Author Archives: sailstrong

This coming Saturday Sept 22

Posted on by

Much of the team will be in North Carolina at the USODA South East Champs but we are still having practice at the Dinghy Shop on Saturday. Our usual assistant coach, Leigh Kempton will running the practice. There are only 5 kids signed up right now so it could be a great chance to get some one on one, in a small group. Let me know if you are interested. Practice will be from 9am to 4:30 pm.

Open House and Fall Kick-Off Party

Posted on by

We will be hosting our first Open House and Fall Kick-Off Sept 15 in Northport, NY.

Right after practice, we will head from the Dinghy Shop over to Northport for a pizza party for the kids. Old and new sailors and families will have the opportunity to get to know each other.

This is also a chance for families interested in the team to meet the coach and other families. Stop by for a slice and see what SailStrong is all about.

RSVP by email

One year Anniversary!

Posted on by

Debrief after first day of sailing as SailStrong.

One year ago, this coming weekend, SailStrong Youth Racing had its first practice. Thanks JC, Chrissie, Mehvish, Julia, Camille, Thomas, Gray, Aaron, Madeleine, Caroline, Joe, and all their families for showing up that first day to get things going. One year in, we have been to Opti regattas all over the US, had sailors represent USODA in internationals events, had several sailors make the US National Team, held open clinics on Long Island, in Maryland, and in Florida, started 420 training, and will have nearly twice as many sailors showing up for our first practice of this school year season.

This would not have been possible without the never-ending support from the parents of all the sailors. This is a coach lead program, but so much of the effort to get the kids off the beach still comes from the parents. Thank you all so much! 

I can’t wait to see what year number two brings.

Fall Season Kick-off Opti Clinic

Posted on by

Much of the team was in attendance for our first practice of the Fall season at Bellport Bay Yacht Club last Thursday and Friday and many of them stayed on for the weekend of sailing in the Bellport Labor Day Regatta. It was great to welcome some new members to the team, and with several new sailors coming out next weekend, it is looking like its going to be a busy season with solid numbers every weekend for practice.

Our first 420 practice

Posted on by

We had our first 420 practice this past week at Bellport Bay Yacht Club. Just a couple boats out but a good start to our next fleet and trying to grow the 420 fleet on the South Shore of Long Island. 

Porter Kavle wins USODA Sportsmanship Award at Nationals

Posted on by

Congratulations to Porter Kavle for being awarded the USODA Sportsmanship Trophy at Nationals. Porter was honored for the huge effort he put in to get to Nationals after falling off his family’s J24 early in the summer when it was on the trailer in Annapolis after racing. Porter sustained major injuries and had to be airlifted to the hospital. We were all just happy to see him up and about, much less competing in a long event and sailing well on top of it. He was part of our 4th place team at Team Race Nationals and made the Gold Fleet at Fleet Race Nationals. Nice job on the sailing, congrats on the recognition of your hard work, and happy to have you back with us. 

USODA Nationals

Posted on by

We had a great 9 day trip to Sandusky, Ohio for Opti Nationals. The kids participated in Team Racing, Girls, and Open Nationals and had success in all three.

For Team Racing we had three teams, two of which, our White and Blue teams, were made up mostly of kids doing their first team race regatta. It was tough but a good learning experience for all.

SailStrong Red, made up of JC Hermus, Thomas Rice, Gray Benson, Porter Kavle, and Stephanie Houck, had a great regatta and finished 4th of the 26 teams. They were 2-2 vs the winner, Team FOR, and won a close race against the second place Lauderdale YC, but in the finals round they lost 2 of three races. Being one of the youngest teams in the group, they all came away with a lot of confidence for their next team race.

Girls Nationals proved to be another good event for the team, with 10 girls sailing. It was a long day with 4 races and 102 boats. Highlights for the team included Sinead McManus 6th Overall, Julia LaForgia 10th and 3rd in Blue Fleet, Caroline Benson 15th overall and 1st in White Fleet, Stephanie Houck 21st, Camille White 28th, Madeleine Rice 38th and 2nd in White Fleet, and Michelle Lahrkamp 46th. Nice job to all the girls.

At this point, the week was just getting going, with the four days of the Open Nationals remaining. Racing was tough with very shifty medium wind and a lot of boat chop on Sandusky Bay, which created a washing machine effect. Because of bad weather, the RC was not able to get many races off during the qualifying portion of the regatta, so we had 7 races on the first three days to determine who would be in the Gold (top 94 boats) and Silver Fleet (next 188). Of the 25 sailors we had in attendance 10 made the Gold Fleet. JC Hermus ended up 4th overall and 1st in Blue Fleet. Thomas Rice was 16th overall and 5th in Blue Fleet. Sean Crabb was 18th Overall. In Silver Fleet we were lead by Julia LaForgia in 10th and Camille White in 27th. Lots of good sailing by all the kids and a big group qualified for Team Trials.

Off to Newport next for New England Champs. 

Posted on by

We are excited about our first Open Clinic @ The Dinghy Shop July 14th. It should be a great day with the usual South Shore sea breeze. The only fee is $10 per sailor to the Dinghy Shop for letting us use the facility. For South Shore Opti sailors the Midget Qualifier is the following Wednesday July 18th, so this is a great chance to get tuned up right before the event. 

Coaches from programs are encouraged to come with their sailors and take part in the clinic. 

To register go to the Contact Page and send an email with your sailor’s info. 


Summer Kick Off Clinic – June 9-13

Posted on by

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. 

Volvo Ocean Race Youth Academy Team Race

Posted on by

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.