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From I-LYA to the Puget Sound

From I-LYA to the Puget Sound

Chloe Beck (bottom row) and Colleen O’Brien (far right) used to compete against each other in Lasers at JBW, but now work together on the Salish Sea near Seattle. They are pictured with the fall crew of the Carlyn.

Eight or so years ago, Chloe Beck (Port Clinton Yacht Club) and Colleen O’Brien (Put-in-Bay Yacht Club) were racing full rig lasers in the I-LYA Traveler Series and at Junior Bay Week. Now they are working side-by-side for Salish Sea Expeditions on the Puget Sound aboard the 60’ sailing/research vessel Carlyn. According to their website, “Salish Sea Expeditions inspires youth to connect with the marine environment through boat-based scientific inquiry and hands-on learning, instilling curiosity, confidence, and critical thinking.” Chloe and Colleen are well-prepared to carry out the mission.

Chloe Beck is currently serving as the Logistics Coordinator/Deckhand for the Carlyn. She is a graduate of Miami University with degrees in Zoology and International Studies. During college, Chloe studied abroad and backpacked in Patagonia, Chile and did ecological research in Patagonia National Park. After graduation, Chloe moved to Seattle with an AmeriCorps position as Conservation Science Coordinator at Seattle Audubon Society, followed by a summer in the Great Basin of Utah and Idaho doing plant and avian research.

Colleen O’Brien is putting her BS degrees in Marine Science and Biochemistry from Eckerd College to good use as a Marine Science Educator aboard the Carlyn. During college, Colleen spent a summer as an AmeriCorps Intern at Put-in-Bay and spent a few weeks on the Niagara. Following graduation, she travelled to Indonesia to study mangroves and then worked throughout the southwest as an AmeriCorps intern. In 2016 she worked as an Educator Deckhand aboard the Schooner Adventuress in Seattle before heading cross country to sign on with the World Ocean School. Aboard the Roseway, she travelled with a group of high school students from New England to the Caribbean with a stop in Havana, Cuba. After leaving the Roseway, Colleen returned to Seattle and spent the summer in the San Juan Islands.

Clearly, racing optis, lasers, and 420s instilled in both Chloe and Colleen a love for the water, nature, and adventure. Your support of the Yachtsmen’s Fund allows us to continue to sponsor youth sailing and boating opportunities for the next generation of environmental educators and even people who just like to play around in boats.

2017 I-LYA Junior Championships

WOW! What a great regatta!

The 62nd Annual I-LYA Junior Sailing Championships, held at Put-in-Bay was again a great success. We hosted 126 sailors, representing 14 Clubs for four great days of racing this year. Each day offered different conditions and the racing was tight. This year’s winners and trophy recipients are:

VanHeeckeren Family Trophy
1st Place Laser Radial
Lars Kristensen
Edgewater Yacht Club

John Bureau Family Trophy
1st Place C420
Ian Reimel & Meghan Dieball
Grosse Ile Yacht Club

I-LYA Yachtsmen’s Fund Trophy
1st Place Thistle
Ethan Taylor, Will Taylor, & Barrett Hall
North Cape Yacht Club

John H. Backus Memorial Trophy
Junior Women’s Singlehanded
Molly Gregory
Vermilion Boat Club

Ray Greene Trophy
Individual Male Sportsmanship
Kristian Trebilcock
Put-in-Bay Yacht Club

Commodore Art O’Hara Memorial Trophy
Individual Female Sportsmanship
Suzannah Schroeder
Buckeye Lake Yacht Club

Commodore Theodore B. Farnsworth Memorial Trophy
Team Shipshape
North Cape Yacht Club

Put-in-Bay Yacht Club Trophy
Team Sportsmanship
Mentor Harbor Yachting Club

Matt & Tracey Davis Family Trophy
“Thank You for Caring”
Tom Thanasiu
Jolly Roger Sailing Club

 

This event would not be possible without the amazing efforts of an amazing group of volunteers. It was a great team effort! Thank you to our many sponsors who helped support the event this year! Of particular note, we want to thank Preformed Line Products and Quantum Sails Cleveland who supported miniature golf at Perry’s Cave; The Boardwalk again provided mooring for the Thistles; Commodore Arne & Marge Hansen whose generosity made the first “Sunset Cruise” possible – the sailors enjoyed an evening of fun activity on board the Miller Ferry Monday evening; and, the Inter-Lake Yachtsmen’s Fund who once again supported us with very generous grants for coaching and housing along with scholarships awarded to the 1st through 3rd place skippers and crew in each class and the winners of the individual sportsmanship trophies. Without their support, and that of many others, this long-running event would simply not be possible.

