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A Note From Janel – Week 6 Update

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Program Director:

“What a whirlwind week with three days of the CJ Buckley Team Race Regatta out of Goddard Park, in-class series, and Pirate Day on Friday! Although the summer is slowly winding down with only two weeks left, all the students and instructors are having a great time on the water learning everything from the basic knots to competing in one-on-one match during the the in-class series to claim first place! Unfortunately, we will not be hosting another Family Race Night this Session II because of Junior Race Week beginning at the end of this week from Wednesday through Saturday. However, we look forward to seeing everyone at the end of the summer GBSA Awards Dinner & Ceremony, next Friday August 19th at 6:00PM!

Beginners with Olga:

“What a week! The instructors had to be creative since all four Junior Instructors competed in the CJ Buckley Regatta Monday through Wednesday this week. As the JIs practiced their team racing, the Beginners practiced dock landings, learned points of sail, rounded different shape courses, and event played various team/confidence building games! We also had a chance to introduce two new friends: Mr. Shamoo and Mr. Crabby. These characters, along with many interestingly dressed up pirates, helped to make Friday’s Pirate Day  a total success. The students raced around the bay in search of colored flags and earned coins by answering nautical questions to determine with winners of Session I!’s Pirate Day 2011! Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to the parents who helped out by bringing the yummy treats for the party on shore.”

Sailing Adventures with Myles:

“This week we had a good time learning how to rig and de-rig Hunter 140s by ourselves. We also sailed up Greenwich Cove to go exploring and put our driving and sail trimming skills to the test. We ended the week with a trip across the bay to Patience Island, small bonfire and gooey, delicious smores! Although the journey back to GBSA that afternoon was quite wet because of the choppy water, Friday can best be described as “the best day ever!”

Opti Beginners with Emily & Mia:

“This week students got a lot of practice with the right of way rules while continuing to use drills that help perfect tacking and upwind beating. In light of the annual CJ Buckley Regatta, we were abkle to spend time learning baou tfidderect kinds of racing (specifically team racing) and some GBSA history. After working on a windward-leeward course to focus on steering and boat handling, the students ended the week with a very fun Pirate Day on Friday! We looking forward to a new Mini Session as well as working with continuing Opti Beginners the last two weeks of the summer season!”

Opti Racing with Ryan & Nick:

“After spending two days preparing, the Opti Racing class, along with two Opti Beginners itching to race, competed in the NBYA Opti #3 at Edgewood YC this past Thursday. Shifty winds made the races exciting as the students conquered the difficult conditions. Earlier in the week two students also competed in the USODA Opti New England Champs in Marion MA. This was a great event and the students were exposed to sailors, conditions, and big fleet management techniques that they rarely see on Narragansett Bay. As we look forward to next week, we will continue to run our in class series, and head to Fort Getty for Junior Race Week!”

420 Instructional with Christina & Katia:

“This week we continued with basic racing strategies and techniques. They learned the fundamentals of starting, rounding marks, and finishing. We tested our students new knowledge of the race course with a mini in-class series at the end of the week. Every really enjoyed the racing and a few Instructional level students are eager to move up to the racing team next summer!”

420 Racing with Christina & Katia:

“Half of the 429 racing class was sailing in the CJ Buckley Regatta this past Monday through Wednesday. They were able to team race against team from all across the nation, which is an amazing opportunity to come so close to our home waters of Greenwich Bay. And despite the intense setting of 36 high level team, the two 6-person teams representing GBSA had a blast! The rest of the racing class had a chance to work on boat handling and boat speed in preparation for the NBYA #3 at Sailing Newport and Junior Race Week at Fort Getty this coming week. We also completed the first day of the in-class series and will be continuing with the competition through the rest of the summer season in between regattas.”

Laser Racing with Dani & Nory:

“Although most of our class sailed in the CJ Buckley Regatta from Monday through Wednesday, we spent time with the other students for this week’s NBYA Laser #3 Regatta at Sakonnet YC. We focused on upwind sailing strategy and sustained hiking techniques in heavy wind conditions. The entire class packed up their boats on Thursday to make the trip East  to Sakonnet. WIth a strong easterly breeze, our boys were prepared for the conditions from our work during practice and finished very well in the regatta, with two students placing in the top five overall. Although the class had a very long week of racing, everyone’s hard work is really starting to show and just in time for Junior Race Week at the end of next week at Fort Getty!”

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GBSA Closed Monday Aug 8 / New Session Starts Tues Aug 9th

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Hi Everyone, Just a quick reminder that GBSA is closed on Monday Aug 8th in observance of Victory Day, A Rhode Island State Holiday.

