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JSA of LIS Awards Special Trophies for 2011

Annually the JSA of LIS awards several trophies that focus on character and dedication to sailing, outstanding junior sailing instruction, and season-long sportsmanship.

The special trophies for 2011 were presented by Pam Toner, JSA Chair, during the Midwinter Meeting at the Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck NY on February 11.

BROOKE E. GONZALEZ MEMORIAL TROPHY
- The Brooke E. Gonzalez Memorial Trophy is awarded to a girl who demonstrates exceptional character, dedication to the sport of sailing and outstanding sailing achievement among her female peers.  Brooke Gonzalez was admired for her enthusiasm for sailing, beginning with Optimists, through Blue Jays, Lasers and finally Intl 420s. These attributes led her to be Commodore of the Junior American Yacht Club and a leading force of the Intl 420 Class US Team. Her bright smile and obvious excitement for sail racing was seen by many people at clubs all over the Sound. Brooke’s friends collaborated to create this trophy to keep her memory alive.

The 2011 Gonzalez Trophy has been awarded to Rebecca Quirke, of American Yacht Club. Becca was nominated by leaders of her junior sailing program because they felt the recipient of this prestigious award should be a young woman who embodies the Corinthian spirit on which our sport was founded. Having been a multi-year junior sailing instructor and Junior American Yacht Club Commodore, she is a role model of ethical and sportsmanlike behavior for younger sailors. Additionally, Becca embraces the overall goal of creating life-long sailors through the excitement and the long-lasting friendships of the junior sailing program. She is an extraordinary young woman who embodies integrity, morality, compassion and friendship.

We also congratulate Bridget Clarke, who was nominated for the Gonzalez award by Pequot Yacht Club.

 

SUSIE TROTMAN TROPHY
- The Susie Trotman Trophy for outstanding sailing instruction is awarded to an instructor who exhibits ethical behavior by both personal example and instruction.  He or she also must show a high level of administrative competence, good communicative skills with parents and sailors, creative teaching techniques, responsibility and reliability, initiative, good judgment and leadership, dedication and motivation as well, as have working relationships with peers. Susie Trotman’s contribution to training sailors spans over-30 years, including serving as chair of the junior sailing program at Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club, chair of the US Sailing Association national training committee, organizer of the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation Advanced Racing Clinics, spearhead for the development of US Sailing instructor training courses, and US Sailing regional training coordinator in the Long Island Sound area.

Carter Harris accepts the Susie Trotman trophy on behalf of Juan Pablo Carranza

The 2011 Trotman Trophy has been awarded to Juan Pablo Carranza, of Indian Harbor Yacht Club. He was nominated by his junior sailing program because of his ability to encourage and challenge his junior sailors and his ability to communicate with them in a very effective way. He shows a genuine interest in the young sailors, from top finishers to the back of the fleet, demonstrating the integrity and character of a true role model to the sailors whom he directs daily. Always excited to go for a sail, he is the first to motivate the younger kids who may be slightly apprehensive on a windy day, or lead the racers around a new style of course. His initiative was demonstrated after a micro-burst hit the club on a weekend, and he took charge to direct the recovery and repair of the entire C420 fleet within three days. Further, he rescued one of his sailors from a capsized boat when she was trapped beneath the hull unable to escape. Juan Pablo’s unrelenting willpower, initiative and great personality make him a great friend, coach, and instructor.

We also congratulate Emily Stubbs, who was nominated for the Trotman award by Stamford Yacht Club; Meredith Krim, nominated by Douglaston Yacht Squadron; and Graham Landy, nominated by American Yacht Club.

MITCHELL S. WEEKS MEMORIAL TROPHY
-The Mitchell S. Weeks Memorial Trophy is presented by the JSA of LIS and the New York Yacht Club to sailors who show outstanding sportsmanship. Mitchell Weeks was a very active member of New York Yacht Club before his death from leukemia.  Mitch's sailing career began at age six in dinghies. At age eight, he was sailing a Blue Jay single-handed. As a young man, he was in great demand as fore-deck crew aboard racing and cruising boats. He was Junior Commodore of Indian Harbor Yacht Club, and a Sailing Instructor at the Junior American Yacht Club.  At St. Paul's School he won the Tolland Medal awarded for "Outstanding Sportsmanship, Dedication, Integrity, and Courage." The purpose of the Weeks trophy is to underscore for generations of young sailors to come that the true benefits of sport come from the integrity, courage, and fairness with which the game is played. Four awards may be made annually, one each in the C420 (a skipper and a crew, individually), Laser and Laser Radial classes.

