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Stay tuned tomorrow for Martha’s first Airwaves article on College crewing!!

 

Martha Pitt, Airwaves Writer

photo by Robert Miglaccio

Martha Pitt grew up in Milton, Massachusetts.  Summering on Martha’s Vineyard, MA, she learned how to sail and race optis and 420s at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and fell in love with the sport.  She went to Milton Academy where she sailed on and was captain of the Varsity Sailing Team, winning the ISSA Team Race Nationals in 2002. Martha attended and graduated from Boston College in 2009 having studied History and American Studies.  With the exception of a semester studying in Rome, Italy, she sailed for four years on the Boston College Varsity Sailing Team, competing primarily on the women’s circuit as a skipper.  She received numerous NEISA conference honors, was a two-time Honorable Mention Women’s All-American, won the ICSA Women’s National Championship in 2008, and was co-captain her senior year. Martha now lives in Chicago, IL, and coaches at the Chicago Yacht Club, working with high school teams in the fall and spring, and the CYC 420 and Opti Race Teams in the summer and winter.  She continues to race as much as possible as an active sailor in the V15 and Etchells fleets. You can contact her at [email protected]This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The completion of the Eastern and Western Dinghy Semifinals sends eighteen schools to Nationals.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jennifer Vandemoer Mitchell, Toile à Voile, LLC, 763-234-8286

Long Beach, Calif. (May 1, 2011) – It was another warm sunny day for the sailors at Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier at the U.S. Sailing Center in Long Beach, CA with temperatures in the high 70s. The close racing continued and challenged sailors as the day began with the Southern California Santa Ana winds fighting the sea breeze.  This resulted in some shocking puffs and fleet inversions where one part of the fleet was sailing upwind while the other part was sailing downwind. The race committee had to abandon several races due to the conditions and eventually posted a postponement until the sea breeze filled in and the wind direction settled so racing could resume.

Twelve races total were completed on trapezoid courses in both divisions in the Eastern Semifinal and eleven total races for both divisions in the Western Semifinal. There continued to be some big buildups and pinwheels at the leeward marks on the course making good boat handling and good boat placement key to come out of the pileups on top and without any fouls. The breeze stayed steady in the afternoon and by the end of the day puffs built to be around 14 knots.

Glennon Stratton/GTSphotos.com

In the Western Semifinals the racing stayed suspenseful until the end of the regatta with game changing events. The University of Rhode Island came into the day thirty points out of 9^th place behind the University of Wisconsin, but in the second to last race everything started to change. URI finished the day winning the second to last race in A-Division (Matt Carmody, Maggie Craig, and Jamie Simmons) and placing 3^rd in the last race with their B-Division (Amy Hawkins, Caroline Hall, and Jeremy Henry) finishing the last two races in 3^rd place as well. Wisconsin could not keep up with URI’s clutch performance and placed in the double digits in the last races of the event. “The wind came up which helped us and we put our heavy-air crew in the last race in B-Division it made all the difference,” explains URI coach Clinton Hayes. URI will advance to the Dinghy Nationals for the first time since 1994.

At the top of the fleet in the Western Semifinal Boston College set out to stay close with Roger Williams University in the pre-start of race 8B and unfortunately they got into a windward leeward situation where RWU the windward boat fouled BC by drifting into them to leeward. This helped BC close the gap and take the lead in the event, “having a protest help us move ahead in the event is not a great feeling, but we sailed well and I am really proud of our team,” says Greg Wilkinson, head coach of BC. RW sailed a very strong event, but this violation caused the two teams right behind them, Boston College (defending National Champions) and Yale University to gain points and pass them in the standings taking first and second respectively.

In the Eastern Semifinals the Harvard University and Georgetown University sailors in both A-Division and B-Division continued to battle back and forth in the top of the fleet and while Harvard stayed on top for most of the day their A-Division boat had a rough last race placing 11^th which put them one point behind Georgetown going into the last B-Division race. Georgetown was able to beat Harvard in the last B-Division race to win the event. Mike Callahan, head coach of Georgetown University explained that they did realize they had a chance to beat Harvard and set out to make sure it happened.  They also had to keep their eye on the Naval Academy, who was closing in as well. The U.S. Naval Academy managed to pull ahead of College of Charleston who stood in 3^rd place after yesterday’s racing. While there was some place shifting among teams in this fleet, the top nine teams remained the same throughout the semifinal.

