July 2009 Sailing Articles

We are excited to announce that Zoum USA is on board as a sponsor of Sailgroove.  Mat Coleman heads up the operation at Zoum, based out of Ft. Lauderdale, and decided two years ago that he wanted to change the current Optimist sailboat market by offering a boat with an innovative biaxial construction resulting in maximum stiffness, at a lower cost than the rest of the market. Just this past week at the 2009 Optimist Nationals, Axel Sly the National Champion sailed a Zoum Optimist, and Shawn Harvey won Green Fleet with a Zoum.    Mat Coleman had this to… more »

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO AVOID READING THIS BY WATCHING THE TUTORIAL VIDEOS AT SAILGROOVE 101.  HAVE A LOOK. If, after watching the videos and reading this handbook, you have any further questions about doing your own Sailgroove coverage, please contact me at chris@sailgroove.org and I will be happy to guide you through it. Set up a coverage page Hint:  You can do this in advance of the event, as early as you want to. 1.  Watch the video tutorial called Setting Up a Coverage. 2.  Unless you can't watch the video or something is unclear, skip steps a-e and go on to the… more »

  Photos © Per Heegaard - heegaard-fotografi.dk Portsmouth, R.I. (July 16, 2009) – Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) might only be 22 years old, but she already has countless sailing titles to her name. Today, the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) member has added yet another title to her resume by winning the European Laser Radial Women’s Championship in Charlottenlund, Denmark. The European Championship is considered to be one of the most important Laser Radial regattas (alongside the World Championship and the World Cup series) and this win indicates that Railey is ready for the tough competition she will face at… more »

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Chris Love, chris@sailgroove.org, 774-217-3394 SAILGROOVE.ORG TO STREAM 2009 US OPTIMIST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP LIVE Austin, TX – July 15, 2009 — Sailgroove.org will offer live streaming coverage of the 2009 US Optimist National Championship Regattas hosted by the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club July 18-26.  Sailgroove will boadcast live from from San Pedro, CA providing exclusive free coverage of the regattas, including the Team Racing Nationals - July 18-21, Girls Nationals - July 22 and the USODA National Championship - July 23-26.  Photos, race video and interviews will also be available each day after the events. The US… more »

(From USSailing.org) Portsmouth, R.I. (July 11, 2009) – Less than a year after winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games – and after having taken most of that time off from sailing - US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) has proven that he is still on top of his game. Today in Vallensbaek, Denmark, the 25-year-old Railey won the silver medal at the Finn Gold Cup, the world championship for the Olympic Finn class. The world’s top Finn class sailors – 89 sailors from 30 countries in total – competed in the regatta and racing was… more »

As we dive into summer, which for many dinghy sailors means traveling to different types of regattas than what are normally on the high school or college scene, I've been reflecting on some basic methods I use when I find myself under pressure in the boat. Some of the more specific techniques won’t apply to everyone, but I still think it’s a useful process for each person to figure out what types of things are more likely to stress them out or not. The one thing I’ve noticed most sailors do is to have a set a routine of some sort. I… more »

   Well, it's getting to be the Dog Days of Summer and while I have one more chance to escape the Texas heat and do a little more big boat sailing in Newport my mind is becoming more and more preoccupied with avoiding this rediculous heat (AccuWeather says it feels like 107 here). My father has the ominous feeling that this summer is going to be like 1980, the summer before I was born and hottest year he can remember, with 40 straight days of 100+ weather. I hope he's wrong, but I'm not taking any chances.    So avoiding… more »