GBSA BowLine: December 2009

GBSA BowLine for the people by the people

Welcome to the GBSA BowLine Blog.

This is long overdue, and I apologize for the delay. I had the best of intentions to do a 2009 season wrap up much earlier, and then life and work happened. It's been an especially busy season. But, everything for a reason. As I started to put together the season wrap-up Bowline, it occured to me that the print/pdf format can be limiting for photos and other fun stuff. It seemed that a blog would allow more people to access and participate. That's what GBSA is about - people, their stories, and the ability to share them with eachother. What better vehicle to allow that to happen than a blog - we hope. At least we'll give it a try.

We are also looking for a new BowLine editor(s) and bloggers. Please share your stories, photos, tips on buying and caring for boats, racing tactics, results, and whatever else you want to do here.

Matt Coughlin earns 2009 C.J. Buckley Courageous Spirit of Sailing Award

C.J. Buckley Courageous Spirit of Sailing Award is presented each year to the GBSA sailor who best exemplifies the vibrant spirit of C.J. Buckley, an enthusiastic, dedicated sailor whose love of sailing and positive attitude inspired everyone around him. C.J. passed away in 2002 at 17 after battling brain cancer for more than a year. His memory lives on as his courage and determination continue to inspire those who knew him and everyone who learns about his amazing life.

This year’s winner Matt Coughlin is pictured with his parents, Kevin and Beth (left), and CJ’s parents Carter and Lucy Buckley. Past winners are: Josh Blasbalg (2004), Tricia Sellon (2005), Paige McClatchy (2006), and Mia Cooper (2007), and Ryan Whelan (2008)

GBSA Awards Night 2009

About 300 GBSA sailors and family and friends celebrated yet another successful season back in August. Congratulations to all the award recipients and everyone who participated this year!

Note: Below are the results for the season. If you would like to add or correct something, please email greenwichbaysailingassociation@gmail.com, or add a comment here on the blog.

2009 GBSA AWARDS

C. J. Buckley Spirit of Sailing
Courageous Award
Matt Coughlin

Most Improved Beginner
Mike Walsh, Nick Hand, Andrew Willis, Ben Rosenberg, Sean Sceery, Tressa BT

Most Improved Sailing Adventures
Paige Mattos, Mary Larcom, Tristan Bella Balsamo

Most Improved Opti Beginners
Andre Bouisvert

Most Improved Opti Racer
Caroline Decessare

Most Improved 420 Racer
Mykahla Renyolds

Most Improved Laser Racer
Mia Cooper

On The Edge Award - Opti Green and 420 Intermdiates
Dan Medicci, Danielle Ellson

Best Crew Award 420 student
Oksana Goretoy

Most Improved Sailor Of The Year
Jake Ruhling, Connor D’Albora, Mia Cooper

Gordon Hagglund Award perpetual
Sportsman of The Year Racer
Marisa McCann

Sportsman of the Week
Ross Smith, Tyler Williams, Hadley Ruhling, Lexi Handy
Zach Bender, Mary August Olson, Julia Stevens, Chris Pearson

Instructor Award
Julia Stevens

Sailor of The Year Award perpetual
Norbert H Mongeon III

Coach of The Year Award
Danielle Fleet

Seamanship Award
Andrew Paliotta, DevinAlex Deneault, Chris Pearson, Will Porter, Ben Manning
2 Beginners, 2 Sailing Adventures, 1 Division I, 1 Division II

Swamp Rat Awards
Kyle Riggs, Kyle Williams, Callie Wehr, Mary Larcom, Alexis Jagmnis, Katie Macdonald, TaylorMcCann

Motor Mouth Award
Gabe Boisvert, Brendan Lada, Julia Stevens, Nick Handy, Emily Swanson, Brad Sunderland, Jamie Alstrom, Axel Olson, Daniel Porter, AJ, Dan Locke

Smile Award
Dan Medici, Mia Cooper, Hadley Ruhling, Katie Coughlin, Katie Langlais, Amelia Grumbach, Tom DeCesare

Know Knot Award
PeterBrouillard

Turtle Award
Peter Brouillard, Ben Manning, Sarah Pearson, Dan Locke, Thomas Decesare, Mitch Renyolds, Geoff Grumbach

Broken Boat
Mia Cooper

Maguire Awards
Ivan Goretaya

GBSA Racing Series Awards

Opti Race
1. Chris Shakespere
2. Hadley Mullins
3. Jake Ruhling

420
1. Erin Mullins/ Matt Coughlin
2. Michaela R/Oksana Goretaya
3. Lauren McCann/Lauren McClatchy

Lasers Radial
1. Nori Mongeon
2. Mia Cooper
3. Julia Stevens

Laser 4.7
1. Connor D’Albora
2. Talyor McCann
3. Brendan Lada

Opti Green
1. Kyle Riggs
2. Gabe Boisvert
3. Dan Medeci

2009 CJ Buckley Team Racing Regatta Breaks Records

Pictured are regatta founders and organizers (l to r): Lucy Buckley (CJ's mom), Kyle Assad, Justin Assad, Carter Buckley (CJ's dad)

Team Boss from Lake Beulah YC Wins the 2009 CJ Buckley Team Race for the Club 420 National Junior Team Race Championship.

