Tuesday, March 27, 2007

The High School Regatta

The first weekend in March we held a high school sailing regatta at our marina facility.  I mentioned this in a previous post and there seemed to be quite a bit of interest in the event.  It’s been hard for me to get around to posting the pictures because, as usual, I shot way too many to post and it was very time consuming to sort through all of them and decide which ones to use.  I ended up making a collage just to get more of them included in this post.

 

I was not privileged to attend a high school while growing up that had a sailing team and I’m sure most of you were not, either.  Most of the high schools participating were private schools, however, public ones were eligible, too, and there were some of those that attended.  Here’s how it that would be possible in my area.

 

We have a wonderful facility on a fresh water lake in Savannah called The Savannah Sailing Center.  It is a non-profit organization set up for the purpose of furthering Youth Sailing Programs in the area.  The center is located within one of our county parks on Lake Mayer and kids, families, and local schools can pay an annual fee to belong to and use the center’s sail boats and training facilities.  If you sign up for their program, they will train you to sail and race their sailboats.  Here is a link to their website:  http://savannahsailingcenter.org/

 

 

This sailing event was an official SAISA sponsored event.  That stands for the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association.  The South Atlantic District encompasses Florida (except the panhandle), Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Northern Alabama and outside the continental boundaries, islands in the Caribbean. Note this and other districts in ISSA are very similar to the collegiate districts in both sailing format and geographic area.  For those that are interested in checking it out, here is the link to their website:  http://www.saisa.org/

 

This was the second year for our facility to sponsor and host this sailing regatta.  We were descended upon by 180 kids from around the South Atlantic District along with their parents and other observers.

 

 

We had plenty of wind for the event so the racing was brisk and competitive.

 

 

In each race, each boat has a crew of two.  Every School entered in the event has at least four teams of two.  The boats were identical in accordance with the SAISA rules and were not owned by the individual sailors.  Most of the boats were provided by the Savannah Sailing Center.

 

 

 

After each race, the boats would be sailed back to our front dock and one team would hop off and another team would hop on and sail out for the next race.  By rotating the boats and the teams, the competition was kept fair with no team having a particular advantage over another one.

 

 

 

These kids were good and very competitive.  Because of the favorable winds, the races were able to be held right off of our docks and gave the spectators an almost unprecedented view of the entire regatta.

 

 

 

 

I love seeing this kind of event.  It restores my confidence in the younger generations.  These kids are polite, well mannered, clean cut, and dedicated to their sport.  The competition was stiff and the race results were close.  There were several mid-race collisions and close calls and the viewing audience was kept well entertained keeping up with it all.  I look forward to next year when this event will once again return to our docks here in Savannah.

 

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful photos Sam! Tammy

Anonymous said...

How lucky are these youngsters to be able to enjoy this wonderful sport ,great pictures Sam I  see what you mean about decisions on what to post ...wonderful ...love Jan xx

Anonymous said...

Sam it look like a great time.  Awesome pictures and information.
Betty

Anonymous said...

I can see the water is quite choppy. I am glad there such a thing for young people to enjoy. Your pictures are great. Thanks for sharing. Helen

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, thanks for sharing!  Judy

Anonymous said...

Excellent photos... and I love the collage idea! That may solve some of my 'but all 30 shots look great' problems <LOL> Looks like fun was had by all!
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Anonymous said...

Oh Sam!  So glad you narrated about the regatta and included all of the pictures you could!  They are great and combing both gives a true feel for the day.  

Anonymous said...

Sam, I absolutely love your pictures.  I know what you mean about discovering kind and polite teens.  Most are that way, it's only the others we remember.  Glad you had such a good time and look forward to more or your pictures.  Anne

Anonymous said...

I don't think there are too many things that look cooler than the Regatta. It's such a sight to look out onto the water and see all those sails. It's even better when you know that there are a bunch of kids out there having the time of their lives. And it's so great to see this today because I'm getting my first real dose of spring weather, and I can almost smell the salt air.

Great job with the photos and the narration. I'll bet those kids will never forget a day like that.

Jimmy

Anonymous said...

Lovely pictures. I am often surprised by people of all ages and their attitudes towards others, mostly to the good but sadly not always.
Debbie xxx

Anonymous said...

