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Ally Donahue and Maddie Widmeier Win Ida Lewis Trophy – July Sail1Designers of the Month
By Airwaves Editor Martha Pitt
Last month, seventy-six junior young women from around the country traveled to Lake Minnetonka to compete in the annual regatta for the Ida Lewis Trophy, US Sailing’s Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship event. The six-day event featured short seminars for the girls, educational and social events each evening, two days of clinic learning from US Sailing’s coaches, and then three days of racing. Hosted by the Lake Minnetonka Sailing School and the Minnetonka Yacht Club, the event gave many girls the unique opportunity to travel inland to sail, rather than sticking to the coasts as most sailboat racers tend to do! The girls were exposed to the challenges of lake sailing – unpredictable shifts and a wide, quickly-changing range of velocities, and the threats of strong storms popping up unexpectedly with hot temperatures and an unstable atmosphere.
Photo taken by Stacie Carlson
After two days of great breeze for the clinic, the forecast for the race days looked marginal to begin and got more and more bleak throughout the week. Fortunately, the Race Committee was on their game and was able to get off six great races over the first two days before glassy water plagued the final day of the event. Not having racing on the final day made the final results somewhat anticlimactic, with the 2nd place boat of Carolyn Smith and Bayley Davidson from southern California just one point out of first, but finishing the regatta victorious were the Brant Beach Yacht Club team of Allyson Donahue and Maddie Widmeier, winning the Ida Lewis Trophy and named as 2012 US Sailing Junior Women’s Doublehanded Champions.
I had the pleasure of coaching the regatta this year, and got a chance to catch up with the girls and talk to them about their experiences, their success, and what is on the horizon for the speedy duo. Ally, a seventeen year old from Brigantine, NJ has been sailing since she was six years old, starting out in optis and has since upgraded to the 420 which she sails almost exclusively. She and Maddie, a sixteen year old from Doylestown, PA have been sailing together for the past four years, and have clearly found their stride this summer. This was their third Ida Lewis regatta – after getting second last summer, they were ready to come out this year and take it all.
What do you think were the greatest factors that led to your success at this event?
AD: We attended the Brooke E. Gonzales clinic at Sail Newport and we practiced in Brigantine for a couple of days because the conditions (light and shifty in a small area) were similar to those of a lake.
What did you think of the light and shifty lake conditions?
AD: The conditions, although not ideal, were very manageable. The first and last days were the worst and the second clinic day was the best.
MW: I personally would have liked to have seen more wind on the race days but I really couldn’t complain about our result. Lake Minnetonka was absolutely gorgeous and I loved the fresh water versus the normal salty bay water we are used to.
There were definitely some varied and challenging conditions throughout the racing. How were you able to keep your patience and stay towards the top of the fleet in the range of conditions?
AD: We both prepared ourselves for the fluky conditions that come with lake sailing. We knew that we could not allow ourselves to get frustrated if something didn’t go our way. We would have to stay patient and continue to keep our heads out of the boat and try to be the first to all of the puffs that were easily seen coming down the race course.
MW: At the beginning of the event we talked about the key to being successful is keeping our heads out of the boat and connecting the puffs rather than chasing them. I think this also contributed to our success because this regatta more than others we talked about a lot of strategy during the races about what puffs and shifts were ahead.
What do you think were the greatest factors that led to your success at the regatta?
AD: By not allowing ourselves to dwell on the bad, but by looking at the good allowed us to continue to be successful throughout the regatta. We both know that we sail our best when we are focused and having fun so we made sure that we never allowed ourselves to get “checked out” after a race.
What’s up for you guys next?
MW: This summer we plan on competing in the club 420 North Americans, CJ Buckley Team Race Championship, the Buzzards Bay Regatta, and Youth Champs out in the Gorge. Currently we are trying to figure out our plans for next year because Ally is a year ahead of me in school. We want to sail the International
420 in the ISAF Qualifier and will try to sail in the ISAF Youth World Championship in the Middle East.
