KLuttrell Ida 2014.2I want to sincerely thank the BYC Maritime Sciences and Seamanship Foundation for your support of my participation in the 2014 Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship for the Ida Lewis Trophy. This was my second Ida Lewis and I was very excited to travel to Rye, New York for my first experience sailing on the east coast.

KLuttrell Ida 2014.1As soon as I arrived at the beautiful American Yacht Club I felt comfortable and at home. My crew, Sammy Pickell, and I were quick to make friends with a team from Connecticut and we continued to build upon friendships throughout the week. We arrived early the next morning, packed our lunches, and eagerly awaited the on land clinic and our coach assignments for the day. Both days of the clinic had optimistic, Newport-like conditions of four to six knots, which benefitted us as a lightweight team. As predicted by the forecasts I observed, Wednesday proved the windiest day with wind at 15-20 knots. Sailing around before the races, my crew and I knew that Wednesday was not our day to excel, but to learn. Our scores steadily increased throughout the day with our last race ending with a 12th place. Our place at the end of Wednesday was 33rd, but the light wind the next morning looked promising. With better starts and lighter wind, my crew and I were more focused on tactics and boat speed rather than survival. This allowed us to get a fourth, a second, and a third respectively. We jumped up 20 places in the results on Thursday, and an additional place on Friday, securing us 12th place overall for the event. Our advantage on the light air days over less experienced teams came from the piece of advice our coach, Mike Pinckney, repeatedly said: “Sail to the angle which best fits the spinnaker”.

Overall, the coaches were impressed with not only our inquisitiveness to learn, but also our ability to apply advice and improve our sailing. Head Coach, Richard Feeny along with the other coaches awarded my crew and me the Most Improved Award. This award meant a lot to me, considering one of the top teams at the regatta had won it in 2012. I am so thankful for this experience and I really look forward to next year’s Ida Lewis.

Sincerely,

Kerri Luttrell