Great photos Sam, I think sailing must be very character building for young people as they have to rely on each other. I would have loved to have sailed at some point in my life. :o)

Sandra xx

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing those pics, Sam. Sounds like a fantastic day!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing Sam!
                        *** Coy ***

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing Sam!
                        *** Coy ***

Anonymous said...

KEWL!!!!! Loved the pictures.

Anonymous said...

What great pics, Sam!  Nothing like seeing Sailboats...and you know all about them too...that's even better.

Nancy

Anonymous said...

Love 'em you know me and boats :)  Thanks for sharing.
hugs
d

Anonymous said...

Incredible shots.  We do not have school sailing programs in this area, but the Boy Scout camp 2 miles from our house has a sailing program, which Andrew and William will be involved in when they are old enough. Also, the yacht club near our marina has a good youth program and camp.   Both of the boys love to sail on our boat.  I am sending a link to them to see these shots.  Love you, Lynn

Anonymous said...

Sam how lovely to be able to be part of such an event ~ the Photographs are lovely and tell the whole story ~ how lucky those youngsters are to be able to learn to sail ~ Thankyou for sharing this with us it has been very interesting to read ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

Wow that is a whole other world there for those kids...I think it is wonderful...the pictures are fantastic.  I cannot imagine that life, but I bet it is so much fun and very fulfilling!

Anonymous said...

It looks like the kids really enjoyed themselves Sam. I love the collage you did, all the pics are great, as always! It's great that these kids are encouraged to do something like this, yes, it does restore your faith in the young! Let's hope they continue and pass on skills they learnt to future generations. Jeannette xx  http://journals.aol.co.uk/jlocorriere05/Welcometomytravels/  

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pictures! Thanks for sharing this with us :) Lake Mayer is so pretty, love going there.

Gretchen
http://journals.aol.com/ksgal3133/LivinginSavannah2

Anonymous said...

It's good to know that the sport is being taught in schools.  I was fascinated when you mentioned it the first time, now I am just in awe.  To have the opportunity in high school is wonderful.  And, like you, I think its great to see the positive side of young America :)  Doesn't seem like we get that opportunity much in the media...

The pictures are great!  It looks like so much fun to watch, too.  Were there any girl teams?  What was the course length?  How big are the boats?  (Did you mention this in your last post... hmmm... I'll go check)  I want to know more :)

Sorry it took me so long to get here.  But you know I wouldn't miss one of your entries.. lol

I hope this regatta becomes a regular feature... I'd love to come see one some day....

Take care, Sam!

Cat

Anonymous said...

great pics
looks like fun
Marti
http://journals.aol.com/sunnyside46/MidlifeMusings

Anonymous said...

The 'which photo to post' issue hits me every time; the process of getting photos into a journal is so time consuming at times I find several days have passed and the entry never made it to the journal, LOL!

I have to confess a funny thing that just occurred as I was waiting for the photos to load I scrolled down to your previous entry and the words 'male thong' just seemed to jump off the screen at me and I thought 'Wha????'  Stopped me in my tracks.  Okay, so I thought I saw the words male thong.  It was actually throne, but you had me wondering there for a second.

Sam--my Sam just so we're clear ;)--learned to sail years ago, before we met.  He truly loves it and misses it.  Says there is nothing like it, no better, anywhere. And he doesn't get excited about too many things so I know it must be fun.

Dona

Anonymous said...

A high school with a sailing club?? They don't even have that in Beverly Hills.....
Heck, when I was in High School (during the Hoover administration - -LOL) the most elite club on campus was Future Farmers of America.  Anyway, your pictures are great......I enjoyed this post!       Jon

Anonymous said...

I was a little disappointed with the pictures. I was expecting to see hot girls in bikinis.
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Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by to visit my journal, Sam.  I appreciate your kind words.  I loved this entry and found it most interesting and the pictures are gorgeous.  I have heard Savannah is a beautiful place.  You will have to get photos of more of it and post for us.

Have a great rest of the week!~

Susan

Anonymous said...

I quite like reading through an article that will make people think.
Also, thank you for allowing me to comment!

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