Hawaii Yacht Club
Junior Sailing - April, 2012

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu Sailing Championships are here! The Varsity 1 Regattas in 420s will be held in the ocean every Tuesday/Thursday in the first half of April and the Varsity 2 and Junior Varsity (Toppers) Championships will be held in the harbor every Monday/Wednesday. Come check out the action from 420 to 6pm!

Thanks to the Marine Corp Base Hawaii for hosting a great youth regatta on Saturday March 17. Ken Bwy of the marina at the base held a great event for 30 El Toro sailors and 4 lasers. The breeze was up for the day and we got to sail all the way up in the corner of the bay. Sailing for HYC were Alicia Ward, Kukii Falahee, Ryan Murray, Paris Sato, and Nolan Laramore.

We will be hosting a booth at the Hawaii Ocean Expo on April 21/22 at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. The Expo will feature all sorts of marine activities and will have food and refreshments for the weekend.

Summer sailing is coming up, our classes meet Monday thru Friday from 9-12 or 1-4 beginning June 4.

Click here for the Summer Application form (print, fill and return), and here for the release form.

Aloha.

Click the thumbnails for full size photos.

March, 2012

We have had three laser regattas in the last few weeks, all with breezy conditions. The Kaneohe YC hosted race had trades of 12-16 and the fleet loved the planing reaches. The 2nd race was held in a building southwesterly breeze off of Waikiki that had big chop. It was a challenge to see the windward mark between the waves and the runs were great. Pearl Harbor YC hosted the third event with trades well over 20 knots on February 19. The eight sailors were happy to have reaching legs as the dead downwind runs made for lots of capsizes. I think boat speeds were in the teens for the windiest legs. Braving the windy races were Nolan Laramore, Kukii Falahee, and Alicia Ward.

High School Sailing has begun with twelve schools practicing during the week. Check out the action Monday thru Thursday in the afternoons. Teams are sailing Toppers and 420s in the harbor and on the ocean. Teams practicing at Hawaii YC include Mid-Pacific Institute, St Andrews Priory, ASSETS, Sacred Hearts Academy, University of Hawaii Lab School, and Kamehameha.

Saturday classes have begun with novice and intermediate in the morning and racing in the afternoon. The first day saw windy conditions and the afternoon class enjoyed the reach towards Diamond Head in Lasers with the 4.7 sail size. The laser has three different rigs with the smallest being 4.7 square meters in size.

Coming up in March are the first two Hawaii Youth Sailing Association races in Pearl Harbor and Kaneohe, the spring break sailing sessions are also in March with downloadable applications here.

Aloha, Scott Melander

March, 2012 - Junior Sailing Photos - Click to Enlarge Thanks to Ted Trimmer ~ HYC Photographer at Large

February, 2012

The Hawaii Youth Sailing Association El Toro clinic was held in great conditions in Kaneohe on Jan 7 and 8th with over 30 sailors participating. Sailors practiced their skills in boat handling, boat speed, and starts. On the last day the races were hotly contested as the training sails got a head start on the racing sails. Sailing in the clinic from HYC were Halana Genest, Dylan Adolpho, Alicia Ward, Ryan Murray, Paris Sato, and Ruby Shuman. Thanks to all that made it happen, the bbq afterwards was one of the best in years!

There are a few events coming up:

There are two laser sailing events coming up soon:

• Saturday February 4th is Waikiki YC Opening Day
• Sunday Feburary 19th is Pearl Harbor Opening Day

The Hawaii Youth Sailing Association Double Handed Clinic will be February 11 and 12 at Keehi Lagoon hosted by the University of Hawaii. The class will be in Flying Juniors and the instructor will be Brent Harrill, a former UH sailor and currently the jr sailing director at St Francis Yacht Club. The registration for the clinic will be online at Regatta Network.

The first day of sailing classes for the spring will be Saturday February 18th with novice, intermediate, and racing classes being offered. Applications are online on the Hawaii Yacht Club website: www.hawaiiyachtclub.org.

The High School paddling season is winding down and that can only mean one thing! Sailing is starting! Schools of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu will begin their tryouts on Monday February 6th and the regattas begin at the end of February. There are twelve schools participating in the league and the practices are Monday thru Thursday after school. Cheer on your favorite teams from HYC as they sail in the Junior Varsity (Toppers) and the Varsity (420s).

