BCC Youth Invitational
by Maegan Ruhlman
This
past weekend, August 4th-5th, the Buffalo
Canoe Club once again showed its tremendous support for the future
of our class when they hosted the first, of what will hopefully be
many, annual BCC Youth Invitational. The guidelines are simple;
show up with a team consisting of at least 2 junior sailors, one of
which must skipper. We had a phenomenal turnout for the first time
around with a total of 18 boats on the starting line! Some teams
consisted of all juniors, gearing up for the Junior NAs, while other
teams had 2 juniors and an adult as the third crew member. For
many, it was their first time driving a Lightning, and for some it
was their first time ever even being in a Lightning, with the
youngest skipper being about 10 years old! The members did a great
job getting their own kids out there, as well as publicizing the
event to get teams from many different states and clubs, including
as far as Vermont!
To make
the experience as fun and as valuable as possible, we sailed ˝ mile
windward-leeward courses, finishing downwind, getting in 8 races in
two days! Furthermore, David Stark, just returning from the
Pan-American Games, was a great asset as the on the water coach for
the event. David went around to all the different boats and helped
them with sail trim, boat set up, and any and all questions they may
have had before and in between all of the races. He also held a
very helpful chalk talk Saturday after racing, touching on a few of
the basic ideas and strategies most important out there, including
clean starts, being prepared for mark roundings, and communication
on the boat to make sure everyone is on the same page and the team
is doing what they think is the best thing at the time. The chalk
talk was very informative, without being overwhelming for the
younger ones, and David did a great job of being positive and very
encouraging for all of the teams. He was very easy going and open,
as were all the other adult experts, so that everyone felt
comfortable asking questions and getting advice or support. The
racing itself was great fun and it seemed that each race got more
and more competitive as the teams became more comfortable with their
team work, the conditions, and the boat itself. We definitely saw
some great improvement throughout the weekend, and most importantly,
everyone had a great time! Off the water was just as fun with a
dinner and boys vs. girls tug of war game on Saturday night—in which
the girls were the clear winners I’m proud to report—followed by a
DJ and dancing that was set up for a club party, but that we were
all able to enjoy. Sunday the race committee did a wonderful job
yet again, getting in 3 races before 1pm so that we could all get
packed up, have lunch and trophies, and be on our way by 3pm, though
as my Dad said, “no one ever really wants to leave the Canoe
Club!”
All in
all it was an absolutely fantastic weekend and one of the coolest
events I’ve been able to participate in! I couldn’t think of a
better way to end my summer than to be at a Lightning event,
surrounded by great friends, and seeing 30-40 junior sailors truly
get excited about sailing the Lightning! It was an incredible event
because it brought together the young and the young at heart for a
phenomenal learning experience that promoted sailing, friendship,
and fun, which is in and of itself the very essence of our class. A
huge congratulations and thanks goes out to Larry McDonald for
putting this whole event together and really making it happen! Of
course, he couldn’t have pulled it off alone, so I would also like
to thank David Stark, Bob Robinson and Peter Godfrey and all the
others who helped them on race committee, Joe and Bob Stark as mark
boats, and all the participants who were able to make this regatta
such a success! I only hope that next year we can make it even more
successful by getting even more juniors out there. They are the
future of our class, so mark your calendars for the first weekend in
August, bring a boat or two from your club, and let’s get 30-40
boats out there next year and then send them off from there to the
Junior NAs!
