Juniors

SoundWaters knows that if they build it, they will come By Rick Bannerot How do you get – and keep! – kids interested in sailing? You need at least three elements to plot a direction, (and a fourth and/or fifth point on a chart so that you have a true path.) There cannot be a pattern with only two elements; in game theory and storytelling, it is called “The Rule of Three.” The answer to the question…

By David Ornstein Photos by Mary Alice Fisher High school sailing programs across the country have expanded as a whole, now numbering in the many hundreds across the seven districts that comprise the U.S. high school sailing circuit. But few programs have grown with the speed and success as those of the schools that sail out of Greenwich Harbor in Greenwich, CT, an area that now consistently churns out top finishers, college recruits and world champion sailors….

Sea Scouts may be the best-kept secret in junior big boat sailing! By Rick Bannerot Basic seamanship frequently starts with learning to tie knots. One of the problems at the heart of junior big boat sailing is that there are so many different metaphorical knots to learn, and even more to try to figure out how to undo, and therein lies the conundrum. The solution to one knot is not always the answer for another, just as…

By Rick Bannerot This is the third installment in a series that started with the naive notion of telling the story of a 12-year-old Optimist sailor named Grace Sandoval, who was losing her passion for sailing. “I felt burned out,” Grace recalls. “I really disliked floating alone, in a little bathtub, with no breeze, being slowly broiled on Long Island Sound…Visions of blue swimming pools, playing tennis with my friends, volunteering at the local community garden, and…

Driving Interest & Success in Junior Big Boat Sailing, Part 2 Story & photos by Rick Bannerot Some sailors are born into it. Others wander in by accident, and then there are those who moved up from dinghies to the world of “big boat” sailing. The November/December 2021 edition of WindCheck recounted many notable junior big boat victories that generated headlines around the sailing world, including Young American winning the Vineyard Race in 2013, High Noon winning…

The newly formed Guilford Sailing Team, which launched in September 2021 as a club sport for sailors at Guilford High School in Guilford, CT, is off to an amazing start! The team’s first fall season is well underway with a roster of eight enthusiastic and talented sailors. Guilford Yacht Club has generously provided a home base for the team, with practices held three days a week after school. This location is fantastic, providing the sailors easy access…

Story & photos by Rick Bannerot I’ve had the pleasure of photographing sailing on western Long Island Sound for 20+ years, ranging from Opti dinghies to Maxi yachts and just about everything in between. I am routinely gobsmacked by the growth of junior sailing, particularly juniors sailing on, and in fact actually sailing “big boats” ranging from keelboats like Sonars on the small side to 60-foot bluewater distance racers. Adult racers and cruisers always seem to be…

A Stopover at the RS Feva Class North American & JSA of LIS Feva Championships Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, CT hosted the 2021 RS Feva Class North American Championship and the Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound Feva Championship on July 29 & 30. The day before the regatta, sailors attended a US Sailing sponsored clinic led by coach Mackenzie McGuckin, to practice and refine their boat handling skills on these sporty 12-foot youth…

By Emma Janson, Sailors for the Sea Skipper The actions and voices of young people across the globe are providing hope for the future of our oceans and waterways. Through Sailors for the Sea’s Clean Regattas program, youth sailors have stepped up to become leaders for environmental stewardship in their local communities. Emma Janson, a volunteer Skipper for Sailors for the Sea, shares her take on why every youth regatta should become a Clean Regatta. As a youth…

New England Science & Sailing is Celebrating 20 Years of Innovative Education If you sail into Stonington Harbor in eastern Connecticut in the summer months, you might mistake New England Science & Sailing (NESS) for a summer camp, with children sailing, wading in tidal pools with fish nets, and kayaking about. Yet, while it may resemble a camp-like experience, there is a deep educational structure behind everything that NESS does year-round. And that tenet will be nicely…