One last item is the opening day event of the new West Marine store on Nimitz Highway on March 22nd. It sounds to be a big party with local charities benefiting including the Hawaii Sailing Foundation. Stay tuned for more details.

January, 2012

We had a few awards banquets for the sailors for the 2011 season in November and December, the first banquet included the trophies for the Hawaii Youth Sailing Association Seasons Points. These are eight regattas throughout the year in el toros and lasers. Mitchell Woodrow placed third in Laser B, Dylan Adolpho was 2nd in El Toro C and Alicia Ward was 3rd in El Toro C2. The next awards were for the Hawaii YC sailors on Dec 3 and the sailors were:

El Toro Club Champs:

1st Kukii Falahee

2nd Alicia Ward

3rd Nolan Laramore

4th Mallory Kracher

5th Ally Chung

6th Andrew Musgrave

2011 Most Improved for the George Pelgrim Trophy - Dylan Adolpho

-Dylan started sailing in 2009 and has progressed in the el toro to El Toro C class and also is a promising 420 crew. He has been an assistant sailing coach for all of 2011

2011 Junior Sailor of the Year for the Valerie Hanna Trophy - Kukii Falahee

-Kukii placed 1st in the Laser States in the B division and had a great year for seasons points in Laser B for the Hawaii Laser Association She and her crew placed well in the Junior Olympic Festival in the 420 class and is also an assistant coach.

The annual Hawaii Youth Sailing Association Laser Clinc was held Dec 3 and 4 with 15 Lasers sailing in outstanding winter conditions. Everyone was able to sail and race with some of the best sailors on Oahu. Special thanks to 2000 Sydney Olympics US representitive John Myrdal for an inspirational talk on Saturday.

At a very breezy 420 State Championships on Dec 10 in Kaneohe, Sophie Harris and Ailana Warren enjoyed a day of planing reaches and surprise capsizes. There were nine boats in the trapeze and spinnaker regatta.

Upcoming events include the Hawaii Youth Sailing Association El Toro Clinic on Jan 7/8 and the first Kaneohe Marine Base Hawaii Invitational on January 14.

Thanks to all the Hawaii Yacht Club members, flag officers, and board members for a great 2011.

December, 2011

Congratulations to the 2011 Hawaii Youth Sailing Association Seasons Points Award Recipients!

• Mitchell Woodrow placed 2nd in Laser B
• Colby Curtis placed 3rd in Laser B
• Kukii Falahee placed 1st in Laser B in the Hawaii Yacht Racing Association Single Handed Championship
  and 2nd in HLA Seasons Points
• Alicia Ward placed 2nd in El Toro C2
• Dylan Adolpho placed 2nd in El Toro C

The next awards banquet will be at Hawaii Yacnt Club on Dec 3, come cheer on all the sailors at the club!

Sacred Hearts Academy traveled with five sailors to New Orleans the weekend of Nov 19/20 and sailed in the Great Oaks Regatta. The seniors on the team sailed in 420s on Lake Ponchatrain against sailors from all around the country. Thanks for Coach William Plourde for making this event happen for his team.

Thanks to all of our volunteer teaching assistants this fall: Malia Libby, Kukii Falahee, Dylan Adolpho, and Alicia Ward. They are the reason behind the success of the new sailors in the Topper.

Also thanks to the sailing instructor staff of Ailana Warren, Sophie Harris, Colby Curtis and Tristan Stenek for the year at HYC.

Upcoming events include the 420 State Championships on Dec 10 and the US Sailing Level 2 Instructor Course on Dec 17/18. Events in the new year include the Hawaii Youth Sailing Association El Toro Clinic on Jan 7/8 and the Double Handed Clinic on Feb 11/12.

Thanks to all the members, board of governors and flag officers for another great year of sailing at Hawaii Yacht Club!

November, 2001

The last two youth sailing invitationals were held at Kaneohe Yacht Club and Makani Kai Yacht Club on Oct 8 and 9 with over 20 El Toros saiiing, and a small Laser fleet. It was a windy weekend with puffs up to 20 knots on Sunday which made for some exciting sailing. Alicia Ward had a great two days of sailing and placed in El Toro C twice, she just moved to C class and is using a full racing sail which is difficult to trim. Mitchell Woodrow won the Laser B class on Sunday, sailing several races with a broken boom block. Also sailing in the event were Kukii Falahee-Walker, Katherine Hughes, and Dylan Adolpho.

