I wanted to let everyone know that I will be leaving the GCSEF board early next year. GCSEF is the non-profit that runs the junior sailing camp, provides charter boats and supports the GSC junior race team. It has been great working with the currrent board which includes Alison Weiss, Eddie Cobb, John Callahan and Mark Goodwin. It has also been an honor to work with the team that Brian Keitzer put together that included Brian and Julie Keitzer, John Holmes, Jay Meyer, David Johnson, Don Haley and Black and Stephanie Chaffe. The group has been great and made the last three years a real pleasure.
During the next few months, Alison, Eddie, John and Mark will be looking for a replacement for the president position. If you are interested, please let one of these board members know. The goal would be to have the new board members join during the next couple of months and completing the transition by the end of February 2010. This will give everyone time to make a smooth tranisition.
The group has done an outstanding job during the past few years. Brian and his board built up the team to be one of the largest teams in North Texas and built a great inventory of boats for all of us to use. He set it up so that it was inexpensive for new sailors to get started and for more experieinced sailors to keep growing. My board worked hard to continue the work that Brian started and we conitinue to have one of the largest teams in North Texas as demonstrated a couple of weeks ago at Ole' Man.
Our relationship with GSC is the best it has been in years and the club provides a great deal of support through professional coaching at Houston Race Week and Spring Break camp. Financially we are in a position to continue our growth due to our boat donation program which has brought in roughly $5000 in each of the last three years. We really appreciate all of the people that have donated boats tot he program. It is a great cause and keeps the kids learning more each and every day.
My kids and I will continue to be part of the program, helping coach, at regattas and supporting the team and program. I believe that it is time for some new ideas to come in to help the program continue to grow and expand. We all look forward to several more years of junior sailing at GSC and who knows, I might get another keel boat and start racing against the adults some day.
Thanks to everyone that has supported me and the program these past 3 years. I look forward to welcoming your new president shortly.
September 09 - GORC Champion
We have a new GORC champion and his name is Max Lipari. GORC was a great time with quick racing, good wind (we had to move it back into the swamp just to get a little protection) and delicious food provided by Anna.
We started the day out on the point with 10 juniors ready to go. The winds proved a little strong (blowing 14-16 knots) for the juniors who were used to 2 or 3 man sailing on the boats. We quickly moved the boats back into the swamp to get started right on time.
We used a fleet race format with 4 races to get into the final match race format. This year new comer brothers Sam and Adrian Schreibler schooled the more experience kids to make it to the final four along with Nathan Stevenson and Max Lipari. In the match racing action, Max quickly dispatched Nathan and Samuel to win the GORC championship.
In the old guy and gal class it was the Catalina 22 class that ruled the day. It must be something about those movable swing keels that made them so successful. Marilyn Boemer and David Hayslip each won their first fleet matches to move into the finals. Then John Gorman and Javier Gravis made it to the finals in the consolation fleet racing. Marilyn and David quickly showed Javier and John that boat control allows you to win the start and winning the start makes is what GORC is all about. In the final race, Marilyn hung up her tiller extension and David became the adult champion.
David’s win setup a race between the champion junior (Max) and adult (David). To make it more interesting we let second place Samuel Schreibler and Marilyn race with the group for a four man fleet. The winds favored a Port start all day long, but Marilyn decided to setup on Starboard and try to take everyone out at the start. Max made it cleanly by Marilyn, but David and Samuel both had to either tack or duck Marilyn at the start getting off the line about 20 seconds late. That was all it took for Max to win by a half a leg.
We followed this up with a picnic, and fun games. It was great to see the juniors and the adults all doing something together.
Junior Team
The junior team has their first regatta of the second half of the season at Fort Worth this weekend. The team has become a real international crowd with new team members from Germany, Switzerland and France. Overall we have seven new members on the team plus ten returning members that have been actively practicing for the upcoming regatta. It looks like a great group of kids that are ready for fun this fall season.
The Grapevine Offshore Racing Class (GORC) is back in 2009. After 3 years in the courts, the lawyers have been kicked out and we are back to racing. The GORC Challenger, Chris Rousseau won his case in front of the esteemed Judge Mike Lipari and won the rights to challenge the cup in new larger class boat. The Judge was sympathetic to putting a 7’2” man in a 7’8” boat. Judge Lipari was heard saying, “If he breaks the boat, I am the one that has to fix it.”