Start making plans now for the 63rd Annual I-LYA Junior Championships – July 15-19, 2018!

Steve Harris, 2017 Chairman

Summer 2017

From the President…

Do you ever reach the end of the month and look at the balance in your bank account and wonder, ”What did we spend all of this money on?” The Trustees of the Yachtsmen’s Fund are experiencing that same feeling this month, but view it as a blessing rather than a curse.

We were delighted to award grants to NINE sailors from I-LYA, who qualified for Chubb Jr. Championships. We work hard to fundraise and provide $100 per sailor for housing at Jr. Bay Week (Junior Championship), as well as scholarships for first, second and third place finishes, male and female sportsmanship, and coaching for both Jr. power and sail.

There are more exciting events being hosted by I-LYA Clubs next summer with Mentor hosting Ida Lewis and NCYC hosting Chubb Jr. Championship. Thanks to all who support the Yachtsmen’s Fund – you help us continue to support the endeavors of the youth in I-LYA!

Monica Bloomstine – President, Yachtsmen’s Fund

 

Yachtsmen’s Fund Championship Grants Support Nine I-LYA Sailors

Pictured (L-R) are Ian Reimel (GIYC), Joseph Lark (NCYC), Luke Schumann (CLSA/HSC), Meghan Dieball (GIYC), Henry Rolander (CLSA), Bryn Irvine (CLSA), and Ryan Squires (HSC). Missing from the photo are the C420 team from Chautauqua, Cameron Turner and Chase Stevenson.

Nine I-LYA sailors qualified at the Area E Championships held at Hoover Sailing Club in July to represent Area E at the Chubb US Junior Championships which were held in Tom’s River, New Jersey from August 8-11.

Thank you to the families and clubs of these young sailors who also supported them and thank you, sailors, for representing I-LYA.

Past JBW Champions Win Thistle Great Lakes
Three past Junior Bay Week champions: Matt Fisher, Wayne Pignolet, and Ian Moran, teamed up to win this year’s Thistle Great Lakes held in conjunction with Cleveland Race Week at Edgewater Yacht Club in June. Matt, representing BLYC, won the Sears qualifier as crew in 1972 and then as skipper in 1973. Wayne Pignolet skippered the winning thistle for MHYC a few years later in 1976. Ian Moran from EWYC skippered the winning C420 in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
A quick look at the results shows quite a few past and current I-LYA junior sailors racing thistles–many of them competing with and against friends they made at Junior Bay. The Yachtsmen’s Fund is proud of their long history of supporting junior sailing and the I-LYA Junior Championship with the goal of creating lifelong sailors and boaters. What a great sport we have. Champions spanning over 40 years sailing together and we all win!

Jet 14 Women’s and Junior Champs!
Former I-LYA junior sailors Samantha Moran and Maggie Hoffert won both the Jet 14 Junior National Championship and the Jet 14 Women’s National Championship which were held at EWYC on August 9th. Nice job girls! And thank you EWYC for hosting the Jet 14 Nationals.

Yachtsmen’s Fund Travel Grant Recipient Shines
Sara Schumann Sailing Strong

Cowan Lake opti sailor Sara Schumann continues to find success in 2017. She finished 1st at Centrals Sodus Bay, 1st at Team Race Nationals, 4th at Girls US Nationals, and was 1st girl at CORK and 4th overall out of 168 sailors in Canada. Sara is pictured with her teammates on the podium at Team Race Nationals. The win at Team Race Nationals qualifies the team to represent the US in Berlin in October. Good luck Sara! Safe travels!

Jack Vanderhorst Wins I-LYA Optimist Championship
This year’s I-LYA Optimist Championship (held at Hoover Sailing Club in conjunction with the final traveler series event) was won by EWYC sailor Jack Vanderhorst. Jack, age 13, is pictured with his grandparents, Yanny and Karl Vanderhorst, olding the Gunkler Family Trophy. Yanny and Karl were the driving force behind the I-LYA Optimist Challenge which used to be held on the Friday of Junior Bay Week at PIBYC with the support of the Yachtsmen’s Fund. In addition to the Gunkler Trophy, Jack also was awarded the Jeb Memorial Trophy for finishing first overall in the Traveler Series. Jack is the son of Kathy and Sjoerd-Jan Vanderhorst. Sjoerd-Jan won the laser fleet at JBW in 1986 and 1987 and the thistle fleet in 1988. Kathy skippered an FJ for Sandusky Sailing Club, finishing top five in Bemis in 87, 88, and 89. In 1989, she was also awarded the Com. Art O’Hara Trophy for individual female sportsmanship. The tradition continues.

