Still Spots Available to Learn to Sail & High School Racing Class!
Charleston Community Sailing has a great reputation of excellent summer sailing programs. This summer, we will continue to offer one of the best sailing programs in South Carolina. We teach classes to Junior sailors ages 10-18 in all levels of sailing instruction from beginner sailor to advanced racer. All inquiries should be emailed to info@charlestoncommunitysailing.org.
CHECK US OUT IN THE POST & COURIER June 26, 2008
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CCSI Cohosts US Sailing Women’s Championship with CofC.
This past weekend, two teams of local female sailors participated in quarter finals of U.S. Sailing’s Adams Trophy competition, held at the College of Charleston’s Walker Sailing Center in J/22 sailboats. The Adams Trophy is an event solely for women.
The locals represent Charleston Ocean Racing Association, and the participants consisted of a team comprised of Jenny Gervais, Sarah Schaill, Katie Hughes and Jessica Koenig, and another team comprised of Betsy Pilcher, Mary Palazzo, Kara McFadden and Amy Ironmonger. Both teams qualified to move on to the semifinals at the C of C center July 5-6.
Jessica Koenig, who is also executive director of Charleston Community Sailing, said, “The Adams Trophy is a great experience, and we were able to compete against other area female sailors who share our passion for the sport, which is dominated by men. I hope we can encourage other female sailors to compete in years to come.”
The finals will be held in Oklahoma. Information about the Adams and other U.S. Sailing competitions is available at www.ussailing.org.
Article by Will Haynie, Post & Courier. 6/27/08
Special Olympic Athletes Compete for the 3rd Annual Special Olympics Open Regatta, at the James Island Yacht Club.
Opening Ceremonies were held Friday evening at the JIYC. Spectators were treated to a grand show by the United States Cost Guard helicopter and boats manned by off-duty volunteers from the US Coast Guard, Charleston County Rescue Squad, Charleston County Sheriff’s Department, and the Department of Natural Resources. The crew raced across the harbor from Patriots Point, carrying Nikki Caniff, SO Sailing athlete from South Carolina, to the shore. Nikki, assisted by Jill Holly, torchbearer for the Law Enforcement Torch Run, and Harold Phillips from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Department, ran the torch from the shore to ignite the cauldron, officially signaling the commencement of the games. The evening was capped off with a display of fireworks courtesy of Paul Grizzle.
Conditions were perfect for the three day regatta. Forty athletes and their Unified Partners participated in this year’s event which featured nine 420 races and five Hobie 16 races. There were 14 teams sailing level one and one team of level 2. In level one the athlete controls the jib and the unified partner steers and controls the main sail. Level 2 the athlete steers 50% of the race and the unified partner controls the jib and main sail.
Complete Race Results:
(Athlete/Unified Partner)
Hobie Fleet 1
1 Sam Hazeltine/Wayne Hiott - South Carolina
2 Tyler Campell/Phil Martin - Georgia
3 Bill Bondurant/Dayton Collie – South Carolina
4 Joshua Sloman/Alan Sloman – Georgia
5 Buddy Croft/Steve Bonacci - Georgia
Hobie Fleet 2
1 Breanna Bachert/John Parker – South Carolina
2 Whitney Parker/Adam Matgi-Szabo – South Carolina
3 Eddie Griffin/Cheryl Laporte– Georgia
4 Shannon Waldrop/Steve Bonacci– Georgia
Hobie Fleet 3
1 Michael Crofton/Debbie Parrish- Georgia
2 Dylan Starr/Rose Tucker – Georgia
3 Jay Feiner/Carol Feiner– Florida
4 Laura Hollinger/Annmarie Keck – Florida
5 Danielle Coholich/Anita Godbee- Georgia
420s
1 Chris Pilcher/Mike Palazzo- South Carolina
2 Nikki Caniff/Peter Hyndman - South Carolina
3 Sara Chavis /Caroline Warren - South Carolina
4 Daryl Malone /John Sanders– South Carolina
5 Daniel Brown/Thomas Hildebrand – South Carolina
6 Mike Mallamas/Melanie Simmons – Florida
Level 2
1 James Thigpen /Phil Martin – Georgia
Special Olympics is an experience that is energizing, healthy, skillful, welcoming and joyful, not just for the athletes, but for the partners, parents, and volunteers. The athletes joy at winning medals, enthusiasm for participation, and positive spirit are beyond inspiring and incredibly humbling.
