Happy Friday from the Junior Club!

Week 6 Wrap-Up

Another awesome week of sailing is in the books.  The regatta schedule is still going strong and our sailors are learning tons!  We were lucky to have some RS Fevas on loan from The Boat Locker (located in Bridgeport, CT) for all of the kids to try out.  They had lots of fun trying out the double-handed boats and learning the asymmetrical spinnaker setup.  For a more detailed review of what each class learned this week, see below.

Beginner and Intermediate Opti Classes

This week, we focused on upwind sailing techniques and racing in both the beginner and intermediate groups.  All beginners learned how to use the combination of telltales and sail trim to sail upwind fast and efficiently without reaching.  On the windy days this week, all sailors were taught the tack-around technique i norder to avoid capsizing.  On Monday, all sailors were able to conquer the heavy winds and reach all the way to the Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club for ice cream.  They did a great job!

Throughout the week, sailors also participated in practice races where they were able to utilize previously learned skills to start and sail around the course.  Both the beginner and intermediate sailors have improved greatly throughout the summer and will only learn more in the weeks ahead!

Opti Race Team

We only had two sailors for the Monday of this week, so we did upwind and downwind speed, followed by some quick starts.  Bolstered by a couple of kids returning from Nationals, the team grew to six sailors.  We did a lot of boat handling and, in particular, we focused on the leeward mark rounding and the rules associated with it.  On Wednesday, we raced The WaterFront Center, which was again good practice for busier starts.  Thursday was the regatta, which went well, with Seawanhaka winning three of the nine podium positions and another spot at Champs.  We wrapped up the week by taking the boats off the trailer, debriefing from the regatta, and having some fun time on the water.

Club 420/Pixel Class

This week, the 420 class celebrated Frank's safe return from his Mediterranean escapades.  We continued our work in the 420 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  On Thursday, we joined up with the Laser class and sailed the RS Fevas that we had as demo boats.  We took the opportunity to beat up the Lasear class and had a great time doing it.  On Friday, we worked really hard on having a lot of fun in the calm conditions after a busy week!

Laser Class

This week, the Laser sailors competed in the final qualifying regatta, which was held in Shelter Island.  Matt Priebe finished second place and was unlucky to miss out on first place.  Jack Glenn finished eleventh and although Justin Smith and Bennett Kudder sailed well all day, they just missed out on qualifying spots.  Throughout the week, we worked on upwind sailing and starts.  In the latter half of the week, the sailors were lucky to get the opportunity to sail some RS Fevas with the 420 sailors.