JibeTalk

2015 Season High Point and Jr. Big Boat Awards

Patricia Leicht presents the Marlinspike Contest trophies

The JSA of LIS held its Annual General Membership Meeting at Larchmont Yacht Club on October 21. The first item on the agenda was the awarding of trophies for season performance based on high point scores at specified qualifier events, which in 2015 were the Eastern or Western District Regattas, Larchmont Junior Race Week and JSA Race Week. 

The awardees and their high point percentage of perfection are: 

Clinton M. Bell Trophy for junior open events winner in any class and Thomas W. Fowler, Jr. Trophy for junior doublehanded open events winner in Club 420:  Julia Reynolds (skipper) & Hobi Lew (crew)  Pequot YC  97.863%. Julia and Hobi join a select group of sailors who have won these awards in two consecutive years. 

Christopher Goodyear Neff Trophy for junior open events runner-up in any class with high score in Laser Radial Nicholas Chisari  Sea Cliff YC  97.005%

Junior Singlehanded Open Events Laser Radial Runner-Up:  Lindsay Powers  American YC  94.010% 

Junior Doublehanded Open Events Runner-up in Club 420:  Cameron Nash (skipper) and Brooke McGoldrick (crew) Pequot YC  92.913% 

Junior Singlehanded Open Events Laser Standard High Score:  Richard O'Leary  American YC 90.541%

 Timothy Sinclair Memorial Trophy for Pixel open events winner: Devin Hart (skipper) & Madeline  Dwyer (crew) Noroton YC 90.826%
 

The awards for junior big boat sailing events held in August were also presented: 

Warren G. Dellenbaugh Junior Navigation Trophy: Jake Schinto Riverside YC  106%, with extra credit
Junior Navigation Runner-Ups: Peter Sauer  Cedar Point YC and Kyle May  WaterFront Center, each with 94% 

Marlinspike Seamanship Contest Trophy
1.  Emery Wallace  Cedar Point YC
2.  Connor Thompson  Larchmont YC
3.  Corey Sabia  Norwalk YC 

Junior Big Boat Sailing Regatta presented by Black Rock YC
1.  Noroton YC High  Noon
2.  Cedar Point YC  Cabady
3.  Cedar Point YC  Expresso 

Dorade Trophy Regatta presented by Stamford YC
J105 Division  
1.  Centerport YC  Trifecta (and Overall prize)
2.  American YC  Echo
3.  Black Rock YC  Playstation

PHRF Division
1.  Riverside YC  Finale
2.  Noroton YC  High Noon
3.  Pequot YC  Libertas 

Everett B. Morris Memorial Trophy for the Beach Point Yacht Club Overnight Race
Division A
1.  Riverside YC  Finale (and Overall prize)
2.  Noroton YC  High Noon
3.  Cedar Point YC  Expresso

Division B:
1.  Black Rock YC  Playstation
2.  Centerport YC  Trifecta
3.  American YC  Young American 

Awards for the Twilight Keel Boat Regatta hosted by Port Washington Jr YC had been earlier presented

1.  WaterFront Center  Inevitable
2.  Port Washington YC  War Horse
3.  Larchmont YC  Privateer 

 

Learning Safety at Sea

Safety at Sea allowed juniors to learn and practice safety-at-sea techniques on shore and on the water, while gaining insight into what offshore sailing has to offer. Larchmont Yacht Club hosted Storm Trysail Foundation’s Junior Safety-at-Sea Seminar on Friday, July 17.

Adam Loory wrote in a Facebook post:

Just back from teaching at the Junior Safety at Sea Seminar run by the Storm Trysail Club at Larchmont Yacht Club. 200 juniors came for a morning of classroom sessions and an afternoon of on-the-water practice on 20 different boats ranging from J/105s to 40-footers.

I taught the session on the Quick Stop Man Overboard Recovery, and the biggest take away is that crews need to practice this maneuver frequently on their own boats. Even though racing requires tacking and jibing, most good crews have to do some warm up tacks, jibes, sets and douses at the beginning of each race day to warm up and make these moves automatic.