The High School Sailing class on Tuesday and Thursdays has a large group from Sacred Hearts Academy and is full of sailors who have competed for the last four years. The group of seniors are on Varsity and sail the 420 sailboat and I have enjoyed seeing them improve over the years.

The Hawaii Yacht Club El Toro Championship is coming up on Saturday November 5. Anyone at HYC is welcome to come out and join us for the day.

The sailing awards banquet season is coming up with the Hawaii Yacht Racing Association Banquet on November 19 and the Hawaii Yacht Club Banquet on December 3. The trophies for the years racing will be awarded on those days and dinner is included in both nights.

The racing clinic season is coming up as well with the laser clinic the first up. It is a high level racing skills class on Dec 3 and 4. Check out the flyer for more info.

September, 2011

September has been a busy month with two state championships, the Hawaii Yacht Racing Association Single Handed States and the El Toro State Championships. The HYRA Single Handed States was held in the Laser class with eight races on Sep 10 and 11. Winds were 6-12 knots and there were 27 boats racing. Kukii Falahee-Walker had a great regatta, placing 1st in Laser B class and Alicia Ward also had a great race placing fourth. Mitchell Woodrow and Michael Buelsing also sailed part of the states and had a good showing. Results are on the HYRA website.

The El Toro States were held on Sep 17 in all sorts of wind conditions. It was windy for most of the six races except when a squall came through and made the conditions very challenging in the light winds after the rain stopped. Congratulations to Mallory Kracher for sailing in her first state championship. Instructor Ailana Warren also sailed and it was fun to see her out competing.

The 61st running of the Bullship was Sep 18. This is an El Toro race from Kaneohe YC around Coconut Island and back. It was a fun day with the jrs sailing in the morning and the adults sailing in the afternoon. Making the circumnavigation in the morning were Mitchell Woodrow, Katherine Hughes, Alicia Ward, Dylan Adolpho, and Kukii Falahee.

Coming up in the sailing calendar include the last two Hawaii Youth Sailing Association Regattas in Kaneohe and Makani Kai YC on Oct 8 and 9th and the SEAFEST fundraiser at Hawaii YC on October 23. SEAFEST is a fundraiser for the Hawaii Sailing Foundation which helps to fund travel and instructor expenses for youth and adult racing.

Ongoing classes are our novice, intermediate, and racing classes on Saturdays and the High School Sailing practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

August, 2011

The US Sailing Junior Olympic Festival for Honolulu was held July 11-15, in Waikiki, in the 420, Laser, El Toro, and Topper Fleets. The first three days fourteen 420s sailed 10 races with the spinnaker and trapeze. The wind was a little light so not much trapezing happened but all boats flew spinnaker. The race was also a qualifier for the US Sailing Junior Nationals which will be held in New Jersey in mid-August. The last two days of the event included the Laser, Topper, and El Toro fleets. On Thursday the regatta is named after Margaret Haig, a great volunteer for youth sailing in Hawaii and on Friday the regatta is named after Connie Smales. The Laser race was also a qualifier for the Nationals, and congratulations to Morgan Merrill for the win. To follow all the sailors headed to New Jersey, check out the US Sailing website.

The Banquet for the event was held July 17 at Hawaii Yacht Club with Commodores from HYC and WYC in attendance. Awards were presented for each division and the dinner was great too. Thanks to Katie Merrill, Monica Merrill, and Ailana Warren for the great dinner. The prizes were donated by US Sailing and Art Nelson Sailmaker.

The qualifiers for the Triple Handed Youth Sailing Nationals were hosted by Pearl Harbor YC on July 20/21. The regatta was in the Rhodes 19 with spinnaker and it was breezy for the practice day and regatta. Congratulations to Zachary Kaan for winning the event with the HYC team of Mitchell Woodrow, Katherine Hughes, and Kukii Falahee coming in 2nd.

The summer sailing classes are ongoing and we are having a good time with our sailing fleets. There are lots of opportunities to sail; come on down and join us!

Upcoming events include the Kaneohe YC hosted trapeze and spinnaker regattas on August 3rd and 4th and the Laser races at KYC on August 6 and 7.

