2 months and counting…
SYC to host a National Championship Regatta for Junior Women
Hold fast team, there’s a lot going on!
But first, mark your calendars for the US Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship Kick-Off party at the Club on Thursday May 15! More information will be forthcoming.
As the regatta crew managing the US Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship is very busy making ready for the arrival of this exciting event, I want to fill you in on some exciting developments and also make a plea for more help!
First I would like to introduce my core crew and let you know what they are up to.
Michael Campbell is our charter boat guru, which means all of us benefit from his experience as a Lt. Colonel in the Army and a long career in the shipping business managing logistics.
He is also highly qualified for the job as the parent of a strapping young lad who will be recruited, along with his strapping young lad friends, to help the girls haul their boats out of the water at days end and to load the shipping container at the end of the regatta. If you are the proud parent of teenagers please contact Michael as there will be 40 boats to haul in and out of the water every day!
Darryl LeDoux has recently stepped in to assist Anne Hendry with the challenge of finding host families for to 80 competitors and bunks, couches or tents for the coaches and judges and we couldn’t be more thrilled! Please don’t delay in contacting Anne or Darryl if you would like to participate in this way.
Carol Martin, our sponsorship chair, is shopping the sponsor proposal around and I hear we may have some big names to announce in the coming weeks. If you, your company or anyone you know is interested in sponsoring this high profile national event, please contact Carol.
Tim Prouty, the most tech savvy person I know at SYC, has created a great web presence for the regatta and you can see it here - http://www.syconline.org/juniorwomen/
We will be adding content to this site in the coming weeks so check back soon!
Patrick Hind Smith has stepped in to help with public relations and communications and thank goodness! That is my ‘real job’ but I could not be doing the PR for race and serve as regatta chair so I am very grateful for Patrick’s contributions in this way.
Jerry Tarpin finally relented to being my powerboat fleet admiral and he has a big task ahead of him. Not only will he need the support of many members and their small, preferably soft sided boats, but he will also be responsible for making sure each boat has fuel, a hand held radio and all manner of essentials for the day on the water supporting a national regatta.
And speaking of days on the water, we can’t even talk about this event without thanking Jeff Zarwell for bringing this exciting opportunity to us in the first place! I am anxious about a lot of the details, but knowing Jeff is my ‘on- the-water guy’ gives me a great deal of confidence.
Now for the news:
We have increased registration from 35 to 40 teams to allow more girls the opportunity to compete in this national event. Registration will close on May 1 and I expect we will have a full house!
And speaking of teams, we are proud to announce that Olivia DiChiara is the SYC entry! Olivia will be attending a 420-racing clinic at the San Francisco Yacht Club on April 26 to begin to sharpen her skills and we are grateful for their invitation.
To further Olivia’s experience in the Club 420, Robert Marotta and a member who has requested to remain anonymous have extended an offer to purchase a boat for Olivia to train with while she is at school.
And this just in!
I am very pleased to announce the Sausalito Youth Sailing Foundation has generously agreed to sponsor a coach for Olivia to train with while she is at school. We have contacted US Sailing for leads on coaches in Monterey and expect to have some contacts very soon.
By the time July rolls around Olivia will be in fine form to represent the Club!
Ron Anderson saved the day when he offered to provide temporary docks to accommodate all of the 420’s that will be here in July and I couldn’t be more pleased with the arrangements.
Essentially we will be building 500 square feet of temporary docks off the junior sailing dock and the 420’s will launch from and be stored over night on these docks for the duration of the regatta.
This ensures SYC will be Race HQ for the week and it also provides a secure location for the boats we will be borrowing from Laser Performance and the private and other borrowed boats the girls will be racing in.
In other news, the SYC Auxiliary knocked my socks off when they offered to incorporate to a fundraiser for this regatta into the Memorial Day celebration on May 24th. Look for more information from the Auxiliary in the coming weeks and please join us for a great time and a good cause!
Before I could catch my breath from that exciting news, MK Beckner floored me when she made the extraordinary invitation to the US Sailing coaches and judges for a BBQ at her house! I know they will be as thrilled as I was at the invitation and I bet it will be a party not to be missed.
If after reading about all of these exciting developments you are just breathlessly searching for way to help, I have a couple of ideas…
Merchandise – I am looking for someone who will be responsible for the job of sourcing and purchasing shirts for competitors, coaches and judges, gifts for the host families and volunteers, etc.
Program – I am also looking for someone who will be responsible for producing the program that acknowledges all of the sponsors, lists the teams, host families, etc. US sailing has templates available and I have a gorgeous sample from a past regatta.
Trophies – The Ida Lewis trophy is a perpetual trophy and I am looking for someone to be responsible for the trophy set-up at club during the regatta and the awards ceremony. This person also helps the winner travel with the trophy or arranges shipping and completes the trophy accountability form.
Entertainment – I would like to work with someone who loves to throw parties to arrange the Opening and Awards Ceremonies. We may also want to provide one evening outing for the girls. And we can’t forget the end of regatta party to thank all of the volunteers!
Please contact me directly if you are interested in any of the roles outlined above.
It is hard to believe it is May already and in no time at all we will have our hands, our Club and our houses full with 80 of the best young women sailors in the country. I hope you are as excited about it as I am!
If you would like more information about the U.S. Jr. Women’s Doublehanded National Championship please visit:
http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/usjrw/double/