high school sailing my freshman year, I thought I would never be 
able to learn how to stay warm and sail efficiently like the upperclassman could. As a newcomer to spring sailing, I had no idea how to keep myself warm, and it took a lot of trial and error to figure out what worked best for me. I ended up getting frequent colds that kept me out of class and off the water. Over the years I’ve picked up a few techniques that help me stay warm and comfortable while sailing.
I have found my favorite line of base layers to be Patagonia. Although it’s an expensive brand, you really do get what you pay for. At every regatta in March and April, I still wear the Patagonia R1 Pullover I got when I was a freshman sailor. I’ve worn it sailing, skiing and horseback riding, and it’s held up it’s held to the test of time. It’s soft and comfortable on the inside and does wonders keeping me warm.
PATAGONIA MEN’S or WOMEN’S R1® PULLOVER
Patagonia also has the benefit of being very in-style right now, so when you’re not sailing you can wear just about any of your base layers wherever and however you want to. They also have a number of discounts available for high school and college sports teams. Patagonia base layer pants which run between $30 and $60, are an invaluable investment.
Patagonia Women’s Capilene Lightweight Bottoms (my personal favorite for under a drysuit or spray pants.)
Other popular brands, Helly Hansen and Musto, have the same advantage of being focused on multiple sports. While they do make plenty of sailing gear, I have found that the skiing base layers from these brands work best. They’re warm and form-fitting without being restrictive. It’s hard enough to stay flexible in a drysuit alone, so having gear that fits properly is an absolute must.
Musto Active Base Layer Zip-Neck Top, one of my favorite mid-weight base layers.
I prefer wearing one or two thick layers as opposed to many thin ones. Getting dressed for sailing is definitely a quality over quantity situation. It’s much easier to stay mobile on the boat when your joints are not hindered by excessive layers of clothing.
With high performance base layers and a good pair of wool socks you will be much happier and warmer than anybody else on the water. While you may have to spend a bit more money initially, investing in quality clothing will save you money and provide invaluable comfort on the water.
About Paige Hoffman, Northeast/High School Sailing Airwaves Reporter
Paige started sailing at age ten at Duxbury Bay Maritime School. By age twelve, she was competing in Optis and transitioned to 420 sailing when she was fourteen, becoming a member of the Duxbury High School sailing team as a freshman in high school and racing through club programs at Duxbury Bay Maritime school in the fall and summer seasons. In the summer, she works as a Junior Sailing Instructor at Duxbury Bay Maritime School, teaching younger sailors the fundamentals of sailing. In 2016, she helped her team win the Mass Bay League Team Race Championship and was named co-captain of her team for the 2017 spring season.
Club Profile: US Sailing Center Martin County
News Flash: USSCMC is Hiring a Full-time Sailing Director/Head HS Coach
The USSCMC Story
In 1992, a small group of community leaders envisioned the possibilities and opportunities that a community sailing center could provide to children and residents of Martin County. Later that year, US SAILING, the National Governing Body of sailing in the United States, authorized them to develop a “small boat training facility” in Martin County.
The Center had modest beginnings in a trailer located on the Jensen Beach Causeway. With hard-working volunteers and donated sailboats, the Center began to grow. In 1998, it was recognized as the nations, “most creative and innovative community sailing program.” In April 2002, the Center moved into a new home at the north end of Indian Riverside Park. This facility is the culmination of ten years of hard work by numerous volunteers and supporters of sailing. It was made possible with the cooperative assistance of the Martin County Board of Commissioners and the Parks and Recreation Department
The US SAILING Center of Martin County is not a yacht club, we are a 501(c)3 community sailing center. All operating and capital funds are generated by direct user fees and fund- raising events. The USSCMC is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors who are active throughout the Treasure Coast Community.
USSCMC Mission Statement
“The US Sailing Center of Martin County is committed to broadening the base of the sport of sailing through dedicated, affordable, community sailing programs for youth and adults, and providing support for the development of future champions and Olympic racers.”
News Flash: USSCMC is Hiring a Full-time Sailing Director/Head HS Coach
