Equipment is nice,
but it is knowledge and skill that gets
someone to the top.

Browse around the site, and you will find a wealth of information and links, for sailors as well as for event organizers. There are of course some products here that are for sale, they are here to help support the coaching and coaching programs for youth. This is not trying to be a retail store, just a place to come to get information, ideas, and the occasional product that I find that really offers something extra.

News and Happenings of Note

Opti Splashes

Hike out, go fast, have fun!

That's how sailing should be!!

Assorted boats training in 2009

2009 Training Sessions

Laser Radial As seen above, we have been with a bunch of different boats this year. The photo above shows (l to r) a Mutineer, a CFJ, a happy Snipe team, and a mixed fleet of Butterfly, Sunfish, and Laser. In addition to all of that there has been the occaisional 420, some catamaran work, and more Laser-specific training in 3 different Western states, and of course lots of Opti sessions. Butterfly and Laser have been productive, as Stephen Nelson (age 15) beat the experienced group of masters in the annual White Rock Wrangle regatta in Dallas in June in a Butterfly - and a week later he switched over to Laser (standard SL16 training on Lake Ray Hubbard rig) to qualify for the US Youth Single-Handed Championship, the Smythe Cup, at Marblehead in July, sailing in the same water where Jim had a Lightnig youth team racing last year with great results. Stephen also managed a 3rd in the Texas Laser No-Coast regatta, sailing a standard rig against a hot fleet of adult sailors. Jim's Opti kids (see below) just keep getting better. And somewhere where the head of US Sailing's Multihull Committee knows nothing about what is happening, there is an SL16 (international youth catamaran) training hard to go to the 2010 Youth Multihull event in Florida - and qualify for the ISAF Youth Worlds later in the year.

Hot News

Nacra F18 Infusion ~ the first weekend in May was the kickoff to the catamaran race season in Europe, with the huge - 122 boats this year - Eurocat regatta at Carnac, in France. After Nacra F18s dominated the Formula 18 2008 circuit, winning the '08 Europeans and the Worlds, everyone was waiting to see how the Hobie successor to their old Tiger - now officially called the Wild Cat - would perform. And the answer is.... not good enough. At Eurocat, with the three highest-paid teams on the Formula 18 circuit sailing the new Hobie, the Nacra F18 Infusion still won. In fact, in the home country of Hobie, where the Tigers and Wild Cats are built, the best Hobie could do was to put 5 boats in the top 20, while there were 12 Nacras. Three other builders managed one boat each, while the Capricorn, the other major Formula 18 available in North America, was shut out of the top of the fleet. To further insult the French-built Hobie Wild Cat, a Nacra F18 then won the French National Formula 18 Championship a couple weeks later!

Optimist Dinghy ~ one of Jim's sailor youngest sailors keeps climbing the in the results lists, in spite of his age, still only 12 and getting top results against 13-15 yr olds. Geoffrey Nelson qualified over the winter for another spring trip to the Easter Opti Regatta in the Netherlands, and jumped into the trophy list, with a suberb 9th - 3rd of the 20 USA boats - in a 250 boat fleet. And two weeks later, he followed up with another 9th at the US Optimist Team Trials at Noroton Yacht Club in CT, again in a 200+ fleet, again the youngest sailor in the awards list. This result qualified him for a summer trip to Slovenia, for the Opti European Championship.

To see some of what Jim's sailors did in 2008, click here.

On-Line Shopping

We resisted as long as we could, but we now are undergoing some major updates to make on-line shopping easier. It's taking a bit of time to get all the code done and tested, so if you need something and there is no "Add to Cart" button next to it, drop us a note and we'll take care of your needs. And remember, this is not at all intended to the the greatest or most complete sailing gear shopping site. What we do is coaching - and the things we list here are things we know work. And when you buy something here, you are helping to support our coaching programs, especially for youth groups. Without the extra support of the sales here, we couldn't afford to remain on-call to run around the country supporting youth sailing.

Line Prices

While we can, we will be holding our prices on our lines at 2008 levels, instead of using 2009 prices and advertising a discount. That's less work for us, and usually amounts to a better deal for you.

Now here, lifevests from Extrasport. We're stocking the midrange Eddy, have the high-end Genoa available on a limited basis to serious sailors, and may add the junior vest, the Inlet Jr, if there is sufficient interest from the Opti crowd. You can find them via the menu left, under Gear>Body Stuff.