The same goes for crew overboard practices. The more we do them, the more automatic they will become. I had been sailing for 50 years before I was on a boat that had an actual man overboard, and I am glad it happened on a boat that had practiced. The water was cold that April.

Remember, the life that gets saved may be your own.

Morning presentations covered safety procedures, particularly man overboard recovery and big-boat crew work onshore. Juniors saw and volunteered in inflating a six-man canopied life raft on the water. In the afternoon, sailors practiced performing man overboard drills both upwind and downwind.

Pizza followed upon their return. Advanced juniors participated in a separate agenda later in the evening.

View full agenda here.

See photos here.

Find more information about Safety at Sea Programs here.

Racing at Sears Cup

Sonars raced in Sears Cup Area B Qualifier for the YRALIS region at The WaterFront Center. The regatta serves as a qualifier for Triplehanded National Championships. Six teams raced on Friday, July 10.

Winds blew at eight miles per hour from Northwest, with a maximum at 20 mph and max gust at 28 mph.

The American Yacht Club team won first place and the Sears Cup, the Cedar Point Yacht Club team won second and the Centerport Yacht Club team won third.

Results here.

Sail in JSA Girls’ championship on July 11

Adult and junior women from western Long Island Sound gathered in 2014 at American YC

Borrow a Laser Radial and sail!

Held alongside the YRA LIS women's champs in Ideal 18s for the Queens Cup trophy, the JSA Girls’ Championship is open to junior women ages 13 to 18.

This is the second year that American Yacht Club hosts JSA Girls Champs and the YRA Queens Cup on the same racecourse. The event is held on July 11.

Although competitors race in Laser Radials, they need not be members of the Laser Class Association.

Female PRO Sheila Cameron is running the race committee on the water.

Charlotte leClue accepts the Founders Trophy as winner of the 2014 Girls' Champs

Come to JSA Girls’ Champs for great energy and women's sailing on Long Island Sound! Ask your club's junior program to register you today. And view the NOR here. 

Don't Lose The Chute: How to Drop A Spinnaker

by Tony Bull, Bull Sails

Last week, JibeTalk brought you coverage of the annual Junior Safety at Sea seminar, hosted by the Storm Trysail Foundation. This seminar taught junior sailors how to pull their weight while working on a big boat.

Continuing with big boats, here's Tony Bull of Bull Sails explaining how not to lose your spinnaker sail during a race. Bull's article was also posted on Sailing Scuttlebutt, which is where I first saw it.

 

    A lot can go wrong on the race track and retrieving the spinnaker is one area that is fraught with danger and too often goes wrong. A successful drop relies on a few key points. It is a drill that involves multiple crewmembers all working in synchronisation. They must all be able to do their roles in the right sequence. So allow a lot of time for each to do their job.

One of the bigger issues these days is to find regular crew and this can be a real problem for a lot of racing boats. If you have a chopping and changing of the guard on a regular basis then it is important to have a default setting for your spinnaker work. This would entail a tried and true retrieval system that is fairly safe.

A familiar dousing technique enables you to incorporate a few newbies into their roles with a minimum of fuss. Be precise with your instructions of when and where they need to be and what they need to do and look out for them. You can work all this out doing very conservative spinnaker work as part of your pre-race drill. It still amazes me the number of boats where the first hoist of the day is at the first top mark. What hope has the newbie got?

I find when working up a crew of mixed competence levels it is always easier to just develop one procedure on most manoeuvres and then once mastered,differing systems can be incorporated. Most racing boats will have quite a few variations of spinnaker dousing they can utilise for different race positions. But all have a lot in common.

The crew must know their roles. Make sure all the halyards and sheets are ready for the job and will not snarl. There must be enough time allowed to enable the manoeuvre. Don’t rush it; snappy crew-work comes with competence, not with haste. Let’s have a look at a few different ways to drop the spinnaker. 

Check out a full list of recommended ways to drop the chute on Tony's blog, Bull Sails.

