Tag Archives: Clinics

St. Thomas Optimist Regatta – Practice Days

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We had a great first day in St. Thomas on Wednesday with 10-12 knots of typical sea breeze and 2-3 ft. waves. We focused on technique for boat speed and handling in the waves. Here is a video of some downwind work and I will post some more later of upwind sailing.

Thursday was our second day and we again had picture perfect conditions with a little more wind and bigger waves. The kids all improved from day 1 in the conditions and are psyched for the regatta to start tomorrow. Here is some upwind video from the training.

 

 

Pre Opti Nationals Coaching

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We have pre Opti Nationals training dates set for July 21-22 with coach Leigh Kempton. If your team is not arriving early or you are not team racing and would like to get a couple extra days of practice in on site we have open spaces for those dates. Contact us if you are interested.

 

 

SailStrong Holiday Opti Clinic 2013 @ the US Sailing Center Martin County in Jensen Beach, FL

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Each year SailStrong does a Holiday Clinic just before Christmas and Orange Bowl. In past years we have been in Miami, but this year decided to move up the road to Jensen Beach and sailed from the US Sailing Center Martin County. The venue did not disappoint, with 10-15 knots of breeze and warm temps. One of the best features of USSCMC is the ability to maximize the time of the clinic since transit to and from the sailing area is just a couple minutes. 

We had three coaches for the clinic, Scott Norman, Juan Carlos Romero, and Peter Strong, along with sail designer Mike Marshall of North Sails One Design. This was a huge add on for the kids as they got to delve deep into the way the sails work, how they are designed, and what they can do to set theirs up to go fast for them.

Each year the our Holiday Clinic continues to grow with 24 for sailors this year from several different teams and areas of the country. Our first year had just three kids from our team and the two that have been to all three years of the clinic were happy to see the increase in training partners.

We worked a lot on starting and especially the boat handling and decision making that goes into, and it was great to see the improvement in the fleet’s general starting throughout the four days. Another focus was boat speed and Mike worked with the coaches and kids on the water with sails. We did lots of video of both the starting and boat speed which was a good help to the kids in understanding and applying what we were working on and talking about.

One of the highlights of the clinic was a talk Mike did for the sailors (and a couple parents and members of the sailing center) about the pictures and of the sails he had taken on the water. He talked a lot about how the foils work, and was able to line up different pictures of the sails to help the kids get a visual of what the different designs look like from different angles. One of the best things he did was give the kids an in depth look at what some of the controls do, focusing especially on sprit adjustments and how they affect the leach both upwind and down. Finally maybe some of them will believe the coaches when they are told that sailing downwind with a huge vertical wrinkle is not the fastest approach. Mike talked to the kids for at least an hour, and had them all paying close attention right to the end. If you have ever tried that you know it’s not an easy task. We will try to get up some video from the lecture soon.

A big thanks to Mike Marshall and North Sails One Design for supporting our clinic and making it a better learning experience for the sailors. Thanks also to the US Sailing Center Martin County for hosting us this year and we look forward to coming back soon. As always thanks to Scott Norman and Juan Carlos Romero for your work with the kids.

Come join us next year as we keep improving our Holiday Clinic to make it the best way to get ready to Orange Bowl, or break off the rust in the middle of the winter.

Holiday Clinic Practice Regatta Results

Here are some videos Scott Norman put together of each day of the clinic.

Day 1  Day 2   Day 3  Day 4

2nd Coach added for Holiday Clinic in Jensen Beach

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With growing demand I have added a second coach, Scott Norman, to the Holiday Clinic at the US Sailing Center Martin County in Jensen Beach, FL. We will sail December 20-23. There are several openings left. Contact for info.

West Coast Champs Practice Days

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We will be training October 8-10 at Cabrillo Beach YC in preparation for the USODA Spring Teams Qualifier, and have some open spots for any sailors whose teams won’t be in California until later in the week. Can do one, two, or all three days. Contact for availability and pricing.

Holiday Optimist Clinic

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We will be hosting our 3rd annual Holiday Opti Clinic December 20-24. This year we are moving it from Miami to the US Sailing Center Martin County in Jensen Beach, FL. Partial attendance is ok and additional dates prior to the 20th are available as well. Please contact for price and additional details.

