Dan's Papers - August 24, 2007 - The Southold Junior Sailing Association Brings On Competitive Sailing

Last weekend The Southold Yacht Club had an awards dinner for its Junior sailing program. The program, under the direction of Mike Spicer and Pam Sakowich, is vibrant, boasting over 110 young sailors with ages ranging from 7 years old to 18. Commodore Peter Moore and his wife Maureen Moore proudly assisted in handing out the many awards. Maureen is in charge of the junior sailing program.

The Southold Yacht Clubs Junior Program is part of an eight-club association called the Peconic Gardiner's Junior Sailing Association. The participating yacht clubs consist of, Southold, Mattituck, Old Cove, Orient, Shinnecock, Shelter Island and Southampton. The young sailors start off in Opti's, then move up to Sunfish's, then Lasers and then to the top level race 420s. At Southold Yacht Club, the junior sailing program begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. with most junior sailors on the water for about two hours and the high level racers getting 3 hours of instruction.

In a conversation with one of the parents of the three racers, Jane Ann Leonard gave some insight on what it takes to commit children to racing. "It is a down to earth program, wholesome, with friendly competition," explained Mrs. Leonard whose husband Tom is an executive for Barclay's Bank. She believes the children ascertain, "Great skills to take with them for the rest of their lives."

To do this, Southold Yacht Club has thirteen instructors. Jane said that Mike Spicer and Pam Sakowich, "Did an exceptional job this year leading Southold Yacht Club's Junior Program on to one of its best years ever. We are either at the top or near the top of almost every event."

The season starts in late June with the first race this last year on July 7. The season closed with the August 18 award ceremony that was well attended by young sailors, parents and siblings.

The Leonard family boasts 3 female racers, with daughters Claudia Leonard, Lauren Leonard and Madison Leonard. What the Leonard's enjoy is that besides the sailing the, "Kids in all the clubs are all friendly, often attending intra-club social functions."

Mrs. Leonard added the programs keep the children "connected using sailing as a life long bond."

At the present moment The Leonard family owns two Sunfish, plus a powerboat. The parents admit, "420's are in our future somehow."

Not banking on sailing scholarships, Jane Leonard just hopes the girls will perhaps race at the college level. In a candid moment she admitted she wished she had been exposed to a program like this when she was growing up. She and her husband are so happy to have the opportunity to be so involved with the program. She stressed that almost all the parents are. This year the Southold Yacht Club had its first Junior Program fundraiser that targeted raising monies to buy a new safety boat and other equipment. The event was held on a big tent on the beach and was a huge success, with next year's event a sure thing.

With so many of the programs children living full time in Southold, and even some on the water, some children commute to the club and home by sailboat.

It is quite a sight to see youngsters aged between 7 and 8 out there competing in all different wind conditions on a course against another club racing small sailboats. The look on the young faces of both the boys and girls reading the wind and plotting the right course to optimize the current wind is priceless. The precision of the older "teens" is astonishing as they are trained to be world-class racers.

The Southold Yacht Club itself has its own club championships, with many categories based on ages and boat size. The Leonard's are looking forward to watching their daughters compete in those season ending races. When asked if she sails, Mrs. Jane Ann Leonard quickly said, "Only recreationally."

Even though this program is a recreational program there is serious sailing going on.

The Leonard's are preparing to pack up their Southold summer home and head back to New Jersey. However, when they do finally make the drive home to end this season, they'll be sailboat dreaming.