With the new GORC, we will race for the club championship in Laser Pico. This larger boat is faster, and more tactical than the previous Optimist, but still small enough that we will all get a laugh out of watching some of the adults try to fit inside that little boat and we are sure to see a few of the skippers get wet. In addition, this year with the newer faster boats, we will sail off the Point just north of Scott’s Landing for a little more room and wind.
GORC will use a fleet racing format of 5- 6 boats to get the top skippers. Then the top skippers will race in a Match Race Format to determine the GORC champion. Like years past, we will have both an adult and kids class with a final race between the top Junior and the top adult. All Adults and Kids are welcome to sail. We will include a special award for the top New Sailor (either child or adult that took this year’s summer camp or seminar). This is a fun event and does not require any racing skills or previous experience skippering in a race so come out and try your hand.
This year we are combining the event with the Club Picnic and Family Day where GSC will be cooking up dogs and providing the drinks. We ask that everyone bring their favorite side dish to share and GSC will supply the Hot Dogs.
The time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm Saturday August 29th
Cost: A $25 Tax Deductible Donation to GCSEF
Food: We supply the dogs and drinks, you bring a favorite side
Location: The Point Just North of Scott’s Landing
The Prize: Bragging Rights to being the biggest sailor in the smallest boat – plus your name engraved on the perpetual trophy
Houston Race Week – Junior Olympics
On July 11-16th, The Junior Team got a chance to race for six days in a USSailing/Junior Olympic Event. The event featured three regattas with six days of racing. It had over 157 boats with 73 on a single starting line.
This year the Clubs of North Texas including Grapevine Sailing Club pooled their resources to share coaching expertise. Each Club brought a paid coach which allowed us to have a coach for each of the four fleets (Opti Novice, Opti Select, Laser and 420). This was a real win/win for all of the North Texas kids because they got top notch college coaching all 6 days. The North Texas Clubs brought down 24 kids representing every fleet.
The Grapevine Team was a real International group with team members from as far away as Columbia, South America. Sebastian and Eduardo Guevara, joined their Aunt Elizabeth Caballero, a member of the Grapevine Sailing Club for a summer of sailing with the Grapevine Team. Ben Lipari learned to fly the spinnaker on the 420 in 25 plus knots of wind, and new members Bob and Erin Long had a great time with Erin moving from sailing camp and into her first junior regatta in a highly competitive fleet. All of the kids had a great time and a good learning experience. With most of the kids trying out new boats that they had never raced before - Ben, Bob and Erin all were trying out the 420 with spinnaker and trapeze for the first time, and Sebastian sailing a Laser for the first time, while Max Lipari and Eduardo raced in the biggest fleet of Optimist either had ever seen.
The entire team thanks the Grapevine Sailing Club for making the investment in Coaching. By joining the other three North Texas Clubs and providing coach support for the first time ever, we really increased GSC presence and standing in North Texas Junior Sailing. Thanks to everyone for the support and for the sponsorships at the major regattas the help fund the Junior Race Team.
July 2009 - Summer Camp
Summer is here and that means sailing camp. We are right in the middle of our second camp session and the kids are having a good time and learning lots. During the first two sessions we had 46 people go through camp, just two short of our capacity so this is great. We have spots available for our July 20 – July 31 camp. We are offering a $100 discounts to anyone that attended one of the first two camps and wants to join us for the last camp to continue improving their skills. During the first two camps we have had 10 racers go through and focus on their racing skills. The remaining kids have been doing the learn to sail/recreational camp.
Texas Youth Race Week
The kids will get a chance to test their sailing skills the week of July 11-July 17at Houston Race week. Race week is a six day, three venue Junior Olympic event. The event typically gets up to 100 sailors from across Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. This year, GSC raised funds through the Mayor Cup Regatta Auction items so that they can cover the cost of having a coach at Race Week. Since kids race in four classes and are spread across different lines, the Clubs of North Texas have joined together to provide coaching support. GSC, White Rock and Rush Creak are all covering the cost of one coach so that we can provide support for all of the kids in North Texas. Each coach will support one line for the full race week. By joining forces, all of the North Texas kids will gain more coaching support, improve their skills and no one club will have to cover the full costs.
Two regattas, three starting lines, ten fleets, thirty-one trophies , eighty-nine boats, ninety races, ninety-six competitors, two hundred cans of silly string and five hundred and eighty meals, $5,950 (sorry Tommy we went a little over budget); Thirty-Six Volunteers and 1,167 smiles, Priceless.