| Pos,Bow/Sail, Skipper, Results, Total Points 1. 6 / 5215, Allyson Donahue/Maddie Widmeier, , 4-2-1-1-[19]-7- ; 15 2. 33 / 3980, Carolyn Smith/Bayley Davidson, , 2-1-7-4-2-[23]- ; 16 3. 37 / 5884, Holly Tullo/Cally Tullo, 3-[21]-2-10-7-6- ; 28 4. 20 / 6437, Julia Lambert/Haley McMahon, 6-[15]-6-9-4-4- ; 29 5. 19 / 3196, KB Knapp/Rebecca Anderson, 1-7-3-15-[23]-19- ; 45 6. 27 / 6688, Mimi Paz/Sydney Avitia-Jacques, 18-6-19-[24]-1-3- ; 47T 7. 31 / 5389, Lea Russell/Victoria Lewis, 5-3-9-12-18-[21]- ; 47T 8. 7 / 6643, Rose Edwards/Morgan Gaudet, 11-8-4-14-[27/TLE]-16- ; 53 9. 36 / 5974, Elizabeth Tell/Katherine Naylor, , 12-[23]-17-5-5-15- ; 54 10. 17 / 6603, Mary Claire Kiernan/Kelly Monahan, 19-5-5-[23]-12-18- ; 59 11. 34 / cal1, Simone Staff/Nikki Obel, , 22-18-[25]-2-10-9- ; 61 12. 4 / 30, Clare Dahl/Katie Calder, , [21]-17-14-18-8-10- ; 67T 13. 12 / 6642, Jennifer Hays/Elizabeth Hays, , 9-10-15-[34]-16-17- ; 67T 14. 26 / 8686, Cassie Obel/annika garrett, 8-20-18-21-[27/TLE]-2- ; 69 15. 21 / 6508, Isabella Loosbrock/Madeleine Loosbrock, , 23-14-22-11-3-[26]- ; 73T 16. 16 / 5494, india johnstone/MEAGHAN MACRAE, , 15-[29]-16-17-11-14- ; 73T 17. 9 / 6767, Addy Ferguson/Sarah Hogg, [31]-13-24-13-24-1- ; 75 18. 15 / 5393, Alexandria Ivory/Chloe Dapp, 24-9-11-[27]-13-20- ; 77 19. 28 / 6383, Kennedy Placek/Greer Wattson, 33-4-13-6-22-[38]- ; 78 20. 13 / 7632, Paris Henken/Kaitlin Driscoll, 13-12-21-[25]-25-8- ; 79 21. 30 / , Dana Rohde/Haley Fox, 25-11-10-22-[27/TLE]-13- ; 81 22. 25 / 6334, Sophia Noreen/Kaitlyn Noreen, 7-22-20-[29]-9-24- ; 82 23. 35 / CAL-2, Phoebe Staff/Jackie Dair, 14-28-28-[32]-14-5- ; 89 24. 29 / 5977, Hannah Polster/Ali MacDonald, 10-[33]-32-20-17-12- ; 91 25. 10 / 6639, Samantha Foulston/Elizabeth Foulston, 29-30-23-[37]-6-11- ; 99 26. 38 / 9299, Grace Yakutis/Tanner Chapko, [32]-16-12-16-27/TLE-29- ; 100 27. 1 / 6204, Grace Adam/Carder Stout, Sail Newport, 17-[38]-27-8-20-34- ; 106 28. 18 / 111, Kate Klement/Teresa Westin, 16-34-[37]-3-27/TLE-27- ; 107 29. 23 / 5693, Aitana Mendiguren/Lorea Mendiguren, 20-[36]-29-28-21-22- ; 120 30. 22 / 904, Rebecca McElvain/Nicole Simon, 34-[35]-26-7-27/TLE-32- ; 126 31. 14 / 6700, Claire Huebner/Kayla Schulte, 30-25-34-[38]-15-25- ; 129T 32. 8 / 6253, Annika Ekholm/Caitlin McGoldrick, 28-27-[31]-19-27/TLE-28- ; 129T 33. 5 / 1892, Boo Devanny/Amanda Wagner, 27-19-[33]-30-27/TLE-31- ; 134 34. 32 / , Amelia Shankwitz/Susie Voltz, [39/DSQ]-32-8-33-27/TLE-36- ; 136 35. 24 / 5266, Elizabeth Mignon/Charlotte List, 26-24-30-31-27/TLE-[37]- ; 138 36. 11 / 6801, Olivia Godfrey/Maya Dornbrand-Lo, [35]-31-35-26-27/TLE-33- ; 152 37. 2 / 6222, Anna Bloomstine/Emily Grychowski, 36-26-[38]-36-27/TLE-35- ; 160 38. 3 / 2366, Kate Cox/Rosie Hust, [37]-37-36-35-27/TLE-30- ; 165 |
2012 C420 North American Championship Regatta Results
Pos,Bow/Sail, Skipper, Yacht Club, Results, Total Points |
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Notes
– Scoring System is ISAF Low Point 2009-2012
– Finishes in [brackets] denote throwouts
– Click on race number to view detailed race information.
