Highlights from the Summer of 2024 JS Sailing Season
written by Erin Wojdaszka, JSA Communication Manager
Every summer each club starts preparing for their Junior Sailing programs in the Spring. Some start sooner, and some start later. It is amazing to see the group of people who come together and plan out a season of fun events and regattas for our sailors. Sailing is not only fun, but it brings awareness to our environment, the weather around us, learning to work as a team, and growing your confidence individually. As our season starts to slow down, we want to thank you all and provide some highlights received from some of the JSA of LIS junior programs.
Milford YC:
“Milford Yacht Club has been focusing on growing our offerings for our older junior sailors who have sized or aged out of Optis. The RS Feva has provided our tween and teen aged junior sailors a great double handed option this summer. We had a total of 5 boats actively racing in JSA, 2 of which were totally new to the boat class this year. Double handed racing has rejuvenated this age group at Milford Yacht Club and we believe next year we will have at least an additional 2 boats join the fleet next summer. The competition and camaraderie is palpable amongst our Feva sailors and has generated a lot of excitement at our club. The Feva program is the club’s first step in keeping teenaged junior sailors engaged and challenged in our junior sailing program. We also hope to begin offering big boat sailing next summer for this age group.”
Peter Cozzolino (L) and Evan Davies (R) take home third place at the East Coast Champs at American Yacht Club. This is a family affair – Peter and Evan are cousins! This was Evan’s first year in the Feva.
Evan Davies (L) and Peter Cozzolino (R) celebrating their accomplishments! The cousins had a great season and were regularly on the podium at regattas.
Sisters Eloise Healy (L) and Mabel Healy (R) were new to the RS Feva this year after racing Optis for several years.
American YC:
“We had two great days of sailing at the East Coast Feva Champs and managed to get 6 races which gave all the boats a drop. Light wind and building breeze was the theme of the regatta. The Race Committee postponed on day 1, but launched and got some great racing in on Monday. Tuesday, we had a very light SW wind that did eventually fill for some great sailing. It was fun having so many sailors travel to join us. We want to give Black Rock YC huge kudos for packing up their fleet and joining us for a great regatta.”
Black Rock YC:
“This spring, Tim Clark, JSA Board Chair, tasked Junior Sailing programs to provide opportunities for Junior Sailors to get out in 3 different boats this season. Black Rock Yacht Club added two “Family Open Sailing Nights” to our season allowing parents and siblings a chance to get in on the action of Junior Sailing. With a few instructors providing safety support on the water in coach boats, parents joined their juniors in boats and our sailors spent the evening “messing about in boats” other than their class boats. Nearly 50% of our morning Opti sailors attended and had the chance to sail new boats and show off their skills to parents and siblings. Our Feva and ILCA sailors exemplified leadership and responsibility when taking the littlest sailors out for rides, then showed their playfulness by jumping back into Optis to see if they still could do it!”
Storm Trysail Jr. Safety at Sea Seminar at Larchmont YC:
“This summer we had 130 sailors participate in the Jr SAS at LYC. We had about 30 of those sailors participate in a Level 200 SAS. In order to qualify for Level 200 the sailor must have completed two Level 100 SASs. The Level 200 sailors spent the entire day on the water with a more intense level of safety drills. The Level 100 sailors participated in classroom discussions about big boat sailing, being prepared, communications, weather and man overboard drills. The Village of Larchmont Fire Department volunteered their time to teach hands-on training in fire safety and suppression. After lunch, the Level 100 sailors spent the rest of the afternoon practicing basic drills like tacking, gybing, man overboard recovery, setting and dousing the spinnaker, reefing and unreefing. We ended the day with a pizza party for all of the sailors.”
New York Athletic Club:
“This summer a NYAC member donated two new Club 420s to our junior sailing program. This was huge for us and we have loved using them. We also received a brand new J/22 to use for our Sea Pup program (5-7 year olds). We are very excited about these new boats and they have enhanced our program so much!”
Cedar Point YC:
“Cedar Point Yacht Club celebrated another awesome summer of Jr. Sailing at their awards banquet Thursday evening, August 9th. Director of Jr. Sailing, Santiago Galán, recognized an outstanding team of instructors and over ninety junior sailors, from beginners to accomplished racers. With a focus on safety, fun, and skill-building, Cedar Point’s program grew 30% this year and attracted sailors from Westport and surrounding towns. Whether in a weeklong Basin Bandit introduction to sailing class, a beginner morning Opti class, or our FEVA, C420, or Laser classes, CPYC junior sailors made friends, learned new skills, spent tons of time on the water, and honed their boat handling, racing strategies and tactics.
Program highlights included Fun Fridays like Pirate Day, sailing to Cockenoe Island, a visit from Save the Sound to learn more about the water we sail in, and attending over a dozen regattas around the Sound. In addition to daily classes, CPYC offered team racing clinics several mornings each week in their C420 fleet and filled their Jr. Big Boat team roster with new and returning sailors.
