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CORK 97 --Jan O'Malley
The Jersey Shore Youth Sailing Team (JSYT) traveled to the Canadian
Olympic Training Regatta at Kingston, Ontario (CORK) to compete in
this largest of one-design regattas in North America. The event is
held on the waters of Lake Ontario at the site of the 1976 Olympics.
Approximately 1500 boats gather there each year to compete in this
prestigious event on seven different race courses. This year's event
was unusual in that it was generally light air and never blew over 15
knots, far from CORK's reputation of being a windy regatta.
JSYT completed a very successful season at CORK. Streett Silvestri was
the first youth sailor in the Laser Gold fleet with finishes of 52,
18, 52, 16, 23, 51 and 41, placing 38th in the Gold fleet, out of a
total of 134 boats overall. Mike Simms, JSYT coach, won the Laser Gold
fleet with finishes of 2, 9, 1, 3, 10, 1, 4 (19.5 points), beating US
SAILING Team members John Myrdal and John Torgerson in 2nd and 3rd
place.
In the Laser >> fleet, Mary Ridenour and Sam Sutter were the first
youth sailors , finishing 8th overall with finishes of 23, 38, 14, 4,
9, 4, 9, 16 (79 points). Stu Colie and Aaron Brandt finished 4th with
finishes of 11, 5, 12, 5, 4, 9, 12, 2 (48 points). Jan O'Malley and
Brad Swett finished 13th out of the large fleet of 108 boats.
In the Laser Radial fleet, Rob Jarahian finished 14th overall and 3rd
junior with individual finishes of 13, 16, 48, 29, 10, 19, 17, 15, 12
(131 points) in the fleet of 87 boats. Andy Nelson placed 29th with
individual finishes of 26, 35, 14, 30, 39, 18, 34, 56, 47 (243
points).
JSYT looks forward to competing in the Bruce Cup in Texas at
Thanksgiving , the Orange Bowl in Miami after Christmas and the
Midwinters East in February.
CORK, Laser II --Stu Colie
Series one Cork this year consisted of Laser, Laser Radial, Byte,
Tornado, and more importantly of course, Laser 2's. More than one
hundred Laser 2's showed up for the five day notorious regatta. The
sight was overwhelming, but there was still not enough boats to split
the fleet into gold and silver. For a fleet split 120 boats were needed
to register. Still, I had never seen so many 2's all in one event. The
starting line was even more impressive.
The first day, with medium winds and unexpected gusts accompanied
overwhelming choppy water. With constant changes in weather, there was
just as constant changes in setup and technique. Matt Raincock and
David Provan from Toronto seemed to dominate the fleet with two bullets.
The next two days the wind had a problem with deciding where to come
from. Each day the race committee got in only one race, and then waited
for the southwest sea breeze but the water still looked like glass.
Unfortunately the breeze never came for those days, but Raincock and
Provan stood strong with a fifth and another bullet. However, Chris
Gaffney and Matt Mulock from Florida stayed up with them with a first
and a sixth yet a 13th from the first race kept them down.
The next day, Tuesday, the wind was a little more consistent but a
little light. Raincock and Provan had a terrible day with a 22nd and an
18th bringing them down in the standings and Gaffney moved up to first
with two thirds showing that consistency certainly does count.
The last day ended up being the best sailing day with 15 to 18 knot
winds. Gaffney and Raincock both sailed well and consistently both
adding nine points to both their score for the two races, but who
dominated the final day was Ryan Mahoney and Ed Conrad form American
Y.C. with two amazing bullets. With those two firsts Mahoney and Conrad
jumped up to second place leaving Raincock and Provan in third only
three fourths of a point behind, but Gaffney and Mulock prevailed
winning with a 8.75 point lead.
Congratulations go to Chris and Matt for winning with great consistency,
averaging a third not including their drop race. Winning top female
was, coincidentally, David Provan's little sister Jen in seventh place
only three points ahead of the next female who happened to be top
junior, Mary Ridenour and Samantha Sutter from New Jersey.