  

The University of Rhode Island and Old Dominion University are the two 9^th place finishers in both semifinals who make the cut to go onto Nationals.  They win the U.S. Sailing Grit Award for fighting hard and being in a position to advance to Nationals.

All of the close racing pays off for the top nine teams in both the Eastern and Western Semifinal groups as they will all advance to the ICSA/Gill Dinghy National Championships, May 30 – June 1, 2011 at the Gorge in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The tight competition will continue in the challenging conditions of the Hood River.

Congratulations to the top nine teams in each event fleet advancing on to the Nationals:

Eastern Semifinals

1. Georgetown University

2. Harvard University

3. U.S. Naval Academy

4. College of Charleston

5. Stanford University

6. Brown University

7. Tufts University

8. Connecticut College

9. Old Dominion University

Western Semifinals

1. Boston College

2. Yale University

3. Roger Williams University

4. South Florida University

5. St. Mary’s College of Maryland

6. University of Miami

7. Hobart and William Smith College

8. Eckerd

9. University of Rhode Island

For complete results and event information visit the event website: http://2011semis.collegesailing.info 

For event photos by Glennon Stratton visit GTS Photos: gtsphotos.com

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. Visit www.collegesailing.org to learn more.

2011 ICSA Coed Nationals Semifinals at U.S. Sailing Center, Long Beach, California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jennifer Vandemoer Mitchell, Toile à Voile, LLC, 763-234-8286

Long Beach, Calif. (April 30, 2011) – The first day of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s (ICSA) Coed Semifinals, where the 36 top college sailing teams in the country gathered to compete in order to vie for spots to the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championships May 30 – June 1 at the Gorge in Cascade Locks, Oregon, began with close to an hour delay this morning due to dueling winds. Once the breeze filled in from the southerly direction it provided an excellent sea breeze that ranged from 5 knots to 12 knots throughout the day with gusts to 16 knots. Six races were completed for both events in both A and B divisions. With sunny skies and warm temperatures, it was an excellent day for racing.

The competing schools are divided into two events of 18 teams each the Eastern Semifinals and the Western Semifinals, which are being run simultaneously off of the Belmont Veteran Memorial Pier, hosted by the U.S. Sailing Center and the University of Southern California’s Varsity Sailing Team. The top nine teams from each semifinal will advance to the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championships.

The racing took place on a trapezoid course (for an image of the course visit the event website: 2011semis.collegesailing.info) with the Western Semifinal beginning the day sailing on the outer course of the trapezoid and the Eastern Semifinal starting second sailing on the inner course of the trapezoid. Due to the short upwind leg of the course it caused a lot of boats to build up and overlap at the windward mark, resulting in protests and in some cases disqualifications. Similarly after the long run to the single leeward mark (there was no gate option) boats overlapped in big pinwheels making for interesting outcomes in the rounding’s; teams are hoping for a gate on the course at the leeward mark tomorrow to clean up some of the mess.

Leading the Western Semifinal regatta is Roger Williams University (Bristol, R.I.) who has proven to be a strong coed team all season ranked no. 1 in the latest Sailing World College Rankings. “When the breeze filled in it felt good.  We had good starts, made good decisions and had good boat speed”, reported Amanda Callahan head coach at Roger Williams. Their team of Cy Thompson (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I) and crew Kelly Stannard (Salem, Conn.) in A-division and Alec Anderson (Tortola, B.V.I.) and crew Sophie Bellacosa (Winchester, Mass.) in B-division are ahead of the 2^nd place team Yale University by thirteen points. Roger Williams will be looking to do more of the same on the racecourse tomorrow.