Our last 2 week session begins on Tuesday August 9th.    As a reminder the Beginner, Opti-Beginner and 420 Instructional  run from 9:00am until noon.   The Sailing Adventures Class runs from 1pm – 4pm.  Our racing teams practice from 9am – 4pm.

All students are required to have the following items every day at GBSA:

• Life Jacket (Personal Flotation Device)

• Sneakers or Shoes (No flip flops or sandals)

• Sunglasses, Hat and Sunscreen

• Towel and a dry change of clothes

• Water Bottle

• Lunch (for full-day students)

Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday

Thanks

- Janel

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A Note From Janel – Week 5

Monday, August 1st, 2011
“We made it through five weeks, but now there are only three weeks left! It has been a great summer so far with only one heat wave and two very windy days. Despite the lure of the ping pong and foosball tables, the beginner students have been very active this week learning the basic parts and steering, while the racers are half way through their racing schedule and traveling all over New England to compete. I am also very excited to announce that there will be another Family Race Night before the summer’s end! There was such an enormous turn out and such positive feedback after the first FMR that we have to have another (date TBD)! Looking forward to another week of fair winds and calm waters.

Beginners with Olga -

“What an exciting first week! It was whirl of name games, new friends, various seamanship skills, and fun on-the-water drills. The new wave of beginners learned that Hunter 140s are fun and easy to sail. The kids easily picked up the basic sailing skills, including rigging, de-rigging, tacking, gybing, and naming all the parts of the boat and sails. At this rate of progress, we will have the kids ready for the Olympics by the end of next week!

Sailing Adventures with Myles -

“This week the sailing adventures class spent equal time on the Hunter 140s as well as the J24 Tiny Dancer. The students seem to enjoy both equally so we’ll have to use them both again next week! The class also have the opportunity to sail out into the bay to watch the Laser regatta on Thursday. We got just close enough to see the racers round the leeward mark of their course! The students also learned all the basic knots including the half hitch, figure 8 knot, square knot, bowline, and cleat hitch. We ended the week with a knot race to test them! Looking forward to another week!

Opti Beginners with Emily & Mia -

“This week we began the second 4 week session and the new students were introduced to the opti while everyone else got a good review on the parts of the boat and the points of sail. We have been working on some drills that focus on upwind sailing and tacking skills, and have also incorporated fun activities that help develop communication and team work on the water. So far the kids have picked up on the new information quickly and we are looking forward to another great session.”

Opti Racing with Ryan & Nick -

“This week we spent the first half focusing on fine tuning the students racing skills including starting, course strategy, boat-on-boat tactics and favored ends. On Thursday, all four race team members were present and we completed the first day of the summer race series. After 10 races, it is a close competitiion and we will continue it through out the remainder of the session. Next week we will continue to work on racing skills in preparation for the NBYA Opti #3 Regatta at Edgewood YC. Good luck to the opti racers competing at USODA Opti New Enaldns this weekend!

420 Instructional with Christina & Katia -

This week we gained a lot of new students so we worked on the basics including rigging, docking, sail trim, and introduced the basics of racing. We also had a chance to do the capsize test, which everyone passed! Next week, we will review the skills we introduced last week as well as work on boat speed, boat handling, and hopefully introduce trapeze-work to the crews through on-land drills.

420 Racing with Christina & Katia-

This week we had a few students move up from the 1st session’s 420 Instructional class. It is great to have more boats in the afternoon class so that the starting and racing practice can be more competitive. We introduced the basic rules and strategies of starts and practiced them repeatedly on the water. Next week we hope to incorporate crew trapeze work and skipper crew coordination with spinnaker sets and douses. A huge round of applause for skipper Michaela Reynolds and her crew Okasana Goretaya for finishing 2nd overall in the 420 division at this Wednesdays NBYA 420 #2 at Barrington YC! And good luck to the two team race teams representing GBSA this coming Monday-Wednesday at the CJ Buckley Team Race Regatta at Goddard Park!! Also, thank you to GBSA alumnus John Mollicone for coming down for a second team race clinic with our students in preparation for the CJ Regatta.


Laser Racing with Dani & Nory -

“We used the beginning of the week to prepare for the NBYC Laser #2 Regatta at GBSA on this past Thursday. We worked on racing by setting up courses that would mimic the set-up used by the race committee that day. Almost all of the class competed in the event and gained a lot of experience in the light and shifty conditions out by Warwick Point. Congratulations to our very own Matt Coughlin for winning 1st place overall in the Laser Radial division! During the Friday class after the regatta, the students had a chance to reflect on things they would like to improve upon, as well as brainstorm drills we could use in practice in order to improve those specific skills.”