What a great two weekends GSC put on. Many of the kids continue to say this is the most fun regatta in Texas; it is amazing what a few cans of silly string can do. Thank you to all of the volunteers that helped out. Several helped out on both weekends (those in italics) and deserve an extra special thanks.
John Callahan was the regatta chair for the Silly String regatta and pulled together a crack team. Then we all repeated the effort for the Laser No Coast Regatta.
Tommy Gambulos, George McDonald and Mark Goodwin with their crack crew including Diann Litsch, Tim Litsch, James Pujals, Lee Uzdavinis, Jim Casey, Dayna Bryant, Karen Churchill, Eddie Cobb, Jay Meyer, David Johnson, Elaina Johnson, Bob Lehn, John Diggins and Patrick Moseley made sure everything ran great on the race course
A whole host of people helped with food including Ruth Callahan and Anna Klosterman for breakfast, Michele Holmes and Sam Holmes made 130 brown bag lunches, Dale Weiss, Alison Weiss, Laural Lipari and Jean and Tom Cassady manned the grills for dinner and Sunday lunch. Everyone including Kara Meyer, Laura Stevenson, Eddie, John C., Stephanie Chaffe, Black Chaffe, Bill and Anna pitched in and helped clean up, put stuff away and get everything ready for the next day.
Kara, Laural, John C. and Diann got the registration completed and the scores all done. Jason Stevenson, Jay and John Holmes drove photographers and delivered lunches. Pattie Williams and Carley Callahan were our photographers. Tim got us some great trophies. A special trophy thanks goes out to Dean Dixon for building the base for the perpetual trophy. La Vida provide picture frames as added Trophies for green fleet and the girl champions.
In addition to all of the great help, we had some great racing. The kids racing was tight with the Opti overall and girls Texas State Championship coming down to the final race with Forrest Short winning the overall and Yuki Yoshiyasu winning the girls State Championship. The girls Radial State Championship switched between three girls from race to race Leonie Shuurmans winning Laser Radial. Hannah Hughes won the Girls 4.7 and Ellie Nielsen and Emily Cardenas won the Girls Double Handed.
At the Laser No Coast, we had some world class sailors with two time Laser Masters World Champion winning both the overall Laser and the Laser Masters Championship. This event drew boats from across the nation including nationally ranked Ryan Minth from Florida and racers from Ohio, California and New Jersey. It was a great way for some Texans to get a chance to race with the top in their sport.
A big thanks to the racers, volunteers and parents that helped with transportation and support. Hope to see everyone again next year.
Remember that Camp is just around the corner. Get your kids signed up. The race camps will continue to build on the success of the Spring Break Camp focusing on boat speed, reading the wind and tactics. Sign up for the June 8th camp for Opti Racers or the June 22nd Camp for Laser Sailors. All three camps will include camps for recreational sailors and beginning sailors. Remember to get your friends to sign up and receive a referral discount.
GSC Raises Money for Juniors at Mayor’s Cup
First off, the Juniors want to say thanks to Tommy and the rest of the GSC members that made Mayor’s Cup possible. It was a great time and we raised significant contributions toward helping the junior team with their funding goals.
May Regattas
This month is the Grapevine Sailing Club’s Silly String Regatta and Texas Girls State Championship May 16/17. This regatta is one of the clubs largest regattas in terms of boats. Last year we had 45 boat on the two different starting lines and crowned our first Texas Girl State Champions. This year we look to have an even bigger event with more fun, more wind, more prizes and most importantly more Silly String. Running a major regatta like this takes lots of help and the club has stepped up once again. We are still looking for people to help out with Breakfast and Lunch for the event
In addition to Silly String, GSC is hosting the Laser No Coast Regatta on May 23/24. This is part of the Laser North American Grand Prix circuit stop and counts towards one of nine North American Spots in the Laser Worlds. We have already gotten boats signed up from as far away as Florida and Annapolis for this event. Like the Silly string regatta this event will take lots of help and support. For this event we are still looking for someone that can help our on the water judges (need a power boat) and help with Breakfast and Lunch. The following are our volunteers.
Regatta Chairman: Mike Lipari
PRO Laser 4.7/Radial Line: Tommy Gambulos and George McDonald
Chase Laser Line: James Pujals and Lee Uzdavinis
PRO Laser Full Rig Line: Mark Goodwin
Chase Laser Full Rig Line: Jay Meyer, Patrick Moseley
On Water Judges: Bob Lehn and John Diggins
Registration/Measurement: Laural Lipari and Diann Litsch
Breakfast/Lunch: Sill looking for Volunteer to help Ken Jackson
Dinner: Anna Klosterman
Trophies: Mike Lipari/Tim Litsch
Scoring: Tim Litsch
Beer Sponsorship: Lee Uzdavinis
Thanks to everyone for their help and if you can fill in for the last couple of spots, please let us know. Finally come out and see some great close racing during the third and fourth weekends of May.
