We will be doing a 5 day practice June 9-13 at Bellport Bay Yacht Club on the South Shore of Long Island. If you are out of school and don’t have sailing plans already, come join us for some great training. The South Shore is bound to deliver solid conditions as usual.
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Volvo Ocean Race Youth Academy Team Race
At each stop of the Volvo Ocean Race there has been a Youth Academy Team Racing program, where kids from around the country of that port come together to learn, meet members of the VOR teams, see the boats, have fun, and do some team racing. At the same time there was an ISAF (International Sailing Federation) umpiring seminar going on so the kids got to get some great rules instruction. The first day was a practice day, followed on the second day with some work with the umpires and practice races. The third day was the regatta. On the evening of the second day there was an event dinner where members of each team met with the kids and talked about their experiences in the race. Each youth team represented on of the VOR teams and we happened to be representing Team Sanya which sailed in on our second day there. We also got to see the boats on the hard and the repairs being done to the boats, as well as the stepping of the masts and launching of some of them. Overall it was an amazing experience for the kids and the Volvo Ocean Race did a great job of hosting us.
After having a tough regatta at the qualifier to attend this event in New Orleans in January, the team sailed a great showing. They were tied for third but lost their sail-off to finish 4th of 8 teams, which was a huge improvement over being the last to qualify. It was a great training weekend and confidence booster for the kids, and they should go into Team Race Nationals with a good mindset.
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- Mark trap practice.
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- JC giving his teammate a heads up.
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- Gray and Aaron sailing out to the course.
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- All the teams together for a group shot.
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- Gray, Aaron, Stephanie and Thomas waiting to switch in to boats for practice.
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- At the awards, 4th of 8 teams.
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- The rainbow warriors.
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- Each team had a set of sails in the colors of the VOR team they represented, in our case Team Sanya.
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- Camper going in for the start of the next leg of the race.
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- The team (LtoR back) Stephanie, Aaron, Thomas, Gray, and JC (front) at one of the morning classroom sessions.
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- Got to get out and have some fun at night too.
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- Stephanie during one of the lectures. Still focused after a long day on the water.
USODA Team Trials Recap
Congratulations to all 20 sailors for their performances at Team Trials. Like every regatta, some sailors met their expectations, some exceeded them, and some fell a little short, but every sailor had a bright spot during the event and showed that they are learning to be better sailors. Plenty of smiles and quality team bonding throughout the week as well.
The results were solid with 4 sailors in the Top 50 led by JC Hermus in 7th, Jack Brown in 37th, Gray Benson in 42nd, and Gage Schoenherr in 45th. We had another 4 sailors make the top 100 and several more just outside. Big congrats to Luke Arnone, the White Fleet Champion for 2012 Trials!
With races run in everything from 5 knots to 25+, predictably oscillating shifts and hard to read persistent shifts, this was a true test of having a range of sailing skills. For many of the sailors this was the longest event they had sailed, which put an emphasis on mental and physical stamina. Of the 20 sailors, only 3 had been to a Team Trials before, so this young group will come back to their next big event with much more experience and confidence.
Thanks to all the parents for their support through this big event and to Will Brown and Leigh Kempton for helping out with the coaching. Congrats again to everyone. It can be a grueling event and I was proud to see everyone still “sailing strong” at the end of the week.
SailStrong Youth Racing 