SailStrong Coaches Regatta Results

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Series Standing – 4 races scored

Information is provisional and subject to modification
Regatta results saved: Sunday, March 10, 2013 1:28:29 PM EDT
(Entries=36) Opti | Blue | Red | White
Division: Opti (36 boats) (top)
Pos Sail Skipper Subdivision 1 2 3 4 Total
Points		 Pos
1 16686 Rice, Thomas Blue 9 1 5 9 24.00 1
2 18961 Benson, Grey Red 7 5 4 8 24.00 2
3 19597 Brown, Jack Red 26 3 1 1 31.00 3
4 17424 Steadman, Hannah Red 13 12 7 2 34.00 4
5 19187 Fagan, Mariner White 10 13 16 4 43.00 5
6 10873 Hermus, JC Blue 27 2 2 13 44.00 6
7 19820 Bruce, Samuel White 14 9 3 18 44.00 7
8 16718 Hawkins, Maddie White 4 6 9 28 47.00 8
9 19821 Bruce, Jordan White 16 18 6 7 47.00 9
10 19459 Hall, Kathryn Red 11 16 8 15 50.00 10
11 19349 LaForgia, Julia Blue 12 8 12 23 55.00 11
12 9924 Pinto, Michael Blue 2 33 20 10 65.00 12
13 18649 Barron, Peter Red 29 14 11 12 66.00 13
14 9684 Hall, Thomas White 25 15 24 3 67.00 14
15 9503 Salvesen, Nicholas Blue 22 11 15 19 67.00 15
16 17665 Rice, Madeleine White 19 32 13 6 70.00 16
17 19458 Johnson, Clayton Red 1 34 10 26 71.00 17
18 19350 Houck, Stephanie Red 5 20 25 24 74.00 18
19 15033 Boucher, Leo Red 3 35 27 11 76.00 19
20 15982 Benson, Caroline Blue 15 27 19 17 78.00 20
21 19137 Bayless, Connor Red 32 10 17 20 79.00 21
22 14702 Kohler, Harrison Red 18 17 22 22 79.00 22
23 14931 Bayless, Caroline Blue 28 23 14 16 81.00 23
24 17074 LaForgia, Joe Red 23 36 18 5 82.00 24
25 19470 Little, Brendan Red 34 4 21 30 89.00 25
26 16983 Sailer, Morgan Red 21 25 23 21 90.00 26
27 17630 White, Camille Blue 6 31 30 29 96.00 27
28 14252 Bragg, Boyd Blue 30 24 28 14 96.00 28
29 19150 Henry, Henry Blue 17 26 29 27 99.00 29
30 14076 Chisari, Nick Red 8 19 37/DNC 37/DNC 101.00 30
31 17270 Lahrkamp, Michelle Blue 20 30 26 25 101.00 31
32 18085 Vickers, Jake Blue 24 7 37/DNC 37/DNC 105.00 32
33 14858 Leonard, Kimmie Blue 33 21 31 32 117.00 33
34 16237 Cornell, William White 31 22 37/DNC 37/DNC 127.00 34
35 18923 Lahrkamp, Vanessa White 36 29 32 31 128.00 35
36 19511 Chisari, Tori White 35 28 37/DNC 37/DNC 137.00

Coaches Regatta – Notice of Race

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In conjunction with Annapolis Yacht Club Junior sailing we are hosting a scrimmage regatta March 9-10 in Annapolis. It is open to other sailors and teams but space is limited. Contact me through the contact page if you are interested.

Coaches Regatta

Notice of Race (Version1 2/7/13)
March 9-10
1. Competitors meeting 9am Sat and Sun, check-in 8:30am Sat, First race time to be determined at competitors meeting
2. Entry Fee – none, Non AYC or SailStrong sailors register by contacting Peter Strong, pre-registration required, no on-site registration. Space limited to 45 boats
3. All sailors required to have a coach on the water, coaching permitted during racing, and can be provided if needed.
4. Results will be taken and posted, but no awards for them. Three standout sailors from the weekend will be awarded by voting from the coaches.
5. Debriefs after sailing each day.                                                                                                 6. Drysuits Mandatory

420 Clinics

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We will be hosting two 420 clinics in the upcoming months in a continued effort to add 420 sailing to our program. October 21st and 28th we will sail from Bellport Bay YC. Please contact for more details. If you are without a boat and/or partner we will find one for you.