2014 Storm Trysail Foundation Junior Safety at Sea Seminar Hosted by Larchmont Yacht Club

by Marcy Trenholm, Storm Trysail Club, and 
     Lisa Schinella, Storm Trysail Foundation

The Storm Trysail Foundation thanks all the volunteer speakers, boat owners, coaches and the staff of the Storm Trysail Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, and Junior Sailing Association of LIS for making this Seminar a big success.  The juniors were welcomed by Larchmont Commodore Rob Snedeker and Storm Trysail Commodore Nick Langone. Over 200 junior sailors and their instructors attended classroom, simulator, and dockside sessions in the morning, and sailed on 22 borrowed boats in the afternoon. Our guest speaker was Boris Hermann from Hamburg, Germany- navigator of  “Maserati”, the upgraded Volvo 70 that is now breaking world sailing records.  For the first time, we offered a “Level 200” advanced program for 28 juniors who sailed on Patriot, Strider and Troubador.  Video coverage was provided by Lee Reichart with Whitney Kneisley driving.   Maureen Koeppel photographed ashore and afloat. Special thanks to Storm Trysail Club's Marcy Trenholm and Whitney Kneisley, and the Foundation's Lisa Schinella. Special handouts and the “Winch Video” courtesy of Joe Cooper.

Thank you all!    Richard du Moulin

Speakers:  Boris Hermann (Ocean Racing), Gino Bottino (Medicine at Sea), H.L. Devore (Electronic Navigation & Communication), Adam Loory (Man Overboard & Recovery).

Simulator Coach:  Lincoln White, Sailing Director, LYC

Dockside Coaches:  Peter Bauer, Ann Myer, Rudi Millard, Bob Behringer

 

On the Water Practice:

Patriot (owner Steve Furnary) - Peter Becker and Buttons Padin, coaches

Strider (Andrew Berdon) – Andrew and John Browning

Troubador ( Jamie Andersonand Ned Weintraub) – Jamie and Chris Reyling

Lir (John McNamara) – John, Dick York, and Lawrence Cutler

Young American (AYC) – AYC instructors

Deviation (Iris Vogel) – Iris and Brenda Lewis

Sweet Lorraine (Mark Hanson) – Wilson Hunt and Todd Aven

Dash (Stamford YC) – Stamford instructors and Bruce Lebens

Melody (Alan Tannous) – Alan and Patrick Slattery

Soulmates (Adam Loory) – Adam, Gerard Girstl, and Bill Padin

Maudelayne (Bud Heerde) – Bud and Halsey Bullen

Choucas (Fred Cosandey) – Fred and Bob Behringer

Sunset Child (Marcus Cholerton-Smith) – Marcus and Wes, Bill Heinz

Morning Glory (Carl Olsson) – Walter Florio 

Celebration (Sea Scouts) – Kai Horan and Jon Ricci

Finale (Tom O’Connell) – Tom and the Young Mariners of Stamford

Bonzer (Peter Bauer) – Peter

Risk (Kevin Mackay) – Riverside coaches

Froya (Briggs Tobin) – Briggs, Charlie Gulotta and Ann Myer

Hurricane (John Schinto) – John

Inevitable (Sewanhaka CYC) – Sewanhaka coaches

War Horse (Port Washngton YC) – Mike and Alison Puleo

 

American YC Junior Big Boat Sailing Team Wins Vineyard Lightship Trophy

Many sailors compete a lifetime without winning a Vineyard Race, despite countless tries. But for eight junior sailors from American Yacht Club the first time was a charm as they captured the prestigious Vineyard Lightship trophy given annually to the boat with the best corrected IRC time.

 

Peter Becker, Colin Alexander, Sam Papert, Will McKeige, Sean Walsh, Haley Rodriguez, Carina Becker, Doug McKeige and Key Becker. Madeline Ploch not pictured.

 

The junior crew, sailing the J/122 Patriot, received the loudest cheers Sunday night at the awards ceremony on the front lawn of host Stamford Yacht Club for accomplishing something many in the crowd can only hope to do. They were also the first winner of the Corinthian Challenge trophy created last year by the Stamford YC’s Vineyard Race to encourage young sailors to participate.