Junior Olympic Nationals --Mary
Ridenour
Most sailors go to the National Junior Olympics (formerly known
as the Youths), to compete against sailors from across the United States.
However, once you arrive at this prestigious regatta, you find out that there
is an added benefit- the feeling of unity one receives throughout the
competition.
On the first day in LaSalle, Michigan, the coaches including
Mike Zani, Luther Carpenter, Tracy Haley Nick Adamson all presented us with
creative challenges to promote cooperation among all the sailors. We were
divided into groups. Each group was given the same challenge. One of the
challenges was to find the most interesting and unusual way to carry a Laser.
This challenge required all the members of the group to participate.
My group began brainstorming ideas. Everyone started talking at
once. The excitement was contagious. Ideas were flying out of people's mouths
and traveling rapidly in the air, colliding with each other. After much
deliberation, our consensus was to form a human railroad to carry the
boat. We positioned ourselves in two parallel lines resembling a railroad
track. A member of our group, Cardwell Potts, thoroughly enjoyed being the
passenger. His prominent smirk was obvious to everyone, while he was
passed from sailor to sailor on the human railroad. All the groups
brainstormed great ideas. The most humorous idea was a Laser balanced on top of a
tractor. The driver of the tractor had to rely on the sailors'
directional input, since his view was obscured by the boat.
The objective of this activity was to relax and unify us, which
it did. Now the task at hand was for all of us to perform and compete our best.
All at once the butterflies returned to the pit of our stomachs. Our faces
once contorted with laughter were now serious and intense. We remembered
the reason we were there. We wanted to demonstrate our skills and show
that we deserved a position at this regatta.
There were four different classes of boats, windsurfers, Lasers,
Laser 2's and 470's, all requiring specific techniques in order to be
proficient. However, we all know, there can only be one winner. The male and
female winners from each category won a trophy and a position on the World
Youth Team. These talented sailors were Patrick Hogan , Robbie Radar and
Margaret Gill, Abby Carren from the Laser 2 class, Annemarie Casesa and Steven
Hochart from the Laser class and finally Ben Barger from the windsurfer class.
This was a wonderful learning experience for me as a youth
sailor. I realized the importance of sharing ideas and interacting with other
sailors. I also acquired new sailing techniques from working on my weaknesses.
I recognized the value of good sportsmanship while meeting new people
and re-establishing old friendships. From the exhilaration of playing
ultimate Frisbee during the day, to social activities during the night, I
learned that there is more to the regatta than just the sailing. This regatta
acknowledged the joy of sailing and brought a smile to the faces of
the participants between races.
Junior Olympic Regatta (at Larchmont) --Richard Feeny
On the Sunday morning after the full moon we loaded the Jersey Shore
Youth Team trailer with five Lasers and the motorboat, put another
Laser on top of the Colie van, another Laser on Paul Ashley's truck,
and headed north for Larchmont Jr. Race Week, also a USA Junior
Olympic Regatta. The Cross-Bronx Expressway was kind to us, and two
hours later we were backing the rig through the serpentine driveways
of L.Y.C. Larchmont, one of the pre-eminent clubs along the ritzy
Westchester-Connecticut shoreline, sits on about ten acres, and
outbuildings include the three story Junior clubhouse, the tennis
house (with 6 courts), the bathhouse beside the immense pool/beach, a
boatshop, and the aptly named Pandemonium, where the dance was held on
Tuesday night. The dance, with live band, draws nearly 500 well
dressed youths from both shores of Long Island Sound, and is almost as
famous as the lower sound's lack of wind in the summer. The stage was
set, and all Sunday evening the players arrived, amid rumors of a
tropical storm named Danny, who threatened to upstage all of us.
