It takes a village… and a Club… and a Fleet – July, 2018

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A Note from Our President:

The Yachtsmen’s Fund meeting was quite lively this Spring with much to discuss. One item that was top on our list is the upcoming Centennial Celebration that will be rolled out in the near future. One of the more immediate items on the agenda was to discuss the many grant requests we received and how to best award them.
We were pleased with the number of requests and the national events occurring within the I-LYA this year.

Below are some of the grant recipients for 2018:

  • Jr. Power for the purchase of GPS units, coaching, and scholarships.
  • Jr. Bay Week for help with housing, coaching, and scholarships.
  • Mentor Harbor YC for hosting Ida Lewis.
  • The Foundry for US Team Race Championship for the Hinman Trophy.
  • North Cape YC for the 2018 Chubb US Sailing Jr. Championship.
  • Ian Moran to attend the 2018 I-420 Worlds in Newport.

A banner indicating the support of the Yachtsmen’s Fund will be flown at each of these events.
All the trustees of the fund are working diligently to raise money, so we can continue supporting these  worthwhile endeavors.

Wishing you fair winds,

Monica Bloomstine—President Yachtsmen’s Fund

It Takes a Village… and a Club… and a Fleet…

Each year, the Yachtsmen’s Fund provides Championship Grants for the sailors who qualify to represent I-LYA at Chubb Nationals. However, as the story below shows, support for our young sailors comes in many forms and from many people.

Triple-handed boats competing for the coveted Sears Cup are usually sailed in the dinghy which is most popular in the vicinity of the hosting club. In 2017, sailors knew that the Sears Cup in Tom’s River, New Jersey would be sailed in Flying Scots. Fortunately for the qualifying Hoover/Cowan team, Hoover Sailing Club had the most gracious and generous Flying Scot fleet around! 2018 Hoover Commodore Marty Sweterlitsch and her boat partner Stephanie Bahr lent Ryan Squires and his crew their boat for practice at Hoover and Hoover’s deep talent pool lent advice for sailing the Flying Scot. Marty also called on the national fleet and the builder to help the boys practice at the Sandy Douglass Memorial Regatta sponsored by the Deep Creek Yacht Racing Association. North Sails Rep Zeke Horowitz met the boys at the regatta, the first for them in the Flying Scot, and spent time with the team helping them understand the boat. The builder lent a very race worthy Flying Scot to the team to race that weekend in lovely Deep Creek and even had it rigged and ready awaiting the junior sailors! The regatta sponsors found local housing for the boys and their chaperones. The red carpet was truly rolled out. The boys and their families will be forever grateful to the Flying Scot fleet and the Yachtsmen’s Fund for making their dreams possible!

Sara Schumann, a past recipient of Yachtsmen’s Fund Challenge Team Grants for travel outside the I-LYA footprint, was recently on the road again competing at the International Optimist Class Team Race, the 32nd Trofeo Marco Rizzotti in Venice, Italy.
Grace Squires and Michaela O’Donnell representing Hoover Sailing Club finished on top of the C420 fleet at the first Traveler Series regatta hosted by Alum Creek Sailing Association. Grace took advantage of Yachtsmen’s Fund grants to attend events in Florida this winter.
Pictured R to L sailing a Thistle – Skipper Ryan Squires (HSC), Luke Schumann (CLSA), and Bryn Irvine (CLSA). These boys represented I-LYA and Area E at the 2017 Chubb US Junior Championships for the Sears Cup.