First National Youth Match Racing camp held in Sheboygan
by Event Media on 26 Jul 2009
Racing at the US Youth Match Racing camp Dave Perry
The US Sailing Center of Sheboygan hosted the first national youth match racing camp July 8-12 in their fleet of evenly match Sonars. Leading the Camp was current national match race champion Dave Perry of Southport, Connecticut.
The five day camp included sailors from Maine, California and the US Virgin Islands. Umpire support was led by certified umpire Cliff Black of Chicago, Illinois.
Perry pushed the sailors hard, with 12 hour days, double sailing sessions on the water, contests and video analysis on shore, and formal racing on the last day. Every sailor tremendously improved their keelboat boat handling and ability to sail fast, and their match racing knowledge and proficiency.
Testament to the steep learning curve of all the participants was the team from King Harbor, California, skippered by Dillon Lancaster, which went on to compete in the Governor’s Cup the following week and were one of only two US teams to qualify for the Semi-Finals. 'We never would have gone that far if it weren’t for what we learned at the Camp!' an excited Lancaster told Perry on the phone after coming ashore after completing the round robin.
'Plans are already underway to run the Camp again next summer in Sheboygan,' says Perry, 'which is a great venue and facility for training and competing. In addition, we plan to offer similar youth match racing camps in other regions of the US to help introduce even more young US sailors to the exciting sport of match racing.'
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