The Jersey Shore Youth Team was blessed with a late day sea breeze
Sunday evening, and so we headed out for a practice session. The
tide-swept waters of the sound seemed deep and cold after Barneget
Bay. The racing promised to be tricky; the fleets large. Over 120
lasers were divided into full rigs, and radial rigs (60 each), and
then split randomly to form two fleets of 30 radials, and two fleets
of 30 full rigs. There were also nearly 50 420dinghies, and almost
100 Blue Jays. The first day of racing brought near perfect 10-15
knot conditions, much to the liking of the sailors from New Jersey.
In the full rigged Laser Street Silvestri had a great first day,
sailing to a 1,2,1, mired by an improper exoneration in the second
race, which added fourteen points to his score, and eventually cost
him the regatta. In the red fleet of radial rigged Lasers Chris
Ashley went 2,1,1, in what was to be a great duel with eventual runner
up John Storck. Emily Peacock sailed her worst score race first (18),
and steadily improved. Meanwhile, in the radial green fleet, Billy
Jorch began to build his picket fence of first place finishes, while a
battle for second developed between Ricky Lang, Laura Windecker, Andy
Nelson, and Nathan Wight, all of J.S.Y.T. None of these four finished
out of the top ten on day 1, and three of them scored 2nd place
finishes.
Day 2 dawned dark and stormy, but by 10am the skies had cleared, all
boats had been bailed, and the racing was on. The New Jersey team
found it harder to keep up with the Long Island Sound sailors in the
light wind, and strong current, with the exception of two girls, Laura
Windecker, and Emily Peacock. Windecker added an 11th and a 6th to
her 3,7,2 from day 1, and moved up to second place in division.
Peacock managed to get her bow out of the pack for a 5th, and a 9th,
to move from 14th to 10th in division.
The third day gave us a rare easterly wind, and lots of current.
Ricky Lang found his stride in the Radial green fleet and passed
Windecker to claim 2nd place. Andy Nelson pulled out all the stops
for his last race, and managed his best finish of the event, a 3rd, to
take 4th in division. Meanwhile Nathan Wight must have felt a twinge
of agony as fifth place slipped out of his grasp when he didn't manage
a top half finish in the last race, his only race out of the top 10.
In Radial green fleet Emily Peacock hiked hard and went fast for a 5th
and an 8th, to hold 10th, and leave 11th far behind. The battle for
division honors continued. In the light air on Tuesday Chris Ashley
had his worst finish, when he was passed, just yards from the finish
line and had to settle for a 3. Then he answered with two firsts, and
had battled back from a thirty yard deficit to take the lead in the
final race, only to have the race committee commit a technical error
and decide to abandon the race. In the makeup race he managed a
second, and tied John Stork, but won the tiebreak, to be awarded
division honors. Street Silvestri sailed very well in the last two
races, winning both, and took second in division.
The New Jersey team took home more than its fair share of silver, and
left with pleasant memories of the gigantic Larchmont Yacht Club, the
dance and friends made, (most) of the races, and were invited back
next year.
North Americans (Houston) --Andy Nelson, Streett Silvestri and Ricky Lang
The North American Laser, Laser II and Laser Radial Championship was
held at the Houston Yacht Club July 10 - 13 in sweltering heat but 15 - 20 knot sea
breezes. The Jersey Shore Youth Team (JSYT) had three entrants in addition to Coach
Mike Simms and President Jan O'Malley.
Ricky Lang and Andy Nelson fought the strong breezes fininshing 18th
(21,23,16,17,17,17,18) and 23rd (27, 19, 24, 27,28,26,6) respectively in the 38 boat
Radial fleet.
The Championship was won by Stephen Keen from New Zealand with all bullets.
Mike Simms, hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia and coach of JSYT, won
the Laser North American Championship over 94 other contenders, many past and future
Olympic hopefuls. He lead throughout the regatta and started the last race tied with
Kiwi Cameron Dunn. After getting behind several hundred yards in the first beat of
the
last race, he was able to correctly play the shifts and pass Cameron who got out
of
phase with the shifts. He then went on to cover Cameron and win his first
continental championship with extremely consistent finishes of 1,4,1,1,2,5,3,2 in
the
competitive fleet.