For 2009, the Club 420 class designated the CJ Buckley Team Race as this year’s Club 420 National Junior Team Racing Championship. With 24 teams and 144 junior sailors from as far as Texas, the United States Virgin Islands, and Wisconsin, the CJ Buckley Team Race was the largest team race in the United States this year, and the second-largest team race event in the world! Regatta organizers delivered, completing 340 races over three days.

Congratulations to Team Boss, from Lake Beulah YC, Wisconsin, who won the event and are the 2009 Club 420 National Team Race Champions! Team members were Will Haeger, Ian Schappe, Chris Banholzer, Nick Clemence, George Kutschenreuter, and Ellie Banholzer.

CJ Buckley lost a valiant fight with cancer in 2002, at the age of 17. A member of the Tabor Academy and Greenwich Bay Sailing Teams, he was a fierce competitor who especially enjoyed team racing. This regatta began in his honor in 2003, and had become one of the summer's most popular regional events, this year expanded to the national stage. For everyone involved, it was a great reminder of how lucky we are to be able to enjoy this game, and a truly ideal way to celebrate a very special friend and teammate.

A very special thank you to CJ’s parents, Carter and Lucy Buckley, and to the many GBSA parents who played leading roles in organization, from securing support boats and the Goddard Park venue, to handmaking 180 lunches to distribute on the water each day. Thank you to PRO and Chief Race Officer Justin Assad, his team of Tyler Baeder, Scott Millard, Alex Baittinger, Kim Murtha, Jess Langella, Melissa Monbouquette, and all the coaches who helped run 340 races in three days.

Markboat support was provided by Laser Performance representatives Alexa Schuler and Chris Souza, who were instrumental in keeping things square. Additionally, Head Scorer Kyle Assad and assistant Sol Vairavan, who worked fiendishly to keep results current and rotations coming out efficiently, especially during Tuesday’s swiss-league style format. Finally, Chief Umpire and Judge Baker Potts was joined by Joel Hanneman, Joey Mello, and Brendan Healy for on the water umpiring, and 3-minute justice protests were heard by Ted Hale, Rob Hurd, and Josh Saltmarsh.

This year’s regatta was sponsored by Doyle Sails, LaserPerformance, Harken, Annapolis Performance Sailing, Vineyard Vines, and US Sailing.

Day 1, August 3:
24 teams arrived in East Greenwich to beautiful weather and perfect team racing breeze. Two 12 team round robins were set up, and racing commenced in 5-12 knots of wind. With lunch served on the water, 66 team races were sailed in each round robin, with two teams going undefeated. A total of 132 races were completed with 9 protests resulting in 2 disqualifications.

Island Time, the team composed of sailors from the USVI, RI, TX, and NY sailed to a perfect record of 11-0 in the even numbered teams division. This team, formed just the day before at a fleet race event, consisted of Dan Eichler, Katia DaSilva, Tyler Rice, Billy Gibbons, Taylor Lutz, and Nick Galligan.

St. Georges Yachting Squadron, composed of team members attending St. George's School in Newport, RI, raced 11 solid races, going undefeated in the odds group. The 6 sailors who escaped unscathed after the first day were Pearson Potts, Caitlin Connerny, Evan Read, Sarah Peck, Kevin Martland, and Will Webster.

Day 2, August 4:
Teams were seeded into 4 leagues for modified Swiss league based on their results from Monday. With 6 teams in each league, the top two and bottom two teams could move up or move down from their league based on their win/loss record following each rotation.

League A consisted of the two undefeated teams, as well as LISOT q, and LISOT Bobsled Team, teams hailing from the LISOT racing program. They were joined by Wild Harbor, from Wild Harbor YC, and Team Boss, from Lake Beulah YC, Wisconsin.

Tabor Academy, CJ Buckley’s high school, brought two teams this year, coached by Tabor Head Coach Rob Hurd. The White Seawolves and Cardinal Seawolves were joined in League B by LISOT MOAS, Team Shibby, team Green Fleet, and team NBYC Sailors.

League C had the Wu Tang Whalers, the North Kingstown Yacht Squadron, LISOT Turfdogs, Young Dudes Older Babes (YDOB), JV Production, and Team Rubix.

