JibeTalk

Spring Laser Regatta and Youth Match Racing

Here are two events that have registrations due this week.

The first is for the Spring Laser Regatta at American YC, Rye NY, on this Saturday, June 18. This is an open event for any Laser Standard or Radial sailor, regardless of age. The NOR and entry form are available on the AYC website.

The second is the Oyster Bay Youth Match Racing Clinegatta (clinic and regatta) at Oakcliff Sailing Center on July 14-17. Entries are due this week (one month in advance) from sailors 16 – 22 years old. For details see the Oakcliff website.

 

Former Long Island Sound Juniors at Women's College Nationals

It's been only a few years since they were sailing in junior events on Long Island Sound, now they are winning prizes at the Women’s College National Championship that was held last week in Cascade Locks, Oregon.

Elizabeth Barry (Brown ’11) was named an All-American women’s skipper. Emily Dellenbaugh (Brown ’12) and Marlena Fauer (Yale ’14) received All-American honorable mention honors. Kelly Crane (HWS ’11) also sailed to a first place finish in B-division at the regatta. 

JSA parent Susan Dellenbaugh noted, “It’s a lot of individual effort that gets kids to this level, but the level of organization and competition in the JSA is great base.”

“Being a concentrated and organized sailing area certainly brings up the talent in the district,” she said.

Her daughter, Emily, who grew up sailing at Pequot Yacht Club, added, “College sailing is very different from other types of racing, but [junior sailing] helped put me on the right track and nudge me forward.”

The four-day event, sailed on the Columbia River Gorge from May 23 to 26, featured eighteen of the top women’s teams in the nation. 

While the beginning of the event brought stiff, consistent breeze, the final two days saw lighter air and a series of wind delays. Throughout the course of the regatta, sailors were challenged by a heavy current that made starting strategies and smart downwind sailing particularly crucial factors to success. 

“It was a really tricky venue, I’m sure most people would agree. Lots of current, starting was pretty difficult, people had to sail down away from the starting line in order to not be over,” said Emily Dellenbaugh.

Yale stood at the top of the standings after a breezy first day of competition, with powerhouses Brown and URI trailing closely behind. The Lady Bulldogs held onto their lead on Day 2, but strong Day 3 performances by URI, Connecticut College, and St. Mary’s shifted standings before the women entered their final day of competition.

Points were close the morning of the final day of racing, with URI commanding a 5-point lead. Light air resulted in only one race per division counting towards the final scores, and the URI team of Amy Hawkins ‘12, Caroline Hall ‘12, Chanel Miller ‘14, Danielle Fougere ‘12 and Katie Coupland ’11 captured the first-ever national championship for the Rams.  Conn College, St. Mary’s, Brown, and Yale rounded out the top five finishers, separated by a margin of only six points. 

 
Women's All-American honorable mention selection

For complete coverage, including full results, see event website

For event photos, see GTS Photos

For video coverage, see Sailgroove

2011 College National Semifinals in Long Beach, California

 
The top 36 college sailing teams in the country are in attendance at the Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s Western and Eastern Coed Semifinals today and Sunday at the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, one of the world’s best amphitheaters for sailing in Long Beach, Calif.

The two concurrent 18-team regattas will be going on at the same venue both days and the top nine from each event will make up the field at this year's nationals in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, in late May.

Do you have a favorite college team? Let us know about them in the comments. 

For complete coverage, see the event website.  
For event photos visit GTS Photos

Day 1 report: Thirty six teams arrived at the US Sailing Center-Long Beach this morning along with a classic Southern California Santa Ana weather pattern.  The traditional onshore sea breeze that Long Beach is famous for was battling with the offshore Santa Ana winds and unfortunately for the sailors the race course seemed to be ground zero for that battle.  Both fleets were postponed on the water until a little after 12:30 while we waited for the sea breeze to overtake the offshore flow and provide us with the steady winds to race. By utilizing a modified trapezoid course the committee was able to keep both fleets racing at a constant pace for the rest of the day.  Six races were ultimately completed in both divisons and both fleets.  The judge team led by Don Becker and consisting of Don, Chris Petracco, Katie Maxim, Vicki Sodaro and Glenn Oliver were kept extremely busy all day between the close action on the water and the 14+protests that were filed and heard during the day.  Once everyone made it back to the US Sailing Center the hospitality committee treated the group to a Mexican taco bar with carne asada and pollo asada. 

