Youth Match Racing Camp & Regatta
June 23-27, 2010
Dave Perry will again lead a 3-day clinic followed by a 2-day regatta. This camp is open to sailors who have not reached the age of 21 as of June 27th who want to learn the game of match racing from US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics coach, Dave Perry.
This 5-day program is an exceptional opportunity for sailors or teams training for national or international events, as well as those who would like to learn match racing skills from one of the finest sailing coaches in the world. The final two days of the program will be an umpired regatta offering the highest finishing ‘age eligible’ skipper an invitation to the 2010 Governor’s Cup held in Newport Harbor, CA. To sail in the Governor’s Cup, sailors must not have reached the age of 21 as of July 25, 2010.
Perry combines classroom instruction with on-the-water drills, practice races, and detailed video debriefings to help you sail faster and smarter and to successfully maneuver in close action. According to Perry, “At this camp I will be teaching the advanced techniques and tactics needed to be a strong match racer, including insights on how to sail a keelboat and trim a spinnaker for speed. Sailors who enjoy tight tactical racing will love match racing”.
Sailors will train in the Sailing Center’s fleet of identical 23-foot Sonars. Housing and meals are included in the entry fee.
Sailors may apply to the Camp as individuals or in teams of 3 or 4 (maximum weight 772 pounds). Skippers interested in winning the invitation to the 2010 Governor’s Cup are encouraged to register as a team.
Competitors
Albert Nichols USA
Will Haeger USA
Andrew Mason USA
Nicholas Dugdale USA
Ryan Davidson USA
Dillon Lancaster USA
Ian Paice USA
Umpires
Henry Menin, Chief Umpire USVI
Tom Rinda USA
Steve Wrigley USA
Mike Lindgren USA
David Storrs USA
Mike Casper USA
Tom Atkins USA
Peter Nielsen USA
Post event report:
Twenty five U.S. youth sailors just completed an intensive five-day match race training camp run by three-time U.S. national champion and US Sailing Team Alphagraphics women’s match race coach Dave Perry (Southport, CT). The Camp was hosted by the U.S. Sailing Center of Sheboygan and the Sheboygan Yacht Club, and was sailed in the Center’s Sonars. The sailors were from the east, midwest and west coast of the U.S., and represented a range of match racing skill and experience. The Camp began with three 12-hour days of classroom sessions, demonstrations, on-the-water training and video debriefs in which Perry focused on the tactics and communication needed for strong starting and downwind tactics. The Camp ended with a two day regatta, with Perry continuing to coach all the teams before and after the races.
Assisting Perry was a team of international and national umpires, led by Henry Menin of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and including Steve Wrigley (Fayetteville, NC) and Tom Rinda (St. Petersburg, FL). “Having the quality of umpires we had was a strong element of the Camp,” said Perry; “and they were each great about explaining to the sailors the nuances of the calls they made and of how the game is viewed by the umpires.” Perry was also assisted by US Sailing Center of Sheboygan Executive Director Rich Reichelsdorfer from Sheboygan, who ran drills and races for the sailors during the clinic phase, and then ran the regatta. “I was impressed with the improvement each team made from the beginning of the Camp to the end,” said Reichelsdorfer; “by the end you couldn’t tell who had come to the Camp with more or less experience than the others.”
In fact, it was the team of Will Haeger, Peter Holz, Sean Hudson and Alex Curtiss from East Troy Wisconsin who won the regatta having arrived at the Camp with essentially no prior match racing experience. Racing for the Lake Beulah Yacht Club , Haeger’s team went 5-1 in the single round robin event to tie for first with Andrew Mason’s team from Newport Harbor Yacht Club, with crew Peter Kinney and Brooks Clark . As Haeger had defeated Mason, his team won the tie-breaker. Third in the regatta was Ryan Davidson, Walker Banks , Megan Kenny and Brandon Wood from Balboa Yacht Club.
By winning the regatta, Haeger received an invitation to the prestigious Governor’s Cup event, an international youth match racing championship hosted by the Balboa Yacht Club in Corona Del Mar, California in July.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the quality of the Camp this year,” said Perry; “Sheboygan is a great host for these kinds of events. In our first year, which was last year, we had six sailors; this year we were up to 25. We can accomodate 36 and hope to fill it next summer. This is part of a national effort to grow youth match racing in the U.S. and help train our young sailors to become experienced match racers. It fits well with the conversion intercollegiate sailing has made for this fall, switching their sloop racing championship to match racing. We plan to schedule similar youth match racing camps around the country in 2010 and into 2011, with the goal of making match racing more accessible to youth sailors and growing the sport.”