“I’ve never won a Vineyard Race, so this is a pretty magical moment,” said Peter Becker, head of the junior big boat sailing program at American Y.C. who was one of two adults on the boat. “And to do it with our young sailors makes it even better.” Doug McKeige, father of one of the junior sailors aboard, was the other adult.

Patriot beat out Rambler, George David’s sleek 90-footer, on corrected time, a feat they didn’t think possible when returning to Stamford late Saturday when they spotted her heading East off New Haven. “So she was 100 miles ahead of us,” Becker said. “How do we beat that?”

“You always wonder if there’s some smaller boat that is going to finish way behind you and beat you on corrected time,” Becker added. “This weekend, we were that little boat.”

After the crew finished Saturday evening, they headed back to Rye from Stamford and it was only when they got to the dock they realized they had a chance when one of the crew received a text from a friend. It was confirmed when Becker headed back to Stamford to return his transponder.

The crew of Patriot comes from the junior big boat sailing program Becker heads up at American. The eight juniors – Will McKeige, Colin Alexander, Sean Walsh, Key Becker, Carina Becker, Madeline Ploch, Haley Rodriguez and Sam Papert – have spent the summer with others in the program, not only racing but also cruising and learning all about big boats. “Big boat sailing delivers all kinds of experience and offshore racing is one such experience,” Becker said.

The 2013 racing schedule started with the American Spring Series and will conclude with the Fall Series. It included the Block Island Race, Larchmont Race Week, several Stratford Shoal races, the Dorade Race and the Vineyard Race.

It was during the Block Island Race Memorial Day weekend the group thought about doing the Vineyard Race for the first time. The junior program, which includes about 35 young sailors, has a J/105 named Young American. But for the Block Island Race the group hitched a ride on Lir, a Swan 45 owned by John McNamara. This year’s Block Island Race produced some wild conditions. “It was initiation by fire,” Becker said. “But all the kids came home with smiles on their faces. They were so cold, beat up, and still they wanted to do more. That’s when they started thinking about the Vineyard Race, but not many of them wanted to do it on a J/105. So the Vineyard Race was a bright star on their horizon and they wanted to figure out how to do this race.”

Eventually they were able to secure the use of Patriot, co-owned by former American YC Commodore Steve Furnary and Vice Commodore Peter Duncan. The team had use of the boat for the Beach Point Overnight junior race in early August, but not much other time to prepare. One of the biggest challenges was learning how to use double halyards something they mastered pretty quickly.

Going into the Vineyard Race, Becker knew the boat had a chance. “We knew they were prepared and would be able to complete the course,” he said. “They’re also very competitive.”

The first hint they had that they were in the running for hardware was on the way out. The crew stayed with its original plan to stay down the middle of the Sound despite their competition heading off to one of the shores. The crew saw that several boats they thought should have passed them by Port Jefferson were still behind them. They continued to stick with their plan to go out the Gut, even though that was tested when they had a tight reach getting around the island after the lighthouse.

Most of the tactical decisions were made by the junior sailors. “I was playing navigator,” Becker said. “I presented various options and concepts. Doug (McKeige) would check various weather reports on his phone and the kids were into it and made the key decisions.”

One of the junior sailors, Madeline Ploch, 12, was competing against her father, sailmaker Mark Ploch, sailing on Lir. During the ride out, when Lir was behind Patriot, Mark texted images of Patriot’s transom to his daughter wondering if they would ever be able to pass the smaller boat. They eventually did, but not before Patriot gave them a run. “It was fun having that father/daughter competition,” Becker said.

The eight junior crew members ranged in age from 12 to 17. Becker made special note of Madeline Ploch’s accomplishment. “If she does the Vineyard Race for the next nine years she will become a Buzzard before she ages out of the Corinthian class.”

What’s next? After the team wraps up the 2013 season they’ve set their sites on Bermuda. They don’t have a boat yet, but are starting to look. Based on what they’ve accomplished in the Vineyard Race, that shouldn’t be too hard.