The Athletes, Unified Partners, parents, and volunteers are very grateful to all the sponsors in the community who helped make this event possible through donations of supplies and funds.
The Special Olympics Sailing team launched in Spring 2005 partnered with Charleston Community Sailing, Special Olympics South Carolina and the James Island Yacht Club. Since the programs inception, the team has doubled in size, with eight teams competing. Paired with a Unified Partner, the athletes learn sailing terms, theory, racing strategy, and boat handling. Teams compete in regional events spanning the south east and hope to eventually sail in events throughout the country and the world.
In 2007, Meta Frasch, Head of SO Sailing SC attended Summer World Games in China as the Assistant Coach for the US SO Sailing team. She returned with more enthusiasm and desire to have a SC team in Greece in 2011.
Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of sports for those with intellectual disabilities. Through the Olympics, athletes are given continuous opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills, and friendships with their families, and other Special Olympics athletes as well as the community, improving their lives and, in turn, the lives of everyone they touch. For more information about Special Olympics and programs in the Lowcountry contact Lucy Swaffield, CTRS District 2 Program Director at 795-6226 or email LucySwaffield@bellsouth.net.
If you would like to volunteer as a Unified Partner, join the team as an athlete, assist in sailing activities, or sponsor the Special Olympics Sailing Program, contact Charleston Community Sailing at 843-607-4890 or Meta Frasch, Special Olympics South Carolina Sailing Director, at 843-795-9667. This program is free of cost to athletes and Unified Partners. Athletes must be strong swimmers with no reservations about open water. No sailing experience is necessary. Unified Partners must be able to single hand a Collegiate 420 if need be, and be very comfortable in the dinghy. Unified Partners also have a major part in teaching their partner what they need to know in sailing. Good candidates should be patient and calm and above all looking for a good time.
James Island Holds Own In Nationals
Written by Will Haynie, Special to The Post and Courier, Friday, May 16, 2008 
Photo Credit: LS Carper
There are hundreds of high school sailing teams across America, and the 19th-ranked sailing team is the James Island Charter High School Trojans. The senior-laden team was one of 20 from across the nation that competed last weekend in the national championships at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
For coach Ryan Hamm, who last year was named U.S. Sailing’s national volunteer coach of the year, the trip to the nationals was the result of several years of intense effort by lots of people.
“We got started later than most teams because we had a school that originally would not support us, but the parents would not stop. We only became an official team allowed to participate in points races a couple of years ago, thanks to a new principal who had a little sailing experience and a warm heart,” Hamm said.
The principal, Dr. (Robert) Bohnstengel, learned to sail at the Florida Yacht Club in Jacksonville, Fla., where James Island High earned its national championships berth in April.
James Island sails in the highly competitive North Division of the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association (SAISA), which includes Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina and Jacksonville. James Island was one of only two teams from the North Division to make it to the nationals.
But before his team could even get onto the water at Annapolis, Hamm experienced a bit of culture shock.
“After seeing the types of well-funded, experienced teams this weekend with paid Olympic class coaches and full uniforms, bags, and equipment, I knew we were in for a tough one. Not only had most of these teams been around for years, but most of them had been to the nationals and learned firsthand how starting on a line with 20 fantastic boats that are full of world-class sailors can be,” Hamm said.
The James Island team members who competed were Colin Rupp, Peter Rupp, Jack Cabell, Kurt Hertel, Lauren Hamm, Drew Lisicki , and Justin Carper. Charleston Sail Loft owner, John Bowden helped coach the team prior to Nationals and James Island High alum Alana O’Reilly, now an assistant sailing coach at Georgetown University, assisted the team at practice and during the event.
As a member of the College of Charleston sailing team, O’Reilly helped win a national championship in 2006 and was named the top female collegiate sailor that year. “She was at the same level as most of the well-paid coaches there and helped a lot,” Hamm said.