Streett Silvestri, also a member of JSYT and from Little Silver,
sailed his first major open regatta in full rig Lasers and finished a creditable
46th with
individual finishes of 51, 39,54,66,50,49 and 20.
Jan O'Malley, from Mantoloking Yacht Club, and Raymond Marks, from
Fort Worth, Texas teamed up to win the Laser II North American Championship. They
too
lead the four day regatta at the end of each day. Going into the last race, they
needed to keep the team of Stu Colie, also from Mantoloking Y.C. and Erin Brandt,
from Bellingham, Washington, from finishing in the top three places in the race.
They
were successful in achieving this and won the regatta in a tie breaker over the
Colie/Brandt team.
Bruce Cup --Chris
Ashley
Every year Rush Creek Yacht Club hosts the Bruce Cup in honor of Ian
Bruce, the creator of the Laser. Registration is on Thanksgiving Day and
the day after and the races also start the day after Thanksgiving. This
year's Bruce Cup was a great regatta because of varying conditions and
constant lead changes.
The first day was light with winds varying from 2 - 7 knots. Only one
race was held and it was shortened due to lack of air.
In contrast to the first day, the second day was 18 - 20 knots and puffs
higher. It was also significantly colder than the first day's high of
65. It only had a high of around 50. Three races
were held and the scores did a flip-flop with the heavy weights moving
to the lead which the light weights dropped back.
The last day was slightly lower in both wind and temperature. The winds
were 15 - 18 knots and the forecasted high was about 40. Two races were
held and the heavy weights placed in the top five out of the 25 boats
Radial fleet. However, the lighter sailors had a more difficult time in
trying to place in the top 10.
This year's Bruce Cup was a good representation of Rush Creek's typical
sailing conditions, with the winds ranging from 2 - 25 knots and the
temperature going from 70 and no air to 40 and blowing.
Orange Bowl '97 -- Ricky
Lang
Most sailors expected to go to the Orange Bowl in 97 and see beautiful
75 degree sunny weather with winds under 10 knots. Unfortunately, this
was true for only one of the four days of the regatta.
The first day of Orange Bowl '97 was cloudy, 65 degrees, and windy.
The first day's wind was constant around 20 knots with 1-2 foot swells.
These conditions were due to the front that came through southern Florida and the
tornado
that came through central Florida. The race committee held one race on
the youth laser, radial, and laser II course and then sent everyone
home. The second day was more typical Orange Bowl weather. The wind
was very light and shifty while the temperature was around 75 degrees.
After the first race, the wind died out and the race committee gave out
lunches on the water. After an hour or two of waiting, the race
committee decided to send everyone in to the club. The third day was
another terrible weather day. Besides the rain on the third day, wind
was again 20 - 25 knots with temperatures around 65 degrees. Once
again, the race committe sent all of the sailors in after the first
race. The final day of Orange Bowl was not much different from
the first and third days. The wind was around 25 - 30 knots while the
swells stayed at 1 - 2 feet. The race committe decided to hold two
races that day.
In the laser class (youth), Justin Hood clinched first
place with scores of 2,1,1,2,2,3 and a total of 11.00 points. Second
place went to Spencer Weber with scores of 4,2,3,1,4,1 and a total of
15.00 points while third place went to Henrik Wennerstrom with scores of
1,4,5,4,1,2 and a total of 17.00 points.
First place in the Radial fleet went to Danny Pletsch with scores of 4,2,1,1,7,1
and a total of 9.00 points while second went to Chris Ashley with scores of
3,4,11,3,5,3 and a total of 18.00 points. Eduardo Vadia got third with
scores of 2,9,16,6,4,5 and a total of 26.00 points.
In the Laser II fleet, Mike Tranmer and Will Mann clinched first with 1,2,1,1,1,1
for a total of 7.00 points. Second went to Stu Colie and Brittany Maschal
with scores of 3,1,6,3,2,2 for a total of 17.00 points while third went
to Ger David Phillips and Bill Berg with scores of 4,4,2,2,6,4 and a
total of 22.00 points.
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