Day 2 report. Twelve races total were completed on trapezoid courses in both divisions in the Eastern Semifinal and eleven total races for both divisions in the Western Semifinal. There continued to be some big buildups and pinwheels at the leeward marks on the course making good boat handling and good boat placement key to come out of the pileups on top and without any fouls. All of the close racing pays off for the top nine teams in both the Eastern and Western Semifinal groups as they will all advance to the ICSA/Gill Dinghy National Championships, May 30 – June 1, 2011 at the Gorge in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The tight competition will continue in the challenging conditions of the Hood River.

Congratulations to the top nine teams in each event fleet advancing on to the Nationals:

Eastern Semifinals
1. Georgetown University
2. Harvard University
3. U.S. Naval Academy
4. College of Charleston
5. Stanford University
6. Brown University
7. Tufts University
8. Connecticut College
9. Old Dominion University

Western Semifinals
1. Boston College
2. Yale University
3. Roger Williams University
4. South Florida University
5. St. Mary’s College of Maryland
6. University of Miami
7. Hobart and William Smith College
8. Eckerd
9. University of Rhode Island

 

2011 All-NEISA Women's Teams

 
At the conclusion of this weekend's New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association's Women's Championships hosted by Bowdoin College in Maine, the NEISA Awards Committee announced the 2011 All-NEISA Women's Teams. (Note: also see Sailgroove coverage of the event)

In addition to First and Second Team Skippers and Crews, the Committee named the Women's Sailor of the Year and the Women's Rookie of the Year. 

Competitors named the 2011 Women's Sportsman of the Year - three sailors tied in the selection process and each was named 2011 Sportsman of the Year. 

  
WOMEN'S SAILOR OF THE YEAR:
Finalists:
Elizabeth Barry '11, Brown University
Claire Dennis '13, Yale University
Annie Haeger '12, Boston College
Winner - Annie Haeger '12, Boston College

 
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR (as selected by competitors):
Jenny Adler '11, Brown University
Elizabeth Barry '11, Brown University
Maggie Shea '11, Connecticut College 

 
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
Marlena Fauer '14, Yale University 

 
SKIPPERS, 1st TEAM:
Elizabeth Barry '11, Brown University
Atlantic Brugman '13, Connecticut College
Claire Dennis '13, Yale University
Marlena Fauer '14, Yale University
Annie Haeger '12, Boston College
Emily Lambert '12, Harvard University 

  
SKIPPERS, 2nd TEAM:
Jenny Adler '11, Brown University
Emily Billing '13, Yale University
Emily Dellenbaugh '12, Brown University
Emily Maxwell '11, Boston College
Jen Proctor '11, US Coast Guard Academy
Briana Provancha '12, Boston College
Maggie Shea '11, Connecticut College
Kelsey Wheeler '14, Dartmouth College

  
CREWS, 1st TEAM:
Elizabeth Dudley '11, Boston College
Alex Jumper '12, Harvard University
Emily Massa '12, Boston College
Heather May '13, Yale University
Amy Walker '11, Brown University

 
CREWS, 2nd TEAM:
Sara Carnahan '11, Tufts University
Kristen Holloway '12, US Coast Guard Academy
Katy Nastro '11, Boston College
Katrina Salk '11, Connecticut College
Cecilia Strombeck '11, Brown University
Logan Shanney '13, Brown University
Lucy Wallace '11, Connecticut College
Molly Wilson '13, Dartmouth College

NEISA Awards Committee:
Greg Wilkinson, Chairman
Jeff Bresnahan
John Mollicone
Frank Pizzo
John Storck
Mike O'Connor, ex-officio

Wet and Wild at the New England Dinghy Champs

Ken Legler, head coach at Tufts, sent these pics from the New England Dinghy Champs.

Rotations off the beach near Point Judith, RI were very exciting as the tide came up on Saturday and the shore break increased.

Ken said the racing was even more spectacular! During the Sunday racing, winds gusted upwards of 30 knots and almost all boats in the fleet flipped.

It was truly an epic event and will be remembered for years to come.

Roger Williams University dominated the event; full scores are here  

 

 

 

Can the iPhone make you the Ultimate Sailor?

 

With the accessibility and convenience of the Internet on phones, virtually any and all information is at one's fingertips. 

The revolution of the iPhone and its applications, or apps, has taken the technology world by storm and leaves no field of interest unexplored, including all elements of sailing. Apple & iTunes supplies an app for every need, concern, want, and interest for sailors. 