After understandably starting out slowly — given this was their first time competing at the national level — the Trojans’ team leaders found their groove and put up some good scores. Peter Rupp and Drew Lisicki scored a fourth in a race in B Fleet and were in position for a probable win in a race that had to be abandoned due to a race committee error. Hamm said that after a tough first day in A Fleet, Kurt Hertel and Jack Cabell came back strong on Sunday with a fourth, followed by another good race.
Senior Peter Rupp had the experience of sailing in the Sunfish Worlds held in Charleston in 2006, but said sailing as part of a team in a national championship regatta was a unique experience. “It was by far the most intense racing I have ever done in high school,” Rupp said. “The wind was blowing 20 mph, and there were six-foot waves. We do not see waves or wind like that in Charleston very often, so it was hard to get used to. But overall it was very fun and very worthwhile.”
Summing up this unforgettable year, Ryan Hamm said, “The work it took to get there and the time the kids put in was nothing short of a fantastic. I could not be more proud of our little group of public school kids that put their sights on something and achieved it.”
JAMES ISLAND HEADS FOR ISSA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
“Our school had finally broken that streak,” said Coach Hamm. “It was close the entire regatta with crazy weather as we were right on a stalled frontal line.” Held at the Florida Yacht Club in Jacksonville, Fla., the event pitted six teams from the north part of the district against six from the south and one from the U.S. Virgin Islands, coincidentally coached by Russ O’Reilly. James Island was the 1st place team from the Coastal region going.
In the end, the Charleston team edged out O’Reilly’s Virgin Islanders by one point. “Not until they came out with the results and announced the awards did we know for sure that we had done it,” Hamm said. “They gave us our beautiful third place trophy and our North Champs plaque. We could not be prouder of our kids.”
Team includes (seniors) Lauren Hamm, Drew Lisicki, Kurt Hertel, Justin Carper, Colin Rupp, Peter Rupp and (sophomore) Jack Cabell. The team practices each Wednesday at the Charleston Community Sailing Inc.
FIRST BAPTIST TRIUMPHS AT SAISA NP SILVER CHAMPIONSHIP
The NP Silver Championship Regatta was held in the Brunswick River at Brunswick Landing Marina on Saturday, March 29. After a 2½ hour delay with no wind, the wind finally built to light and variable, and 8 races were completed. Local Charleston team, First Baptist School took first place, and wins a berth in the 2008-09 ISSA 10th Great Oaks Championship to be held in New Orleans at SYC this fall. Congratulations Team!!!
Gold Report & District Qualifiers
Sixty-five high school sailors from the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee competed March 15-16, 2008, in the second annual North Points Gold Regatta. The regatta on Lake Norman in Mooresville, NC, was held to determine the six teams to represent the area in the South Atlantic championship in April.
James Island Charter High School of Charleston took first place with seven bullets in 16 races. Skipper Peter Rupp and crew Jack Cabell won five of their eight races in B Division. Ashley Hall of Charleston placed second; and third was Lake Norman High School of Mooresville, NC. Others qualifying for the South Atlantic champs were Academic Magnet of Charleston, Farragut of Knoxville, TN, and Porter Gaud of Charleston. The teams completed six races on Saturday in winds of 2 to 6 knots. Racing was abandoned for the day shortly before 3 p.m. when thunderstorms moved into the area. Ten more races were completed Sunday in winds of 4 to 10 knots.
Top 6 Northern Teams
1st/James Island Char. HS
2/Ashley Hall
3/Lake Norman HS
4/Academic Magnet
5/Farragut HS
6/Porter Gaud
Congratulations to our Charleston Area Teams that will participate in the District Championship, on April 5 & 6!!!
Sailing For the Future
Due to extreme weather the benefit regatta, Sailing For the Future, was cancelled on March 8. Sailors of all ages still gathered at Salty Mike’s for the party and awards sponsored by Charleston Sail Loft were raffled to boat owners and high school sailors.
