High School Manual
TheHigh School Sailing Manual
2010/2011
The San Francisco Yacht Club facilitates sailing for the schools by providing coaching, sailboats, coach boats, trailers and administrative infrastructure.
Purpose
This manual is designed to assist high school sailors and their parents in understanding the structure and operation of The High School Sailing Program at The San Francisco Yacht Club. It is a “dynamic” document that is regularly updated. Feel free to contact the Youth Sailing Director or the chair of the Youth Sailing Committee if you wish to contribute to this process.
The Paperwork
The forms must be completed, signed and returned to The SFYC on or before the first day of practice. Without these forms, you will not be able to sail. A calendar of events can be found at www.pcisa.org/schedule.htm and on this website under "Youth Calendars". Payment of fees is due by the first day of practice of the THIRD week of any semester. Any sailor for whom payment has not been received by the deadline will not be allowed to sail or race until payment is received.
Practice Schedule
All teams practice together Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 4pm until 7pm. Practice will be held regardless of inclement weather. All sailors should come to practice prepared to sail every day,regardless of rain or wind. If the coaches decide not to sail,classroom instruction on rules and tactics, or physical training will occur. Sailors are encouraged to come early to practice if a practice day falls on an early dismissal from school. Coaches will be ready to begin practice at the time of each high school's earliest dismissal.
Structure of Teams and Competition within PCISA
Organized high school sailing started in 1930 in New England. Today it is experiencing a tremendous surge in interest around the country,particularly in California. California high school teams have won the fleet race national championships (Mallory Trophy) five of the last six years and have placed in the top three in the team race nationals(Baker Trophy) all of the last six years. Virtually all high school and college competition on the west coast takes place in the Club Flying Junior, also called an FJ. The San Francisco Yacht Club has a fleet of 12 FJs.
High School Sailing is governed by the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) at the national level and is then broken down into seven districts around the United States. Our District is the Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association(PCISA) and is comprised of California and Hawaii. Each team MUST join the ISSA to compete in high school regattas. Teams can do this online and it is their responsibility. Please check with your team captain or team parent to ensure your team is registered. Students who attend the same school automatically comprise a team and sail for their school.
The PCISA is further broken down into Northern California (NorCal) andSouthern California (SoCal) regions. During a full high school season,teams will compete in both NorCal and PCISA events. All of these events help a team to establish a rank in the PCISA standings, which is used to determine who is eligible to attend the Pacific Coast Championship (PCC's), where the top teams qualify for the National Championships.
A sailing team is made up of the team members, one or more team captain(s) and a team parent. Sailors are generally classified as skippers (the ones who steer the boat) and crews (who trim the jib and act as the eyes for the boat). The designation of crew or skipper is not rigid. Throughout the season, the coaches will work to create skipper/crew combinations that are in accord with the team's goals. During both practice and regattas, the coaches will make decisions as to who will skipper or crew and who will sail in which divisions.Coaches' decisions are final.
Not every sailor will be able to attend every regatta. Besides skill level,coaches will take into serious consideration the following two criteria in determining rosters for events: attendance at practice, and attitude. Sailors who are committed to the team and do whatever is asked of them quickly and without complaint will find that they will be invited to regattas over and over.
The team captain is the “glue” that holds the team together. The captain needs to be a leader, a motivator, an organizer, a teacher and supporter of every member of the team both on the water and off. The team captain is the bridge between both the coach and the team parent on all matters.
The team parent works with the team captain and coaches in organizing travel to regattas. Ideally, there should be many parents active in this process. ISSA rules stipulate that there must be a team chaperone present at each regatta. It is advisable to find adults and sailors alike who can commit to these events well in advance. If the parent who committed to the event cannot fulfill their commitment then it is their responsibility to arrange for a suitable replacement.
There are three disciplines in which high school sailors can compete:
Fleet Racing- This is the most common form of racing. In a fleet race, all of the schools race
agains teach other. Each team enters an “A” boat and a “B” boat (each boat consists of a skipper and a crew). The team's total is the combination of their A and B division's racing scores.
