Juniors

But, believe it or not, a great way to learn more about sailboat racing is to actually step out of your sailboat and join the race committee team.

McLaughlin Boat Works in Chattanooga, TN is celebrating a quarter century of Optimist dinghy production with its 25th Anniversary PRO Racer Giveaway.

As I sat down to write this article, I couldn’t help but get a little emotional about the fact that something as competitive and amazingly fun as sailboat racing can give you so much.

Ship 6, based in Norwalk, CT since 1957, is a very unique year-round opportunity for area teens interested in the sea and sailing.

There are several key components to becoming a good dinghy crew: understanding the mechanics of what you need to do in the boat, filtering the information that comes into the boat and using it to make the correct decisions both strategically and tactically, making sure the boat is always moving at full speed, communicating clearly with your skipper/teammate, and developing safe, efficient trapeze skills.

The first ocean-going full-rigged ship to be built in America In over a century will begin sailing this spring, and teens from around the country and the world will board in July and August for thrilling one- and two-week Education at Sea camps.

Started in 1997 by Dinghy Shop owner Jim Koehler, the Fall Series is the largest consecutive junior sailing series in the U.S.

Kate Nota and her team aboard Alfred Van Liew’s J/111 Odyssey (Middletown, RI) won the Ripple Effect Short Video Contest, which was part of the Ida Lewis Distance Race in August.

Based on the North Fork of Long Island’s East End, the East End Youth Sailing Foundation is a non-profit charitable 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the promotion of youth sailing.

By Jay, Lisa and Evan Spalding Monday, August 4 was a flurry of activity in Stonington, CT and Weekapaug , RI as the Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association (ECSA) MudRatz packed up their boats and headed to Newport, RI for the 2014 U.S. Optimist Dinghy Association New England Championship, hosted by Sail Newport August 5 – 7. Chris and Braedon Hansen were the advance team, securing a good location in the boat park for 16 Mudratz Opti sailors…