A couple of years ago, Mark Goodwin and I started to talk about how we do a better job of integrating the Junior Sailing Team into GSC. Grapevine Community Sailing Education Fund (GCSEF) was setup as a non-profit organization to help educate junior sailors, but the race team is part of GSC, not GCSEF. This is required by both the GCSEF tax status and because the Texas Sailing Association requires all juniors to be a part of a recognized club.
So how is GSC supporting the juniors in 2009? First off, the program has helped to fund a coach for a spring break race clinic. In this clinic, 14 Juniors learned the finer points of sailing tactics, strategy and boat speed. The coach, from Oklahoma State University, spent approximately 7 hours in the class room and 17 hours on the water helping the kids tune up for the 2009 circuit. The results - in the next regatta four Opti Sailors had their best finishes ever, and three other sailors had their second to best finish ever. Practice does pay off.
GSC is following this up with support the Grapevine Silly String Regatta scheduled for May 16th and 17th. We are estimating that we could have 60 kids sailing in the regatta this year. Many of you have already stepped up to volunteer and we would love to have additional volunteers. Please contact John Callahan, the Regatta Chairman if you would like to support the regatta at john1@callahanusa.com.
If May is not already busy enough, we also are hosting a major Laser Regatta May 23rd and 24th. The Laser No Coast Regatta is one of the 11 major events that make up the Laser North American Grand Prix Series. Top leaders in the Grand Prix Series are given one of nine North American spots in the 2010 Laser Worlds. Although this is not a junior event and we expect many sailors at the Master and Grand Master Level (Sailors 45 years old and older), the Laser Fleet is helping to run this regatta. GSC’s Laser Fleet is made up of Juniors and their parents so we are taking the lead. Please contact either myself or Tommy if you want to volunteer mwlipari2@verizon.net. By the way, if anyone wants to try their hand at this Olympic class boat, we have a handful of boats available for charter.
Finally, we will continue the year with additional coaching support. Each year Houston host a Junior Olympic Event called Texas Youth Race Week. This event gets 120 plus sailors from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and several from the East Coast to participate in some of the toughest competition in the US. This year, GSC is combining with other North Texas Clubs that do not have full time coaches to support coaching on each of the three (Laser, Opti Select and Opti Novice) lines. This support will help the kids continue to grow and mature as racers and we hope to this type of support can help the kids continue to move up in the standings.
Finally, we are trying to schedule one more GCSEF/GSC event. We want to resurrect the GORC for 2009. We are revamping the event to increase the competition, drive a higher level of fun and show everyone that little boats can go fast. This years GORC will move out to the big waters off the point. We will race Picos (those 13 foot plastic boats) and we will have a final grand champion match race between the junior champion and adult champion. Look for the date this summer. All entry fees will be tax deductable and go towards GCSEF non-profit.
I really want to thank everyone that has helped grow junior sailing at GSC over the past several years. First, we need to thank Brian Keitzer and his wife Julie for all of their help. The core of our team are the kids that he brought in as 6, 7 and 8 year olds and trained as green fleet (novice) Opti sailors. His freshman class from 6 years ago includes seven of today’s most active GSC sailors. Soon we will see the first of his recruits moving off to start his college sailing career. Next I would like to thank John and Luke Holmes. John is a guy that had never been on a boat before he sent Luke off to camp five years ago. Soon John was buying a new boat for both himself and Luke, and providing guidance to the juniors. He did one of the most important things we can do in sailing. He offered to take any Junior Team member out sailing about 30 times per year through informal get out and go fast practice sessions. By just spending time on the water, he helps built the sport of sailing - sort of like Tommy and Wednesday nights for the adults – no pressure, fun sailing.
I’d also like to thank Mark Goodwin and both his board as well as this year’s board. By working together GCSEF and GSC has greatly improved the sport for the juniors in the Dallas area.