In the Eastern Semifinal Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) is the event leader, but only two points ahead of Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) in 2^nd place. The racing has been very fair and good in both events fleets, John Vandemoer head coach at Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.); felt that the racing is very tight. His team of Mateo Vargas (Treasure Island, FL) with crew Rebecca King (Santa Monica, Calif.) in A-division and Kevin Laube (San Diego, Calif.) with crew Kelly Ortel (Annapolis, MD) is currently in 6^th place in the Eastern Semifinal, however they are only ten points from 3^rd place and thirty points ahead of 8^th place.

The real goal for teams in this competition in both events is to place in the top nine so that they can advance to the ICSA/Gill Coed Nationals at the Gorge. There were no huge surprises today, the teams who came into the event having done well all season are finding themselves in the top half of the fleet today.  With the exception of Brown University (Providence, R.I.) who has performed well previously, is struggling in 9^th place after today’s racing in the Eastern Semifinals on the verge of qualification. We will follow the racing and hope that tomorrow’s conditions are as favorable as today with good sea breeze and fit in six more great races for the fleets tomorrow. With the racing so close it is still anyone’s game.

Racing begins off the pier Sunday, May 1 at 10:15 a.m. Follow the regatta and see full results live at 2011semis.collegesailing.info.

Results are protest pending at this time

Eastern Semifinals Top 9

1. Harvard University

2. Georgetown University

3. College of Charleston

4. U.S. Naval Academy

5. Tufts University

6. Stanford University

7. Connecticut College

8. Old Dominion University

9. Brown University

Western Semifinals Top 9

1. Roger Williams University

2. Yale University

3. Boston College

4. St. Mary’s College of Maryland

5. University of South Florida

6. Hobart and William Smith Colleges

7. University of Miami

8. Eckerd College

9. University of Wisconsin

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. Visit www.collegesailing.org to learn more.

by Steve Hunt

Sail1Design encourages YOUR feedback. Please share your story or thoughts at the bottom of this article!!

How cool would it be to get paid to race sailboats?  It’s VERY cool!  Fortunately I can say that, because I’m one of the lucky ones who gets paid to sail.  I am very passionate about sailing and feel extremely lucky to call it my profession.

For those of you who enjoy racing sailboats as much as I do, you may be wondering what it takes to do the same, and how someone actually becomes a pro sailor.  Hopefully my story can shed some light on pro sailing and help you decide if it’s a possibility for you.

First of all from what I have observed there seems to be a few different types of pro sailors.  There are those who are really good at working on boats, preparing winches, splicing running rigging, polishing, and doing all of the things it takes to prepare a fast boat.  There are also those who have excelled at dinghy racing and have won a lot of regattas in their life, and are extremely good at getting a boat around the race course.  Some sailors have the total package but most fall somewhere in between the two types.  Winning teams need a mix of both.

An underlying theme that all pros posses is a love for boats, racing, learning and hard work.  Becoming great at any sport requires dedication and passion.  You have to care deeply about winning sailboat races if you want to become a pro.  You have to enjoy practicing and spending the time it takes to approach mastery.  And it takes a lot of time!  Skill alone can get you far in Junior sailing but at some point “level-of-effort” separates the good from the great.

With that said, lets look at how it happened for me.  I did pretty well in Junior sailing but was nothing special, and my high school did not have a sailing team, so I mainly sailed in the summers and raced J/24s growing up.  My dream in high school was to sail in college, become a two time all american and win college nationals.  I figured if that all came true maybe I would go on and try to win a gold medal.  I thought a lot about becoming an amazing sailor and looking back at my successes I can confidently say it is important to dream big.  If you are going to think about anything, you might as well see yourself succeeding and winning.  If you fall short, you will still be better off then if you had visualized something less then the best.  Dream big!

