Reports From Rich Roberts
With a week off from school, more than a hundred of
But it’s more boot camp than spring break. Driven by a team of world-class instructors, the 111 boys and girls ages 13 to 18 selected by their résumés will see 12-hour days on and off the water learning fine points of the sport before breaking free with some real racing Sunday.
They’ll train twice a day in their assigned two-person 29er skiffs, International 420, C420 and CFJ dinghies and singlehanded Lasers and Laser Radials, between spending as much time in group lectures and video reviews.
Evening programs are scheduled after dinner featuring selected speakers: 2008 silver medalist Zach Railey on the Olympics and Kenneth Andreasen of US Sailing on how to organize a world-class campaign, including the Olympics.
Andrew Campbell is the clinic director for the second year. He was once a clinic student who sailed a Laser for the
Railey, of
Harry Legum returns as the physical director.
Furthermore,
“Coaches should be motivating the kids but not waiting for individuals who hold up the group, just as none of us would wait for stragglers during training camps of our own. I will take the role of bad cop getting kids out of the boat park and into meetings and off the dock.
“Your responsibilities as a coach will be to engage the kids who want to be coached and let the stragglers waste their own time. I want to set a very strong precedent at this clinic for how these kids approach future training.
“There also will be a focus on fitness by taking the entire group through a morning program as well as class-by-class. Harry Legum will be available for each of the classes on demand after the morning session.”
Any questions?
Railey was a clinic student for four years starting in 1998. He won an Olympic silver medal in the Finn class at
The class includes several of the 48 members of the U.S. Sailing Development Team, a training track to the international level of competition. The next step up with an emphasis on the Olympics is Team AlphaGraphics, which currently includes Campbell and CISA coaches Railey, Biehl and Farrar.
Over the years several accomplished sailors such as
CISA, founded in 1971, supports amateur sailors by providing travel grants for regional, national and international competition and also funds local sailing programs and racing clinics.
The CISA Advanced Racing Clinic is sponsored by Atlantis WeatherGear, Kaenon Polarized sunglasses, Laser Performance, Gill Sailing Gear and Apparel and North Sails.
Unlike other nations, the
More about CISA and the clinic