The 2011 Weeks trophy has been awarded to two sailors.

The Laser class award went to Wilson Hunt, of American Yacht Club, who was cited as the keystone of his junior sailing program. He sails because he truly loves the sport and works hard to make sure his competitors and friends enjoy themselves. Wilson wants to learn and also have fun on the water, and he makes sure that everyone, including his coaches, is getting something out of the experience - he has always seen the bigger picture of what junior sailing truly is about. Always a great role model, his friends love him, his competitors respect him, the coaches value his contributions and the younger sailors look up to him. 

The Radial class award went to Glenn Blair, of Pequot Yacht Club,

who has helped to rebuild the Laser/Radial group at his club. He consistently demonstrates a competitive but sensitive attitude and is respectful of his peers, instructors and of his competitors. He always looks for advice on how to improve, tries out new strategies in the boat, and wants to understand how a race turned out the way it did. He then takes this knowledge and applies it the next morning during junior mentoring, where he shows true proclivity for teaching and a genuine desire to help others learn. He repeatedly exhibits a desire to push himself and his peers further in increasingly competitive regattas.

We also congratulate Thomas McHugh, who was nominated for the Weeks award by Black Rock Yacht Club.

 

Long Island Sound area sailors qualify for 2012 Olympics

At the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Australia, all the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics sailors have qualified the USA for a country berth in their respective Olympic classes.

Those of us who sail on Long Island Sound and nearby waters are especially pleased to see some of our neighbors who were junior sailors from about ten years ago punch their tickets this weekend to the Olympic games in 2012.
 
Having a wildly successful final day was Rob Crane (Darien CT) with first and a second for 14th overall in the Laser fleet, a huge leap from 33rd at the start of the day. “It’s unbelievable,” said Crane. “I’m thrilled to have a day like that in arguably the hardest fleet in the world." Way back in 2000, Rob was the JSA of LIS Radial class champion and also the JSA season high-point champ. And earlier this past summer he came back to help some of the current juniors as a coach at the JSA Advanced Racing Clinic.   

Erik Storck (Huntington NY) with Trevor Moore ended up 9th overall in the 49er fleet after a frustrating gear failure in the medal race. As a junior, Erik skippered to win the US Junior Sailing Doublehanded Championship for the Bemis trophy in 2002 and the US Youth Sailing Championship in 2004. More recently he has helped coach the high school teams that sail out of The Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay NY.  

Other top scoring sailors from the Long Island Sound area included Amanda Clark (Shelter Island NY) and Sarah Lihan who were 12th in the Women’s 470, and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport NY) on Anna Tunnicliffe’s Team Maclaren, with Molly Vandemoer, who won gold in the Women’s Match Race.   

  
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Read the details about all the USA sailors on the USSTAG news feed , on the USSTAG blog and listen to audio interviews with the sailors.

And for overall coverage see the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships website. 

Sailing For A Cause at the Larchmont Leukemia Cup

There is another opportunity on the horizon to sail after the summer junior sailing season wraps up. 

The Leukemia Cup Regatta will be held at Larchmont Yacht Club over the weekend of September 10-11. The event, a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, is open to all junior sailors, with competition in Laser, Laser Radial, Club 420, and Optimist (Green Fleet included) classes. 

 A Beach Party on Saturday evening is open to all parents, kids, friends, family. There are also divisions for IRC, PHRF, keelboat one-designs, and Vanguard 15s.

For registration information and NORs, see the event pages at the Larchmont YC website and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society website.

 

US Sailing Youth Champs Wrap Up In Newport

Sailors capped off a busy summer season with the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship, held this past week in Newport, R.I. New York Yacht Club, Sail Newport, and Ida Lewis teamed up to host the event, which included Laser, Radial, C420, and 29er fleets. 

