Dear BYC Maritime Sciences and Seamanship Foundation,
Thank you for supporting me in sailing the Orange Bowl Regatta. This was the first out of state regatta that I’ve sailed, and I had a blast! Sailing in the C420 fleet with Christophe Killian, we were pretty new to the boat only beginning to train in October, so we learned a lot from the top guns. The first day brought 20 knots, (a rare occurrence in Newport), so I was learning very fast how to use the trapeze effectively. We managed to hang on for the day, and progressively did better each race. The next day brought shiftier breeze making each side of the course much different. This regatta definitely taught me that in a four day regatta keeping your head in the game and focusing can make all the difference. In the Newport-like weather of the third and fourth day, Christophe and I really had to buckle down to use our skills in the boat to compete. With 10 races, great coaching, the support of MSSF and BYC, we finished in 28th out of 77 in an international fleet.
I’d also like to thank the Foundation for supporting me to go the SCYYRA Clinic and develop skills in the C420. I believe that the clinic really gave me the chance to learn the boat as well as all the essentials to compete in a big regatta like Orange Bowl. At the clinic there was amazing coaching and we learned a bunch of tricks for boat handling that we couldn’t teach ourselves while practicing on our own. For the two day clinic I was picking the brains of fantastic sailors helping me to get better and better.
Thank you again for helping me to become a better sailor in the SCYYRA Clinic and compete in the Orange Bowl Regatta. The time on the water helped me to improve on my basic skills, C420 boat handling, tactics in different breeze levels, and more fun experiences. I really appreciate your support in both of these events.
Sincerely,
Harrison Vandervort
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