Olympic hopefuls Nevin Snow and Dane Wilson led the 29er coaching team at the recent pre-SDOCR clinic at SDYC. Forty two youth sailors from all over California attended the three-day clinic held in late August in three of the Olympic development classes (29ers, Lasers and Int’l 420s). Additional 29er coaches included Chuck Eaton, JP Barnes, Giselle Nyenhuis and Pearce Mendoza. Both JP and Pearce coached one-on-one on a 29er to ensure that several brand-new skiff sailors had a very steep learning curve in two loaner boats that are part of the High-Performance Youth Sailing activity at SDYC. The head Laser coach was Mission Bay’s Doug Hart with new SWYC Junior Director Jackie Hollander assisting. JJ Fetter and Shawn Bennett volunteered to coach the four i420 teams.
On Sunday morning, all the sailors heard an inspiring talk by Nevin and Dane about their 49er campaign that focused on the importance of goal setting. Several parents donated support to the clinic including Morgan Spriggs and Steve Shughrou who were on the water in safety RIBs, Gordon Wanlass brought his motorboat from Newport Beach to run practice starts and short-course races and the Holthus family loaned their RIB to the clinic. Plus Paula Schmid provided snacks at the end of each day for the tired and hungry sailors and pizza on Saturday night. The next clinic will be for 29ers only and will be held on September 21-22.
For more information, contact JJ Fetter.