Quite a few Long Island Sound area sailors were in the top ten at the event. In the Club 420 fleet, American YC sailor Fiona Walsh crewed for Lily Katz from Bellport Bay YC (both pictured below), to finish first in the 36 boat fleet. Reinier Eenkema van Dijk and Spencer McDonough, of Larchmont YC and Indian Harbor YC finished ninth in C420s. Daniel DelBello, also from American YC, finsished eighth in the Laser fleet. Andrew and Matthew Mollerus from Larchmont YC took sixth in the 29er fleet. In the Radial fleet Nick Valente from Wet Pants SA as seventh, and OJ O'Connell from Mystic River Mudhead SA was eighth.

In overall standings, Erika Reineke, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., finished first in the Laser Radial fleet. Olin Paine, from San Diego, won the Laser fleet. Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.)  and Conner Kelter (Newport Beach, Calif.) took first place in the 29er fleet. 

For full results, pictures, and press releases, see event website. 

Photo credits Matthew Cohen and Michael Rudnick

 

NY, CT Area Sailors Compete for Sears, Bemis, and Smythe Trophies

Sailors from New York and Connecticut cleaned up the competition at the Chubb U.S. Junior Championships for the Sears, Bemis and Smythe Trophies last week in Toms River, New Jersey. The regatta, hosted by Toms River Yacht Club, welcomed 93 of the nation's top sailors for three days of racing over August 9-12.  

Nick Valente (Oakdale, NY), of Wet Pants Sailing Association based out of Sayville, NY, won the singlehanded championship (Smythe Trophy). Gary Prieto (Southhold, NY), of Old Cove YC, placed third. 

In the C420 class, Pearson Potts (Newport, RI) and Tristian Sess (Center Moriches, NY), representing Sail Newport, finished first out of 20 boats to win the Bemis Trophy. Potts has been a frequent competitor at Larchmont Junior Race Week in the past few years, winning the 420 class in 2009 and 2010. Additionally, two teams from Pequot Yacht Club (Southport, CT) - Jack Cusick/Henry Dumke and Bryce Kopp/Charlotte Saxe - finished sixth and eighth in the C420 fleet.  

Our neighbors from the ECSA's Mystic River Mudhead Sailing Association (pictured above) won the triplehanded Sears Cup. Competing in Flying Scots, O.J. O'Connell (Niantic, Conn.), Ben Wilkinson (Noank, Conn.) and Kyle Seniff (Glastonbury, Conn.) showed remarkable consistency with eight finishes in the top three.  

For more details, including full results, photos, and press releases, see the US Sailing website.

Photo credit Justin Chando

 

C420 and Laser Sailors Compete For JSA Championship At Stamford YC

Summer is flying (or sailing?) by, and the end-of-season championship regattas are upon us. The C420, Laser, and Radial classes met for the JSA Championships on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week at Stamford Yacht Club. 

Nearly 150 sailors qualified for this year's championship, which was held in Stamford Harbor off of Shippan Point. Tuesday brought pretty breezy conditions, and two races were completed in a 15 knot easterly before the torrential downpour and thunderstorm warnings began. Conditions were lighter on Wednesday morning, with the wind hovering around a 5-6 knot southwesterly before building back up to 10-15 in the afternoon. 

In the 420 fleet, Centerport YC sailors Sean Cornell and Peter Sterflinger, showing that consistency was the key to success, stayed in the top ten for the entire regatta to finish first.

"It was important to focus on current, especially on laylines and on the line.  Another thing that helped us was that my crew Peter is also a skipper and we both can discuss tactics and put together our inputs," said Cornell. 

Clara and Mary Robertson, from American Yacht Club (pictured left), finished close behind in second, and Emma Lukens and Brendan O'Leary, from Riverside Yacht Club, grabbed third. 

55 boats competed in Laser Radials. Robert Simkins, of Centerport YC, William Baxter, of Riverside YC, and Gillian Boehringer, of Stamford YC, finished in the top three, separated by a slim margin of 6 points.

Marek Zaleski, of host club Stamford, topped the Laser full rig fleet, finishing first out of a dozen boats. 

"Getting into pressure and hitting shifts was the right key. Usually there was one big (25º plus) shift per race, and everyone who got to that shift first was launched ahead of the other boats," he said."