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Family Race Night – Results and Pictures!

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

This past Friday, GBSA successfully completed its 1st Annual Family Race Night with over 100 students, parents, siblings, and other family members in attendance! Although conditions were light and the air temperature was stifling, the instructor run race committee was able to get off one race before sending everyone back into the docks for a potluck BBQ. Thank you to everyone who attended and brought food, we hope to have another FRN again before the end of the summer season!!

Here are the results by division:
Opti:
  1. Jack Euston
  2. Ryan Macauly
  3. Michael McEwen
  4. Sam Lewis
  5. Hans Bengston
  6. Tessa Hoff
  7. Caroline D’Amico
  8. Cooper Newton
  9. Perri Munter
  10. Tiernan McEwen
  11. Lindsey Euston
  12. Evan Macauly
Hunter:
  1. Chris & Grandfather Jack (last name missing)
  2. Trey Budlong-Springer
  3. Zoe Estrella
  4. Caitlin Merh
  5. Jaylan Brout
Laser:
  1. Connor D’albora
  2. Katie Coughlin
  3. Ben Manning
  4. Jamie Allstrom
C420:
  1. Kyle Riggs
  2. Chris Shakespeare
  3. Julia Elson
  4. Sarah Pearson
  5. Danielle Elson
  6. Cailee DeAngelis
  7. Dan Medici
  8. Francesca Ballantine
  9. Ryan Youngs
  10. Chandler Ballantine
  11. The Swanson Sisters
  12. Aidan Kilpatrick

Below are some pictures of the fun!

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A Note From Janel – Week 4

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
We are now through the first half of the summer with 4 weeks of sailing, sun, salt and fun under our belts. Despite the hot weather, the students and instructors have been able to balance keeping cool and learning about sailing. GBSA now owns two sprinklers, 200+ water balloons, various water guns, and who knew an Opti could still sink with its air bags intact!  We are all looking forward to another 4 weeks of summer sailing!

Beginners with Olga -

We continued to split the class this week, which allowed the beginners to slowly become more acquainted with the boats while the advanced beginners fine-tuned their seamanship skills. A difficult week of battling heat waves and 25 knot puffs was made better by a super-fun celebration of the end of the sessions: Fun Day! We went to Goddard Park, played capture the flag and and so much yummy food. Session 1, we will miss you!! We hope to have just as much fun with the new Session 2 students!

Sailing Adventures with Myles -

Last week we started learning the basics of racing. Everyone had a fun time in the moderate wind conditions. We also had more fun sailing around in the J24. “Tiny Dancer” definitely seems to be a favorite of the students.

Opti Beginners with Emily and Mia -

The students survived the heat of the week by running through sprinklers and throwing water balloons, as well as building upon their sailing skills from last week with on the water drills. Everyone had the opportunity to sail a “box course” to learn and practice all the points of sail, as well as a “triangle course” on the windier days to focus on gybing. And to end the session with Friday Fun Day, the students participated in a race to sink and fully bail-out an Optimist in groups!

Opti Racing with Ryan and Nick -

This  week the students continued to conceptualize and practice racing preparation techniques and strategies. Starts were a major focus in order to get ready for the NBYA Opti #2 regatta at Saunderstown YC. Next week we will start the in-class race series and introduce basic 4 versus 4 team racing.

420 Instructional with Christina & Katia -

This week the students learned basic racing skills. Everyone caught on quickly and starting “on time, on the line, and at speed” became easier with every practice start. Also, everyone’s upwind and downwind boat speed and boat handling have improved over the past two weeks, which is apparent from the student’s confidence on the water.

420 Racing with Christina & Katia -

This week the students raced every day. On Tuesday, the Opti Racing and Laser Racing classes combined with us to have a larger, fun race day to show off their skills. On Thursday, we had a pursuit race with the Laser Racing class to the red bell off of Warwick Neck in 15-20 knot breeze conditions and big rolling waves. And on Friday, the students had an intensive training session with GBSA Alumnus John Mollicone on team racing techniques and strategies in order to get ready for the upcoming CJ Buckley Team Race regatta. We had a great time this first session teaching basic racing, trapeze, and spinnaker techniques, and we can’t wait for the regattas coming up in the second half of the summer!

Lasers with Dani & Nory -

After several minutes of wall sets at the beginning of the week, the laser class finally began hiking and working on the boats hard. We worked on heavy breeze sailing to prepare for upcoming regattas. A few lasers focused on team racing on Friday with John Mollicone in order to prepare for the upcoming CJ Buckley Team Race regatta. The rest of the classes had a chance to work on hiking techniques, core strength, and boat handling. We had a great week and had huge improvements!

