Junior Sailing News


Kate Joslin at the 2024 C420 Midwinters East

By Kate Joslin | March 17, 2024

I agreed to sail to support my friend Carly Keiding who was looking for a crew at C420 Mid Winters East in Jensen Beach, FL. MWE is one of the largest regattas in the C420 with 148 boats competing.

I arrived a few days early where, along with a number of west and east coast teams, we trained in various conditions with the wind being light and shifty. With the number of boats in the fleet we knew they would break up the sailors into flights and eventually into gold, silver, and bronze for the final days.


Bennett Simpson at the 2023 Open Orange Bowl Regatta

By Bennett Simpson | January 31, 2024

When we arrived in Florida, I unloaded my 29er off the trailer and rigged it completely to ensure everything was rigged correctly. After that, I went to eat sushi with the team.

On the second day, we sailed about 30 minutes out to Biscayne Bay to practice. I was struck by how clear and shallow the water was in the bay. When we got out there, I could see hundreds of other boats sailing. We did a lot of up-downs and lineups, then a practice race with the other teams. It was hot and sunny. This was the last of the warm weather for the remainder of the trip.


Ian Nyenhuis at the 2023 Open Orange Bowl Regatta

By Ian Nyenhuis | January 31, 2024

This past month, my skipper, Anton, and I traveled to Florida to take part in the Open Orange Bowl regatta. It was the first time I was taking part in the event. We flew out Christmas night and rigged our boat the next day. We had one practice day before the regatta started. 

Day one of the regatta was met with rain and wind. We had a 2-hour postponement on land before we were sent out. Once on the race course, we had 20-30 knots of wind. Following multiple capsizes within the 29er fleet, racing was called off for the day. 

Days 2 and 3 were very similar with medium wind and very shifty. We learned a lot from that regatta and it helped us as we are preparing for the Youth World Qualifier that is coming up in late March in Long Beach. 

Thank you to SDYC and HPYS for the support and for helping make the Orange Bowl possible.


Julia Stewart at the St. Francis Yacht Club Fall Dinghy Regatta

By Julia Stewart | November 17, 2023

On October 20 my dad and I flew to San Francisco where I was sailing in St. Francis Yacht Club’s Fall Dinghy Regatta in my 29er, we met up with my Crew Wes LaRue who with his dad Jon drove the four SDYC teams boats up to San Francisco. Saturday morning we had breakfast and then unloaded and rigged our boats. After making a few grip tape improvements to our boat we met with our two coaches for a great briefing on the day and what to expect. San Francisco Bay and the club is really pretty!

We got on the water and did some speed tuning with 3 of our teammates where we checked our upwind and downwind speed and angles. In the afternoon the breeze built to 13 with a flooding current right on the city front which was really pretty. The racing was super competitive and very fun. The wind all afternoon steadily shifted to the left and a dying breeze. The last 2 races were really difficult with the left shifts, dying breeze and a ripping flood tide. We happily ended Saturday in fifth. We sailed back to the club, unrigged had our de-brief and hot showers, San Francisco is cold!


Madilyn Anderson at the 2023 Sears Cup

By Madilyn Anderson | October 02, 2023

This summer my teammates, Ava Gustafson, Kaya Hancock, and Taylor Ashton, and I went to Lakewood Yacht Club in SeaBrook, Texas to take part in the 2023 Sears Cup Regatta.

Our team was pulled together with the help of our coach, Steve Hunt, and our junior director, Erik Hallback, on the day of a J22 clinic. No other teams signed up so it was an amazing opportunity for us to learn even more about the J22. We practiced for 3 days with our coach and then completed in the US Sailing Area J Sears Cup Triple Handed Qualifier. This local regatta was super fun because we were the only all girls team and coincidentally had a pink spinnaker as well! It was definitely a challenge, but we managed to win first place and qualify for the Sears Cup. On August 9th we flew out to Seabrook, Texas and participated in the one-day clinic held by US Sailing. We were really grateful for this considering our team was only able to practice one time prior to the event. We had some spinnaker issues with raising and dousing it but it was very good practice for the racing to come. We also found out we were the only all girls team again at this event!


Wyatt Kelly and Anton Schmid at the C420 South Shore Champs & North Americans

By Wyatt Kelly | August 30, 2023

At the beginning of August, Anton and I traveled to Sayville, New York, to compete in the C420 South Shore Championship, the final regatta in the Triple Crown series. On our first day of practice, there was a nice sea breeze of about 12-16 knots, which made for a fun day of sailing. On the first day of racing, we were met with a sea breeze of about 12 knots, which slowly built all day. By the last race, the breeze had picked up to around 18-20 knots. We were really happy to take first place in the windiest race of the regatta since we are a relatively small team.


Emily Otto at the ILCA 4 Youth World Championship

By Emily Otto | August 30, 2023

Over this summer, I had the opportunity to participate in my first international event, the ILCA 4 Youth World Championship held in Volos, Greece.