Finally, I need to thank all of the GSC members that helped build the program over the years. It is amazing to hear how many existing GSC members helped shape the junior program over the past 20 plus years. It is great to hear about members or their familiy that learned to sail 10, 15, 20 or more years ago when GCSEF was starting. Many of these members are still sailing and out teaching new sailors how to make their boats go fast. It is great to see the support of past directors that put in 3 to 6 years building a program that is the envy of North Texas. It is fun to see the adults helping with regattas or raising money for the juniors. By my estimate, the Junior program has either touched or been supported by over half of the club members. So give a thanks to anyone that has helped build the sport through our junior program
Regatta: John Callahan is the Regatta Chairman for the Silly String Regatta. He is looking for help with food, registration, race management and more. The weekend after Silly String, we are also hosting a National Level Laser Regatta. This is open to adults and juniors for Laser, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 class boats. The regatta is a National Regatta and requires class membership. I am looking for help with this regatta. Contact John at: 817-933-1023 or Mike at 972-672-4018
New Website: GCSEF has a new website. It has all of the information on it for both GCSEF and the GSC junior Race team. Please check it out at www.grapevinejuniorsailing.org. Please let us know if there is anything else you would want to see on the site.
Silver at Valentines Day Regatta: Lex Meyer and Hannah Callahan kicked off the year with a hard fought second on the 420 at Houston Yacht Club’s Valentines Day regatta. Daniel Weiss sailed a strong race in the green fleet learning about high seas and shifting winds.
I want to thank all of the parents and kids for coming out to the kick off meeting. We had great turn out. During the meeting, I provided all of you with a goals form. I really want you to develop goals for the program this year. Whether in sailing or life, goals drive us to achieve and do our best. You may be saying that you and your kids sail for fun, and want to keep it fun. That is okay, goals do not have to be about becoming the best sailor in Grapevine, Texas or the US. They should be your own goal to help you achieve what you want out of sailing. So if your child likes sailing because it provides a fun way to meet people on the water, creating your goals to help achieve this - maybe have a goal to get 2 friends join you at camp this year. If your goal is to win your division in the TSA or make it to a national event, that is great too, we can help you set and reach those goals. Your goals should be your own and meet your needs. Once you have set these – let your family, coach and seminar instructors know your goals so that you have a whole team to help you achieve them. Sailing is a great way to make friends, learn the physical mastery of boat handling skills, and requires the forward thinking of chess. So whatever your goals, set them and strive to make them a reality this year. My goals for the year is to continue to help GSC Juniors improve their skill, enjoy the sport and get the most out of sailing. I want all of the juniors to learn to love sailing for a lifetime.
I want to congratulate Ariana Cobb as the Junior of the year. Ariana has truly shown her Corinthian Spirit in 2008. In 2007 Ariana wanted to give sailing a try at the age of 14 – she showed up for her first day of camp on a hot muggy July Day. The next day camp was canceled because of the high water at the lake. Rather than giving up, Ariana decided to join the racing team with all of a day of sailing under her belt. Starting late in sailing, Ariana was forced to move directly into the Laser Olympic Class boat rather than the more forgiving Optimist. Through the summer and into the fall, Ariana showed up at every practice and learned how to keep the Laser upright (something I am still trying to learn after 20 year of sailing).
In 2008, Ariana hit the TSA circuit with a vengeance. Attending 13 of the 14 circuit stops. Ariana was 7th overall out of 41 Juniors in Texas racing the Laser 4.7. She was the top sailor from a club with volunteer coaching and support.
But racing was only part of the story. In the summer, Ariana came back to help new sailors learn to sail at the camp. Ariana took her level 1 sailing instructor’s certification and started teaching. While 4 juniors each volunteered between 80 and 160 hours, Ariana put in more days and time helping out the campers than any other volunteer. She was always helpful, patient and ready to provide a helping hand. With her help and the help of Luke Holmes, Lex Meyer and Hannah Callahan, we had the best year of moving sailors from recreational camper to racer. I believe it was because the junior counselors like Ariana, showing the kids the possibility of sailing as a year long sport.
During one camp day, Ariana showed her true metal. It was a typical hot June day with winds from the South at about 7. Dark clouds started building to the North and within minutes a front blew in from the North with recorded wind speeds of up to 62 MPH. 24 kids where on the water in 6 Picos and 5 Optimists. Ariana and the other counselors quickly gathered the kids up on the power boats and got them safely to shore within minutes. More importantly, by keeping cool heads and quickly making sure everyone was safe, the kids felt like they were taken care of. Although the news crews and others tried to make it out as a big deal, the counselors like Ariana chalked it up to just another day on the water. This gave all of the kids (and their parents) the confidence to come back the next day and give sailing another try. Ariana – thanks for a great year and we look forward to 2009.
