10.30.11 ECC's Day Three:
We were up early on Sunday to get ready for a 10am start for the last day of ECC's. Sitting in 19th place we knew we had a lot of work to do to move up in the rankings. We started the day with what looked like a good lane by the boat in race 3 until an over early boat stalled our to windward of us and gave us bad breeze as they tried to clear them selves. We quickly found ourselves in bad air and lost our lane immediately. We battled back in the extremely shift 5-12 knots breeze finishing 26th. Determined to get back into the top 20 finish range, we prepared for race 4. Pushing the line hard we had a very nice lane to work with at 15 seconds until a shift caused us our genoa to back wind pushing us onto port and weren’t able to salvage the start. With no lane we pushed toward the left side of the course and with a nice left shift rounded in the top 20. Over the course of the race we picked up a few more spots and finished a credible 16th. The last race of the day was started within 25 minutes of the 2pm last race time limit and we were off to another very shift "W5" course. Starting middle pin, we had a hard time finding the shifts and rounded in the mid 40's. Working the boat very hard downwind and then again on the final beats we found ourselves in the low 20's going into the finish. 200 yards away from the finish, the breeze began to become very variable and shift. We came to the realization that we were in-between two breeze lines coming from land and couldn’t manage to shake the bad shifts from tack to tack. Losing 9 boats in 200 yards was not the best way to end the regatta finishing the last race 31st.
After a hard day on the water, we began out way back to the dock to derig and head back to our respective schools and places of work. After de-rigging the boat we looked at the results and found out that we move up one spot to 18th overall. It was very apparent that many boats had at least one very hard race (usually in the 40's) and we benefited immensely from points lost where we gained.

We will continue our fundraising throughout the winter so that we are financially prepared for the 2012 circuit as well as worlds in Rochester, NY next September. We want to thank all of our supporters as well as Liberty Jet and Gorilla rigging for their support for this years racing. Currently the boat is on its way to NY (a big thanks to Mike Nicoletti) and into a hanger at Islip Airport later this week courtesy of Liberty Jet. J/24 USA 4350 is also for sale! If anyone is interested drop Collin an email at collin4350@gmail.com.

10.29.11 J/24 ECC’s Day Two:

Racing was cancelled today due to the cold temperatures and breeze over 25 knots with large waves. We were sent home at 10am when they called racing. Tomorrow first gun will be at 10Am where we will try to fit in as many races as possible. Check out the media page for video from race two. 

10.28.11 J/24 ECC’s Day One

The team arrived at SSA yesterday and cleaned, rigged, splashed and trained on USA 4350 for the day to prepare for this years east coast championships. Today we were greeted with 10-15 knots from the north-west with nice chop and shifty puffy conditions. The first race we had a rough time getting off the line but found ourselves with a good lane after weaving through a few boats. We sailed a conservative race making gains where we were confident in putting boats behind us and not pushing our luck too hard in the shifty conditions. We finished the first race with a 23 and hungry for the next race. With a great start in race two we worked our way to the left side of the fleet and rounded in the top 15. Sailing a conservative run we rounded in about the same position. Working the extremely shift and much lighter breeze upwind (4-8knots) we used great boat speed to make up for any small shift we didn’t have the ability to tack on. Rounding in 17^th we went to work downwind battling with a few boats for the inside lane of the gate for the final upwind sprint to the finish. After a slight issue with a boat who wouldn’t give us mark room, we slowed down a little to get a good rounding and threw in a fast tack around the mark in a large header. Sending Robbie down below for a few minutes while the breeze was light, we tacked back and capitalized immensely on the shift putting 4 boats behind us immediately. Treating the last part of the beat as a “last beat drill” we finished 13^th.

The day was extremely challenging but we capitalized in areas where were confident and stayed to our conservative day one strategy which paid off in such a deep fleet. We’re currently in 19^th overall with points very close. Tomorrows forecast is for 15-25 with gusts over 35, snow/rain and a high of 45 (challenging much?), but were really excited to push the boat in big breeze.

