WELCOME TO DRYA JUNIOR SAILING!

This season the DRYA will oversee six junior sailing regattas to be held at five member host clubs. Well over 200 young sailors will test their racing skills competing in five different boats. The boats are 420, FJ, Laser, Laser Radial, and Optimist. Each boat type must conform to its own class rules with the exception of the FJ which has its own DRYA standards. Racing sailors are eligible if they are enrolled in a Junior Sailing program of a DRYA member club and are members of US Sailing. Age guidelines are determined by US Sailing rules for 420, FJ, and both Lasers with sailors 9 to 18 permitted, and USODA (United States Optimist Dinghy Association) rules for Optimists which allow sailors under 15.

Regular DRYA junior events will run at a single club with that club conducting races on four separate courses. 420s and FJs sail one course, Lasers and Laser Radials sail another, and Optimists are split between two courses...one for the beginning racers in Optimist Green fleet, and the other for three age-determining color groups; Opti White for 10 and under, Opti Blue 11 and 12, and Opti Red for 13 to 15.

Regular DRYA regattas this year will run at:
Crescent Sail Yacht Club, June 27
Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, July 2
Bayview Yacht Club, July 11

In addition to the regular regattas, DRYA sanctions three other junior events. The first is an all-Opti invitational regatta hosted by Pontiac Yacht Club on July 18, the next a 2-day DRYA regatta run out of three separate clubs (420s and FJs at GPYC, Optimists at CSYC, and Lasers at BYC) which sails July 25 and 26, and then the season wraps up with the River Championships at Detroit Yacht Club on July 31.

As DRYA.org gets up to speed the plan is to have Sailing Instructions, scoring rules, club rosters, and regatta results all available on the web in addition to any other pertinent information sailors, program chairs, instructors, or just enthusiasts might find necessary or just interesting. We even hope to have regatta photography!

If you haven't been involved in Junior Sailing this might be the time to take a look. Think about coming to a junior regatta...as a spectator or better yet a participant. You've never seen really fun racing until you've seen a junior regatta. The competition is close, intense, and the skill levels will surprise you. It's not unusual to run over 20 races in one day. Now that's a regatta!

For information contact the Junior Sail Chair at a DRYA member club...almost every member club has one. Or you can call DRYA Junior Sailing at 586-776-4282 or Email the DRYA junior chair at EEgeor@aol.com.

2002 promises to be a great year. Stay tuned...and let's go racing!