Congrats to Jordan and Sam Bruce, Thomas Hall, and Brendan Little for qualifying for the US Team going to the Magic Marine Easter Regatta next Spring!
Tag Archives: Regattas
Way to go Gray and Kathryn
Congrats to Gray Benson and Kathryn Hall for qualifying for the US team heading to Spain in February for the Palamos Optimist Trophy Regatta.
http://www.palamosoptimisttrophy.org/en/default/races/race
Midwinters Wrap-up
SailStrong sailors spent most of Thanksgiving week down in New Orleans at Southern Yacht Club for the USODA Midwinters, which this year was the qualifier for the Spring international teams for US Opti sailing. The sailing was tough with two days of very light air followed by shifty and choppy conditions on the third and last day. We had 21 sailors attending the regatta as well as Scott Norman and Leigh Kempton helping me out with the coaching. The kids worked hard and the team came away with some great results. JC Hermus was consistent throughout finishing 3rd overall and 2nd in Blue Fleet of the 210 boats sailing, qualifying for his second South American Championship. Thomas Rice had a tough last day and fell from 5th to 14th overall and 3rd in Blue Fleet, but still an outstanding performance. Gray Benson was our third boat in the Top 25 at 23rd place. Our youngest sailors continued their strong performances from earlier in the Fall taking 6 of the top 8 spots in White Fleet, lead by a guest member, Rayne Duff, of the British Virgin Islands. In a telling sign of the depth of the group 12 of our 21 sailors finished in the top half with a few others just outside. Way to go everyone and keep up the hard work!
Midwinters here we come
We finished up our pre-Midwinters training this past weekend with 20 sailors on the water in Maryland and 5 more in New York. 23 kids are prepared and excited to be heading down to Southern Yacht Club for Thanksgiving.
Congrats to JC on a great performance at IODA North Americans
JC Hermus finishes 17th of 150 boats at Opti North American’s at Valle de Bravo, Mexico. He also was part of the USA 1 team that won the North American Team Racing Championship. Way to go JC!
Good Luck at North Americans JC!
All of SailStrong is wishing JC Hermus a good regatta at the IODA North American Championships in Valle de Bravo, Mexico next week. Sail fast, have fun.
Here is a link to the event website.
USODA Atlantic Coast Champs & Team Race
A great weekend on Long Beach Island! After a light day for practice Friday, Saturday brought 18+ knots and big chop to Barnegat Bay. Our kids had a solid day with 22 of our 24 sailors finishing all the races while much of the fleet retired early. Sunday was lighter and much colder. The conditions were shifty and much flatter water than on Saturday. The RC did a great job getting in 7 races over the two days.
Our team highlights for the fleet race were 1st and 5th in Blue Fleet, 4 of the top 5 and 5 of top 10 in White Fleet, and 19 of out 24 sailors in the top half of a large and competitive 224 boat fleet.
On Monday after the fleet race was over, Little Egg Harbor YC hosted a one day Team Race with 12 teams in attendance. In a competitive group our Red team had only 2 losses and won the regatta, and our Blue team finished 6th. Fun to see the group as a whole improving with their team work and understanding of the team racing game.
Nice job to all the sailors in both events.
One year Anniversary!
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.
Porter Kavle wins USODA Sportsmanship Award at Nationals
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
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.
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- SailStrong Red waiting for a race while finishing 4th of 26 teams in Team Race Nationals.
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- Most of the team after the awards ceremony.
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- JC Hermus finishes 4th overall and 1st in Blue Fleet at 2012 US Opti Nationals.
SailStrong Youth Racing 