High School Sailing
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It’s On, Baby!
hat’s going full speed ahead like a 40-knot gust? High school sailing, that is. We’ve got news of exciting local regattas and national events as well as cool educational opportunities. Thanks to contributions from David Houck (CBYRA) and AYC’s Tarry Lomax, Adrienne
Patterson, and Jay Kehoe. Parents and junior sailors: we want your on-the-water news and high-resolution photos. Shoot them to ruth@spinsheet.com each month. Bonus points if you name names.
Photo by Sam Wheeler.
Gunston’s Women’s High School Regatta
The Results Are In
To help build women’s sailing, Gunston Day School in Centreville, MD, hosted a girlsonly event at its waterfront on the Corsica River. The one-day event came the morning after proms and other regattas but filled nearly to capacity with seven teams. Eight teams had registered, but illness forced Bishop O’Connell and Sidwell Friends to combine at the last minute. May 2 was a beautiful day for sailing, with sun and southeasterly Bay breezes. The breeze manifested as both southwest and southeast along the Corsica River in front of Gunston’s campus. The fleet hit the water to compete in the shifty, puffy three- to 10-knot breezes. All teams competed in both A and B Divisions comprised completely of women. Competition was tight, with lead changes and tight mark roundings in both divisions. Fourteen races were held, seven in each division. Heads-up, smart sailing ruled the day. Archbishop Spalding’s Megan Yeigh, Rebecca Mount, Katie Scheidt and Channing Cook—who often sail against coed varsity fleets—dominated the day and led their team to victory. Gunston’s girls were second overall, followed by the O’Connell/
Rank School 1 Archbishop Spalding 2 Gunston Day School 3 Bishop O’Connell/Sidwell Friends 4 Severn School 5 Key School 6 National Cathedral School 7 Broadneck High School
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by Amy Gross-Kehoe
wenty-two active high school sailing teams are in the Central League of the Middle Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association (MASSA). The Central League covers most of the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore County to St. Mary’s City and the DelMarVa Peninsula (severnsailing.org/ juniors/centralleague.htm). At any league event, almost half the participants are young women, suited up and ready for wet and wild competition in small dinghies. This might seem a stretch, when, in regular junior sailing, we see slightly fewer girls than boys continuing past their early teens. However, the ease of participation in school sailing and the fortuitous nature of competing with a boat weighing under 280 pounds make it advantageous to have young ladies on one’s team. Many girls come back to sailing in high school because of the competition, camaraderie, and for some, the opportunity to compete with and against boys on a somewhat level playing field. Chesapeake Bay Sailing
A 14 26 23 27 25 42 39
B Total 11 25 11 37 28 51 34 61 39 64 35 77 38 77
Sidwell Friends team. Fully in support of the event, Gunston’s male sailors provided race committee support, and Gunston parents cooked up a delicious spread of food for all the sailors and spectators!
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Hot Opti Team Trials
.S. Optimist Dinghy Association’s (USODA) Team Trials Regatta for 2010 National and International teams ended May 2 on Galveston Bay near Houston, TX. The 185 competitors qualified to sail at the team trials through their finishes at regional and national regattas around the country. The team trials are the qualifier for the 2010 National Team and U.S. teams that are sent to various international regattas. Thanks to the host, the Texas Corinthian YC, and congrats to all CBYRA sailors who competed! This year, AYC’s Opti training team included 20 sailors from the club as well as Severn SA and Tred Avon YC. AYC sailors who qualified for this event were Sarah Alexander, Charlie Lomax, Hannah Polster, Kyle Schwitzer, Kyle Comerford, and Carolyn Corbet. Practices were great opportunities for sailors to get exposure to large fleet starts before the big event in conditions similar to those that graced the regatta: 10 to 20 knots with steep, short chop. Thirteen 50-minute races were held. Congrats to Comerford who received the prestigious Sportsmanship Award during the regatta. Congrats, too, to SpinSheet June 2010 73