Getting to Know You….
In addition to working as instructors at Edgewater Yacht Club this summer, Ian Moran and Abie Griggs are getting to know a new boat. If you’ve seen an Olympic class 49er on the water in Cleveland this summer chances are it was them. A heavy air adventure at CORK provided some on the water/in the water training, but the boys are up to the challenge. Ian is a senior at Rocky River High School this year and will be doing some high school sailing. Abie is heading back to Wake Forest for his sophomore year. Both were extremely successful in the opti and c420 classes, sailing locally, nationally, and internationally. They like to go fast. This new boat has wings and will fly!

2016 Chubb Championships Recap

2016 Chubb National Summary..
by Ryan Squires, Hoover Sailing Club

Hoover Sailor Ryan Squires, poses outside the Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego. He competed at the Chubb Nationals in a radial in 2016 after qualifying to represent Area E by finishing first place at the Area E Championship at NCYC last July.

I was able to make some of my best sailing memories during a successful 2016 sailing season. This was a culmination of hard work on my part and support from my parents, Hoover Sailing Club, I-LYA, and the Yachtsmen’s Fund.

The 2016 U.S. Sailing Area E qualifier was a great regatta hosted by North Cape Yacht Club. Everybody loves their beach, friendly club and experienced race committee. A clinic before the regatta helped improve my sailing with some very high-end coaches. For younger sailors, I cannot emphasize enough how important good coaching is. The more you can expose yourself to really good sailors and their advice, in addition to tiller time, the more you will improve. The Area E qualifier itself had some stiff competition, which made for a very exciting couple of days. I sailed the single-hand in a Laser Radial and was honored to take first and represent the I-LYA at the U.S. Sailing Chubb Junior Championships held at the beautiful Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego, California.

2016 brought the second time I sailed Chubbs. While I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, the best of the best were at this competition. With only 20 sailors, the competitors were very close in experience and ability and the tensions were high as everyone was fighting for a top national ranking. Ocean sailing through kelp beds is completely different than sailing in the Midwest! Although everyone took the racing very seriously, on shore everyone was very friendly and we were collaborating racing strategies. In the end, I ranked 12th but was very pleased with some top races that I will forever remember. For anyone who really wants to advance their sailing, I would definitely recommend trying to qualify for Chubb Junior Champs. At Chubbs, they sail single-hand (generally in a Laser or Byte), double hand (usually in a C420) and triple-hand (in various local boats, depending on where the event is). Chubbs was an extremely fun regatta and I learned more there than at any other event I have ever sailed.

I want to encourage all I-LYA junior sailors to look beyond our local regattas and make a goal of sailing at regional regattas and qualifiers. Those “big fleet” events test your talents in different ways, expose you to other better racers and push you to do better. U.S. Sailing Junior Olympic regattas can expose you to great coaches, and sometimes, bigger fleets. Go to the U.S. Sailing website to check out where there are Junior Olympic regattas.

Who knows, besides the one in Mentor in June, there might be one in New York or Michigan near where your family vacation is planned. The travelling and new venues itself can be really fun, but you have to plan ahead with your parents and Club to make it happen. Also, look where your fleet is hosting regional events like Great Lakes regattas. For the Opti, Great Lakes is at Grosse Pointe Yacht Club nearby in Michigan in the end of June. Go to the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) website for more information. The Thistle Great Lakes is at Edgewater Yacht Club that same weekend, go to the Thistle Class website for that one.

Clinics are another great way to expose yourself to great coaching. The C420 class has Midwest and East Coast clinics that you have to apply for, and I know Ian Moran really liked the C420 clinic he did in Chicago. Hoover is hosting an Optimist Race Clinic at the beginning of the season featuring instruction by my sister Grace Squires, winner of the 2016 Traveler Series Opti Fleet. There, kids will learn how to race rig an Opti, roll tack properly and practice starts over the course of one week. See the Hoover Sailing Club website for more information on that. If you can’t make it to a clinic, ask the best Opti, C420 or Thistle sailors at your club to spend some time with you on the water. They have worked hard to be good and it is not surprising that they love to talk about it.

Of course, I could not have had a great 2016 season culminating at Chubbs, without the help and support of my family. Working during school breaks for sail funding is important. Even more important is giving back to your local clubs by teaching sailing and coaching. Sailing is an expensive sport, but with the help of the I-LYA Yachtsmen’s Fund I was able to sail on a national level and better my racing skills in ways I will always appreciate.