Whether you're learning the ropes or have had a lifetime of experience, 'there's an app for that' on the iPhone.  Listed below are a few of the top sailing applications for iPhones, check them out and see which ones best fit you!

For the Skipper-in-Training:
- SailX     
Simulating a full-featured sailing environment, learn the ins and outs of sailing and racing through this communally interactive app.  Through the SailX tactical trainer, get access to real-time regattas and communicate with other online sailors in addition to simulated sailing environments.  The app features three racing formats (fleet, team, match-race), five boat types (laser, catamaran, skiff, team, keelboat), and tons of simulations ranging from wind effects to sheet control.  SailX allows you to get access to live regattas while simulating real life scenarios, so you can be knowledgeably ready for anything.
- You-Tack Pro  
 For those who still need to brush up on their racing rules, You-Tack Pro is any captain's dream.  The app is a comprehensive way of learning and reviewing all the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing through illustrations, explanations, 3D animated quizzes, definitions, and description.  This easy to use app tests your sailing knowledge through simulations of real life scenarios; some of the quizzes include 'Sailing Upwind', 'Windward Mark', and 'Learning Signals'.  An added bonus: the quizzes are taken from the International Sailing Association Federation Case Book for 2009-2012.  Save your quiz results and specific rules in the favorites folder for a quick brush-up before any race.

For the savvy navigator & tactician:
- iNavX 
Looking for an easier way to keep your charts handy?  The iNavX app keeps all the official NOAA RNC US water marine charts in the palm of your hand.  iNavX covers all West Coast, Gulf Coast, East Coast, Great Lakes, Alaska, Hawaii, and US Virgin Islands charts in detail.  In addition, the app's built in GPS helps you plot your current position, map waypoints & routes, and track your progress.  Plot, zoom, scroll, and navigate with this 5 star rated app!

For the sailing history buff:
- History of Sailing  
Expand your horizon of sailing knowledge with this friendly, illustrative app.  The History of Sailing app covers the history of sailing through facts, illustrations, and engaging stories.  Browse through chapters of sailing physics, history, and points of sail to become a full-fledged sailing history expert.  One reviewer testified, "I had my friend who knew nothing about sailing give this a read for 30 minutes, he was able to carry on a conversation with me about sailing physics.  It’s a great guide to what sailing is all about."

For the 'can't-get-enough-sailing' enthusiast:
- Live Skipper 
One of the first multiplayer sailing games for the iPhone, Live Skipper is a virtual regatta simulator.  Create a boat, choose sails, watch the weather, and start competing in races around the world with real virtual opponents.  This app brags a 50,000+ player community, with the favorite feature being the real weather conditions simulated.  With a new race beginning every Friday, only one of the competing boats can come in first place.  Now you can get your sailing fix on or off the water.

- American Sailing Association 
Designed for new and experienced sailors, the ASA app is designed to fit and enhance the sailing lifestyle.  This app has everything for everyone: learn the art of typing knots, brush up on the identification of nautical flags and vessel lighting, find sailing schools in your area, and tons more.  Need to look up a quick term?  The app comes with a full sailing glossary for reference.  Want to check the forecast?  The app has direct access to the ASA Social Media Gateway, featuring national and satellite radars, tropical conditions for US cities, 5-day forecasts, wind data, and tide predictions.  Interested in to-the-minute sailing updates?  Use the app for direct connection to ASA's Facebook updates and Twitter feed.  ASA has always maintained a mission to "promote education and safety throughout the sailing community", and they continue to do so through their extensive app.

Download these apps and become the handiest sailor on or off the water.  Turns out, the ultimate sailor can fit right in your pocket.

And here are some other apps mentioned by our Facebook fans:
 - Ayetides
AyeTides displays tides and currents for nearly 10,000 location around the world. It is a stand-alone application and does not require internet access to function. 
 - MotionX GPS 
Designed and used by Philippe Kahn during his record setting Transpacific Run. The app has a virtual compass for navigation and a stopwatch to record time, distance, speed and average pace. MotionX-GPS is a great way to compare results from one race to the next and at the end of the day.
 - Animated Knots by Grog:
Are you all tied up in knots? Well, this app has been created by re-engineering the content of the very popular website, including all the knot tying animations and descriptions.
 - WindAlert
WindAlert is an app that draws from a database that includes over 40,000 weather stations across the globe. Features include favorite lists of weather stations separated into unique user-generated profiles and customizable wind alerts delivered through the iPhone when conditions reach thresholds set by the user.