Patriot was one of five boats that competed this year in the newly-formed Corinthian Challenge. To compete for the challenge boats must have two thirds of the crew between the ages of 14 and 24 and enrolled in high school or college. The Challenge was created by David White (sailing coach at Sacred Heart University) and Stamford Yacht Club’s Vineyard Race Committee to encourage more youth involvement in the event and sport.

Stamford Yacht Club Commodore Tom Campfield presented the Chelsea Clock trophy to the team for their IRC win and praised them afterwards. “Stamford Yacht Club is a strong supporter of junior sailing so Patriot’s win is very meaningful. We hosted several junior events this summer so this is a fitting cap to a great season. Congratulations to American Yacht Club and its team.”

This article by guest author Charles Barthold first appeared in the Vineyard Race blog.
Photos by Rick Bannerot

 

2013 Vineyard Race Corinthian Challenge for Youth Sailors

Have you heard about the Vineyard Race Corinthian Challenge that is open to high school and college sailors?

The 2013 Vineyard Race starts at noon August 30 off Stamford Harbor. 

- Youth Corinthian Challenge Teams: The Corinthian Challenge, created in partnership with David White, head sailing coach at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield CT, is open to all high school and collegiate sailors between the ages of 14 and 24. At least two thirds of the crew for each entry in the Corinthian Challenge must fit in the age range. In addition, each boat will be required to have two advisers aboard, at least 25 years old and experienced in overnight distance racing. Training at night in man overboard recovery and reefing is required. See full details in Section 3.3 of the NOR.
 
There will be separate scoring for eligible boats, details to be announced in the Sailing Instructions.  “This is a great opportunity to grow interest in offshore racing for high school and collegiate sailors,” White said. “The Vineyard Race, which takes place at the start of the school year for most students, provides an early season opportunity for team building and bonding.”
 
- Youth Crew/Boat Board: The Vineyard Race will also be helping those high school and college sailors who want to participate but can’t field a team entry. “We will be encouraging those sailors to use our crew/boat board to let owners know they are experienced and available,” said White. “All Corinthian sailors should indicate their age, experience and school affiliation in the optional field when filling out their crew board information.”

For full details about the Corinthian Challenge and access to the Crew/Boat board, see the Stamford Yacht Club's event website and select “Registration and Notice of Race (YachtScoring).”
 
For more information on forming a youth team or participating as an individual youth crew, email David White [email protected] 

 

Great Winds at Beach Point Overnight Race for Junior Big Boat Sailors

Sailors review the racecourse before the race on Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday morning brought some considerably adverse conditions, including heavy rain and winds, to the Long Island Sound area.  While people on their way to work ran through the raindrops trying to stay as dry as possible, junior big boat sailors were preparing for the annual Beach Point Overnight Race.

The race, which was scheduled to start at 3:20pm but postponed to 5:20pm in an effort to avoid the wet weather, began at the Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck, NY.  From there, sailors raced to Stratford Shoal Lighthouse and then back to the Beach Point Club.  Around 4am on Wednesday, sailors began to cross the finish line.

One aspect of this race that differentiates it from other regattas is that it takes place at night.  Since most sailors are accustomed to practicing and racing during the day, they were not exactly sure what to expect once the sun set.

“It’s going to be dark out there and if something goes wrong, we’re not going to be able to see what’s going on around us,” explained Blair Caccam, a sailor from Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT.  “We have to stay on our toes and be ready for the unexpected.”

“Staying up all night will be tiring and cold,” described Ryan James, a sailor from Noroton Yacht Club.  “It will test our knowledge of sailing as well as our endurance.”

Hanna Pierce of Indian Harbor Yacht Club carries line to her team's boat before the race.

Another aspect of this regatta that sets it apart is its length and intensity.  For approximately 12 hours, juniors sail continuously with no breaks and nowhere to go outside of the confines of their sailboat.  Such tight circumstances allow sailors to get to know their teammates very well.

“Since we’re going to be sailing together longer than any other regatta, we’re going to learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses,” shared Caccam.  “As a team, I think we’ll bond during this race.”

