Tag Archives: Regattas

Volvo Ocean Race Youth Academy Team Race

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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.

USODA Team Trials Recap

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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. 

Pics from our sailors’ spring overseas adventures.

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Valentine’s Day Regatta

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This years Valentine’s Dar Regatta at St. Petersburg Yacht Club only ended up with three races for the regatta but it was an excellent learning experience for the kids nonetheless and some of the sailors still came away with some good results, most notably Julia Leighton was second girl. The current hurt the team as a whole with some bad decisions about laylines on the upwind and rhum line on the downwind. Add the top wind speed of 7 knots to the mix and there was some definite frustration. The starting line experiences were valuable though and will help in any conditions. It was great to have 17 sailors for the event, all having a good time and seem to be progressing. Thanks to Leigh Kempton for coming down and being our second coach.

SailStrong’s Inaugural Orange Bowl

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We just finished up our first Orange Bowl as SailStrong Youth Racing. It was much warmer than last year but the wind did not cooperate for most of the regatta which led to some very tough sailing throughout the event. Day one had the most wind with 18 knots from the South and if you have sailed in Miami you know the chop can be tough when the wind blows straight up Biscayne Bay. The following three days were sailed in under 8 knots with no races on day 3 of the event.

Our top finishers were Joe LaForgia in 56 and Thomas Rice in 63rd (80 place improvement from last year). We also had top 10 races from Brendan Little and Nick Brady and top 15 races from Jack Brown and Michelle Lahrkamp. All the kids learned a ton and of course we will back for this circus again next year, hopefully with some more breeze but still warm. 

We also need to wish Nick Brady well on his next sailing adventures as he is retiring from the Opti (we are making him team race with us at Midwinters so this was his last fleet race).  Since he is towering over the rest of the fleet it is definitely time to move on to his next challenge. I guess it is time for us to start a 420 program. Good luck Nick and thanks for being part of SailStrong in these first few months. 

Lauderdale Yacht Club Team Race Championship

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Mehvish, Gray, Thomas, and Aaron recently sailed in one of the coolest Opti events around at Lauderdale YC. With provided boats and sails, all the sailors need to bring is their gear. We ended up 10th of 16 teams though that does not tell the whole story for this event. We raced some close races against the top teams and all kids learned a lot. I encourage everyone to get this event on the calendar for next year.

Thomas and Gray at LYC Team Race 2011

Orange Bowl Clinic and Regatta

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We will be training for 5 days (Dec 19-23) in preparation for Orange Bowl and have a few extra spots open. For Orange Bowl we will be welcoming Leigh Kempton as our second coach to help better support our sailors for this multi-fleet event. We will take as many as 18 sailors for the event in order to keep a low ratio. Please contact me if you are interested for your sailor.

JC Hermus wins NY State Champs, Joey LaForgia 3rd

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The team had a great outing at the NY state champs held at The Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay October 22. JC is the 2011 New York State Optimist Champion (1st overall, 1st Blue Fleet). Joey LaForgia was 3rd overall and 2nd in Red Fleet. Thomas Rice was 14th overall. Michelle Lahrkamp was 2nd in White Fleet. Everyone on the team had good races and showed continued improvement. Will post some pictures and results from the event soon.