The 2010 Governor's Cup was a huge success! With out much time to plan and organize the event, the regatta attracted over 90 boats and we raised nearly $15,000 for the AYC Fund. With the exception of a delay for lack of wind followed by squall blowing through, the weather cooperated well and I think all of the competitors had a great time.
Next years Governor's Cup will be even bigger and better! Stayed tuned for more! Check out the AYC Fund website: aycfund.org The AYC Fund made it possible for the Austin Yacht Club to hire its first junior training coach this past year. Your donations to the AYC Fund are always appreciated.
John Morran, Doug Kern and myself ending up making donations to the AYC Fund and buying each other in the Sailor Auction on Friday night and we added John's 13 year-old daughter Meredith to our crew and we raced a J-80 in the event and had a blast! It ended up being great practice for John and I as we are getting ready to head up to Newport, RI for the J 80 World Championship later this week.
Sailing with Doug was really special! He, John and I have many miles together on the water. We have raced together for almost 30 years! When we sail together, it is just effortless. We know each other so well that we barely need to even communicate. What little communication there is usually involves razzing or giving each other a hard time. Let me clarify...it usually involves John and Doug giving me a hard time!
Doug's lovely wife Ivanna has been pretty sick this past year and he has been very busy on the home front taking care of her and his girls so getting him out with us on the water was such a gift. Doug's commitment to his family is an inspiration to us all. Please keep Doug and his wonderful family in your thoughts and prayers!
It is important to always remember that every day we have on the water with our friends is a gift and one to be fully appreciated, no matter what the outcome!
Next stop, Newport, Rhode Island! The J-80 Worlds will be a huge challenge but we are really excited to see how we can do. John and I will be sailing with Terry Flynn and Philip Williamson and we are hoping to build off of the momentum we established at the J-80 North American's a few weeks ago. It will be very tough regatta! I will keep you posted!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
2010 Governor's Cup--Austin Yacht Club
This year, Austin Yacht Club sailors Doug Kern, John Morran, John Bartlett and Scott Young will be auctioned off to the highest bidders and each sailor will sail with the winning bidder in the Governor's Cup. Between the four sailors, they have a pretty impressive sailing resume. Between the four, they have won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympics, a gold medal in the Pan-Am games, about 15 Mallory Cup titles between them, and numerous National and North American Championships in the J-24, J-22, Flying Dutchman, Laser Master's, Rebel, Butterfly and South Coast Classes.
You don't have to be sailing in the Governor's Cup to acquire their services. The winning bidders can opt to have the sailors race with them in a mutually agreed regatta any time during the next year or you can opt to have one of the guys run a clinic for your fleet or perhaps coach your kid at a junior regatta. The guys are flexible and their goal is to help raise money for the AYC Fund and to help lift the skill level of sailors at Austin Yacht Club and here in Texas.
This year, the AYC Fund made it possible for Austin Yacht Club to have its first junior sailing coach. It is our goal to use this regatta as a fund raiser each year to help perpetuate AYC's junior and learn to sail programs.
Please feel free to jump in and get involved in bidding for the sailors or the silent auction items. With the AYC Fund's 501-3 (c) status, any contribution you make may be tax deductible. Please consult your tax adviser.
Even if you don't have the winning bid, come on out and sail in one of the best regatta Central Texas has to offer. Here is a link to the regatta web site: http://austinyachtclub.net/govcup
Thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing you on the water!
Scott Young
Thursday, September 16, 2010
2010 J 80 North American's Re-Cap
There were 45 boats competing with several former World and North American champions in attendance. The accomplishments of the crew on several of the boats rivaled the helmsman. Most teams were using this event as the final tune-up for the J 80 World Championships which will be held the first week of October in Newport, RI.
I was very fortunate to have been able to team up with Terry Flynn, John Morran and Philip Williamson to sail Terry's boat in both the NA's and the Worlds in a few weeks. I have sailed with John Morran for years and have raced with Terry a few times before and have only sailed with Philip on his NY 42. This regatta was the first time for the 4 of us to sail together and I was pleased with the way our team jelled over the 13 races.
The last time I really raced a J 80 was at the Worlds in Corpus Christi in 2006. Fortunately, Terry has been very active in the class and as helmsman, won the Annapolis NOOD early in the year. He basically drug me around the race course the whole regatta and got our team up to speed on all of the basic maneuvers and rig tuning.
We started the regatta off with me trying to tack in at the first weather mark and fouling a boat and having to do a 720. After several of these maneuvers, Terry very politely reminded me that "this isn't a &*#* Laser"!
As the regatta progressed, our starts gradually got better and our crew work definitely improved. I thought our upwind speed was actually pretty good considering our lack of time in the boat. Our downwind speed was decent but I did not do a very good job of positioning us coming into the leeward gate. I tended to put us in the middle of the gate and we were the outside boat at way too many leeward mark roundings. I think this is an area that we can greatly improve for the Worlds.
Even with our lack of time in the boat, we managed to win one race and led 2 other races around the last mark. Our last 5 race finishes were 3-9-5-3-3 so it felt like we were starting to show some consistency and managed to finish 4th over-all.
The Stork family won the regatta followed closely by Glenn Darden and Jeff Johnstone in 2nd and 3rd.
Here are the final results: http://www.j80buzzardsbay.com/2010/results.pdf
The J 80 class is awesome! Great sailors...friendly both on and off of the water. The boat is very comfortable to sail and the boat speed differences are pretty negligible.
The Beverly Yacht Club ran about the best regatta that I have every attended. Great races, hospitality and incredible organization.
Looking forward to the Worlds in Newport!
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