Perfect Weather to Kick Off Opti Practice on LI Sound

The weather couldn't have been better this weekend to kick off practice on LI Sound for the 2010 season.

Amanda Clark, fresh off being named to the 2010 USSTAG Olympic Team, put the team thru drills, fleet racing and team racing under beautiful sunny skies and air temps in the 40s. With the water temps barely above freezing, sailing was still darn chilly, even in drysuits.

Conditions were near perfect, with a very shifty NW wind 10-12 and fairly flat water. On Saturday the team headed far out in the Sound, easily crossing 2/3 of the way to Long Island.

On Sunday they stayed just outside Mamaroneck harbor where they ran tight drills, short style fleet racing and an afternoon of team racing. The breeze was very shifty, making for good tacking and tactical training.

Sailing out of Beach Point YC, the team took is a bit easy this first weekend, leaving the dock around 10:30 both days. Amanda kept them out thru lunch and they were back around 4. It was nice to see the kids head out before the frostbiters, and arrive back afterwards.

A big surprise for the weekend was a baby seal that spent the afternoon sunbathing on the dock. Nobody could remember the last time a seal was spotted on the Sound.

Click picture to see all the photos.

LISOT Practice BPYC 3/7/10

Amanda will be coaching next weekend before she and Sarah Chin head off to Spain for an Olympic-class regatta, and head coach Pepe arrives from Argentina.

LISOT Winter/Spring Parent Meeting - Feb 28, 10am @ Beach Point Club

The 2010 Winter/Spring parents meeting will be:

Date: Sunday, February 28
Time: 10am-11:30am
Location: Beach Point Club
Address: 900 Rushmore Avenue, Mamaroneck, NY 10543
RSVP: On Facebook click here (not required)

Come hear about all the 2010 plans for Opti, C420, i420, Laser Radial and Standard.

There will be lots of opportunity for Q&A.

LISOT Opti's Bring Home Lots of Silver from Argentina

A group of 11 Opti sailors traveled 6,000 miles down to Mar del Plata, Argentina this week to compete in the 45th annual Semana Internacional Del Yachting - two back-to-back regattas in the Southern Ocean which comprise the Argentinian Team Trails.

The first 4-day (7 race) regatta was run by Club Nautico Mar del Plata, and the second 4-day (8 race) regatta by

Yacht Club Argentino.

Lead by the Dynamic Coaching Duo of Head Coach Pepe and coach Fernando, the team included 8 LISOT regulars, as well as Christopher and Duncan Williford (from Ft. Lauderdale YC), Francisco and Rodrigo Ducasse (the two top sailors from Chile) and the New Zealand National Champion, Taylor Burn.

Also down from the States and sailing in the regattas were the Nathaniel and Jack Johansson (Team Chill - Coral Reef YC) and Tommy Garber (Minnesota).

Congratulations to all our sailors, who did well in both regattas. They saw extremely variable conditions ranging from very light and shifty wind, to 30-35 knots in gigantic ocean waves.

Christopher was the dominant US sailor in both regattas and the top US boat - with overall finishes of 4th and 1st, respectively. Right on Christopher's transom was his twin brother, Duncan, (finishing 11th and 2nd), and Harry Koeppel (finishing 17th and 4th overall - 5th and 3rd US sailor, respectively).

Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick was #1 girl (and 4th US sailor) in both regattas with overall finishes of 13th and 10th.

And Will Logue was turbocharged all week, finishing as

the top "under-12 year old" in both regattas (with overall finishes of 27 and 21), and Jack Parkin #3 in the under 12 group.

Equally impressive was the team as a whole, taking 8 of the top 20 finishes in the first regatta, and 5 of the top 10 in the second regatta!

Regatta one highlights

Francisco was our teams' top sailor finishing 3rd, Chris was the top US sailor in 4th, Megan was the top girl (4th US boat, 13th overall).

Competition was so tight that only 10 points separated the finishes from 5-16!

Regatta 1 Results:

3. Francisco Ducasse (Chile)

4. Christopher Williford (1st US sailor)

7. Rodrigo Ducasse (Chile)

11. Duncan Williford (3rd US sailor)

13. Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick (top girl, 4th US sailor)

16. Taylor Burn (NZL)

17. Harry Koeppel (5th US sailor)

19. Reinier EVD

24. Malcolm Lamphere

27. Will Logue (Top 'under 12')

43. Jack Parkin (3rd 'under 12')

48. Alex DelBello

82. Sean Walsh

96. Audrey Gilbin

Congratulations to Nathaniel Johansson who finished 9th overall and was the 3rd US boat.

