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Supporting a Generation of Champions |
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2006 CISA Clinic
April 3, 2006 That's the level of expertise participants have come to expect over three decades of the clinic. More than a hundred of the most promising boy and girl sailors 13 years and older from 17 states will participate after being selected based upon their competitive resumes. "The CISA clinic has been awesome over the years," says Nick Martin, 18, an Olympic prospect from San Diego. "The coaching is just amazing . . . all the Olympic sailors and world champions. It's almost too much knowledge coming at you in just a weekend." The intense program will mix lectures with on-the-water drills targeting tactics, sail trim and boat handling. Off the water, participants will learn what is required for an Olympic campaign in money, time, travel and personal effort. A typical day runs from about 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Director Robbie Dean's faculty of elite instructors is assigned to six classes, as follows: Club 420---Isabelle Kinsolving, Peter Wells, Brian Doyle, John Farrar, Steve Hunt, Jamie Malm. International 420---Nick Scandone, Pease Glaser, Elizabeth Kratzig, Zack Leonard. Laser Radial---Meg Gaillard, Adam Deermount, Richard Feeny, Carisa Harris, Lauren Maxam. CFJ---Casey Hogan, Bill Uniack. Laser---Brett Davis, Bill Hardesty. 29er---Pete Spaulding, Dalton Bergan, Zack Maxam. Kinsolving, Wells, Gaillard and Spaulding were members of the U.S. Olympic team at Athens in 2004. Glaser, sailing with JJ Isler, won a silver medal at Sydney in 2000. Scandone, who turned 40 last month, was in his third year as a victim of ALS---a degenerative neuromuscular disease---when he won the 2.4mR open class world championship on Italy's Elba Island last year. In January he received the Rolex award as America's top male sailor of 2005, boosting his campaign to lead the U.S. Paralympic sailing team at Qingdao, China in 2008. Last week Scandone pursued his goal by winning the 2006 Disabled Open Midwinters at St. Petersburg, Fla. He dominated an international fleet of 15 2.4mRs with three firsts, four seconds and a throwout third in eight races. "It was windy and I did well, so I'm happy with that," he said. There will be no 2.4mRs at the clinic, but Scandone's pre-ALS resume includes two Lido 14 National titles and a Senior Sabot national championship, plus victories in the 470 North Americans and collegiate nationals as a student sailor at UC Irvine. "[The I-420] is a dinghy and I kind of understand how all that works," he said. Martin will be one of his students. "I can't wait," Martin said. The participants also include a survivor of Hurricane Katrina: Jackson Benvenutti, 18, of Bay St. Louis, Miss. Asked for his home address that was missing from his application, Benvenutti replied, "Well, here it is, but there isn't anything there but a hole. You can send stuff there and they will forward it [to wherever we are]." The intrepid Benvenutti will be in the International 420 class with Martin, who with Adam Roberts is ranked fourth on the U.S. Team in the Olympic 470 class. Roberts, now attending Boston College, will miss his first clinic in several years, so Martin will team up with another bright prospect, Michael Menninger, 16, of Newport Beach. The I-420 is a step up from the Club 420. "I'm trying to help out Michael and some of the younger guys who are just getting into the class." Martin said. "The I-420 is a beginner step for the 470 when you begin to figure out tapered masts and what your boat can and can't do. You can adjust spreaders and bend your rig, and you really have to pay a lot of attention." If the surnames of some participants---Menninger, Dellenbaugh, Sinks, Crum---sound familiar, that's because they are offspring of world-class sailors. Paul Cayard's son Danny will be sailing a 29er and his daughter Allie a CFJ while their father leads the Pirates of the Caribbean crew on Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Rio de Janeiro to Baltimore that started last Sunday. Last fall CISA expanded operations with an Advanced Multihull Racing Clinic, which it plans to continue with a similar format. More information is available is at www.cisasailing.org CISA, founded in 1971, supports amateur sailors by providing travel grants for regional, national and international competition and funds local sailing programs and racing clinics. With assistance from CISA, 35 sailors attended the recent Orange Bowl Regatta, the fourth year CISA sent a team to Miami. In the C-420 class, Tyler Sinks and Myles Gutenkunst bested 100 other teams to win the class, with Chris Barnard and Chris Segerblom finishing third. In Laser Radials, the largest class with 116 competitors, CISA had 11 competitors and 8 of the 45 entrants in the Laser full rig. Unlike other nations, the U.S. has no federally supported assistance programs for its amateur sportsmen or for the development of young talent. CISA, a 501(c)3 organization, relies on contributions of corporations and individuals to provide support of amateur sailors. Because it is non-profit and tax-exempt, all contributions are tax deductible.
CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL SAILING ASSOCIATION
CISA ADMINISTRATION |