John LaBossiere, from American YC, and Andrew Schlegel, from Larchmont YC, finished neck-and-neck in second and third with 29 points apiece. This trio has been dominating the Laser class all summer, trading places in the top three at the Law Trophy and Larchmont Race Week. 

Voicing the sentiment of many sailors at the regatta, Zaleski was happy to compete in a challenging fleet. "I found that the level of competition was much higher than at previous JSA events," he said.

For full results, see JSA Regattas page.

For pictures, see Picasa gallery. 

Whom Do You Respect the Most as a Junior Sailing Competitor?

 

The MITCHELL S. WEEKS TROPHY is presented by the New York Yacht Club in memory of Mitchell S. Weeks, who was known for his extraordinary integrity, courage and fairness in sailing competition.

 
It is awarded at the JSA of LIS October annual meeting for sportsmanship in the Club 420, Laser and Laser Radial classes.

The 2010 winners for the Club 420 skipper and crew were Austin Schaefer and Jason Raymond of Cedar Point YC, and for the Radial class was JJ Munro of Noroton YC.

The Weeks Trophy promotes awareness that the true benefits of sport come from the integrity, courage, and fairness with which the game is played. It’s awarded annually to the JSA of LIS member sailors who are most respected by their peers:
- These sailors always use good clean racing and skill, no matter if it’s win, lose or draw, and you’re left thinking they are good people to race against.
- If such a sailor has left an impression on you while competing this season, nominate them for the Weeks award.

Sailors may nominate candidates based on overall behavior this summer, or for a single event at a regatta.

During JSA Champs at Stamford YC nominations were solicited the competitors. 
Now that C420, Laser and Radial sailors have return from JSA Champs, coaches may gather their sailors specifically to discuss this concept of season-long sportsmanship.

Please encourage more nominations using this formand send them to the JSA office.

JSA also accepts nominations from instructors and program chairs.

Long Island Sound Area Sailors Fare Well at Buzzards Bay

The one and only Buzzards Bay Regatta was held this past weekend from August 5-7 in South Dartmouth, Mass. at New Bedford Yacht Club.  

Many JSA of LIS area sailors and instructors made the trek up north to compete in the C420, Laser, Radial, and Vanguard 15 classes of the event. Though winds started out light and shifty on the first day, breeze built over the next two days for classic Buzzards Bay sailing conditions. Sunday racing was cancelled because of high winds upwards to 20-25 knots.

Daniel Debello of American YC had a standout perfornace, placing first in the 32-boat Laser fleet. Ryan Schmitz (Port Washington YC), James Barry (Stamford YC), Reid Secondo (Indian Harbor YC), and Marek Zaleski (Noroton YC) also finished in the top ten of the fleet. For the Radials, Colin Kennedy of PWYC placed fifth, and Catherine Shanahan of Stamford tenth. 

In the C420 class, Reiner Eenkema van Dijk (Larchmont YC) and Spencer McDonough (IHYC) placed second out of 153 boats.  Adele and Declan Whitmyer, from Noroton YC, finished close behind in sixth, and Pearson Potts, from Southern YC and a 2-time winner at Larchmont Junior Race Week, finished in eighth. Harry Koeppel (LYC), Fiona Walsh (AYC), Tracy Doherty (Sea Cliff YC), and Brendan O'Leary/Jack Schneider (Riverside YC/IHYC) also counted amongst the top twenty finishers in the fleet. 

Additionally, Brendan Kopp, who is an instructor at Pequot this summer, sailed to a fourth place finish in the Vanguard 15 fleet.

Full results can be found here.

 

At SUNY Maritime, ECSA Again Proves To Be Up To The Challenge

Junior sailors from Connecticut and New York got the chance to battle it out on the water last week at the SUNY Maritime Junior Challenge. This event, along with its younger counterpart, the Midget Challenge, is a unique one on the summer calendar as it gives sailors the opportunity to represent the JSA of LIS under one team and compete against other area assoications.  

Four associations participated in this year's Junior Challenge, held on August 2. In addition to the JSA contingent, teams from the Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association (ECSA), the Great South Bay Yacht Racing Association (GSBYRA), and the Hudson River Yacht Racing Association (HRYRA) participated.