2008 was a great year for Grapevine Youth Sailing. We had new kids join us, fun racing and a great learning platform through our camps. The highlights include strong participation in TSA events, a Junior National Championship, the strong year for volunteering, great performances and a Girls State Championship.
The TSA events for the year are completed with the last race at Austin Yacht club. The kids that went all had a great time, sailing and saying goodbye to the friends they made at the end of year party. Please thank the TSA reps, Jennifer Draheim, Kara Mings and Britt Feik for all of their hard work and support. It takes a lot to coordinate all of the regattas.
Second, I really want to thank all of the parents. Sailing is a big commitment for the kids and you guys make it happen. With the racing we do, we travel all over the state, and I do not know another sport that you have to help the kids leg lift 150 pounds worth of equipment several times a week. I know Laural is hoping next year that they have an Opti Flipping Contest for the parents at each of the regattas, because she can flip an Opti in under 1.2 seconds. So thanks for all of your support in transporting kids, encouraging them when times are tough and paying for that $4.00 a gallon gas.
Next I want to thank the kids that received participation awards. This sport is all about participation. We can not duplicate the conditions of a start line with 30 boats during our practices, so you have to participate in the regattas. In order to receive a participation award from TSA, you have to sail 7 of the 14 events. Three kids from GSC won participation awards including Luke Holmes, Ben Lipari and Ariana Cobb. Ariana attended 13 of the 14 regattas so way to go (only one family made it to all 14 events and the TSA gave them the road warrior award – a new set of tires, I bet Eddie wishes he would have made it to Palacious now).
Finally I want to congratulate the racers that placed in their respective fleets. Ben Lipari took 5th overall in blue Fleet (out of 30) and 15th overall for all Optis of which over 90 kids competed. Luke Holmes took 5th place overall in Laser Radial out of 40 plus competitors and Ariana Cobb took home 7th out of 40 plus competitors. This is a great job for all.
Grapevine continues to be the strongest team that is supported and coached by 100% volunteers and parents. Although the teams with Professional Youth Directors and coaches in South Texas have more top finishers and participation, GSC is at the top of their Peer Group of volunteer run organizations and close to the levels of some of the Professionally managed programs. GSC had participation of 76 kids (total number of GSC Entrants in TSA events) which was almost twice the participation of the next closest volunteer supported team (FWBC). Ariana was the top Laser 4.7 sailor and Ben Lipari was the Top Opti Sailor from any club without professional coaching/youth program director.
One of the differences are the volunteers. During our summer camp program we had four juniors between the ages of 14 and 16 donate a total of 460 hours. Not only did this help bring more kids into the program because the kids were helping teach, but it made the volunteers much better sailors. A special thanks goes to Ariana Cobb, Luke Holmes, Hannah Callahan and Lex Meyer for their support and dedication. In addition to these Junior volunteers we have be lucky to have one of the best green fleet (Novice Opti Fleet) coaches in Texas building up the new sailors. Brian Keitzer has run the program and has coached the team for the past 4 years. With his coaching, he has built one of the strongest green fleets in Texas and the envy of other clubs. This year Brian has stepped down as coach, but his support was critical in building the team and keeping it growing.
I also want to thank GSC. As many of you know, the Juniors are supported through two organizations. Grapevine Community Sailing Education Fund (GCSEF) is a non-profit education program that funds the charter boat program, the trailers, support boats and summer camps and Grapevine Sailing Club (GSC) the club that all Juniors race under. During the last two years, Mark Goodwin, the Commodore for GSC has worked hard to make Junior Sailing a more integral part of the club. He has done this through financial support as well as greater integration of the juniors into the club. The greater coordination between the two groups include a Junior representative on the board as well as coordinated racing and support.
One way GSC has brought a new level of racing to the Juniors was through the Catalina 22 Nationals. The Juniors had a chance to race in a one design national championship on Lake Grapevine. Jerry and Terry Talley ran the Catalina 22 nationals and as part of this they had a one day Junior nationals regatta. Volunteers from across the country provided their boat and onboard coaching for the kids. After three hard fought races in winds between 22 and 28 knots, Ben Lipari won First in the Junior Nationals with Luke Holmes and Max Lipari taking second.
Another way that GSC supports the Juniors is through the Silly String Regatta. Each year, GSC largest regatta in terms of total boats is the Junior Regatta. This year we had 49 boats on the line. One of the things that made this year special was that we ran the Girls State Championship during the Silly String Regatta. We had kids travel from as far South as Corpus Christi and far North as Oklahoma City to compete.
