Jim Gleason, parent to junior sailors and a prominent member of Noroton Yacht Club has agreed to serve as our new Junior Program Director.  Jim is a man of many talents, working as a professional educator in Greenwich and bringing decades of diverse sailing experience to Cedar Point.  We expect him to help manage the continued growth and organizational aspects of Junior Sailing at our club.  Look for more news about Jim in the December Bulletin and the "2008 Year in Review" report by Governor in charge of Junior Sailing, Ann Wilbanks.

 

GREEN FLEET REGATTA

The Opti Green Fleet Regatta held on August 1, 2008 was judged a big success by parents, participants and volunteers.  Richard Gordon (of Westport, not Ridgefield) chaired the annual event. The Green Fleet event is a crucial link in the junior sailing program that exposes beginners and intermediate Opti sailors to the joys and tribulations of sailboat racing.  "Blender Bob" Karpel's write-up provides an insider's glipmse of the action and plenty of great photographs: 

 read more ...

SWEET CAROLINE   Second at Dorade

The junior sailing big boat team, racing aboard Greg Von der Ahe's J/109, Sweet Caroline, finished second in Division I of the 41st annual Dorade Trophy in heavy winds at Stamford Yacht Club on Monday.  With third place finishes in both races Team Cedar Point finished behind the Farr 395, Avalanche from the Port Washington Yacht Club.  Interestingly, six of the eight sailboats in Division I were J/109s with Cedar Point's team finishing at the top of this exciting class. 

The team moves on to compete in the annual Beach Point overnight race.  We wish them the best of luck!  Special thanks to Greg for the use of his beautiful boat.  Our juniors are privileged to have had the opportunity to race this fine craft.  The J/109 class received a special mention in today's SCUTTLEBUTT that might be of interest:

Whether winning its 39 boat class at Cowes, pacing the fleet to Mackinac, or hosting the two-week family cruise, few boats do so many things well like the J/109. The cockpit seats eight, the interior sleeps six and one person can sail her FAST! The J/109 is the whole package.  Learn more here...

 

Close to 200 juniors are expected today from JSA-LIS Areas B and C at today's Opti Open at Cedar Point.  Scores of volunteers have joined together to make this huge event a success.  More news as soon as results become available... 

Pequot Yacht Club Pixel & Blue Jay Invitational

Standing (L-R): M. Meehan, T. Forrest, E. Gill, L. O'Leary, C. Kinner, G. Baldwin, M. Meehan.  Seated:  A. Schaefer, D. DiMattio

Red Fleet Results

Blue Fleet Results

Cedar point juniors scored more impressive finishes at Pequot Yacht Club this week.  Congratulations to Thomas Forrest and Michael Meehan for winning the Sportsmanship Award by helping rescue a capsized boat on the race course.

 

Big Boat Program

 

10 of our PM juniors have started practicing for the August series of Junior Big Boat races with the help of instructors James Whitcomb and Chris Kinner.   The team recently attended a day long Safety at Sea Clinic at Larchmont YC run by Storm Trysail Club including seminar and on the water practice of safety procedures. Our greatest thanks to Greg Von der Ahe, Junior Advisory Board member in charge of big boats, for loaning his J109, Sweet Caroline, to the program.   CPYC Cruising Class Fleet Captain Halsey Bullen, and  Cruising Class member Bill Walker will be working with our juniors as Owners Reps on Sweet Caroline.  Both Halsey and Bill have been augmenting the kids' experience on Sweet Caroline with opportunities to race on their respective boats, Laser Beam (J/30) and Afterglow (Express 37).  The Big Boat team will compete in its first race in early August at Black Rock YC.  Chris has been preparing the juniors to take the JSA Navigation Test Monday, July 28. Thanks to those Big Boat parents who volunteered to help Laura Trumbull proctor the test. CPYC is one of a few test centers for 100s of junior big boat sailors from clubs around the Sound.