League D started with the Gym Class Heroes, the Tye Dye Tigers, Wood, Saunderstown Tennis Club, Blowin’ Up Homies, and The Flying Turtles.

A round robin for each league was completed, and while the teams waited on the water, scorers Kyle Assad and Sol Vairavan tallied the scores and reseeded teams to run a second round robin before the day was done. A total of 120 races were run on Tuesday with 11 protests filed. Of those protests, 9 boats were disqualified, once again showing that sometimes it may be better to take a quick circle and keep racing than bring it to the room.

Day 3, August 5:
Based on the two round robins from the day before, teams were seeded into Gold, Silver, and Bronze fleet. After the competitor’s meeting, the 144 sailors charged off the beach for the final day of racing in a building southerly, which fluctuated from 8-15.

The gold fleet had modified umpiring, with an umpire following each race in the round robin. Joel Hanneman from LaserPerformance, URI Head Coach Joey Mello, Tufts University graduate Baker Potts, and College of Charleston graduate Brendan Healy. Umpires were able to help sailors with settling disputes on the water by flagging offending teams.

Silver and Bronze fleets also completed their round robins. Racing was tight around the course, and no team went undefeated. Principal Race Officer and Race Committee Chair Justin Assad kept the racing running, and 84 more races were completed on Wednesday.

Even with on umpires on the water, 11 protests were filed, 7 in gold fleet and 4 in silver. All four silver protests were withdrawn, and 3 boats were disqualified after the last round of racing.

Final Results:

GOLD FLEET
1st
Team BOSS

2nd
Island Time

3rd
LISOT q

St. Georges Yachting Squad
Bobsled Team
NBYC Sailors
White Seawolves
LISOT MOAS

Island Time wins the head to head tie breaker with LISOT q
NBYC Sailors win the head to head tie breaker with White Seawolves

SILVER FLEET
1st
Wild Harbor

2nd
NK Yacht Squadron

3rd
Green Fleet

Cardinal Seawolves
LISOT Turfdogs
JV Production
Gym Class Heroes
Wood

3 way tie between NK Yacht Squadron, Green Fleet, Cardinal Seawolves broken by points in championship round robin.

BRONZE FLEET
1st
Team Rubix

2nd
Wu Tang Whalers

3rd
YDOB

Tye Dye Tigers
Team Shibby
Saunderstown Tennis Club
The Flying Turtles
Blowin' Up Homies

Ties broken by head to head results

GBSA BowLine Bloggers Wanted

The BowLine blog is a place for everyone who wants to contribute and participate. If you are interested in becoming a regular contributor, please e-mail greenwichbaysailingassociation@gmail.com.

Message from Program Director Joey Mello

I can’t believe the summer of 2009 is already over; our 9 weeks of sailing flew by. The boats are now put away and the CJ Buckley Sailing Center has closed its doors. It’s always sad to see the season come to a close but that just helps build the anticipation about how great next year will be.

The summer of 2009 certainly turned out to be a great one following a slow start. June and July were plagued by rain, thunderstorms and light winds, but it was worth the wait as August was awesome. Through all the rain and wind delays, each class managed to work hard and developed a great understanding. When they were able to get on the water, the GBSA sailors made the most of it.

The staff of Instructors and Coaches was incredible. As a team, they were the BEST group I have ever worked with! Our staff knew what to do and really helped to push our students to be the best. From well designed lesson plans, to new and creative drills, this group knew how to teach and did a great job of keeping it fun. More importantly, this crowd kept it safe. On the water, the sailors were surrounded by safety boats and the watchful eyes of their coaches.

Out on the bay, the GBSA Racing Teams were nothing short of impressive. The sailing teams went out on the NBYA circuit and quickly climbed to the front of the fleet. Whether it be in Optis, Lasers or 420s, the East Greenwich sailors set their mark as front runners. In the end, the NBYA Race week was the ultimate culmination of years of hard work and great coaching. We are all incredibly proud of our sailors and racers; they truly had an extraordinary year.

In my position as the director of this great program, I am very happy with how everything went. This year started with many questions about the new format and new classes but just one week in, it was obvious that the new design was a success. The addition of new classes, and adjusted schedule gave us the flexibility to put students in classes where they could fit in and thrive. It was a great deal of fun watching these classes out sailing and pick up this life long sport that we all love.

I can’t thank enough all the volunteers and members of the GBSA family who helped make this summer a great success. There are endless hours spent by parents, family and friends of this program who make what we have possible. For all of those who helped, no matter how big or small, thank you! I greatly appreciate all that you do.

I hope everyone had a great season, and I wish you the best on this school year and we look forward to seeing everyone back next summer.

Best,

Joey Mello