CISA Clinic draws top young sailors this weekend

by Rich Roberts on 3 Apr 2009
Seven months after the Olympic Games, the glow is still there drawing the USA's best young sailing prospects to the California International Sailing Association's 32nd annual Advanced Racing Clinic at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Saturday through Tuesday.

But it's no spring break. More than 100 boys and girls ages 13 to 18 selected on the basis of their sailing résumés will be coached and lectured by an elite team of instructors led by director and 2008 Olympic Laser class competitor Andrew Campbell of San Diego.

The intense schedule on and off the water will encompass tactics, strategy, sail trim, boat speed and how to organize a successful Olympic campaign, climaxed by competitive racing on the final day.

The team of 18 instructors will include rules expert Dave Perry of Southport, Conn. and Isabelle Kinsolving of New York, a two-time women's world 470 class champion with skipper Erin Maxwell of Norwalk, Conn. Kinsolving and Maxwell are now one of only three 470 women's class members of the new US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics aiming for the 2012 Olympic sailing at Weymouth, England.

Other instructors are Harry Legum, Brian Bissell, Casey Hogan, Nigel Cochran, Rich Feeny, Mikee Anderson, Zack Leonard, Zach Maxam, Brett Davis, Andrew Lewis, David Wright, Jon Rogers, Ben Glass, Cameron Biehl and Leandro Spina.

'I'm excited to be working with this group of kids,' said Campbell, 25. 'They're at least one sailing generation behind me . . . a whole fresh group of sailors. We're going to focus the coaching efforts on each and every kid to improve his or her personal level, rather than trying to meet somebody else's capacity.'

All will be assigned to their preferred classes of boats: Lasers, Laser Radials, 29er skiffs, International 420s, Club 420s and CFJs. About a third of the students will be girls, participating in every class except Lasers, which favor physical mass.

'When they're the same size there's no reason women should be in a different class,' Campbell said. 'College sailing is a perfect example.'

So were the US Olympic Trials for the 470 class on the same waters late in 2007. Eight men's and five women's teams sailed in a combined fleet that was scored separately, but in combined scoring Olympic representatives Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler placed first with Maxwell and Kinsolving third.

Campbell said, 'It's important to have girls aware of the fact that they should be holding themselves to a level playing field with the boys, not just to be the best girl but to be the best sailor. I refuse to believe that boys and girls at the junior level cannot race against one another. At the Olympic level the physical specificity of some classes sometimes makes open sailing unfair for both genders. However, when athletes are the same size and at similar skill levels, I think that female sailors are underrated in their potential to compete with male sailors. At the CISA Clinic they are coached equally.'

Campbell attended The Bishop's School in San Diego, where spring break schedules prevented him from attending more than one CISA clinic as a junior sailor.

'School was always a top priority,' he said, 'but I remember how stacked the coaching staff always was and being really jealous of the sailors that got to take part in the clinic.

'Nowhere in the country do you get such a strong group of coaches for an independent training camp. The CISA clinic is early enough in the spring so that sailors can see, hear and learn from the outstanding cadre of coaches, and then work those ideas into their repertoire before the summer circuits get under way. Learning how to train properly is as important as learning how to compete properly.'

CISA, founded in 1971, supports amateur sailors by providing travel grants for regional, national and international competition and also funds local sailing programs and racing clinics.

Unlike other nations, the U.S. has no federally supported assistance programs for its amateur sportsmen or for the development of young talent. CISA, a 501(c) 3 organization, relies on contributions of corporations and individuals to provide support of amateur sailors. Because it is non-profit and tax-exempt, all contributions are tax deductible.

The CISA Advanced Racing Clinic is sponsored by Laser Performance, North Sails, Kaenon Polarized sunglasses, Z Blok Sunblock and Point Loma Outfitting.

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CISA Clinic Schedule click here