Stay tuned for video from today’s race 2. Also a happy birthday to our mast man Robbie Allen.

10.19.11 Preparations for ECC’s

With ECC’s just a little over a week away, final preparations have been made and will all come together the night of Wednesday the 26th when the team and boat arrive in Annapolis. Our new supplying partner Gorilla Rigging has provided us with a full new set of lines for the boat and we will (as usual) be sailing with Quantum Sails. Stay tuned for updates!

The team is currently finalizing preparations for the 2011 J/24 East Coast Championships. The team will meet up in Annapolis Wednesday, October 26^th, rigging and training the 27^th and racing the 28^th-30^th. For the ECC’s we will have Collin Leon driving, Collin Kirby trimming, Robbie Allen as tactician, Wilkie Jordan on mast and Mike Nicoletti on Bow. We’re really excited to get back on the water and race in one of the best events of the season.

To all followers, supporting partners and donors,

          I hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer and is looking forward to a mild fall.

First of all I want to personally thank all of you who have supported our dream of participating in this year's 2011 J/24 World Championship.

          I felt it was important to give all of the supporters an update on our accomplishments so far, our challenges, and our plans for the upcoming year.  I hope that many of you have had the opportunity to visit our team’s website over the past couple of months, and enjoyed reading about our journey to Dallas TX for J/24 nationals.

          To date we have raised over $22,000 in donations and equipment.  It has been a tireless effort between classes last spring, and work and training during this summer.

When our team embarked upon the daunting task of raising the appropriate funds that would send us to the 2011 World championships, we did so with passion and enthusiasm.  Our budget, as listed on our website was north of $50,000.00 between cash and equipment.  While our enthusiasm and dedication never waned, the actual funds collected fell well short of our goals, for the required deadlines needed to participate in Argentina this year.  

          Recently, I met with all of the team members to discuss the financial situation and asked for input on all options available. Unfortunately, we had to be realistic about how much more we had to raise and the window to do so was rapidly closing.  We quickly came to the realization that we had no other option but to put this year's Worlds campaign on hold. While clearly disappointed, our spirits were never defeated, and we are actually more motivated than ever.

        Our USA Youth World Team has decided to prepare now for the 2012 Worlds, which will be held in Rochester, NY.  Funding for this will be considerably less and easier to attain.

         I am putting together a simple financial statement so that you can see how the money was spent on training and our balance in the account, which we are putting towards the 2012 worlds in Rochester, NY. It will be posted on the teams website within the next 30 days. We do plan on competing at the East Coast Championships this October.

Again, thank you all for your support.  

Very Truly Yours,

Collin Leon

J/24 Youth World Team USA 4350

As the J/24 North American Championship is coming up in mid August, the team is gearing up for a training weekend in Newport the 13^th and 14^th. The boat will be getting a new set of genoa tracks and cars as well as a good scrub down before the weekend as well as the normal boat work. The team for NA’s will include Sean Harr (Bow), Collin Kirby (trim), Sam Stokes (back from last year’s worlds as tactician), and in the works Chip Till on mast. The team is excited to get back on the water after a very busy June and July kept the team working and racing on other yachts around the country. Our next event after NA’s will be the East Coast Championships in Annapolis, MD in October. The next update will be from our training weekend where we will get some great photo/video as well as coaching.

Over the past two weeks the team has split off to their independent summer jobs as well as continuing training on other boats to better prepare us for our up and coming events.  Since nationals, the boat has been brought first back to Norfolk, then to Oyster Bay, and most recently to Sayville NY where our next race will take place in two weeks. After the race in Sayville, the boat will be brought to Newport where we will be training out of sail Newport for the rest of the summer. Our next update will take place as the team starts to gear up for the District 3 Championships in Sayville.

