A quote from Ed Adams

A recent article in Sailing World quoted multi-class National, World and Olympic champion Ed Adams. When asked by parents "How can I make my kid be the next Olympian, the next gold medalist?," his reply was that "...doing well in sailing is probably 25 percent athletic ability. And it's probably 25 percent preparation: taking the kid to regattas, getting him good equipment, hiring him some good coaches. And it's 50 percent ambition and drive, which is not something you can purchase."

The quote struck me as something our team needs to focus on. No, we will probably not be producing Olympians. Look instead at the quote as a roadmap on how to get better. Yes, there are some physical aspects of dinghy sailing that are advantageous: flexibility in drifters,  light weight in moderate conditions, height and upper body/ hand strength when it blows. The "good equipment" comment is pretty much a non-issue for high school sailing since we rotate boats, but at least now we have our own equipment. It's the 50 percent "ambition and drive" that will allow us to have the greatest improvement and that's on you.

As winter approaches, sailing small boats winds down, but if you have the will you can still improve. First, keep up with all school work. Then keep in shape physically. Excess weight is seldom useful. Cross training with other sports is advised. Study the Racing Rules. Read articles on techniques specific to small boats. Think sailing. Look for opportunities to sail (it would be on a keel boat, or in a mid-winters regatta in Florida.)

We will get on the water again in the late spring/early summer!

Cross Posting from the Rowing team blog

For those who might be interested in "big boats," i.e., not dinghies, I'm cross posting from the rowing blog. Jay O'Brien is the assistant coach of the school's rowing team. In addition to his skill in teaching  and coaching rowing he has lots of experience in sailing onboard a Swan 44 out of New York. Recently he competed in the Rolex Middle Sea race in the Mediterranean Sea. I posted about his adventures, reproduced below.

Congrats to Coach O'Brien!

Coach O'Brien is the navigator on Triple Lindy, a Swan 44. The crew just won their division in the esteemed Rolex Middle Sea Race in the Mediterranean Sea. This year's race had conditions that were called "gnarly" by one website and on the Triple Lindy team blog the crew reported "dropping off a 30 foot wave."

Triple Lindy, with a dark blue hull and carbon sails, nailed the leeward end of the start for her class, shown at 2:14 in this video and at 0:28 in this one, and then went on to defeat 21 other IRC Class 5 yachts. She finished 10th overall of 70 starters in (ORC - Offshore Racing Congress) and 13th overall of 91 starters (in IRC.).

 Since the owner is retiring this boat, it was the last race for the boat with this crew.

The picture below show Triple Lindy entering Malta Harbor five minutes from the finish. Coach O'Brien is on the rail wearing the yellow trous.

Here is the link to the team blog. Congrats to the whole crew!

JV Championships

On Saturday, November 4th, Zach, Gus and Tyler braved some cool and brisk conditions on Mill Creek and competed in an eighteen boat JV Championships. The aeronometer at the Willoughby degaussing station recorded breezes 15-20 during the racing. The bay water temperature had dropped to 68 degrees, the coolest we've seen all season.

Here is the summary report from the regatta organizers:

Saturday, November 4:

Eighteen teams from 11 VISA schools met on the coast of Mill Creek at historic Fort Monroe for the final JV regatta of the season. Overcast and damp but not raining, at a raw 60 degrees F, seas were lumpy, an winds held at NE 10-12 mph with higher gusts and minor oscillations. JV sailors competed aggressively, many continuing competition in good spirits well after they were drenched by righting their vessels.

Six W-4 races were completed in a single division allowing for sailors to rotate in as needed every 2 races. One protest by Norfolk Academy in Race 3 resulted in a DSQ For Grafton Team 1 for failing to honor a starboard tacker.

Congratulations to Norfolk Academy for finishing in first place, followed by Poquoson Team 2 in second, and Hampton High School in third place.

A number of boats capsized and retired, but Zach and crew stayed upright and finished every race. Our finishes were  9-12-11-12-12-11 placing us 12th of 18, our highest overall finish of the year.

Thanks to Mr. Suhr who acted as "coach" and adult representative

 and to Mrs. Bromley for the pictures.

VISA Fleet Championships

Our three seniors -  A Sabrina between two Matts...

The last regatta of the season was held at Fort Monroe on a warm fall day. Here is the summary from the race organizers:

Wind built all day from the south to 10 knots with gusts to 12. Sunny, with 0.5 ft waves. There were 18 boats on the water representing 15 schools. The top three overall winners (in order) are: Norfolk Collegiate; Christ Church School; Norfolk Collegiate. The top three finishes in A Division are: Norfolk Collegiate; Christ Church School; and Nansemond Suffolk Academy. The top three finishes in B Division are: Christ Church School; Norfolk Collegiate; and Norfolk Collegiate. A total of 9 races were sailed in each division.

Here are our results, first in A division,

 then in B Division:

Note that, in general, our finishes got better as the day wore on, with Josh's 6th in the last race as the best of the day.

Pics from the day:

Scrimmage at Fort Monroe

We sailed nine races in light winds. I was the Principal Race Officer and tried to set start lines that were long enough for each boat to get a front row start. The wind dropped out during the first race and many boats gave up and paddled back resulting in DNF scores. We sailed in four boats (of the 18 racing.) Our finishes are below:

The top boat:

Our 2nd highest boat:

Our 3rd highest boat:

Our 4th boat:

Our next races will be this coming weekend: The VISA Fleet champs on Saturday morning at Fort Monroe and the VISA JV Champs on Sunday afternoon, again at Fort Monroe. We will be given only one A/B pair for the Fleet Champs and only one boat for the JV Champs.  Specific skipper/crew combinations are to be determined.

A Fleeting Moment

Friday after lunch Susan, my wife, and I drove up to Cape Cod where two 420s were for sale about 10 miles apart. A third was in Mystic, CT. I floated three checks to make the buys. We drove back with a fleet of three: one on the roof with three masts and two on a trailer that was included with one of the boats. After swapping out tires and futzing with trailer lights in the rain we got on the road about 2:00 pm Saturday. We got back home at 3:30 am on Sunday.

Also included in the purchases were dollies, four suits of sails, an extra centerboard and rudder, and trapeze/spinnaker gear. I'll spend the winter getting each standardized and next season, assuming we find water access, we'll be able to write our own practice schedule.

JV Regatta at Poquoson

Saturday October 7th saw most of the varsity members unavailable to compete, so we took the 9th and 10th graders to a dedicated JV regatta. Zach had our highest finishes of the year (a 4th and a 5th). He and Gus traded places at the helm and when one of them wasn't act as a crew we had Tyler pulling the jib sheet. Here is the commentary from the regatta organizers and the overall placings:

A seasonally warm 85 degree day greeted 12 Junior Varsity teams from 10 schools with morning winds at 5-10mph with lulls, clocking to due east at 8-12mph with higher gusts by the time racing concluded at 1:30. Sailors completed 8 races on a W4 course.

Norfolk Academy took first place, followed by Walsingham Academy in second place, and Grafton High School in third place.

We extend great thanks to the Poquoson and Walsingham teams for hosting, to Charlie Brewer for serving as PRO, and especially to the Poquoson Fire Department for allowing the use of their fire boat as the committee boat.

More pics from Mrs Bromley:

The shot below was by Suzanne Krieger from Poquoson. Thanks, Suzanne!