SDYC hosted the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference (PCCSC) Championships in April. Friday and Saturday 11 teams sailed in the 80th Anniversary PCCSC Coed Championship and Sunday 6 teams fought for 2 spots for the Team Race Nationals, also here at the end of May.
Canadians, Guatemalans and Americans descended upon Clearwater Florida for the 2016 Laser Midwinters East Championship. This major regatta attracted the best from North America, with 100 entrees in the radial fleet; racing was going to be tight. The forecast only added to this prediction.
In February I competed in Laser Midwinters East which is a regatta held off the coast of Clearwater, FL. I sailed in the Laser Radial class in yellow. There were two groups in the beginning, blue and yellow, because of the large number of boats. Even with a split in the fleet, there were still at least 50 boats on the line at once.
This past weekend I went to St. Petersburg, Florida for the annual Optimist Dinghy Exchange. We had a clinic on Friday to prepare for the Valentine’s Day Regatta, which was held on Saturday and Sunday. We had a fun weekend of sailing all lined up.
On Christmas night, my crew Tanner and I boarded the plane and flew to Miami for the Orange Bowl Regatta. The flight went as planned arriving on time and leaving as scheduled, making for a smooth flight. By the time we arrived it was already the morning in Florida, so we checked into our hotel and got a few hours of sleep before heading down to the venue to pick up our charter boat.
Paris Henken and Helena Scutt became the first members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team after winning the 49erFX Olympic selection series in Miami and Clearwater, FL.
The 2015 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta was held at the US Sailing Center in Miami. Over the four day regatta Miami delivered; each day brought constant 14 to 18 knots of breeze. I was competing in the Laser Standard class.
Winter blizzard Jonas may have buried the East Coast with mounds of snow last weekend, but the sun was shining in La Playa for the 5th annual Club Championships. This year’s event featured close, competitive racing for the 15 teams participating, making for an energized weekend of sailing!
We left San Diego headed for Miami on Christmas Night with a plane full of San Diego sailors and parents all headed to Orange Bowl on the red-eye. Leaving the cold of San Diego, it even hailed on the ride to the airport, to join the warm and breezy conditions in Miami, lows in the mid 70's and highs in the 80’s all week.
After a year at the St. Francis Yacht Club, the Lipton Cup trophy will return back to San Diego with a two point win by skipper Tyler Sinks and crew.
Team SDYC skippered by Tyler Sinks competes against 11 other talented teams from yachts clubs around the country for the 101st Lipton Cup. Racing takes place in San Diego Bay, with a 12 boat J/105 rotation format that has been in place for 4 years. 2014 champions from St. Francis Yacht Club are back to defend the Cup.
See Buffalo Beach from some unique perspectives. Thanks to Todd Hughes for providing the drone video footage and Timmy Fraher for editing the video.
On September 24, I traveled to Annapolis Maryland to Compete in the 2015 U.S. Sailing Team Race Championship for the Hinman Trophy. My team and I, comprised off Boston College sailors and Alumni took the weekend off of collegiate sailing to compete in U.S. championship.
The ISAF Youth Match Racing Worlds took place in Swinoujcsie, Poland, which is a very hard place to get to. Our travel itinerary had us flying into Berlin, and takin a train all the way into the small town on the German, Polish border.
Paul Didham recently had the opportunity to compete in the 2015 Laser Radial Youth World Championship. This prestigious event was held in Kingston Canada.
Thank you so much for supporting my crew and I in the C420 North Americans! It was my first big away regatta, and although it was a pretty light air regatta, it was an exceptional experience and I was very proud to represent SDYC.
The 2015 C420 North Americans was the last major regatta in the C420 circuit. It consisted of 75+ boats hosted by Sail NC in Manteo, North Carolina.
Paul Didham spent the summer sailing Laser Radials at the Youth Champs, Laser Nationals and Laser North Americans all across the country. And with large 100+ boat fleets, Paul finished Top Ten in all three events.
Roger Williams University in Rhode Island hosted the 2015 U.S Sailing Youth Championship. The regatta is invitation only; therefore, competition is always tough.
Congratulations to SDYC's Scott Sinks on his decisive victory at the Junior Snipe Nationals sailed out of Mission Bay Yacht Club. Sinks sailed with crew Greer Wattson, and won the first 4 races of the 5 race series. SDYC skippers Jack Joslin, Jesse McKnight and Matt Cappetta also finished 3rd, 4th and 5th.