Did we miss any iPhone apps that you find useful? Or do you prefer Android apps? Let us know by leaving a comment here.

This article was contributed by our guest author, Ali Tortorello, from Boston University, whose family sails out of Cedar Point YC in Westport CT.   

If you also have a story you'd like to share, please contact us and we'll get you published on JibeTalk!

 

A "Clever Pig" Helps Highly Competitive Young Sailors

The Southport Sailing Foundation is a charitable organization from Southport CT that was started several years ago by a group of sailors who grew up racing on Long Island Sound. All shared a passion for sailing and a desire to give back to the sport by helping others.

The mission of the Foundation is to facilitate the preparation, coaching and skill-building needed for youth and young adult sailors to participate and succeed in national and international sailing competition; and to do so in a way that promotes a lasting love of sailing and respect for all aspects of the sport, including seamanship, safety and sportsmanship.

The Foundation has developed two specific tools to help youth and young adult sailors reach their sail campaigning goals: a unique and comprehensive website - http://www.CleverPig.org - and the William B. Cargill Grant Fund that awards modest grants to help sailors offset some of the costs of their racing.
 
CleverPig.org facilitates organizing and managing a sailing campaign for young sailors. It provides tips and tools on how to get started, how to fundraise, write a budget, set a schedule, find and hire a coach and much more. There are copious amounts of information and tools so that young sailors can help themselves.
   - Sailors may create a campaign website on Cleverpig.org to promote their team with potential sponsors and tell supporters about recent accomplishments and future plans using the web page feature.
   - Junior program chairs and parents of young racing sailors have successfully used the ‘Coach Finder’ on Cleverpig.org that provides a thorough list of 140 coaches around the country and the boats they coach. A user of the website can sort by region and/or classes coached to find the coach needed.
   - Venue information such as weather and tide links, as well as local knowledge written by local sailors, can be found in the  venue section on Cleverpig.org. Currently, information for eighty different venues is available. This information has proven very helpful to include in registration packets if you are hosting a regatta, as well as for those going to events outside the Long Island Sound area, such as the Orange Bowl.

Through its special William B.Cargill Grant Fund the Foundation offers modest grants each calendar quarter to deserving youth and young adult racing sailors who are pursuing sailing campaigns. The next due date for grant applications is February 15, 2011. Since the inception of the Cargill Fund, almost fifty grants have been awarded. Of those, approximately half of the recipients were sailors from Long Island Sound. Some of the LIS sailors who have received grants are: Olivia Crane and Ali Blumenthal, Deirdre Lambert and Tracy Doherty, Rob Crane, Connor Needham, Brendan Kopp and Mike Costello, and Erik Storck and Trevor Moore, to name a few. See the complete list of grant recipients to date. Sailors who are awarded these grants will also become members of the newly announced Clever Pig Sailing Team. 

The Foundation relies solely on donations for its funding to support young, aspiring sailors and provide a valuable online resource for sailors across the country. Donations may be made online, or you can mail a check to: Southport Sailing Foundation, PO Box 946, Southport, CT 06890. Donations are tax-deductible because of the Foundation's 501(c)(3) status and will be used to give grants to deserving sailors, as well as help maintain the website, and you can specify how you would like your gift to be used.

P.S.  If you are wondering where the Clever Pig name came from, check out this answer. 

 

Cal Maritime's TeamUSA Sailors at Student Yachting World Cup in France

 

California Maritime Academy’s Kennedy Cup victory in the 2009 National Collegiate Offshore Sailing championship has earned them the honor of serving as TeamUSA in the 2010 Student Yachting World Cup. This year’s World Cup will take place in La Rochelle, on France’s western Atlantic coast from October 23-29.  (Practice day the 23rd and start of competition the 24th).

In 30 years, only one American team (Rhode Island in 1990) has ever won.  Cal Maritime is hoping to be the second US winner.

With its enrollment of about 850 students, Cal Maritime will be by far the smallest school among the 11 international universities entered from the U.S., Canada, England, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Japan.

Cal Maritime Sailing Director Charlie Arms Cartee says she and her team don’t worry much about those figures. “We have a history of doing well against much larger competitors. We took the Kennedy Cup in the 2009 National Intercollegiate Offshore Championships last fall to win the right to compete in France, and we recently beat Navy to take our fifth Shields Trophy in seven tries at Annapolis, MD, against teams from the U.S. service and maritime academies.”