College sailing started off rough.  My first week I was ranked 15th on the team at the College of Charleston.  When I realized there were only 14 boats I was super bummed thinking I did not make the team.  The coach told me to hang in there and work hard and it would all work out.  I did just that.  I made my mission to become great at college sailing and I never missed a practice in five years.  Literally I did not miss one practice.  I red shirted my Sophomore and Junior year, first semester, which allowed me to sail my entire 5th year.  I was playing catch up on those who had done more dinghy sailing and I was on a mission to beat them.  I remember times practicing at Charleston when practice was canceled due to light air.  I would grab a crew and sail right beside the dock against the current, staying in one place over the bottom.  If we had nice wing and wing jibes we would hold even on the dock, and if we messed up we would move backwards.  Nothing could stop me from practicing.  In addition, on some of the optional practice days no one showed up except for my crew and I so we would go out and sail rudderless by ourselves.  We spent many hours sailing rudderless and I know that helped our boatspeed tremendously.  Learn how to sail a boat without a rudder, making it look like you have one, and I can guarantee you will be tough to beat.

All of the hard work paid off.  I ended my college career a two time All American and was happy to have a successful 5th year, placing third in sloops, second in team racing and winning A division at dinghy nationals.  Our team won the Fowle Trophy that year.  At that time I felt like I had conquered the sailing world!  Little did I know I had not.  haha  After college it was either become an accountant or start sailing 470s.  After some encouragement from the Olympic Committee and supporters from my home town yacht club, Hampton Yacht Club in VA, I decided to go for it and try to sail in the Olympics.

The Olympic Campaign was a lot of work, very difficult and we had some decent success.  I don’t regret it at all but it was tough!  With two crews over the 7 years we placed 3rd in the 2000 trials, and fourth in the 2004 trials.  Over those seven years I become much better at sailing and got to travel the world sailing against the best.  The Olympic level is as high as you can get and it is EXTREMELY difficult to do well.  It is also hard raising the money necessary to support a sailing campaign.  After Seven years and a ton of Olympic Sailing/Fund Raising I decided to take a break from sailing and work full time. (I had worked in between sailing events over those 7 years)

Now to the pro sailing.  After all of my sailing experiences and years of dedication to the sport I think I was pretty good at getting around the course.  My “real” job was okay but I did not love it.  My break came when my friend Bill Hardesty, (who I became friends with through college sailing, and the Olympic campaign), asked me to come trim main on a Farr 40.  He said there was a pro spot available (Farr 40s allow four pros on the team) and asked me if I wanted to get paid for sailing.  I asked him what the down sides were to becoming a pro and he said there were a few but not many.  If you become a pro you usually get asked to sail less, because many classes have pro restrictions.  You also cannot sail J-105s, because they do not allow pros.  And if you decide to stop pro sailing, you have to wait two years before being considered an amateur again.  Another consideration is that you have to travel a lot which can put a strain on relationships.  The upsides are you usually get asked to do an important position on the boat such as trimming or tactics, all expenses are covered and you get paid to race sailboats.  I thought it sounded great because I love racing sailboats!  It also sounded neat to get paid to sail, rather than paying to sail, which I had done my whole life.

I went for it and started doing more and more sailing over the next few years, then eventually left my “real” job (project manager for a defense contractor) to sail full time.  I also starting coaching Point Loma High School during those years which helped with the income and kept me home more than if I just did pro sailing.  You find many pro sailors have a few sources of income to help diversify their income and create some level of security.  In addition to sailing for various clients they may take care of boats, do some coaching on the side, or work at a sail loft.

Getting paid to do what you love is the best thing in the world.  My life is basically sailing, coaching kids how to sail, playing sailx online (career development :), surfing (exercise), writing and spending time with my family.  I love it all and feel very ble
ssed.  I got a break because I knew a pro sailor and he respected my abilities.

Before closing I should mention that in addition to being very good at sailing you need to be able to function within a team.  You see some pros out there who are less than desirable to sail with.  They have some level of success because of their talent but they end up losing jobs because people do not have fun sailing with them.  I think it is important to work on your people skills just as much as your sailing skills.  At the end of the day people want to have fun and do well.  If you can help create a fun vibe on the boat, teach the less experienced sailors with respect, and help the boat win, you can make it as a professional sailor.  You may not get rich, but you can live comfortably getting paid to do what you love, which many people would say is being rich in itself.  Good luck with whatever you do in life and sail fast!

-Steve Hunt

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