Mahalo

July, 2011

Summer sailing sessions are underway with several classes available this summer. The next program begins Tuesday July 5. Novice and Intermediate classes are from 9-12 and the racing class is from 1-4. Click here for the Summer Schedule and Application.

Helping us this summer is a core group of volunteer sailing assistants. This year's group includes Dylan Adolpho and Kukii Falahee; they sail with new students and help them with the skills.

Thanks to club member Dr Bart for donating his Ranger 23 to the sailing program. It is for sale and if anyone is interested, please call me at the club.

Our next big event is the US Sailing Junior Olympic Festival July 11-15. The first three days will be the Double Handed Sailing Regatta with the sailors using the 420s with trapeze and spinnaker.

The event on Thursday will be the Margaret Haig Invitational and the Friday event will be the Connie Smales Invitational.

Adult lessons are ongoing in our Cal 20 and 420 sailing fleet.

Mahalo!

Thanks to Ted Trimmer For the Amazing Photos!

June, 2011

The Slim Lambert Youth Sailing Invitational was held on Saturday May 7th with very windy conditions for the sailors. Sailing in the Topper fleet were Akira Kumagai and Mallory Kracher in first, Paris Sato and Yassi Quon, and Halana Genest and Stephanie Wong. In the El Toro class were Malia Selman, Alicia Ward, Dylan Adolpho, and Kukii Falahee. Download or view results in Excel format, here.

The Qualifyers for the US Sailing Single Handed Nationals were held May 14 with 15 Lasers sailing. The winners in the full and radial divisions earned a berth in the Nationals in the Columbia Gorge this summer. Congratulations to Lance Miller and Lindsey Andrade for their efforts. Thanks also to the Race Committee of Ailana Warren, Jessica Rohr, and Katie Merrill. Roscoe Fowler took some great pictures of the event. They are available on his photo website.

Thanks to Jimmy Fowler who helped fix our boat trailer with his welding skills. It will stay together with the all the pieces put back.

We have summer sailing classes for youth and adults, come join us this summer! Application and Schedules are here. General information regarding the Jr. Sailing Program can be found here.

Mahalo

May, 2011

Thanks to everyone that staffed our booth at the Hawaii Ocean Expo on April 10/11 at the Blaisdell! Suni and Charlie Danforth, Chris Latetin, Tristan Stenek, Linda West, Ailana Warren, Sophie Harris, and Tracy Woodrow all lent a hand at the show.

Our sailing program works with a couple foundations to help run the program and the one that I wanted to spotlight this month is the Hawaii Youth Maritime Outreach. HYMO provides scholarship monies for children who are at-risk to take sailing classes. They also have purchased boats for the sailing program, most recently a Topper sailboat. Our relationship with HYMO stretches back to 1994 when it was called the Hawaii Youth Sailing Foundation. With a name change in the late 90s, HYMO focused it's efforts on at-risk youth. If you are interested in knowing more about the group and its support of the program, let me know!

Thanks to all the coaches and supporters of high school sailing!

Upcoming events include the Slim Lambert Youth Sailing Invitational on May 7 and the Laser Districts on May 14.

April 2011

The Pearl Harbor Youth Sailing Invitational was held in very light conditions on March 5 at Rainbow Bay Marina. Thanks to Dean Smith and Stan Radlo for serving as race committee on a very shifty and light day. Malia Selman and Dylan Adolpho enjoyed their el toros and enjoyed the post race festivities courtesy of Pearl Harbor Yacht Club

The Kaneohe Yacht Club Youth Sailing Invitational was held in windy conditions on March 19th. The El Toro and Laser fleet sailed in the breeziest regatta of the year and there some great reach legs to watch. Congratulations to Dylan Adolpho in El Toro C class, Mitchell Woodrow and Colby Curtis in Laser B class and Alicia Ward in El Toro C2.

Spring Break sailors are enjoying the breezy March weather and are sailing Lasers with Diamond Head Buoy being the destination. The reach back is really fun and is well worth the beat up to the buoy.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu High School Championships will be held this April. Junior Varsity and Varsity 2 sailors will race on Monday/Wednesday and Varsity 1 sailors will race on Tuesday/Thursday. The races will be in the harbor and off of Magic Island.

