Daily Lift

No wind idea: Chase the coconut. You can use your normal sailing area and dump many tennis balls into the water. Explain that the goal is to collect as many tennis balls (coconuts) as possible. The boat with the most at the end wins! This helps students to practice their light air boat handling in fun, friendly competition. -Daniel Starsong

Daily Lift

Boat M’s request for redress is denied.  Rule 26, Starting Races, states that “Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded.”

Chalk Talk Episode 7

This week the team recaps a wild weekend of women's qualifiers. We've got nasty weather, districts snatching Nationals berths, and a handful of stupid-fast sailors who trounced their competition this weekend. With only a month before Nationals, you'll also want to know who's left to qualify and make your predictions for this weekend. All that, plus Better Know A District, College Sailor of the Week and some funky tunes to guide you through it all.

Stop procrastinating! http://ussailing.org/college to sign up for membership now!

Results flash by too fast? See them in detail at http://scores.collegesailing.org

Want to see the latest team race rankings? http://sail1design.com

Daily Lift

Five seconds prior to the start, Boat M is reaching along the starting line awaiting the starting gun so she can luff to close-hauled and start the race. Five to eight seconds later, and still no starting gun, some boats luff to close-hauled and start.  Ten seconds later the gun sounds and M starts.  She finishes poorly in the race are requests redress under rule 62.1(a), Redress.  At the hearing the race committee chairman explains that the class flag was lowered precisely at the correct time but the shotgun misfired several times until it finally went off ten seconds late.  You are on the protest committee; how would you decide this? Come back tomorrow for the answer!

Sailing Fitness with Bow Down Training

Developing Functional Hiking Skills
By Chris Herrera


After reading that title you might be saying… what is functional hiking? In terms of fitness, functional hiking is the ability to hike for power and strength, while effectively working the rails and shifting.

When most athletes train their hiking skills they work on leg extensions, lunges, squats, and some plyometric exercises. All of these are good and will help develop leg strength and power translating into stronger legs. But the question still remains, will that help your hiking while sailing?

Daily Lift

Did you know that Betsy Alison has been voted Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year a record five times?

College Sailing Update

This past weekend the college sailing schedule was jam-packed with championships. There were five in-conference championships which determined berths to Women's Semifinals and Finals. These included the NEISA Women's Championship/ Reed Trophy was hosted by Boston College, MAISA Women's Dingy Championship hosted by Old Dominion, PCCSC Women's Championship hosted by Hawaii, SAISA Women's Champs hosted by Clemson, and the SEISA Women's Championship hosted by University of Texas.

Here is a quick breakdown of who qualified for Women's Finals (indicated by *) and Women's Semifinals from each district:

NEISA
1. Boston College*
2. Yale*
3. Brown
4. Connecticut College
5. Dartmouth
6. University of Rhode Island
7. Harvard

MAISA 
1. Georgetown*
2. Navy*
3. St. Mary's College of Maryland
4. Cornell
5. Hobart
6. Old Dominion
7. Washington College
8. Columbia University 

PCCSC
1. Stanford*
2. Hawaii
3. University of Southern California

SAISA
1. University of South Florida*
2. Eckerd

SEISA
1. University of Texas*

Another qualifying event took place at Western Washington, the top two teams earned berths to ICSA Co-ed Semifinals. Congratulations to University of Washington and the Oregon Ducks for earning the the NWISCA berths.

To see full scores of these events visit TechScore. 

Daily Lift

Junior Sailing no-wind idea: chalk boat relay. Divide the group into two or more teams, have teams line up around parking lot/ sidewalk, give the first person in each line a piece of sidewalk chalk, instructors call out a boat part, teams race to draw and label the parts! All you need is chalk and a space to draw on.

Daily Lift

Buddy Melges, who was inducted to the sailing hall of fame in 2011, has become one of the more successful and acclaimed racing skippers in the world. He has two Olympic medals; world championships in Stars (2), 5.5 Meters (3), E-Scows (5), and Skeeter Ice Boats (7); and an America’s Cup win as co-helmsman. He is also a three-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.

Daily Lift

Boat P is penalized under rule 10, On Opposite Tacks.  Under rule 21.1, Starting Errors; Taking Penalties; Moving Astern, S does not lose her right of way until she is sailing back towards the pre-start side of the starting line or its extensions.

