By Martha Pitt
Last month, 120 teenage sailors from around the country made their way to Long Beach, California to compete in the 2012 US Sailing ISAF Youth World Qualifiers. The regatta took place in 29er skiffs, International 420s, Laser Radials, and Techno 293s and spanned over three days of scheduled racing. Though the event had heavy competition in every fleet, the closest winning margin came in the 29er class as Quinn and Dane Wilson, brothers from Ojai, CA, became the 29er champions, and the Sail1Designers of the Month. The 29er class was the only class in the event to have no gender distinctions for skippers or crews in the regatta, with thirteen boats competing.
Quinn, who is just fourteen years old and probably one of the smallest competitors at the event at just eighty pounds, drives the 29er for his brother, Dane, who is sixteen. The boys started sailing at a very young age on their father’s Cal 20, and as they grew up continued to sail at Lake Casitas, a lake near their home, before they moved onto the Santa Barbara Yacht Club. They began dinghy sailing in Sabots, then Optis, and have now settled on the 29er, though Dane does a little Laser sailing as well. Quinn only started sailing the 29er about six months ago, an impressive and swift transition from the Opti to his already successful 29er career. Dane had been sailing the boats for a little more time but not much, skippering for another sailor from Santa Barbara for a year before joining forces with his younger brother to crew.
As many sailors know, sailing dinghies with a sibling does not always turn out well and can even be disastrous! But for these two, sailing together has come naturally and they have clearly found a way to make it work. When asked about the relationship, they responded, “It’s great because we think alike and can talk about it at home.” Sailing and racing together was a new experience for Dane and Quinn, having just teamed up last August. They practice as much as possible, and have been able to get out on the water two to three times a week for a few hours each session over the past few months. The two are very focused and acute in their training, a necessity since they rarely have a training partner and so cannot do much speed testing or tactics in practice. But each practice has a focus, a particular skill set on which to work with a series of drills to simulate and perfect that skill. They usually warm up with some straight line sailing for about thirty minutes, then jump into boat handling and starting drills. In preparation for the Qualifiers, the Wilson brothers sailed in a few local regattas, finishing third in two and winning one, happy with their performances and the practice in a range of conditions, and ready to take it to the next level.
After months of training, mid January came and brought with it the three day qualifying event in Long Beach, CA. With tensions and excitement no doubt high for all of the competitors as they hit the water on that first day of racing, frustration soon ensued as the wind failed to fill and settle all day, not allowing for any racing. Day two saw better winds, though still on the light side ranging from three to six knots all day, shifty and choppy. Luckily for Quinn and Dane, they only weigh in at 215 pounds, making them very fast in the light air. In addition, the shifty conditions were very similar to the lake sailing that they were used to, and so they were content with it. Setting them back at the end of the day, however, was a disqualification from Race 4 for tacking inside another boat while in the zone, dropping them from the lead at the conclusion of the day. For many sailors both young and old, a DSQ can set the tone for the remainder of the event, but for the Wilson brothers, they moved on and “tried to put it out of our mind. We talked about it briefly afterwards and realized we made a mistake being in a risky position. Once we got clear about that, we were done thinking or talking about it. By the time we left the yacht club and headed to dinner we were over it.” Though at an advantage with their weight in light air, both boys welcomed the heavier breeze that filled in on the last day of racing, admitting that they like windy conditions the best. Deciding to sail clean and not worry about points until the last race, the boys had a less consistent start to the last day, posting a few mid-fleet scores. But going into the ninth and final race, they knew that they had a little match racing to do, one point behind fleet leaders Christopher Williford and Kai Friesecke from Lauderdale YC in the overall scores. They knew that they had to beat the team, and their ambitions to make it to Worlds carried them to the finish line in first, while Williford and Friesecke came in third, and allowed them to edge out the Florida team by just one point to take the win and the qualifying spot!
When talking about their goals for the regatta, the boys were level-headed but ambitious; “We knew that we could finish in the top, and it was just about who could put it all together at the right time. But our goal was to win and go to Worlds.” On par with their training, they tried not to think about the other competitors too much and primarily focused on their own sailing and going fast. Coaches Willie McBride and Tyler McDonald helped keep the boys on track and with that same focus, to which both Quinn and Dane attribute much of their success: “Tyler really kept our spirits up and told us we just had to sail fast and we were going to end in the top, and Willie gave us more advice and helped us sail faster and figure out the racecourse. The combination was really great and I think a very big factor in why we won.”
Looking forward to the next few months, Quinn and Dane are going to continue to practice and race in as many regattas as possible, building on what they have learned over the past six months and hopefully spend more time training with other teams. They also know that the Worlds are a longer event and could potentially be windier and so will need to increase their physical strength; they plan on doing a fair amount of cross-training with mountain biking in preparation for the main event.
The Wilson brothers are clearly psyched that their path to ISAF Youth Worlds didn’t end in Long Beach. Not only have they secured themselves a trip to Ireland in July for the event, but as winners of their qualifier class, they have earned an invitation to join the US Sailing Development Team as future Olympic prospects. Though they have never been to Ireland, both have done extensive traveling sailing Optis, and Dane was in Europe sailing 29ers last summer. But most exciting for them is the
chance to go to a new venue, meet new people, and compete in the Youth World Championship; “the trip should be really fun.” And of course, after some great training and coaching, and a tremendous amount of support by both their coaches and family, winning is surely their goal. Best of luck to Quinn and Dane Wilson, and all of the other young US competitors at the ISAF Youth World Championship this summer!
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