The JSA was represented by Connor Marion, & Grace Baldwin, Cedar Point YC; Sean Cornell & Peter Sterflinger, Centerport YC; Rebecca Anderson & Julia Johnson, Centerport YC; John Cuccio & Andrew McCarthy, Pequot YC; and Hailey Ullmann & Brigette Croke, Indian Harbor YC. Graham Landy, instructor at American Yacht Club, coached the JSA team through the event. 

"The regatta is an interesting format - great venue with very equal boats," said Cedar Point YC sailor Connor Marion, who skippered one of the JSA boats. "I prefer 3-on-3 team racing to measure the strength of each team, but enjoyed fleet racing with kids from other areas."

Each organization sent ten sailors, with five boats apiece, to fleet race in collegiate 420s (no traps or spinnakers).  Breeze held strong during the day, which allowed a total of ten races. Teams from the JSA of LIS and the ECSA were neck and neck throughout the regatta, with the ECSA pulling out ahead in Race 10 to win the regatta with a low-point overall total score of 432 points. Two boats on the JSA team led the individual fleet race scoring with Cornell/Sterflinger at #1 and Marion/Baldwin at #3.

Consistency and even performances were the key to success for the ECSA team, who won the event for the second year in a row. 

Fritz Finkenauer, of Stonington Harbor Yacht Club and Sailing Foundation and a skipper at the regatta, said that being familiar with the venue was also a big plus. The Throggs Neck section of the East River, where the regatta was sailed, is a notoriously quirky venue with a strong current that can rip through the racecourse. 

 "The first year, I was not sure what to expect in terms of winds and current. The second time around, I was able to focus on tactic and speed so I could make the boat go as fast as possible, which was key to our association's success," said Finkenhauer.

With their win, the ECSA will add its name again to the perpetual trophy that was originally won by the yacht Running Tide in the 1971 Miami-Nassau Ocean Race. The trophy was rededicated several years ago as the SUNY Maritime Junior Challenge Trophy by the family of Jakob Isbrantsen.

Complete results are on the JSA website.

Additional photos are on the JSA gallery.

 

The ABCs of Getting Ready for Big Regattas

As the end-of-season JSA championship regattas approach over the next few days, here are some resources we've compiled to help everyone have a successful, smooth, and fun week:

A is for Articles:

If it's your style, doing a little background reading never hurts. Earlier this summer, WindCheck Magazine  published a story on preparing for junior sailing regattas, with a rundown of the nuts and bolts of ensuring a great event. Another good article comes from the archives of Sail1Design, written by Tufts Head Sailing Coach Ken Legler, about avoiding mistakes at regattas and the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship. Though its written with the college sailor in mind, the advice is great for sailors of all ages: including avoiding fouls, when and when not to tack, preventing breakdowns, and dealing with traffic on the water.  Check it out!

B is for Being Ready:

American YC coach Graham Landy reminds us of some basic and key points of getting ready for a big regatta: "When preparing for a major event, I always research the venue well ahead of time to practice effectively. Shortly before the event, I focus on basics on the water such as boatspeed and boathandling. Most importantly, I eat and sleep well in the days preceding the event."

Frank Pizzo, Head Sailing Coach at Bowdoin and former program director at Larchmont and Pequot YC, echoed Landy's statements about eating and sleeping well. He added, "Sailors need to hydrate well before getting on the water.  The most common way to lose focus is through dehydration." 

Pizzo also noted the importance of keeping to routine, saying, "It is important to treat your championship regattas just like every other event.  Stick to the routines that have made you comfortable and ready for earlier events.  It is important for sailors to avoid trying sometime new or experimental for these bigger events.  New sails or new rigging need to be worked out at the smaller events.  These new things are really just distractions."

C is for Checking Conditions:

Know what to expect at your venue! For those heading to Norwalk/Rowayton for the Pixel & Blue Jay Champs as well as Stamford for the Laser, Radial, and C420 Champs, CleverPig has all the links to weather forecasts, tide tables, and wind conditions in the area. Those headed to Opti Champs at Larchmont later this week can get the same information here.

Good luck to everyone, and sail fast!