Sorry for the late report, we hit the road immediately after racing. We were greeted with 18-22 knots Saturday which led the fleet to start the day off with jibs. We had a mediocre start at the pin and pushed towards the left side where we found great pressure and with a nice left shift rounded the windward mark in 6^th. We gybed around the offset mark to defend our lane until we felt we weren’t making gains on the leaders so we gybed back to starboard. Unfortunately a large right shift came down shortly after which lost us two boats and we rounded in 8^th. Not having the pointing ability we had on the previous leg (a work in progress for the team) we lost a few more boats upwind rounding 11^th. With a great spinnaker set we passed two boats only to have a knot develop in the spinnaker halyard on the douse resulting in a poor rounding losing the boats we passed and more when were fixing the problem. Going into the last race of the event, we set our game plan to push the starting line very hard and work the right side as more right shifts had been coming in throughout the day. We switched to our genoa and had a great start to leeward of the Brazilians. Holding our lane we waited until the Brazilian boat tacked off and shortly after tacked heading to the right side. Consistently making gains on the fleet, we worked right until we found ourselves on the inside of the dominant right shift. Tacking to lead the pack with the shift, we had decent position on the fleet but could never consolidate to make gains on the boats that were more right than we were. As the shift began to keep moving right, we rounded in 16^th and went to work downwind. Passing two boats downwind we pressed the right side once again upwind after rounding and consolidated our position but couldn’t make gains on the fleet finishing 14^th. Overall we finished the event in a disappointing 14^th overall. As of our overall performance we’re happy with where we are considering it was the first event with the team together and our learning curve is steep. We will be refining our rig tune and settings over the next few weeks leading into our summer season. Next event on the schedule is District 3 championships at Sayville Yacht Club June 11-12.Then the boat heads to Newport in early June where the mast will be measured to ensure that its minimum length as well as other measuring essentials. We’d like to thank all our individual donors as well as Quantum Sails for their support to our campaign, without their help we wouldn’t be able to race, train and learn how to meet our goals.

5.13.11 Friday the 13^th bites back:

Racing today started at 10:30 with 20+ knot winds and the fleet started off with jibs up. We had a rough start but after tacking off with a good lane we broke a starboard jib car which resulted in a massive winch over ride. Unable to tack, we send Dillon below to rig up a new car while Collin Leon and Collin Kirby worked out the winch over ride issue. We fixed the problem but lost a lot of distance on the fleet by this point. The rest of the race was a catch up game. The second race started better with a middle of the line start until we broke our port jib car! Luckily we were racing with two extra cars and rigged a second one up. However losing even more distance this time we finished the race like the last one 14^th. The next race, we had a great start at the pin but found ourselves on the wrong side of a shift. We rounded top 7 and had a great race going until the windward mark where a massive (and I mean MASSIVE) knot in the mainsheet forced us to sail 100+ yards away from the offset mark until we got it sorted, a big disappointment. Thinking we couldn’t possibly have any more misfortune, we started the last race with good spirits. Electing to start in the middle of the line, we developed an overlap with another boat on the line started to press them over the line, however they started to bear off fouling us in the process. We hailed protest, flying our protest flag soon after. With a bad start as a result of the incident, we pushed hard but ended up with our worst race of the series (as well as put a nasty tear in our chute on the hoist). Headed to the protest room once on shore, the protest was disallowed by the jury because we flew the protest flag too late after the incident (1 minute 30 seconds after). Although the day was a disappointment, we’ve learned a lot about different situations and knowing what each other is going to do on the boat in different scenarios. Tomorrow we have two races left then we will pack up the boat drive back to Norfolk.