Information is final.
A New Experience: Match Racing
By Airwaves writer Elizabeth Dudley
I would consider myself a “well-versed” sailor. I have logged countless hours on dinghies and increasing hours on keelboats, both racing and cruising, fleet racing and team racing. But a few weeks ago, I was the given the opportunity to experience my sport in a way that was completely new to me- a concept that one would not expect to encounter 15 years into a sport. And it is experiences like this that keep me entranced with the sport of sailing.
In the beginning of June, myself and five other fellow
Due to the range of experience, the yacht club held a clinic on Friday preceding the Saturday and Sunday event for anyone who wanted to participate. Drills were run on the water to help familiarize teams with the inner workings of a starting sequence as well as give people an opportunity to sail the Swedish Match Race 40’s.
That morning’s chalk talk was my first ever conversation about match racing. Like my friends who know nothing about sailing, I felt as though an entirely different language was being spoken. It was weird feeling so unintelligent about a sport I always felt I knew so much about.
But after only match racing for one weekend and in a light breeze that only allowed us to get in one round robin, I would definitely recommend it to any and all competitive sailors. Things happen fast in a match race. Courses are short, opponents are aggressive on the start line and tacks, gybes, sets and douses, become numerous and quick. Match racing almost makes fleet racing seem leisurely. But if you can master boat handling in that high stress environment, your overall sailing would improve ten-fold.
I had never even been walked through a match race, so sitting down that morning of the clinic, I had no idea what to expect, and still do not have a firm grasp on things. But I thought some of you might appreciate a brief overview, albeit from someone who still has a lot of learning to do.
In match racing, there is a ten minute starting sequence as opposed to the five or three minute starts most of us are used to. One boat is assigned to the pin end of the line and displays a blue flag while the other boat, assigned to the boat end, flies a yellow flag. These colors are also used by the judges as the races progress to inform boats of any penalties they might incur.
The P Flag goes up at four minutes and at that time, each boat is meant to be above their respective ends of the line, entering the starting box. Boats round down below the line and then meet in the middle, round up and hope to gain control of their opponent. You have to have been on the pre-start side of the course (below the line) prior to the two minute mark and, as always, you can not be over the line at go.
Many match races are won or lost depending on how the start goes. The start is all about gaining control and putting yourself in the advantageous position.
The start is also one of the most hectic environments. You are making sure your job gets done white the boat is constantly making directional and velocity changes as well as needing to be aware of what is going on around you: where you are in the start sequence, where the other boat is and what they are doing.
Windward beats, in the simplest terms, are about either maintaining control over your opponent or breaking a hold the other boat may have on you. You then make a right hand turn around the top mark and offset, and the run becomes another opportunity to either maintain your position or pass from behind. Then it’s a right hand turn around the bottom mark, back up to the top, and then a downwind finish.
There really is very little downtime, if any, during a match race. Boats are typically in close proximity and there is not always a lot of time to think, you have to just do and react.
During one of our races, the breeze had been finicky all day and thus the courses short so we could get as much racing in as possible. The breeze had come up significantly though during our flight, making the already shortened courses eve
n shorter. We came around the offset after the top mark, set our kite and then it was almost immediately time to douse. Myself, in pit, and our bowman were momentarily confused, thinking something had gone horribly wrong. But it just speaks to the quickness in which things can happen in a match race and highlights the importance of communication.
Match racing is almost like an augmented version of sailing. Everything seems faster, louder, more stressful and more confined, all at the same time. It is definitely an experience I would recommend, and with match race centers popping up in places like
Happy Sailing!
Elizabeth Dudley grew up sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. She went to The Gunston School where she sailed and was captain of the Varsity Sailing Team. Elizabeth also attended and graduated from Boston College in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She sailed for the Boston College Varsity Sailing Team all four years on the women’s circuit as a crew and was twice named to the NEISA First Crew Team. Elizabeth is now living and working in the Maryland/DC area.