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Pictures From Week 3 and More

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Here are a few photos from the activities of week 3 and don’t forget a few upcoming activities;

Family Race Night - This Friday July 22, come and race with your child.

CJ Buckley Regatta – This event celebrates the life of CJ Buckley and is supported by GBSA and EGYC.

 

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A Note From Janel – Week 3 Update

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Program Director – Janel

Another successful week learning to sail on Greenwich Bay! We had our first morning with heavier breeze conditions this past Thursday. The  instructors did a great job keeping sailing in big breeze fun while keeping everyone safe in the more hectic conditions. The students had a chance  to personally tie-dye this summer’s GBSA shirt during class, and they all look great! I look forward to seeing many of you this coming  Friday at the  1st Annual Family Race Night!
________________________________________________

Beginners with Olga

“This week we split the class into two groups. The first group was the advanced beginners (the students who were here from the previous two weeks), who continued to learn various seamanship skills. This included learning about and identifying the different points of sail both on and off the water. The second group was made up of the new beginners (students who started the first mini-session). Starting on monday, these students jumped right into the fun and intensity of sailing with learning how to: tie knots, rig and de-rig, capsize, and steer. Both groups enjoy being on (and in!) the water, and are mastering seamanship skills like natural sailors!”

Sailing Adventures with Myles

“This week in sailing adventures, we found out that the keel of Tiny Dancer is slightly bigger than previously thought. this was noticed when we cleaned the keel on the silty bottom of the green river friday. All went well however, the kids had a great time sailing around with the larger genoa, which helped the boat go faster in the light wind. everyone is getting even more comfortable in the boats, we even had some of the new sailing adventurers skippering the J24 around, which helped them to get experience with a larger boat than the usual hunters.”

Opti Beginners with Emily & Mia

“This week went really well. We added about 8 kids to our class. All the kids have been really helpful and many of them have gotten a chance to teach another kid. We spent a lot of time this week perfecting our upwind sailing. We focused on where our sail should be, how to read tell tails, and also tacking.  We spent time in a boat with one kid at a time so they could get some one on one coaching to make sure they really understood what was going on. Many of The sailors have also sailed by themselves which has been very successful.  Looking forward to another good week!”

Opti Racing with Ryan & Nick

“It was a solid week of practice for the Opti racers. The addition of Ben this week brought more depth to the team and helped for better racing drills and . Everyone vastly improved starting techniques including stopping and immediate accelerating, as well as boat handling techniques including roll tacking, roll gybing, and adjusting sprit pole tension after rounding the leeward mark, which were the focal points of the week.”

420 Instructional with Christina & Katia

“This week went really well.  We had a bit more breeze than usual, which was nice!  We worked a lot on sail trim and more upwind and downwind sailing.  Thursday was really windy, but we managed to get the whole class sailing out and we decided to sail 3 students in each 420 and it worked out great.  Overall, it was a good week and the students are improving!

420 Racing with CHristina & Katia

“We had more wind this week, so we were able to work on medium to heavy air sailing techniques.  We focused on getting out on the trapeze quickly and we practiced wire to wire tacking again.  We also worked on start strategies and upwind boat-on-boat tactics.  Everyone is progressing in their skills and the team can’t wait for the next regatta!”

Laser Racing with Dani & Nory

“This week the lasers did a lot of practice for the regatta / Smythe qualifier coming up this weekend. We focused on timing during the start, mark roundings, and overall course strategies. Also, this week waa the first week that we ran the in-class series and it went very well. Overall we made a lot of progress and had so much fun! We feel very prepared and confident going into this weekend’s regatta.

 

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GBSA Family Race Night – July 22nd

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Come join us Friday July 22nd for GBSA’s first Family Race Night!!

This is a great chance for current GBSA students to sail with a family member and show off all the skills they’ve learned so far this summer!

The program director and instructors will be running race committee and moving marks just outside the channel in Greenwich Bay. There will be two starts; the first for Club 420s and the second for Optimists. The only rule is that there has to be a family member in each boat! Even the Optimists require 2 individuals …

Please arrive at 5:00PM with a skippers meeting at 5:15PM. The first race will start soon after launching. After a best of 3 series, all competitors and family members are invited to the BBQ on the EGYC deck.
$10 per family (hamburgers/hot dogs/buns)
And please bring accompanying sides based on the first letter of your last name:
A-J = salads and sides
K-Z = light desserts

PLEASE RSVP via Email to Registrar@Gbsa.info

We’ve had great response so far and we want to be sure we have enough for everyone, so Please – send a quick email to let us know if you will be there!    Thanks
For any questions please contact:
Maggie Elson (registrar@gbsa.info)
or
Janel Zarkowsky (director@gbsa.info)

You won’t want to miss out on the fun!!

