Learning the Ropes of Safety
Storm Trysail Club Junior Safety at Sea Seminar

Posted Thursday, July 26, 2007

 

Storm Trysail Club Junior Safety at Sea Seminar took place July 20th, 2007 in Larchmont, NY

 E-mail this page
 Printer-friendly page

LARCHMONT, N.Y. (July 25, 2007)-- It's one thing for kids to learn to sail; it's another for them to handle, with skill and confidence, an on-the-water emergency. That ability was what the Storm Trysail Club’s (STC) 11th annual Junior Safety-At-Sea seminar imparted on 200 youth sailors, ages 13-18, at Larchmont Yacht Club on Friday, July 20. And though junior sailors are normally associated with small boats, this was no dinghy event. In synch with STC's mission to introduce junior sailors to the lifetime enjoyment of big-boat racing, the participants spent a large part of their day aboard a fleet of 23 boats ranging from 34-44 feet, loaned by yacht club members while dozens of volunteers served as coaches and helpers. Leading the seamanship and safety training, which also included classroom instruction, was the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's Director of Offshore Sailing Ralf Steitz with assistance from four other USMMA coaches and crew members from the South Street Seaport's schooner, the Lettie G. Howard.

" The idea is that preparation can prevent accidents from becoming catastrophes," said USMMA's Rick Dominique, and according to owner's representative Sandy Weil, aboard the J/109 Patriot (owned by American Yacht Club Commodore Steve Furnary), the seminar's teachings held fast to this premise. "We had a man-overboard contest and one of the older junior sailors did a perfect quick stop and pick-up in 30 seconds…in 18 knots of breeze!" said Weil.

The classes covered a variety of safety topics including heavy weather sailing, working with pumps, sails, tethers and jack lines, and VHF communication. On-water sessions included crew organization and learning about the borrowed boats before practicing sail handling and man overboard drills both upwind with jibs and downwind with spinnakers.

The Larchmont seminar is a requirement for participation in the Junior Sailing Association (JSA) of Long Island Sound's annual big boat events: the Stamford Yacht Club's Dorade Series and the Beach Point Yacht Club's Junior Overnight Race. The clubs sending juniors to the seminar were: American, Beach Point, Black Rock, Cedar Point, Cold Spring Harbor, Huguenot, Indian Harbor, Larchmont, Manhasset Bay, Noroton, Norwalk, Pequot, Port Washington, Riverside, Sea Cliff , Seawanhaka Corinthian, and Stamford.

The STC's one-day Safety-At-Sea Seminars also make appearances in Newport, R.I., Marblehead, Mass., and Annapolis, Md. All of the seminars are sponsored by the Jamie Boeckel Memorial Fund for Safety at Sea and Coca-Cola.

"The STC's Larchmont Junior Safety-at-Sea Seminar was introduced formally in 1997, after an incident where informal training provided to Larchmont Yacht Club juniors was instrumental in the saving of a junior sailor’s life after she went overboard in a junior big-boat event," said Richard du Moulin, former Commodore of Larchmont Yacht Club. "That’s when we realized it’s never too early to introduce safety at sea."

STC also hosts the annual Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta sailed in a fleet of offshore one-designs, scheduled to return to Larchmont Yacht Club on Oct. 6-7, 2007.

For more information about the STC's Junior Safety-at-Sea Seminars, contact the Storm Trysail Club, 914-834-8857, stormtry@aol.com or visit www.stormtrysail.org.
About the Storm Trysail Club

The Storm Trysail Club (STC), reflecting in its name the sail to which sailors must shorten when facing adverse conditions, is one of the world’s most respected sailing clubs, with its membership comprised strictly of skilled blue water and ocean racing sailors. In addition to holding various prestigious offshore racing events (among them the Block Island Race, Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race and Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race), STC hosts the biennial Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex and works year-round to grow the sport of ocean racing. It was one of the early leaders in establishing and promoting the use of the IRC rating system in North America, and it has developed with Transpacific Yacht Club the Storm Trysail Transpac 65 and the Box Rule that will govern its design. With an added mission to encourage young sailors to become big-boat racers, it hosts an annual Intercollegiate Big Boat Regatta in addition to Junior Safety-at-Sea Seminars.