Daily Lift

Immediately after the starting signal, the race committee signals an ‘Individual Recall’ and clearly hails Boat S’s number.  S (on starboard tack) luffs her sails in an attempt to slow down so that she can clear herself from other boats and return to the start.  Boat P (on port tack), on a collision course with S, decides that S is a “premature starter” with no rights , and tries to cross ahead of S.  S bears away ten degrees to avoid P, and protests.  You are on the protest committee; how would you decide this? Come back tomorrow for the answer!

Chalk Talk Episode 6

Last weekend 30 of the 36 berths were decided for Co-ed Nationals.  See how Chris and Jane's predications matched up with the results.  Stay tuned to see which teams will qualify for Team Race and Women's Nationals.

In this weeks, Better Know NEISA Chris sits down with Tufts coach Ken Legler.

Don't forget to sign up for your US Sailing college membership.  The team that registers the most memberships will be outfitted by Sperry Top-Sider.  BC is currently in the lead, purchase your membership today http://racing.ussailing.org/College.htm.

SAISA Team Race Championship

By Brooks Clark

The morning of Saturday April 14 brought cloudy skies, ten knots of breeze, and five of SAISA’s finest team race squads to Charleston Harbor for the 2012 SAISA Team Race Championships. Knowing that the district’s two berths for the Team Race Nationals would be filled by day’s end, it was sure to be one for the books. Competing in the event hosted by Charleston, were the University of South Florida, Eckerd, Miami, Florida, and the host Cougars. Teams arrived at 9:00 am to rig up six 420s and six of Charleston’s brand new FJs. The event was officiated by many talented umpires who were in town for an Umpire Seminar held the day prior. PRO Greg Fisher announced that we would be sailing around the corner on “Crab Bank” in order to find current relief from the flood tide, and an unmatched ambiance that only Charleston can provide.

2012 New England Dinghy Championship

By Kelly Stannard

The 2012 New England Dinghy Championship was sailed on the Charles River in Cambridge Mass., hosted by Harvard University. NEISA teams battled the fickle breeze all having the same end goal, qualifying for the Semifinal Round of the ICSA Dinghy National Championship. Only the top eight moved on, with the home team, Harvard taking the win. Racing was extremely tight and came down to the last race to determine who would qualify, Roger Williams, Yale, Dartmouth, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts and Brown have successfully made it to Semi's.

Daily Lift

In 2011, Boston College had the most All-American's named to their team out of any other school. They had three members named as All-American crews, two co-ed skippers named, one Honorable Mention Women's skipper, one All-American Women's skipper and Annie Haeger won Quantum Women's Sailor of the Year.

Daily Lift

Why rake your mast aft? Nick Turney explains that mast rake aft generates weather helm which will aid in your pointing ability. Aft mast rake will also depower the sail plan by changing the position of the center of effort in relation to the keel.

Daily Lift

Since the 1908 Olympic Games of London, sailing has been included in every successive Olympic Games.

Daily Lift

Boat S is penalized for breaking rule 14, Avoiding Contact.  Given that she “accidentally” hit P, the presumption is that it was “reasonably possible” for her to have avoided contact with P had she been more careful.  However, S, as a right-of-way boat, cannot be penalized for breaking run 14 unless the contact causes damage or injury to either boat.  In this case, S was damaged and therefore she is penalized for breaking rule 14.  She could have exonerated herself by doing a Two-Turns Penalty, but she failed to do so leaving disqualification as the only penalty available to the protest committee (rule 64.1(a), Penalties and Exoneration)

Chalk Talk - Episode 5

In this week's edition of US Sailing's Chalk Talk, we review the first round of Nationals Qualifiers with great video highlights from Miami. Then, gear up for Coed Championships galore! After this weekend, 30 of the 36 Semifinals berths will be decided. Who is headed to Annapolis this spring? Who will make it to Austin in June? Jane Macky and Chris Love try to guess.

Also this week, Better Know NWICSA and team race rankings from at http://sail1design.com.

Don't forget, the team with the most US Sailing college members wins Sperry Top-Siders for everyone! Visit us at http://ussailing.org/college to sign up.