“The future of sailing in Charleston is Charleston Community Sailing. Our programs have brought up some top ranked sailors, including Alana O’Reilly, who went on to become Collegiate Female Sailor of the Year and join the coaching staff at Georgetown University, and her brother Russ O’Reilly, who currently coaches Antilles High School Sailing Team in St. Thomas. Will Hanckel, winner of the Y-Flyer Nationals and well-known CORA sailor, recently won his class at Key West Race Week. CCSI’s Jenny Gervais represented St. Mary’s University as a team member for the U.S. Sailing 2005 World University Games in Turkey and now currently coaches the Porter-Gaud sailing Team,” says Jessica Koenig, executive director.
We still want to get all the youth sailors out on the CORA boats, keep your eyes/ears peeled for a Warm-Up Wednesday to the Summer Series!
ABC News 4, Touchstone Student of the Month, January 2008
Bishop England Sophomore Johnson Bayne had no clue what he was walking into when he entered to a packed staircase of supporters, and this award. His fundraising won him special recognition as the touchstone energy student of the month award through ABC NEWS 4 and Berkeley Electric Cooperative.
“We thank you for your commitment to community, specifically to the Leukemia Regatta that you raise a lot of money for,” Berkeley Electric Cooperative spokesperson, Eddie McKnight said. You have been chosen as the Touchstone Energy Student of the Month. Congratulations! Thank you.”
Johnson is a longtime member of his school’s sailing team which competes in the Annual Leukemia Cup Regatta, with a goal of raising money to benefit the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society. “That’s the area where Johnson really stepped up to the plate this year,” said Dan Machowski, coach of the sailing team. “Because of his efforts, Bishop England was the second largest fundraiser for the high schools this year.” Johnson exceeded his $1000 goal, through his website, raising $1,067 dollars.
“I was able to go online, and pay with my credit card.. For someone his age to do that, take that initiative, you just don’t see that these days,” said Johnson’s nominator, Dave Coker.
“It was an awesome amount that he raised. We are so appreciative, not only to Johnson, but to all of the kids that have joined the Leukemia Cup Regatta,” Darlene Benton with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society said.
Despite the commendations, Johnson accepts no credit for his charitable efforts. “It wasn’t just me. Without everyone else it wouldn’t have happened,” Student of the Month, Johnson Bayne said. But, it took Johnson’s dedication and Bishop England Sailing Team to help an organization sail towards success. Johnson’s fundraising goal for the next leukemia cup regatta is $1,500
Want to see the video.
Orange Bowl Youth Regatta
Football isn’t the only sport involved with the Orange Bowl in Miami.
There’s also the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta, which takes place in Miami the end of December, in which hundreds of young sailors compete against some of the best competition in the world.
Local high school sailors Miles Martschink and Chase Freeman from Porter-Gaud, and Emma Kofmehl, captain of the Ashley Hall sailing team, competed. Martschink and Freeman are sailing together in a 420 and after 12 races were in 64th place in the 88-boat fleet Their best finish so far is 13th. Kofmehl is in the Laser Radial fleet and after nine races was 70th in a crowded 138-boat fleet. For more information about the Orange Bowl including results and videos from youtube.com, click here.
Local Junior Woman Sailor participates in Next Step to Rolex Program
Academic Magnet sailor, Caroline Warren was one of 25 sailors chosen to participate in US Sailing, Next Step to Rolex Program. The three-day learning experience took place November 9-11 and is held in conjunction with US SAILING’s Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship (Rolex IWKC), November 12-17 at the Houston Yacht Club. This year’s program featured hands-on learning experience in J-80s.
“It was an awesome opportunity to sail with and learn from some of the best sailors in the world. The challenge presented to the room of upcoming junior women sailors by Joanne Kolius was that one day of one of us would win the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship and I think she is right!” says Caroline Warren.
The Next Step to Rolex Program was established in 1997 to expose juniors to advanced women’s sailing in a mentoring atmosphere. Since its creation, the Next Step to Rolex Program has served as an inspiration for hundreds of young women from across the U.S. and abroad.
For more information visit US Sailing.
For additional information about Charleston Community Sailing Inc., please contact Executive Director Jessica Koenig at 843-607-4890.