You can reach Elizabeth at : [email protected]
Newport AC World Series Crowd Proves that the U.S. is Ready for NASCAR Style Sailing
By Judith Krimski
A capacity crowd of 14 thousand sat in on the the final day of the America’s Cup Newport World Series. They weren’t disappointed because it played out in thrilling fashion. “It was really exciting,” commented David Gilman, a college student from Sharon MA, “The cats were so close to the shore and we saw some near crashes in the fleet race. We all wanted to see more racing.”
Russell Coutts, the “Old Bugger,” as James Spithill called him post racing, came away with the victory in the match racing finals. “You’re too young to know some of those tricks,” the 50-year-old Coutts shot back with a laugh. Earlier in the day Coutts showed his youthful Oracle counterpart how a seasoned match racer does it. With seconds to go before the start Coutts stalled Spithill with a well-timed luff. Pulling away at the start he took advantage of his lead, playing the shifts perfectly and keeping a good cover on his opponent. Coutts also fought hard in the fleet race but due to a penalty lost to Luna Rossa’s Chris Draper and company.
In the end Jimmy Spithill’s team came away with the overall championship trophy for the world series. Post racing Coutt’s had some encouraging words for Team Oracle’s progress to date. “Today just happened to work out for us. We got some nice breaks, but I wouldn’t give us too much credit for it,” Coutts said. “As a team, we’re really happy. Jimmy and his guys won the World Series and that’s what we came here to do… We’re always out there to win, we’re not there to just sail around the buoys – we want to win.”
The Newport event marks the end of the first season of AC World Series racing and follows previous events in Cascais (POR), Plymouth (UK), San Diego (USA), Naples and Venice (ITA). Regatta Director Iain Murray and his team have conducted 130 races over 30 days of racing in the six international venues. Over the time, only one day of races has been postponed due to weather.
American terry Hutchinson, Skipper for Artemis Racing, won the overall match racing trophy. “It’s a nice milestone for the team,” Hutchinson said, his mood tempered somewhat by a poor fleet race on Sunday. “But I think we have a lot of work to do. There are a lot of areas we can do better. But we have 14 months to do it and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Oracle has clearly shown they are the team to beat in this newfangled America’s Cup. “I’m pretty happy with the state of everything,” said tactician John Kostecki. “Most importantly the World Series seems a huge success. We’ve been through Europe and now here in the States. Each event has gotten better and better and San Francisco will be exciting too.”
ORACLE TEAM USA now heads home to its base at Pier 80 in San Francisco for the next four months with a full slate of activities on the schedule. The team’s first AC72 will begin sailing next month, and the first regatta of the 2012-13 America’s Cup World Series is scheduled Aug. 23-26. It’ll be the first time that America’s Cup racing will be featured on the Bay. “We’re looking forward to getting back home to San Francisco,” said Spithill. “We have some testing sessions coming up and the launch of the first AC72. That’s an exciting time. And when the ACWS kicks off again it’ll be another level of racing that we’ve seen. You’ll see more thrills and spills, and more teams. It’s exciting. I can’t wait to see the event back in our hometown.”
The 2012-2012 ACWS season visited six venues in four countries, and Coutts voiced satisfaction with the state of the game. But he knows that changes are needed to keep improving. “The America’s Cup World Series is good right now, but we have to take it to the next level and we’ll see some of that in San Francisco later this summer,” said Coutts.