We left on July 15 with practice starting the next day. My coaches Susannah and Rosie Chapman coached me as well as 15 other US competitors and in total there were 26 US competitors competing in the most well attended 4.7 worlds so far with 430 competitors total.


Kousei Hatter Wins the 2023 ILCA US National Championships

By Kousei Hatter | August 14, 2023

The 2023 ILCA US National Championships was a great experience. The regatta was held at the Crescent Sail Yacht Club/Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, located on Lake St. Clair, Michigan.

I flew in on Tuesday, 3 days before the regatta started. On Thursday I picked up my charter boat from the US One Design tent, and set up my personal gear like my traveler, daggerboard bungy, outhaul, and Vang. Then my team and I went out to sail on the lake. It was a very up and down wind reaching from 14 to 5 knots, and short chop. We did a few up downs and then connected with the team from GCYSA to do a few practice races. After that we headed in and got ready for the next day.


Anton Schmid & Ian Nyenhuis at the 29er Nationals & Youth Champs

By | July 24, 2023

Last month, my skipper, Anton Schmid, and I went to Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI to take part in the 2023 29er Nationals and the US Sailing Youth Championships. 

The 29er Nationals was a three day regatta that we were using as a warm-up event for the Youth Championships the following week as the Youth Champs was the Youth World Qualifier. Each day of the regatta, we were met with different conditions due to a large storm system moving through the area. The racing was very tight at the top of the fleet. Everyone was all over the place in the results. In the end, it was between two boats and it came down to the last race. We ended up beating the second place boat and secured our win at the 2023 29er Nationals. 


Harrison Strom at the Laser Youth Champs

By Harrison Strom | July 24, 2023

The 2023 Youth Champs was an incredible experience. An amazing fleet of ILCA 6's with the best of the best youth sailors competing. The regatta was held in the Rhode Island at the Roger Williams College. The venue was a mostly enclosed body of water that had a mouth to the ocean.

The first and second days of the event were incredibly tiring. Gusting 25+ with an average wind velocity of 18. Boat speed was the name of the game; favoring heavier air I finished all top 12s in the big breeze. The courses were fairly short and boat speed was all that mattered. The wind would build and port tack was favored so the left tended to come in. During the downwinds, it was critical to keep the boat constantly planing and steering at steep angles to avoid running into waves. Keeping it simple and sailing fast was the recipe for success. 


Holland Vierling & Kevin Cason at the 29er Nationals

By Holland Vierling | July 24, 2023

Kevin Cason and myself sailed at the 2023 29er nationals in June in Bristol, Rhode Island. Among the best teams in the country (and some from out of the country too!) we raced hard and made many new friends along three way! We finished the regatta in 6th overall and 1st in juniors/ under 16. We practiced for one day before the race and the wind conditions were relatively the same to the regatta conditions. We raced in a fleet of 20 boats and the line was packed! There were first and second row starts and as a result, making any mistakes would contribute to a low race score. Due to this we had some low scores on a fee races but we were pleased with most of the scores. All in all- a great experience at 29er nationals 2023 and I hope to attend and win 29er nationals in 2024.


Kevin Cason & Holland Vierling at the 29er Youth Championships

By Kevin Cason | July 24, 2023

I flew to Rhode Island to compete in the US Sailing Youth Championship with my partner Holland Vierling. The flight was 6 hours, which I flew alone to  NYC. Then Holland’s mom Sabrina drove us to Roger Williams College in Rhode Island. We stayed in the Roger Williams dorm which was amazing because I had the unique opportunity to live like a college student. Similar to college life I made some great new sailing friends from Canada, who I plan to meet up with in the future. On our days off, we traveled to Boston and explored many Universities including Boston College, Harvard and MIT.

The first two days of racing definitely lived up to my expectations with wind gusts of up to 25 mph wreaking havoc on competitors, boats, and equipment. Thankfully, we were ready with spare equipment that we are able to use and lend to our competitors. Throughout the four day competition we improved each day and finished in 8th place out of 26 teams. 

The overall experience at Roger Williams was amazing for two fourteen year olds. I am incredibly grateful to my parents and SDYC for their support and Sabrina Vierling for being my chaperone. Holland and I are already planning our return for next year’s Youth Champs! 


Anton Schmid & Wyatt Kelly at the C420 National Championship

By Anton Schmid | July 24, 2023

We had the great opportunity to travel to Chicago, Illinois to compete in the Club 420 National Championship on Lake Michigan July 7 – 9. On our day of practice, we had 12-16 knots of breeze with 4-5 foot chop. We had never sailed the C420 in waves that big before. It was very challenging but an amazing learning experience. The regatta showed very hard sailing conditions with short and steep Lake Michigan waves combined with light winds to make tough racing. With really tough competition and challenging conditions there was a lot to learn and improve through the whole trip. Our best finish was a third on the last race. We want to thank comp fund for allowing us to always be improving  and compete at this level.