5.11.11 Popped tires and thunder storms result in no sailing: Today we were greeted with 10-15 knots of breeze, a traveler car that was due for delivery by 12pm, and a mast man that was to arrive in the afternoon. Taking the boat out of the water for one final cleaning and boat weigh in (after not being weighed since 1999, the boat weighed in perfectly at 1330Kg all up weight!) we applied bow numbers and regatta stickers to the hull and continued to work on the boat. Upon the arrival of the new traveler, Sean drove our honorary mast girl Jill (ODU 14') to the airport while the rest of the crew went to finish the final boat preparation. A practice race was set to start at 1pm but with thunder storms hovering and a lack of mast man, we stayed in and watched the storm come in. Breaking for lunch, we decided to move the car to more convenient location. However, as we were backing up we ran into a small piece of steel bar which punctured the tire. What was supposed to be a routine tire change turned into a nightmare as the spare tire wouldn’t detach from the car. Add one of the most intense thunder storms we've ever seen (green skies, 56 MPH winds and a torrential downpour) to the mix and you have a tire change from hell. Needless to say, a local was nice enough to GIVE us a new tire and the problem was fixed. At this point we got in contact with our new mast man (also name Collin), had him weigh in shortly after and meet with the team for a quick meeting. The storm at this point had passed but the breeze subsided so we called it a day, packed up the boat and headed to the hotel. Tomorrow starts the first day of J/24 Nationals. The team will be sailing under Bow #7, Sail # USA 4350 and name "The Edge". Results and regatta updates from the organizers can be found at www.j24nationals.com. We will be posting updates throughout the week on the site.

In other news, Gorilla Rigging and Lancelin Ropes is now the official rigging supplier of the 2011 J/24 USA Youth World Team. We're extremely excited to be promoting their products and companies throughout our campaign.

We’re in Texas! After a 21 hour drive from Norfolk, VA to Lake Dallas, TX the team is making moves to get the boat in the water by the evening.  Arriving to a warm 15-20knots of breeze at 9am, we scouted out the area, found a hose to clean the boat, and ran all of the halyards until hunger set it (21 hours on pizza and subs just wouldn’t cut it anymore). Stay posted for updates and photos from training and the event. We will be practice from May 9^th-11^th and racing starts May 12^th and concludes May 14^th. The team was also awarded grants from the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation as well as West Marine earlier this week.

The J/24 class has just informed the team that they have secured the berth for the 2011 J/24 Worlds as the USA Youth Team next November in Buenos Aires, Argentina! Stay tuned for more updates to follow including the new website, team members and 2011 racing schedule!

2010 Worlds Updates:

8.20.10 Day Five: Sun and 8-15 knots were the norm on the last day of the World Championships. Sailors left the dock early to make sure they were best prepared for the most crucial day of the event. Getting out to the course around 9:15, the team did a warm-up with a bunch of tacks, spinnaker sets and gybes then studied the shifts and current to get ready for the days first race. With the current going out the fleet was pushing the line extremely hard which resulted in a black flag start with one recall, forcing 8 boats to not sail the race. Having a great start in the middle of the line we worked the middle left managing the fleet as best as we could which resulted in us rounding the top mark in the top 20. Having a great set we worked the boat hard downwind but only managed to pass one boat. Consolidating our position we rounded the final mark in the same position (high teens) and went to work once again downwind. Throwing in a few gybes downwind we gained a lot of leverage on the fleet and were able to pass a 5 boats downwind to finish 14^th.

On the second race we had an unfortunate start where we didn’t have enough speed off the line. Losing pointing ability as the breeze started to increase we realized our rig wasn’t tuned for the new conditions. Putting on more backstay and trimming the genoa in a little harder we compensated for the rig tension and tacked out for a clear lane. After a ducking a few boats and leebowing others to get back into the race, we rounded in the mid 30’s determined to get back into the race. Gybing for position downwind we found ourselves in a favorable lane and going fast passing a few boats before rounding the course right gate. Working upwind with great speed we came into the mark a little high of layline which ended up working out well as we could get better position around the offset mark. Putting up the spinnaker for the last time of the event, we took off in a great lane with speed. We passed 4 more boats downwind to finish the race 25^nd moving us into 27^th overall.

As the event has come to a close, we would like to thank all our donors, sponsors and suppliers for making this trip possible. We cannot even begin to explain how much we have learned during this trip as well as appreciate all the help along the way. It has been an amazing journey and we hope that you have enjoyed following us the entire way. The team has decided to petition for the youth berth for 2011 worlds in Argentina and will soon be developing a schedule for the rest of the US J/24 season as well as the 2011 US and possibly European events next year. Finally, congratulations to Tim Healy and crew who sailed an amazing event to win the 2010 J/24 World Championship.

