Lakewood sent three C420 Teams with Coach Marek Valesek to their first C420 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami over Christmas break.
The two-person teams of Alex Wise/Laurel Tyson, Grace Bates/Pilar Blanco Midulla and Paul/Celia Houston as well as several other youth sailors were in full learning mode this past weekend, as accomplished sailor and Yale Assistant Sailing Coach Bill Healy afforded the racers his knowledge of C420 racing. Healy, spent two days at Lakewood Yacht Club training the spirited young sailors.
"We practiced in very breezy conditions," said Healy. "If the kids see similar conditions in Miami they will feel much more comfortable since Galveston Bay doesn't usually offer those types of conditions. The group has a whole is fairly fresh to the C420 class but no strangers to these large events. Look for them to post some great individual races and results."
Strong 20-knot winds were enjoyed both days of the clinic, which focused on boat preparation, tuning guidelines, rigging the boats, and then basic trimming and hiking techniques as well as mark roundings. However, Sunday was 40 degrees colder than Saturday, so
Healy, Valesek and the rest of the coaches utilized videos of high-level sailing to give the kids something to visualize. The young sailors took furious notes during the debriefings before braving the cold to practice the techniques on the water. A lot of kids went swimming, but there were notable improvements over Saturday's performances.
Lakewood wishes all it's Orange Bowl competitors luck in Miami.