Daily Lift

Boat S and P, two close-hauled dinghies, are approaching each other on a collision course in medium breeze.  P fails to keep clear and S bears away to pass astern of P.  As she passes astern of P, S accidentally hits the starboard corner of P’s transom, putting a small crack in S’s bow and a 12-inch scratch along her starboard bow.  She is safely able to continue in the race.  P immediately does a Two-Turns Penalty and protests S.   You are on the protest committee; how would you decide this? Come back tomorrow for the answer!

Daily Lift

Gary Jobson encourages you to have yacht club pride. If you don't already, fly your burgees, place stickers on cars and boats, and see if you can create some wear branded clothing for members to purchase.

Daily Lift

 Did you know that Dave Perry has won the US Match Racing Championship an impressive, four times?

Marchiando/ Friis Team Racing Recap

By Kelly Stannard

This weekend Tufts and MIT hosted the Marchiando / Friis Team Race. The Friis was hosted by Tufts on the Mystic Lake in Medford Mass., while the Marchiando was hosted by MIT and sailed on the Charles River in Cambridge Mass. This combined event has a unique, two-venue format. Boston College emerged victorious at the Friis with a record of 12-2, while the University of Rhode Island won the Marchiando with a 12-3 record. 

Photo by Tufts Coach Ken Legler.

Prosser Trophy

By Jake LaDow

The 2012 MAISA Team Race Championship (the Prosser Trophy) began Saturday April 7 at St. Mary’s College. Leading up to the event, many of the teams’ practices and preparation had intensified with goals of earning a berth to the 2012 Team Race National Championship. Much was on the line this weekend as only the top three teams are eligible to represent MAISA. After two long and tense days, St. Mary’s won the event with a 13-4 record, Hobart placed second by holding a 12-5 record and Georgetown’s record of 11-6 was good enough to edge out Navy for third place and the last MAISA berth to Nationals. These three teams will advance to the ICSA Team Race Nationals in June at the University of Texas.

Photo by St. Mary's alumni Franny Kupersmith.

Daily Lift

A rainy day idea for Junior Sailing programs: Make your own Burgee! You'll need some pre-cut triangles of paper or cloth and colored markers. Ask your sailors to create their own burgee for their boat, their class, for a team or for the junior program. You can make it a competition!

Daily Lift

Y’s protest is disallowed.  X does not break rule 31, Touching a Mark, because she does not touch the mark.  The definition of Mark reads. “An anchor line and objects attached temporarily or accidentally to a mark are not part of it.”  Furthermore, X does not propel herself by pulling on the anchor line; therefore she does not break rule 42, Propulsion. 

Chalk Talk Episode 4

Sit back and enjoy this week's episode filled to the brim with regatta highlights from last weekend, Sailing World Rankings, post season prognostications, Better Know A District, and more! Chris Love and Jane Macky bring it all to you with the help of a long list of contributors this week.

Don't forget, the team with the most US Sailing college members wins Sperry Top-Siders for everyone! Visit us at http://ussailing.org/college to sign up.

Daily Lift

A race committee boat is anchored at the port end of the starting line.  Boat X starts and immediately catches the race committee boat’s anchor line on her centerboard.  Reacting quickly, X’s helmsman heels the boat while her crew goes to leeward, pushes the anchor line down and frees it from the centerboard.  X does not touch the committee boat, nor does she do a turn after the incident.  Boat Y protests.  You are on the protest committee; how would you decide this? Come back tomorrow for the answer!

Daily Lift

Paul Young recommend that classes should create online payment systems. Make life easy. Invest in an online payment system for club/class dues, fees, etc.  More people will sign up, if you make it easy.

Southern New England Team Race Report

By Kelly Stannard

The Yale University Bulldogs won the 2012 Southern New England Team Race (SNETR) this weekend hosted by Connecticut College on the Thames River in New London, Conn. Twelve teams from four conferences competed, one full round robin was completed on Saturday with a top six and bottom six round taking place on Sunday.

Daily Lift

Did you know that over 3,500 young sailors competed in 25 sanctioned US Sailing Junior Olympic Sailing Festivals in 2011?

Daily Lift

Jessica Mohler reminds you, there is no one right way to develop a strong foundation for your children. By thinking about the values and ideals you want your child to build through the sport of sailing, you can be more confident that you are making the right decisions for YOUR family.