8.17.10 Day two: Sailors were greeted to "30% chance of showers" today in malmo, which we have translated to "showers for AT LEAST 30% of the day", and a 5-8knot northwesterly breeze. After a soggy breakfast on the boat followed by rigging, we headed out to the race course for the first race of the day. We had a rough start in the middle of the line but after tacking out found ourselves in a favorable left shift with great speed. Rounding the first mark in the top 20 we had a solid downwind run but failed to recognize the large left hand shift at the end of the second beat and dropped significantly to the mid 30's, finishing a very disappointing 36th overall but hungry to get the points back. In-between races, the breeze clocked a full 90+degrees left to the south east and increased to 25-35kts with steep chop which forced us to change rig settings and switch from our Genoa to our smaller blade sail. After starting in the middle/boat end of the line, we had all controls cranked on and were on our way around the course. Once rounding the windward mark in mid fleet we elected to not set the spinnaker as we felt that  we wouldn't gain or loose too much ground by doing so (as well as would decrease the chance of breaking equipment as other boats were doing in the big breeze). We ended up losing one boat on the downwind but quickly made it back on the next upwind beat. Bouncing around upwind with white water flying down the deck, we rounded the mark in the mid 20's and unanimously decided to pop the chute and go to work. Surfing and planeing down waves we were flying towards the finish line and managed to catch a few boats downwind that didn’t put up their spinnakers. Finishing the last race in 23rd, we are now in 31st overall after 4 races. Check out the new photos and videos!

8.16.10 Day one brought 20-30kts with varying waves which proved to be challenging for the fleet but manageable. We had one wipe out on the first downwind beat of the first race but we recovered pretty well and pulled off a decent race. Our "broach" however was nothing like the carnage behind us (multiple boats dipped their mast heads!). In the both races we were planing down wind, the entire crew in the back of the boat, surfing down waves. Awesome conditions.  Overall we had a 36, 35 putting us in 38th overall which we are very happy with as the caliber of the fleet is top notch. We will try to post pictures from the regatta site once they become available.

8.15.10 Today the team slept in and then was down at the dock at 12pm to get prepped for the practice race. After an hour postponement due to lack of wind, a southeasterly breeze at around 3-8kts filled in and the RC was quick to start a race. We had a decent start in the middle of the line but unfortunately we didn’t pick up on a massive left shift off the shore and once it hit the fleet we found ourselves fighting to get back into the race. We made a few good decisions around the short course but in the end couldn’t make up as much ground as we would have liked over the short, now skewed course. Fortunately it was only a practice race so it was just a learning experience. Tomorrow starts racing which the entire team is extremely excited to start. After months of planning and training, we are finally starting what we have worked so hard to be a part of.

We have also uploaded various videos and photos from the past week on the Media page. More photos and video will be uploaded from both last week’s training as well as this week’s racing.

8.14.10 Yesterday we finished up measurement which was pushed to the 13th at 0830 due to a delay with the scales being set up. After weigh in, hull, mast and rigging measurement, we launched the boat and put it in a slip at MSS where measurement was held out of. Today we got down to the boat at 0930 and were on the water by 1015. We met up with the German team Rotoman/Manroland on the water for extensive speed testing upwind with their coach where we proved to have good speed and pointing ability. After training for 3+hrs we headed to Western harbor where our boats will be kept for the rest of the event.  As we were taking the boat in to the harbor, there was a horse show as well as a fair going on, which provided a little entertainment while we de-rigged. Our German training partners then gave us a much appreciated ride back to our bikes at MSS where we rode back our cabin just before a pretty strong thunder storm came through. Tomorrow will be the practice race at 1400 followed by the opening ceremony. Stay tuned!

8.12.10 We are currently waiting for our measurement time slot at 1830 local time, although it seems that they are a bit backed up so we may be in for a late night. In the mean time, a local fiberglass worker is filling in a through hull fitting, we cleared the boat out so it’s ready for measurement, brushed up on our soccer skills and sewed on a class measurement sail patch. Also be sure to check out the new article on the PUMA website. Check back later for a full recap of measurement.