Summer sailing begins in June and thanks to our webmaster we have Summer Sailing Applications on our website available for registration.

March 2011

There have been two opening day laser regattas in February. The first race was at Kaneohe YC with twenty lasers sailing in trades of 8-12 knots. The second was at Waikiki with two races in very light trades then the last 3 in a strong easterly. There were nice waves for the downwind in the last half of the event.

The High School Spring Sailing season is underway with twelve schools participating. The students sail 420s in the Varsity division and Toppers in the Junior Varsity. Schools participating and their coaches this year are:

Teams can have up to 16 sailors in grades 9-12. The Varsity 1 practices on Tuesday/Thursdays and the Varsity 2 and JV practice on Monday/Wednesday. The racing season qualifyers for the Pacific Coast Championships begin in early March and the league championships for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu begins in April. All races are in the afternoons from Monday thru Thursday off of Waikiki.

Spring sailing classes have begun with the novice and intermediate classes sailing Saturday mornings and the racing classes sailing in the afternoon. Sailors begin in Toppers and then move to El Toros when they have completed their skipper qualifications in the Topper. The El Toro is a great boat for learning racing skills and sailors participate in Hawaii Youth Sailing Association Regattas around Oahu. After the el toro comes the 420s and Lasers. The next HYSA regatta is on March 5 and there is a schedule for the year on the Hawaii Yacht Racing Association website.

Upcoming classes include the spring break sessions which meet Monday thru Friday during the weeks of March 14-18 and 21-25. The mornings will be the novice and intermediate classes in the Topper and El Toro. The afternoons will be the laser class for any sailor that is able to sail this Olympic class boat.

February, 2011

Aloha!

January was full of clinics for sailors in the El Toro and the Flying Junior in Kaneohe and Keehi.

On the 8th and 9th there were twenty five El Toro sailors in northerly winds on Kaneohe Bay. The sailors practiced boat speed, boat handling, and starting drills for the two days.

Helping out with the clinic was Brent Harrill, a former University of Hawaii sailor and former Stanford coach. He also ran the double-handed clinic with the help of the University of Hawaii on January 15/16. Ten Flying Juniors sailed in light winds in Keehi Lagoon and their skills really improved during the two days.

Coming up are the opening day laser races on February 5, 12, and 20th. These are open to anyone and are invitationals. The first race is in Kaneohe and we hope for 20 boats on the line.

High school sailing practices begin the week of February 7th with twelve schools planning on hosting teams this year. Schools are allowed up to 16 sailors on Varsity and Junior Varsity in Toppers and 420s.

On February 19th, Saturday classes begin for Novice, Intermediate and Racing Sailors.

Applications can be downloaded here and there is a discount for HYC members.

Adult sailing classes are also offered in our 420 and Cal 20 boats. A description of the course and more information can be found here.

Mahalo!

Junior Sailing - January 2011

Aloha!

The annual Hawaii Youth Sailing Association El Toro Clinic will be January 8 and 9th in Kaneohe. This clinic is an amazing opportunity to sail with over 20 boats and features coaches from all the yacht clubs. Topics covered include rigging, boat-handling, boat speed and tactics.

The 420 State Championships were held on December 13th in Kaneohe with 10 boats sailing with spinnaker and trapeze. The wind was from the north at about 8 knots and fairly steady. HYC Instructor Ailana Warren sailed with Alicia Ward and had a great regatta, finishing fourth in one race. She had her mainsheet bridle break in the last race but was in fifth place until that point. As Ailana says, "I had a great day!" Congratulations!

The High School Sailing Season is coming up in early February. If you are a high school aged student and want to sail for your team, contact your schools Athletic Director for more information. We anticipate twelve schools sailing this year in Junior Varsity (Toppers) and Varsity (420s).

Another sailing clinic coming up is the University of Hawaii hosted double handed clinic. This will be in Flying Juniors at UH"s facility at Keehi Lagoon. The dates for this event are Jan 15 and 16th, the clinic director will be Brent Harrill, a former UH sailor.

Thanks to Kawika Warren for taking out the junior sailors for the Christmas Boat Parade. It was a beautiful evening and the sailors had a good time singing for the Aloha Tower crowd. It was also exciting to see a cruise ship leave the harbor during the parade!

Scott Melander
Jr. Sailing
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