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.