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Tie-Dye Tuesday

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Bring some work clothes tomorrow (July 12) to GBSA for TIE DYE TUESDAY! This year’s GBSA summer tshirts will be personally tie-dyed by every sailor!

 

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A message from Janel – Week 2 update

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Program Director – Janel

Although we had very light breeze mornings Monday through Friday, and a brief, torrential downpour this Friday morning, the students and instructors found many creative ways to keep motivated and engaged in sailing related activities. These included drip-drip-drop, knot races, kinetics races, capsizing, person overboard recovery, on-the-water dodgeball, and of course ping pong. I look forward to meeting our new sailors for Mini Session II next Monday. Hopefully the sun stays out and the breeze picks up!

Beginners – with Olga, Myles, Julia & Connor

“We are making progress in our familiarity and comfort in and around the boats. Each day, the students become more independent in the rigging and de-rigging process! On the water, we learned how to tell where the wind is coming from, how to pick up a person overboard, and how to sail around various courses. Friday’s “Pirate Day” was an exciting way to end the sailing week. Sailing around the bay looking for flags was challenging — especially with all the pirates around, aahrrg! Congratulations to the Flag and Coin winners!!”

Sailing Adventures – with Myles, Olga, Julia & Connor

“This week the class took out the newly splashed J24 Tiny Dancer two times. All of the the students had a chance to skipper it and had a great time experiencing a keel boat versus centerboard boats. We also tried to fly a spinnaker on the J24, but it got twisted after we hoisted. The students had an even better time laughing at me while I tried to untangle it.”

Opti Beginners – with Emily & Mia

“This were there are barely enough wind each morning to sail, however our goal this week was to teach the students that sailing is a lot of fun even when there is no wind. We reviewed old knots and learned new knots, and also had a race to see who could tie each the fastest. And once on the water, we played “dodgeball”, which taught students to be aware of their boat as well as other boats.”

Opti Green – with Emily

“The NBYA Opti Regatta #1 on Thursday at Barrington YC went very well. Both Steve and Hans improved each race, resulting in a 1st in one race and a 4th in another race. We focused on started and marking that we were off the line and moving at go. Although out main goal at the regatta was to start successfully, we also focused on sail trim and positioning in the boats themselves. I think that both Hans and Steve proved themselves that they have the potential to do well in White, Red, and Blue fleets in the future.”

Opti Racing – with Ryan & Nick

During week 2, the students practiced starts and learned how to identify the favored side of the line and course. The sailors brought this knowledge to the NBYA Opti Regatta #1 this past Thursday at Barrington YC. By practicing multiple starts in preparation for the event, the students were able to improve as the day progressed. Looking forward, the students will continue to develop tactical skills and racing mechanics.”

Lasers – with Nory & Dani

“This week the class practiced full length races. The students were able to work on their starting with timing drills and continued by racing around triangle, windward-leeward, windward-leeward twice around and gold cup courses. They also perfected their gybes and tacks with on-the-whistle drills. It was great to build upon last weeks skills this week.”

420 Instructional – with Katia & Christina

“This week all of the 420s were fixed so that we could have 7 working boats for class. The students continued to focus on upwind sailing as well as adding down wind techniques including the difference between sailing on a broad reach and sailing wing-on-wing. The student’s boat handling is improving and this week they also began to pay more attention to their sail trim. The students have been doing box drills and windward-leeward courses as well some swimming in order to keep cool.

420 Racing- with Christina

“The NBYA 420 Regatta #1 on Wednesday and Thursday at Newport YC was a foggy experience. This event was also a qualifier for the Bemis double-handed championship. Unfortunately due to malfunctioning boat hardware and minor injuries, both GBSA representatives (Michaela with Oksana and Tori with Julia) only sailed 2 of the 3 races on the first day. The second day only had one race due to lighter conditions, but our girls sailed quick and smart. Although we didn’t qualify for the Bemis Champs, it was great to finish the first regatta in better than top half!

Upcoming Events and Program Notes

  • Mini Session 1 Starts Monday  - we’re looking forward to welcoming more students to the program.  See you Monday!
  • July 22 – Parent / Student Race Night  - parents get to sail with their kids – followed by a fun BBQ.
  • August 19 – Awards Night – mark your calendar now so you don’t miss this.  Parents have as much (or more) fun than the kids!

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