There is a new name in sailing in North America - Zim Sailing, headquartered in Rhode Island. The company is made up of sailors from Europe, North America and Asia, and will focus on Youth sailing in North America. Their boats will include the Opti, the Splash, the C420 and the CFJ. They will also have a line of RIBs for coaches and instructors and are working on a line of all-metal dollies for their boats.

The Opti, Splash and C420 will all be made in China in Qingdao, while CFJs will be build as needed in the USA. Our connection to the new company has come through the C420 and CFJ - Zim has acquired the molds, plans, and inventory for those boats from Performance Sports International, who needed the production and storage space for their Nacra catamarans. The Splash is a Dutch design, a very successful youth boat internationally that is idea for kids coming out of Optis who want to pursue single-handed sailing. The Opti hulls come from a Chinese builder who has been building quality Optis for many years. They will come into the US as bare hulls and be outfitted with equipment from Optiparts.

The first load of Zim Optis came in country in March. The Zim Club Opti - suitable for club programs and entry-level sailors ages 8-12, is priced at $2,575, well below what anyone else can do in the US. It comes with air bags, hiking straps, Optiparts silver spars, FRP blades, and a North training sail. They are white, with gray non-skid areas. The Zim Pro is equiped with Epoxy blades, Black/Gold Optiparts spars and upgraded quality lines and airbags. They are priced at $2,800 without sails, with a variety of North sails available depending on sailor skills and weight. These boats have color graphics on the aft ends, black, red, blue, or gray. Shipping on all boats will be in the $150-250 range.

The first Zim C420s arrived not long after the Optis, got measured and approved by the US C420 class association, and have been going out to sailors, clubs, and programs far and wide since then. Contact us for current pricing - which is running well under the other C420 choices in the US.

We have available boat covers and padded blade bags from Aquata to go with these boats.

Jim's 2009 Schedule Notes

Early January was busy, with a trip to San Diego (in support of Zim, see above) sandwiched between a couple of training sessions on Lake Ray Hubbard in Dallas. February had another Dallas trip, and a Salt Lake City/Huntington Beach/Denver road trip. Middle-March was also road time, with Opti training in Dallas combined with delivery of an SL16 youth catamaran. April was spent filling orders and answering questions until the end of the month, with a week in CT on Long Island Sound. May had both double-handed and single-handed training days at Union Sailing Club early in the month, then over to UT for a couple weeks. June is starting to close up, with Opti/Laser/Butterfly programs taking the middle two weeks, first in Dallas then Kansas City. July is looking busy with Lake Lotawana, MO, Neenah, WI, and Spring Lake, MI all on the schedule. August is looking like it will be a catamaran month, spent at a variety of events in WI and MI. September begins with a university team training weekend in Milwaukee, then a couple of open weeks. Next its 4 weeks in a row in UT followed by a week of rest at home, then most likely a long - 4 or 5 movie trip - to the ISAF Annual Conference, this time in Korea.

Is YOUR training session in that list? Its time to get scheduled now so another year doesn't go by without making progress towards your team/club/school or your own personal sailing goals.

The 2009 Racing Rules of Sailing Are Available On-Line

ISAF has posted the new Racing Rules for 2009-2012, that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. The link below will take you to an annotated version, highlighting the changes from the current Rules to make it easier to work through what is new. Note that additions are in Red and deletions are lined out.

http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/RRS200920092012SHOWINGCHANGES-[6255].pdf

2008 Nacra North Americans
Caseville, MI

A great event, with a full schedule of 16 races completed (lots of tired sailors!), with only one of the races in less than trapeze winds. Some great photos are here, and results are on the class web site.

2008 Formula 18 World Championship
Nigran, Spain

NACRA Dominates! 140 boats, Nacra F18s took home 1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 9th in the top 10 overall. Complete stories, videos, and results at www.f18.es/nigran2008

How Serious are You About Getting Better?

Jan 14, 2007, Rush Creek Yacht Club, Dallas TX, 10-12 mph winds, and 25° F: Some of my Opti training group that got in 4 hours sailing that day, the middle day of a 5 day training camp that totaled over 18 hours of sailing while the rest of Dallas was hiding from from the freezing rain and ice.

What are YOU doing to get better? If your idea of winter is sitting inside and waiting, then these sailors just got farther ahead of you. You can't catch anyone by doing less work. (And these kids will tell you that they all had fun - they all had on the right gear including waterproof socks - and will never be intimidated by any Yankee sailor's stories about frostbiting!)

(The fog in the background of the photo is the typical 'steam' cloud that rises above a lake when the air is much colder than the water, heat and moisture leaving the lake surface. Its common on lakes just before they feeze.)