Because the sailors competing in the overnight race are the most experienced juniors from their teams, it would seem to make sense that they would compete in more extreme races.  A good number of the sailors in this regatta seemed to appreciate the level of intensity of this race, especially given that it was a junior-only regatta.

“Even though we’re so young, it’s really thrilling to be able to compete in such a large race,” explained Catherine Cooke, a sailor from Indian Harbor Yacht Club who also competed in the last year’s race.

Once the race started, sailors experienced strong breezes of about 15-20 knots, with gusts up to around 25 knots.

In first place in the A1 class was the J/122 Patriot from American Yacht Club.  In class A2, Pequot Yacht Club’s J/109 Strategery took home first place.  And in the B class, Larchmont Yacht Club’s J/105 Morning Glory won first place in both its class and for the whole regatta.

For full results, please go to the JSA’s regatta documents page.  For photos from the event, please click here, and for team portraits, please click here.

Sailors Learn Big Boat Safety at Annual Safety at Sea Seminar

Larchmont firefighters demonstrate how to extinguish diesel fuel fires.

As Junior Race Week drew to a close, junior big boat sailors and instructors came to Larchmont Yacht Club on Friday July 19 for the annual Junior Safety at Sea seminar, hosted by the Storm Trysail Foundation.  Over 210 people attended this year’s event.

The seminar is a day-long safety skills workshop that incorporates mini classes in the morning with a practical component on large yachts in the afternoon, during which participants practice the skills they learned in the morning.

Most participants came to the seminar hoping to boost their knowledge of sailing safety and learn how to be prepared on the water.  For some, this was their first year sailing big boats, and they were still unfamiliar with many of the differences between big boats and dinghies.

“I’m looking forward to learning how to be safe on the water,” explained Tommy Glover, a sailor from Riverside Yacht Club in Greenwich, CT.

“I came hoping to learn some skills I can use on the Beach Point Overnight Race,” shared Michaela O’Donnell, a sailor from Black Rock Yacht Club in Bridgeport, CT.

Four classes were given in the morning.  One that many sailors found exciting was the fire prevention and fighting class, taught by members of the Larchmont Fire Department.  During the class, firefighters lit a diesel fuel fire and demonstrated how to use a fire extinguisher to put it out.

“Fire prevention was fun because we put out actual fires,” recalled O’Donnell.  “But we also learned some valuable lessons.”

Another class that had high reviews was about man overboard recovery.  Teacher Adam Loory showed sailors and instructors numerous videos demonstrating different recovery techniques and when to use them.

“The video about the man overboard was informative,” described Max Lipkin, a sailor from Stamford Yacht Club in Stamford, CT.  “I liked the presenter.”

Another class that morning was about weather and storm preparation, presented by Bob Behringer.  There was also a class given by Kelly Robinson and Ann Myer about practical sailboat equipment, including winches, storm jibs, tethers, and jacklines. 

On the dock, sailors learned the importance of using tethers and jacklines on big boats.

After the morning classes, Henry Marx demonstrated to all of the sailors and instructors how to properly use a flare and smoke signal for on-water distress. 

Once that was done, sailors and their instructors boarded 21 sailing yachts and set out to practice the skills they had learned in the morning.  The afternoon’s agenda included man overboard drills, sail reefing, and checking the boats for general safety.

“I think going out on the boats was really helpful,” explained Hanna Pierce, a sailor from Indian Harbor Yacht Club.  “Since we get talked at a lot in the morning, we get to go out and try those skills in the afternoon.”

“The setup is perfectly designed for us to learn in the morning before we go out and practice in the afternoon,” shared Glover.

The day concluded when the sailors returned from the water with a pizza party for everyone involved.
The day could not have been possible without the support of many volunteers and other sponsorships.

“Sponsorships like West Marine and Landfall Navigation make this possible,” explained Rich du Moulin, the seminar’s moderator.  We have huge volunteer support,” du Moulin added.  “People have loaned 21 boats and their own time today, and not a single person gets paid a dollar.”

For more information about Storm Trysail Foundation and the Safety at Sea program, please visit their website. For photos from the seminar, please see the JSA of LIS Facebook page.