Sail-World.com : 2009 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta breaks Record
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2009 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta breaks Record |
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'Lasers rigged up and ready for the wind'
Lynn Fitzpatrick
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With 731 Orange Bowl participants, it has officially broken its own record as the biggest youth regatta in the USA: 315 Optimists (89 of which are Green Fleet beginners), 192 Lasers (including Laser Full-Rig, Radials and 4.7) and 89 420s.
Thanks to Amy Gross-Kehoe, US Sailing's Youth Sailing Council Chair, 23 International 420s will be participating in the Orange Bowl for their very first time. Many of the Orange Bowl sailors are arriving with great credentials including current Optimist World Champion Sinclair Jones from Peru and the 2009 US Optimist National's top three: CRYC's Axel Sly (now sailing a 420), Ft. Lauderdale's Christopher Williford and Palm Beach's Wade Waddel. Optimist sailors alone come from 18 nations and 22 states plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta, with Miami’s Coral Reef Yacht Club (CRYC) as the Organizing Authority, is a huge undertaking with more than 150 volunteers. Commodore Mark Kamilar, an Opti Green Fleet coach himself, is one of the most enthusiastic supporters. The CRYC Race Committee runs three of the racing circles with Lauderdale Yacht Club’s Race Committee running the busy Laser circle. They are assisted by the US Sailing Center-Miami, Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and volunteers from the Orange Bowl Committee. Sponsors include Investors Solutions, Dinghy Locker @ Landfall, Laser Performance, Lightning Printing and Zoum. West Marine has loaned the regatta a safety boat and driver. Scoring will be done on the water using Data Jack. Sailgroove will be streaming live to their website at www.sailgroove.com covering the races.
The Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta is in its 40th year. Some say that it is better known than the football game of the same name. Racing begins on Sunday, December 27 and runs through the 30th. Regatta Co-Chairs Wendy Kamilar and Pat Ficaro explain that the goal of the Orange Bowl is for the sailors to have fun on and off the water. Although it is a US Sailing Junior Olympic Regatta, it is not a qualifier for anything. The regatta activities include a fabulous raffle (where everyone wins), College Sailing Night with over 25 College Sailing Coaches and the 'Sail The Grove' night hosted by the City of Miami and Coconut Grove merchants.
The latest Miami weather forecast predicts temperatures in the upper 70s and partly sunny skies. Stay tuned for results at www.coralreefyachtclub.org. And remember what we say in Miami…'Orange you glad you came to sail?'
by Connie Bischoff
8:50 PM Thu 24 Dec 2009 GMT
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