Pensacola Yacht Club 4th of July Junior Olympic Sailing Festival

by Talbot Wilson on 4 Jun 2009
Big 4th of July Junior Olympic Sailing Festival planned at Pensacola Yacht Club.

On Friday, July 3rd the Independence holiday action kicks off with final registration for Pensacola Yacht Club’s USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival presented by SUBWAY® Restaurants. Exciting youth racing clinics will be offered all day long.

Clinics will be presented Friday morning and afternoon by two exceptional youth coaches. Karl Kleinschrodt, well known sailing coach from Mobile, will instruct the Club 420 and Flying Scot groups. Nicole Buechler, at one time the 6th ranked female Laser sailor in the USA, is the daughter of PYC members Chris and Suzanne Buechler. Nicole is currently the Opti coach at Clearwater Community Sailing Center in Tampa, Florida, and will come home to instruct the Laser and Optimist Dinghy sailors.

Ben Barger, USA Olympic RS:X board sailor and five time US National Champion, will be on hand to give the young sailors personal insights on international and Olympic competition. Barger is currently the 24th ranked RS:X board sailor in the world and the top ranked American.

Then on Friday night, PYC goes into high gear. Ben Barger will be the guest speaker at the SUBWAY® Celebrate Sailing festival Kick-off dinner. Each of the youth sailors participating in the festival will have a free ticket to the dinner and show. This exciting presentation is open to all PYC members, guests and also to the general public. It’s a big holiday event for anyone interested in sailing and the Olympics.


Reservations for the Celebrate Sailing program are being taken through July 1st. Dinner tickets for festival participants are free. Tickets for children 12 and under are $10 and adults are $20. Space is limited. Call PYC for reservations now: 433-8804.

Racing takes the spotlight on Saturday and Sunday with competition in nine racing classes: Opti Green, Red, White, and Blue fleets; Laser Full, Radial & 4.7 fleets; Flying Scots, Club 420’s. The committee predicts that there will be anywhere from 75 to 100 young sailors participating in the festival. Prizes will be awarded Sunday afternoon.

The SUBWAY® Junior Sailing Clinic, Ben Barger and Celebrate Sailing dinner program and the 8th annual USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival on the Gulf Coast are presented for the first time this year by local SUBWAY® franchisees. Pensacola Yacht Club in Pensacola, Florida hosts the annual festival and regatta on July 3-5th.

All sailors 8-21 years old are invited to bring their Optis, Lasers, Club 420’s and Flying Scots to join the fun at this traditional 4TH of July holiday regatta. Come out and help PYC Celebrate Sailing.

To register or to learn more about the event, go to the PYC web site, http://www.pensacolayachtclub.org/, click GUEST then click on HERE below the Junior Olympic Sailing Festival event logo.