Indian Harbor Yacht Club Law Trophy Regatta 2024
The Commodore Law Trophy Regatta, hosted by Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Greenwich CT, is one of the oldest junior regattas in the United States, first sailed 95 years ago in 1929.
The 2024 regatta will be held on Monday and Tuesday, July 1 and 2, in these boat classes: Club 420 and ILCA Dinghies (all rigs: 4 and 6 and 7). Registration may be made through Clubspot.
As one of the earliest regattas on the JSA of LIS summer calendar, the Commodore Law Trophy Regatta attracts participation from racers who want to challenge themselves and enhance their skills for another season of racing.
The regatta is open to any JSA sailor member or private race team member who meets at least one of the following criteria:
-Qualified for any previous JSA Championship
-If not previously JSA champs qualified, is certified by their respective program’s and/or team’s coaching staff or sailing director to be competent racing sailors. The event is not for beginner-level racers, so up to three boats in this category from each participating class may be designated by each JSA member program.
-Invited to participate by the host club
-Has reached their 13th but not their 19th birthday in the current calendar year.
An example of the excitement at this regatta may be seen in the below reprint of the report from the 2019 edition.
<<< 2019 Commodore Law Trophy Regatta News>>>
On day one, the boat park was filled with junior sailors from a variety of clubs and sailing organizations within in JSA of LIS. They were all milling around, rigging their boats, and getting a feel for sailing again, considering most of these young participants haven’t sailed since the previous summer. The mood of the boat park was excited! Most of the participants ,when asked about their goals for the two-day event, were there to have fun and get back into the swing of things. Of the clubs present, sailors from American Yacht Club, Riverside Yacht Club, Cedar Point Yacht Club, and Pequot Yacht Club spoke to us about their excitement for the day and what they hoped to achieve when racing in this regatta.
The sailors from Riverside Yacht Club collectively agreed on their goals for the Law Trophy, “We’re looking to have a good day and get back into things. We haven’t sailed since last summer, so today is all about getting a feel for the boat again”.
From American Yacht Club we spoke to a young woman named Maddie who was there to have a good day.
The sailors from Pequot Yacht Club came to “win, but also have fun”.
The sailors we spoke to from Cedar Point Yacht Club had two goals. One young man told us that he wanted to place, while his friend confidently told us that he just wanted to finish the race.
Other participants came from ,, Larchmont Yacht Club, Noroton Yacht Club, Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Stamford Yacht Club and Old Greenwich Yacht Club.
Once everyone had checked in, settled themselves, and grabbed some food provided by Indian Harbor Yacht Club, all of the sailors and coaches gathered in the clubhouse for the competitors and coaches meetings. The Indian Harbor YC regatta chairman Dr. Jack Kruse, Principal Race Officer David Seabrook, and Sailing Director Elizabeth Shaw O’Toole, went over the rules, regulations, and emergency protocol for the regatta to ensure that everything would run smoothly. Provided to the sailors and coaches were Sailing Instructions and copies of the emergency plans. Once all questions were answered and everyone was on the same page, the junior sailors and coaches made their way out of the harbor promptly at 10:30 for a great day of racing.
Because this was the first regatta of the 2019 junior sailing season, participants came out to have a good time, sail with friends, have a great day, and remember why they love the sport.