Team Race- In a team race, each team puts three boats (each consisting of a skipper and a crew) on the water, and races against just one other school at a time. Regattas are generally run in a round robin format. The team with the best win-loss record is the winner.
Single-handed-In this discipline there is one person in the boat. The single-handed nationals for The Cressy Trophy is raced in Lasers in the fall.
At the beginning of each season, PCISA representatives will seed the teams in the Gold or Silver fleets. PCISA regattas are restricted to one team per school unless the school has 13 or more sailors on the team, in which case they will be allowed to also enter a junior varsity team. At the conclusion to the season, there will be a Pacific Coast Championships (PCC) event for the top 20 teams in the district. Teams who do not qualify for the PCC's will be able to sail in the Silver Fleet Championships, provided their skippers did not compete in 2 Gold Fleet regattas during the season. If a team with a junior varsity and varsity teams qualifies for the PCC's, the junior varsity team may also sail in the Silver PCC's.
Equipment/clothing/gear
The San Francisco Yacht Club provides teams with sailboats and all the necessary equipment. The SFYC is not responsible for supplying flotation devices or cold weather clothing. It is up to each sailor to arrive at practice equipped with a coast guard approved life jacket and proper sailing clothing for the conditions.
For safety reasons, coaches will insist that sailors be properly attired. Regardless of the season, hypothermia can occur in a matter of minutes if a sailor capsizes and is improperly dressed. A sailor with the right clothing will be able to continue sailing in comfort after multiple capsizes while minimizing their risk of hypothermia.
Insulation and wind protection are the key elements to sailing clothing. Dinghy sailing is an active sport and you will work hard and generate a lot of body heat. For this reason it is important to dress so as to not overheat and yet in a way that ensures you will stay warm if you get wet or capsize.
1. Closed toed shoes are required. Dinghy boots are preferred but sneakers will do. No flip-flops or bare feet!
2. Full body coverage; either a wetsuit or foul weather jacket and pants with an insulation layer beneath. The insulation layer should be something that will not lose its insulation properties when wet. When capsizing is likely due to strong breeze, a 3mm “farmer john” wetsuit with a fleece top covered by a spray top is ideal.
3. PFD (Personal flotation device). No one is permitted on the water without a proper lifejacket (PFD). Aside from being the proper size for the sailor's weight the PFD needs to be comfortable and should allow freedom of movement. There are a number of PFDs specifically designed for dinghy sailing.
4. In colder weather sailors should wear a hat that insulates andstays on in the breeze. Keeping your head covered greatly improves comfort and minimizes chances of hypothermia on a cold day.
5. Sailing gloves protect against chafing. They are not strictly necessary but are good to have.
Travel
Individual schools dictate travel policies for student-athlete travel. As indicated above, the primary responsibility for travel arrangements to regattas lies with the sailors and the team parent and the sailor's parents. A realistic goal is to have the team roster set two weeks ahead for local events and three weeks ahead for those events where airline tickets and hotel stays are required.
The coaches will organize team rosters with the two and three week planning ranges in mind. Coaches will remind team members to obtain parental permission to travel to events but it is up to the sailors to obtain permission. There is no reason for a sailor or a parent to not know about an up and coming event (www.pcisa.org or www.sfycraceteam.com) that may require travel by car or air. It is also suggested that parents make a note on the calendar and have sailors inform the coaches and team captain when a family or other commitment preclude participation in a regatta or practice.
The financing involved in team travel is determined by each team and the athletic department policies at each school. It is advisable to havea travel account organized in advance where each sailor contributesfunds to cover travel expenses. Money is then available to reimbursethe team parent and/or the chaperone when it is expended on behalf ofthe team. Guidelines should be laid down to control the use of thesefunds. Individual schools may have policies that either contribute orstipulate how travel monies are budgeted. Additionally, parents shouldalways make sure that individual sailors are properly funded food andincidentals before they depart. Prior to departure, parents shouldfeel free to call the team parent or other parents and ask about mealarrangements and other items that may require personal expenditure. If you assume they will eat in a restaurant for every meal then it isunlikely they will be short and should actually return with change.