Competitors age 6-24 at the local, regional and national level.
These sailors typically compete in boats such as the Optimist (Opti), ILCA Laser, Club 420, Sunfish, Butterfly, etc.
Young sailors at higher levels of competition may compete on higher performance boats such as the Melges 15, 29er, 49er, and Nacra catamarans.
We serve numerous events of this type every year, typically during the summer months.
High School Sailing
Competitors are high school students. Some introductory events include middle school students.
Competition in high school is most often double-handed on Club 420s or Flying Juniors (FJs) with occasional events sailing on singlehanded ILCA Lasers or triple-handed boats such as the Flying Scot.
The High School sailing regatta format is mostly Fleet Racing (year round), Team Racing (in the Spring), and occasionally Match racing.
We conduct several High School regattas each year during the Fall and Spring seasons. Most of the events we serve are national qualifiers and State or Conference championships.
Collegiate Sailing
Competitors are college students.
Like high school, collegiate sailing is predominantly a double-handed sport on Club 420 or FJ sailboats. However, collegiate sailors also compete in singlehanded ILCA Laser sailboats as well as on crewed offshore keel boats.
Collegiate sailing disciplines include Fleet Racing, Team Racing, and Match Racing.
Scott is the Principal Race Officer for many collegiate regattas each year during the Fall and Spring seasons. Several of these events are national qualifiers and Conference championships.
Racing between boats of identical design is widely considered to be one of the purest tests of sailing skill.
One-Design racing covers a broad spectrum of boats of all sizes ranging from singlehanded dinghies to fully crewed offshore keel boats.
One-Design Class Associations conduct local, regional, national, continental, and world championship events.
We typically serve on the Race Committee for a handful of One-Design events or Class Championships each year.
Regional Sailing Authorities & Associations
In addition to One-Design Classes, sailing competition is often based on geographic proximity. Areas such as the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound, Gulf Coast, and many other areas each have regional sailing authorities that conduct one-design, handicap, or distance races for both adult and youth sailors.
For example, we conduct races for and Scott serves as the Race Chairman of the West Michigan Youth Sailing Association. Lisa serves as the Chief Scorer and Registration Wrangler. The WMYSA is a cooperative alignment of 10-15 youth sailing programs throughout southwest Michigan that hosts collective events throughout the summer months. Scott and Lisa have been instrumental in the success of the WMYSA since just after its inception in 2006.
National Sailing Authorities & Associations
In the United States, the sport of sailing is governed by US Sailing.
In addition to its role in Olympic Sailing, US Sailing conducts national championships for a variety of sailing disciplines:
Youth sailing, adult sailing, para-sailing, women’s sailing, team sailing, match racing, offshore sailing, multi-hull sailing, etc.
Some of these national championships determine which sailors will represent the US at World Championship events.
Scott has served as a Principal Race Officer or we have both served on the Race Committee for a handful of these events.
Together or individually, we have attended numerous regional and national US Sailing symposiums, summits, stakeholders conferences, and Judge Roundtables.
Scott also played a key role on the committee that researched, defined, recruited, and ultimately recommended the first ever full-time Executive Director for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association.