2012 J/24 U.S. National Championship Results Results
J/24 (32 entries) Scoring: OneDesign
| Position | Bow | Sail | State | Name | Boat Name | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Points |
| 1 | 08 | 1574 | Mollicone, John | 11th Hour Racing | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | [33/DNS] | 13.0 | |
| 2 | 25 | USA 2160 | Toole, Pat | 3 Big Dogs | 1 | 5 | [11] | 5 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 34.0 | |
| 3 | 22 | 5208 | Snow, Chris | Bogus | 2 | [18] | 10 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 37.0 | |
| 4 | 71 | 5235 | Nelson, Tim | Fly Mo’J | 12 | 1 | [17] | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 8/ZFP | 41.0 | |
| 5 | 10 | 5177 | Johnson, Greg & Susan | Pinotage | 4 | [14] | 5 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 46.0 | |
| 6 | 69 | USA 2185 | Keesling, Frank | The Dumpster | 6 | 7 | 3 | [17] | 7 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 47.0 | |
| 7 | 31 | USA 1574 | Simkins, B rian |
Shoulda Woulda Coulda | 11 | 4 | 12 | [22] | 9 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 57.0 | |
| 8 | 17 | 174 | Pierini, Doug | Cold Smoke | 7 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 14 | [33/DSQ] | 63.0 | |
| 9 | 09 | 5253 | Irwin, David | Ibaj too | 9 | [33/DSQ] | 2 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 9/RDG | 64.0 | |
| 10 | 02 | USA 3764 | Dyer, Bryan | RumLine | 21 | 8 | [22/20%] | 13 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 66.0 | |
| 11 | 11 | USA 1966 | Kelble, Frank | Frankies | 14 | 3 | 21 | 19 | [23] | 9 | 4 | 11 | 81.0 | |
| 12 | 23 | 1663 | Stewart, Avery | Disheveled Rogue | 19 | 9 | [25/20%] | 14/20% | 16 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 90.0 | |
| 13 | 01 | 451 | Anstey, Paul | J-PEAS | 10 | 6 | 8 | [24] | 14 | 21 | 10 | 22/20% | 91.0 | |
| 14 | 26 | 2257 | Tunberg, Thomas | Bullet | 5 | 10 | [26] | 20 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 95.0 | |
| 15 | 27 | 2627 | Warnygora, Todd | Phantom | 13 | 20 | [24] | 16 | 10 | 7 | 22/20% | 15 | 103.0 | |
| 16 | 03 | 267 | Holmes-Moon, Kelly | Bad Moon | 15 | 13 | 20 | 23 | [28] | 8 | 17 | 10 | 106.0 | |
| 17 | 15 | 2014 | McCleskey, Blaine | Tiki | 20 | [25] | 4 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 9 | 12 | 108.0 | |
| 18 | 20 | USA 2118 | Dannecker, Michael | Entourage | 16 | 26 | 14 | 10 | [29] | 11 | 22 | 9/ZFP | 108.0 | |
| 19 | 13 | 1351 | Helmer, Dave | Blue Side Down | 17 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 24 | [27] | 19 | 19 | 109.0 | |
| 20 | 07 | 5258 | Dille, Alan | Septillion | 18 | 17 | 25 | 21 | [27] | 18 | 15 | 9 | 123.0 | |
| 21 | 06 | 1564 | Singstad, Charles | Code Blue | [23] | 19 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 125.0 | |
| 22 | 04 | 2382 | Bergman, Steve | Event Horizon | [31] | 11 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 29/20% | 26 | 22 | 130.0 | |
| 23 | 19 | USA 4458 | Roybal, Michael | Outer Limits | [28] | 22 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 25 | 24 | 18 | 131.0 | |
| 24 | 94 | 2961 | Delgado, Alex | Siren/ UNT Sailing Team | 27 | 16 | 22 | 11 | 19 | [33/DNF] | 33/DNS | 17 | 145.0 | |
| 25 | 12 | 361 | Burson, Bill | Blue Max | 26 | 28 | 7 | [30] | 26 | 16 | 21 | 23 | 147.0 | |
| 26 | 67 | 672 | Mott, Kevin | Heavy Fuel | 24 | 27/20% | 23 | 26 | 18 | 19 | 20 | [33/RAF] | 157.0 | |
| 27 | 21 | 674 | Sauer, Tim | Garage Sail | 22 | [29] | 29 | 25 | 20 | 28 | 25 | 20 | 169.0 | |
| 28 | 05 | USA- 555 | Bumgardner, Charles | USA-555 | [29] | 23 | 28 | 28 | 11 | 29 | 28 | 24 | 171.0 | |
| 29 | 24 | USA 2170 | Sweeney, Tom | Triple Pain | 8 | 27 | 31 | 27 | 30 | 26 | [33/DNS] | 26 | 175.0 | |
| 30 | 33 | 4165 | Martin-de-Nicolas, Jorge | daveBoat | 25 | 24 | 27 | [31] | 31 | 22 | 27 | 25 | 181.0 | |
| 31 | 18 | USA 327 | Pleune, Timothy | After You | 32 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 25 | 30 | 29 | [33/DNF] | 205.0 | |
| 32 | 14 | 2355 | Leidal, Jason | Leverage | 30 | 31 | [32] | 32 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 27 | 213.0 |