Kate Joslin Competes at 29er Nationals and Youth Champs

By | July 05, 2023

Two weeks spent training and racing in Hog Island Bay for the 29er National Championships as well as the US Youth Championships brought a wide variety of conditions and great learning opportunities for our whole team. Carly Keiding, my skipper from SBYC and I have been together in the boat for about a year. 29er Nationals, sailed out of Roger Williams University’ beautiful boat house brought light wind and flat water, pushing us to focus on current and boat speed on the course. Following Nationals we had a few days of more light air training between the two events.


Kousei Hatter at the 2023 ILCA Midwinters East

By Kousei Hatter | March 15, 2023

In February I competed in the 2023 ILCA Midwinters East, in Clearwater, FL. I woke up before the sun even came up and left to the airport. I Had a flight first to Dallas, TX, then a connecting flight to Tampa Bay, FL. Then I lastly took a 40-minute uber to my hotel in Clearwater. I arrived late at night, so I went to sleep right when I got there. The next morning, I woke up to the bright sun bleeding through the blinds and when I walked outside onto the balcony, I saw the bright blue water. To get used to the time being 3 hours ahead, my mom and I took an uber to the beach and walked to a lunch spot in the area. We ate lunch but then I remembered that there was a mini golf place on the way back, so we played mini golf and walked back to the hotel across a big bridge. While I was walking across the bridge I saw multiple lasers, IQ foils and a Nacra 15.


Emily Otto at the 2022 Orange Bowl Regatta

By Emily Otto | January 31, 2023

Over this past winter break, my family and I got the opportunity to travel to Miami, Florida for my first Orange Bowl Regatta. We arrived on December 18th for a pre-racing clinic, where I was able to get a feel for the conditions and become familiar with the area. I learned what the general conditions were for each wind direction and how to handle them.

Two days after Christmas, the regatta finally started. The first day was tricky. After being postponed for many hours we only got one race off. The conditions were shifty with around 5 to 8 knots. The pin was favored but it paid off to start at the committee boat and tack immediately onto port. The current was pushing you behind the line and towards the pin so there was a lot of line sag, which was a major aspect throughout the entire regatta.


Kousei Hatter at the 2022 Orange Bowl Regatta

By Kousei Hatter | January 31, 2023

In late December 2022 I competed in the 2022 Tuuci International Orange Bowl Regatta in the ILCA 4 fleet. Here is how it went. I took a redeye from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale, and then took a 30-minute uber to Coral Gables, where my Mom and I checked into our hotel room. Since I only got 2 hours of sleep on the plane, I took a nap. But then as a fun way to get out of the hotel, and to stay awake because of the time change, my mom and I took a hour long bus ride to the Everglades where we rode on an air boat to see alligators.  However, it was very cold and windy, so we did not see any. But after I got to hold a baby alligator.


Ryan Terhaar at the Orange Bowl Regatta

By Ryan Terhaar | January 31, 2023

On December 24th my dad and I took a flight from San Diego, CA to Miami, FL for the 2022 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta which takes place over the winter break.  This was to be one of my last regattas of my junior sailing career in the challenging & large ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) class.  Our arrival to Miami was not consistent to warmth of southern Florida in the winter time.  It was cold, windy & wet.  On December 26th, we went down to Coral Reef Yacht Club for registration, to meet up with my coach at Shake a Leg park and pick up my chartered boat.  I then headed out for a few hours of practice with my coach.  Racing began on Dec 27th in approximately 9 knots of wind that was extremely shifty.  It was so shifty that the race committee was having trouble setting up a course of which they were only able to get one race off.  For the racing on Dec 28th & 29th, the conditions were not only challenging due to the large fleet, but the winds was in the mid to high teens with puffs in the 20s, with a sea state known as the “Miami chop” which made an appearance.  These were not the normal conditions I have been training for here in San Diego.  The final day of racing was unfortunately called off for lack of wind.  Overall, I had good boat speed, and I was unlucky to be called over early in a couple of races that hurt my overall score.  I would like to thank the San Diego Yacht Club Competition Fund for their support in one of my last junior regattas.  I look forward to representing San Diego Yacht Club for many years to come.


Ava Gustafson at the Orange Bowl Regatta

By Ava Gustafson | January 27, 2023

Thank you so much for supporting me in the ILCA 6 Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, Florida. I really liked competing in these regattas. Competing against such amazing sailors really helped me improve. I enjoyed starting on extremely crowded starting lines because it helped me improve my boat handling. Speed testing with so many fantastic sailors helped make me faster. I was also happy because I was able to spend time with my friends. Although my performance at this regatta was not what I had hoped, I am happy that I was able to compete. Thank you for your support. I look forward to competing in more regattas representing SDYC.


Noah & Ian Nyenhuis at the US Open Sailing Series - Miami

By Noah & Ian Nyenhuis | January 20, 2023

This last week, we had the opportunity to train and race in the 49erFX in Miami, Florida. We had a total of 7 days on the water, four of which were training and three of which were the US Open Sailing Series regatta. 

During the training, we were a squad of three ODP teams, one from Miami and two from California, coached by Dane Wilson. Two of the days, we also trained with Olympians, Paris Henken and Anna Tunneclif, who were wrapping up their winter training block and being coached by Charlie McKee. 


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