Regatta two:

A Williford/Koeppel one-two-four!

The battle for first was a total intra-team affair between Christoper, Duncan and Harry as these three dominated this second regatta.

Going into the final 8th race, Christopher was in first place with 16 points. Duncan and Harry tied in 2nd/3rd, both just 2 points behind Chris. The final race on Sunday was another light air event.

In the end Christopher held onto his lead and won the regatta (for the second time in as many years). Duncan held on to second and Harry finished the regatta in 4th.

Megan has a strong final race finished the regatta in 10th, and again held the position as #1 girl.

Our team finished this second regatta with sailors in 5 of the top 10 spots! And of the 8 races, we had 6 of the bullets - Christopher with 3, Duncan 2 and Harry 1.

Final results for regatta 2:

1. Christopher Williford

2. Duncan Williford

4. Harry Koeppel (3rd US sailor)

7. Taylor Burn (NZL)

10. Megan G-R (4th US sailor, first girl)

11. Rodrigo Ducasse (CHI)

18. Francisco Ducasse (CHI)

20. Malcolm Lamphere (5th US sailor)

21. Will Logue

24. Reinier Eenkema Van Dijk

32. Jack Parkin

44. Alex DelBello

59. Sean Walsh

70. Audrey Giblin

LISOT's Augie Dale 2nd at Opti Ice Boat North Americans!

The 2010 Ice Opti North Americans took place in Charlevoix, Michigan Jan 16-17th. Conditions were prime on Lake Charlevoix, four inches of pristine ice and kids from across the country ready to sail. Ice optis can get up to speeds of 40 mph!

Augie Dale was the defending champion going into the regatta, but the 2008 champion, Griffin Sherry was there to reclaim his crown.

Like many sailing events on the water, wind is always a factor. The light winds proved for tricky racing. Augie tried a new North Sails experimental cut in the first race and wasn't satisfied with the results. After doing a quick sail change, Augie got back into the groove, but it was too late. He ended up 2nd over all, with Griggin taking the championship.

The ice opti is raced all over the world and is a growing class in the United States! If you are ever tempted to so some hard-water sailing - let Augie know!

US Sailors Excel at Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (OCR)

LISOT would like to congratulate and recognize all the winners at the recent Miami OCR. In all, the USA won ten medals after the five days of racing in the ten Olympic classes.

One team that reached the podium with a gold medal in the women's 470 class was current LISOT coaches Amanda Clark and Sarah Merganthaler Chin. Other LISOT coaches racing included Rob Crane (Laser), Clay Johnson (Laser), Rasmus Myrgren (Laser), Erik Stork & Trevor Moore (49er), Erin Maxwell & Isabelle Kinsolving (women's 470), Kaity Storck (women's 470), Graham Biehl (men's 470), Dave Hughes (men's 470), and Adam Roberts (men's 470).

The full story and results are available at rmocr.ussailing.org.

Team LISOT is a strong and active youth sailing team because of the help of talented sailors like these. Information and registration for Spring and Summer training and regattas can be found at www.lisot.org.

US Sailing 2010 Youth World Team Selected

LISOT congratulates the eleven sailors that have qualified for US SAILING’s 2010 Youth World Team. These sailors will receive invitations to represent the United States at the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 8-17, 2010. Amongst these sailors are two LISOT I420 teams - Ian Liberty & Colin Murphy and Marlena Fauer & Christina Lewis. Congratulations Ian, Colin, Marlena & Christina!

Hosted by the Clearwater Yacht Club over the weekend of January 16-18, 2010, the US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier was a competitive regatta for 75 athletes in four events. Open to athletes born in 1992 or after, the event consisted of ten races over three days.

For complete results from the Youth World Qualifier, please visit Clearwater Yacht Club’s web site: http://www.regattaprocessing.com/CLWYC/YWQ10/index.php

For more information about the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, please visit the event web site: http://www.isafyouthworlds.com/

US Sailing Announces Development Team

On Monday this week, US Sailing announced the selection of 48 sailors to the US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), a new, youth pipeline team supported by US SAILING’s Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC). The USSDT was created to help young athletes, who have been identified as future Olympic prospects, acquire the skills necessary to launch successful campaigns and compete at the Olympic level.

Congratulations go to all the sailors selected that included LISOT I420 sailors Marlena Fauer/Christina Lewis, Ian Liberty/Alex Whipple and Declan Whitmyer/Ian Storck. Also selected were past and present LISOT coaches Rob Crane (laser), Clay Johnson (laser), Adam Roberts (470), Kaity Storck (470).

Click here for the complete US Sailing press release