 

American Yacht Club Race Week

 

Laser and Club 420 sailors traveled to American Yacht Club this week for JSA Race Week.  In the Laser Radial Class, Cedar Point sent five boats:  Dylan Abel, Isadore Cohan, James Kammert, Austin Schaefer and Christian Whitmer, all five of whom finished in the top half of the 66-boat fleet!  James Kammert finished in 11^th position, Austin Schaefer stepped away from the Club 420 for a couple of days and managed an impressive 3^rd place finish, while Radial standout, Dylan Abel, proved that he remains the man to beat with yet another first-place finish.

 

There were 45 Club 420s at the regatta.  Cedar Point sent four young ladies and they did very well, indeed.  Allison Blauvelt and Deanna Schreiber finished 8^th overall, while Allison Schaefer and Venetia Stanley wound up in 12^th place.

 

CPYC Juniors Show Continued Success at Larchmont Race Week

 

After a very strong start at JSA regattas along the Sound, Cedar Point’s Junior Sailors scored many fine successes at Larchmont Junior Race Week.  .

 

The Laser Radial class saw a huge turnout with 100 boats competing.  The class was divided into four fleets that sailed double round robins.  Of the four fleets, Cedar Point sailors Dylan Abel and David Foursey each took first place in their fleets, finishing 3^rd and 14^th, respectively in the overall standings.  Close on their heels were James Kammert in 15^th and Christian Whitmer in 28^th.

 

Eighty two boats (that is 164 sailors) sailed in the Club 420 class.  Austin Schaefer and Jason Raymond took 8^th overall and Allison Blauvelt and Deanna Schreiber finished 15^th.

 

In the Pixel class there were another Fifty-six double-handed dinghies.  MaryMargaret Meehan and Grace Baldwin finished 6^th in the overall standings, Teddy Gill and Liam O’Leary were 7^th, while Allison Schaefer and Dakota DiMattio were 8^th.  

 

It was Cedar Points largest haul of silver at Larchmont in recent memory.  Based on the strength of their finishes, all of the sailors mentioned above will be headed to the JSA-LIS championships in their classes.

 

Cedar Point Juniors Shine at Early Regattas

 

Cedar point juniors sailed in a series of regattas the second week of June and the results were impressive!  It is hard to remember Cedar Point fielding a team of such depth and quality across a broad spectrum of fleets and classes.

 

Law Trophy was held at Indian Harbor for sailors top sailors in their respective fleets.  In the Laser Radial class, Dylan Abel finished 2^nd overall with first place finishes in the first two races of the six-race series.  James Kammert (6^th), Christian Whitmer (7^th) and David Forsey (8^th) all finished in the top half of the fleet.

 

Austin Schaefer and Jason Raymond Roll-tacking at Law 

 

Sailing in the Club 420, Austin Schaefer and Jason Raymond also took two firsts in their six-race series, ultimately finishing fourth in the fourteen-boat fleet.

 

Wednesday, July 9 saw the Eastern District Championships sailed at Noroton and Norwalk Yacht Clubs.  The Schaefer – Raymond team topped the 25-boat Club 420 division proving consistency counts by finishing second in all three races.  In a fleet of over 40 Laser Radials Cedar Point’s team did remarkably well with David Forsy in 8^th, Christian Whitmer in 7^th, James Kammert in 4^th and Dylan Abel winning the regatta!

 

In the Pixel Division, Mary Margret Meehan and crew Thatcher finished second, while Teddy Gill and Liam O’Leary were 4^th in the 29-boat fleet.

 

At the end of the week, Austin Scheafer, Jason Raymond and James Kammert were back down at Indian Harbor for the two-day Sears Cup raced in Ideal 18s.  They wound up in second place in the 17-boat fleet, behind the team from Pequot Yacht Club, but here too, there was good news for Cedar Point, because the winning boat included Charlie Proctor and Laura Cuccio, children of perennial Cedar Point champions.

 

Rounding out a very busy week of racing was the annual Opti Rumble at Pequot.  In the White Fleet, Matthew Zulica (12^th) and Emery Wallace (14^th) were both in the top half of the fleet.  In the tough, 44-boat Blue Fleet, Matthew Raymond finished 11^th followed closely by Teddy Gill (14^th) and J.T.Reichelm (18^th)