Arms Cartee says Cal Maritime’s small size can be an advantage. “Many on TeamUSA have sailed with each other for two and three years in a variety of boat classifications and conditions. Going to France to sail on a brand new class of boat (Grand Surprise 32s) and the unfamiliar waters and wind conditions at La Rochelle doesn’t faze us. As the first team from the West Coast to compete for the U.S. in this event in its 30-year history, we think we have some demonstrated strengths in sailing in the kind of heavier winds we’re told are the norm in late October on the Atlantic Coast of France. Many on our team are comfortable with the stronger winds we often find in northern California and especially on San Francisco Bay. But we’ve also got team members with skills in light winds, as we demonstrated with our recent Shields victory.”

Cal Maritime’s special website (http://followteamusa.csum.edu) lets you follow Team USA every step of the way in their quest for the title in the 2010 Student Yachting World Cup. It will include reports from France, including photos and videos throughout each day of competition.

The offficial website for the Student Yachting World Cup is http://sywoc.org/

Man Overboard Training Put to Good Use by USMMA Crew

In early August while racing in Maine, the US Merchant Marine Academy's 100 foot Alden schooner Summerwind rescued a man-overboard (MOB) from another vessel in dense fog and cold water.

If you have attended the Storm Trysail Foundation's Safety at Sea Seminars held annually for junior big boat sailors, you'll appreciate this comment from the USMMA sailing master who had jumped into the tender being towed astern of the Summerwind and paddled towards the MOB, "Aboard the Summerwind the most elemental training for MOB recovery led to just about every crew member lining the rail with arms out stretched, pointing at first to the victim and then to the tender."

Read the exciting story about this successful MOB rescue at the USMMA blog.

Maine Maritime, USMMA and Tufts Win Big at Storm Trysail's Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta

Maine Maritime’s sailing team coach Tom Brown decided to pull his team out of all of its dinghy events Columbus Day weekend so that it could instead sail big boats at the Storm Trysail Foundation’s Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR) at Larchmont NY. After driving over eight hours with his 17 athletes, Brown’s strategy paid off, as the team won two of five divisions in the 38-boat fleet. Over 300 sailors from 30 schools participated, making the IOR the largest college sailing regatta in the country. “I have never seen so many smiles," said Brown. "Our team was so stoked that they stayed awake talking about the racing for the entire drive back to Maine."

Maine Maritime won the seven-boat J/44 one-design division and the eight-boat J/109 one-design division. Other winners were the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., which won the IRC 40 handicap division as well as the 11-boat J/105 division, and Tufts University, which won the six-boat IRC 35 handicap division. The Paul Hoffman Trophy for the overall winner went to the Kings Point team sailing Damian Emery’s J/105 Eclipse. Emery won the Edward du Moulin Trophy for the boat that was sailed by winning team.

The regatta is run by the Storm Trysail Foundation and the Larchmont Yacht Club, both of which are dedicated to helping the next generation of sailors become better and safer sailors. The purpose of the regatta is two-fold: to introduce dinghy sailors to the team work and fun of big-boat racing and to provide a chance for experienced big boat sailors to compete in well-prepared evenly-matched boats. Unlike other collegiate regattas, the boats are privately owned and the boat owners sail with the student sailors as coaches and safety officers. The regatta is not possible without the boat owners who lend their boats and time in order help educate the next generation of offshore racers.

Dr. Carl Olsson, who has lent his J/105 Morning Glory to his alma mater Bowdoin for the last eight years, pledged to help the regatta grow significantly under his watch as Larchmont Yacht Club’s Commodore beginning next year. “I believe that this regatta is so important that we will grow the event from 300 sailors to 500 in the next two years.” To help meet this goal, the Storm Trysail Foundation funds educational events like the IOR and its Junior Safety at Sea Seminars across the country.

“Everyone who participates in this regatta has a great time,” said regatta chair Adam Loory. “Both college sailors and boat owners tell me that this is the most fun regatta they sail in all year. The boat owners get to go sailing without having to make a week’s worth of phone calls to round up crew, the kids get to sail on some of the most competitive boats around, and the whole event is free thanks to the sponsors who help support the regatta.”

To see the complete regatta report, full results, a list of competing schools and many photos, visit the Storm Trysail Foundation website (click on "Intercollegiate Regatta"). And while you are there take a look at the invitation for the upcoming dinner honoring the 1979 Fastnet Race crew of Tenacious with Ted Turner & Gary Jobson. This fundraiser will benefit the foundation's ongoing efforts to educate junior and college big-boat racers (click on "Dinner with Ted Turner").