Collegiate Offshore Sailing Center

The Legendary Figaro 2

One of the building blocks of the French offshore sailing scene is a 33-foot boat with a carbon mast, 2 rudders, and some water ballast, called the Figaro 2. Follow this link to an interview with naval architect Marc Lombard, who won the design competition that led to the Beneteau Figaro 2, an integral part…




Practice Schedule 2019

May 1 – June 15 & also September 7 – October 28
Every Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Rate Sheet (all numbers are per person)

$800  “Fall Season Pass”  ($50/day) – Unlimited days  9/8 – 10/28

$300  Team-Member commitment – Choose any 4 days ($75/day)

$100/day drop-in with your own boat

$125/day drop-in rate includes 29er use of fleet boat.

$85/hour private lesson

Work-study, and sliding scale rates will be discussed individually.

All prices are per person.

Season Pass includes coaching at the Sail Newport Youth Challenge June 2&3

Limited space: For quality and safety we are limiting 5 (five) 29ers/coach. Your early signup is needed for scheduling. Pre-registration required.
Thank you.
Head Coach Richard Feeny


OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

31 August 2017

Worlds Debrief below, written 8 August 2017

Hi Team,
Here are videos and notes from the US Olympic Development Program mostly repeating my “homework assignment”: MAKE LOTS OF NOTES AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RACING AND HOW TO DO BETTER NEXT TIME.

Below are Willie’s notes.
And here are his videos:

Hi all,

Congratulations on completing a big summer of skiff sailing! It has been quite the ride over the last several weeks, and in that time we’ve seen huge improvements on and off the water. For some of you, this was a peak event and a result to be proud of, while for others this was a stepping stone and maybe a first glimpse at what it takes to reach the top of the sport. For all of you, hopefully you learned something about training, something about performing, something about sailing, and hopefully something about yourself in the process.  For me, the most important skill of all – the one that makes champions – is the ability to be self-reflective, and to understand how to improve your process with and without outside feedback.
As you head home from Long Beach and settle into the routine in the rest of your summer, I hope that you’ll reflect on your experience, and brainstorm the lessons learned. The champions among you will figure out how this experience can shape your training for the next year. One suggestion is that the winning team – the South Africans – undoubtedly did a tremendous amount of training by themselves, to compliment the time that they spend with their coach. As individual teams, you’ll need to learn to rely on your own feel, on your own planning, and on your own decision making. Your coaches will support you in this process over the next year, but you need to take the reins, and learn to compartmentalize and evaluate your performance into speed, tactics, boat handling, execution, etc.
The process for the next year starts with a solid plan. The US Sailing ODP will be sending four teams to Hong Kong for the Worlds in January (limited by the number of charter boats available), and the Youth World Qualifier events will start with the 29er Midwinters East in February, but I’d like to encourage all of you to put the 2018 North Americans in Kingston, Ontario (CORK) – August 12-16 – on your calendars as your peak event next summer. In the next few weeks and months, you’ll receive more e mails from your regional coaches about the upcoming opportunities, as well as debrief points from the Worlds including the drone footage and ODP debrief materials.
Overall, good work this summer. I hope that the experience has made you all hungry to get to the top.  Hope to see you on the water soon!
Best,
Willie McBride

More notes and videos from Willie:

Why and How Did South Africa Win The Worlds?
This is a question for all of you to ponder a little bit, and for all of us to learn from.  Benji, the skipper sailed the worlds in 2015 in Whales, finishing 4th in Silver fleet. My guess would be that they don’t have a big fleet – in fact a google search returns zero results for South African 29er regatta results – so they probably sail largely on their own, and drive their own program. They are forced to feel the boat rather than comparing to other boats, or getting feedback from a coach. Watching the tracks from racing shows a very simple strategy – start in the middle, escape from the line, and sail faster than everyone else around the course making high percentage decisions.  Bottom line is that I think we need to be faster, and that extra speed needs to come equally from coaching efforts, and athlete efforts.
Facilitating Athlete Ownership
  • Champions do more – What are you doing above and beyond what your coach is asking you?
  • Un-coached days are just as valuable as coached days, and a critical part of a successful program – How many days are you sailing without a coach?
  • Need to develop the skill of compartmentalizing performance – What are you good at? What are you bad at? What do you need to focus on when you’re on the water by yourself?
Scheduling
Fall practice details to follow soon. Basically every weekend beginning late August through October. Then we move equipment to Miami.
Sail Fast, Sail Fair, Sail Far,
Richard
20170319_132859

April 2, 2017

29er Sailors and Parents Ahoy,

Thanks for all the input on schedule details. The next step is to follow this link to a google sheet where each sailor can put a “yes” or “no” under the days they intend to practice. Skippers and crews have separate rows. If one of you cannot attend the other one is welcome to attend and sail with someone else.

I have put an example row across the top. If you are unsure please put a “?”. You can right-click on a cell to put a comment if that seems appropriate. You can forward this to other sailors – word of mouth recruiting is the best. $75/sailor/day will be the drop-in rate.

With this information Kim Hapgood and I will make commitments to coaches and price “sessions”. You will be offered a discount if you sign up for a session (or group of practices). I will also be able to make a budget and price for the Worlds in California.

If you are making plans to work with another coach privately please send me an email or pick up the phone so I can price estimate how many boats will pay into these practices.

Sail Fast,

Richard

mobile 415-233-1630

1 Change – the Wickford Regatta will replace the Skiff Girls Clinic.

We are excited to announce that 29ers and the new foiling UFO will make their first appearances at the Wickford Regatta. Very cool. Entries have been coming in fast with 22 entries in 7 classes. It looks like this is going to be a BIG YEAR.

GO TO WWW.WICKFORDREGATTA.COM TODAY AND REGISTER

See you in June!

Skip Whyte

Wickford Regatta Chairman

50 Pleasant Street

Wickford, RI 02852

tel 401-295-8790  cell 401-481-2997

www.wickfordregatta.com

29er 2017 Eastern Schedule

skiff-girls-by-mcbride

December – Season Wrap-up

5 boats raced the “Halloween Howl” at Sail Newport, closing a successful fall practice season. Results and photos (thank you Lat Spinney) are below. Thank you Sail Newport for your support this fall!

Season Highlights: 2 new boat owners joined our squad, which now numbers 14 boats between New Hampshire and Fishers Island, NY. 4 boats loaded up on the ZIM trailer and are now in Miami where they participated in the ODP clinic over Thanksgiving holiday, and where they will race Open Orange Bowl.

Halloween Howl 29er results 2016

dsc00022
DSC00008.JPG
dsc00036a
dsc00046a

10/4/2016

29er Enthusiasts:
We are definitely practicing Saturday this weekend. RSVP so we know who is coming this week and for the rest of the month. We have two coaches lined up for Saturday: Louisa Chafee and Christine Neville.
Depending on what Hurricane Matthew does we will either remove all 29ers from Sail Newport after practice, or be able to leave them rigged. Would you sail Sunday if possible?
We had 5 boats last week! All fleet communications, schedule &etc are archived here:
That’s all for now.
-Richard
Skiff Girls
 
9/27/2016
Open Orange Bowl registration is at this URL (below).  Only 75 boats total, so we should jump on this! Thirteen 29ers are already registered.
http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/13420#_home
Sail Newport Practice
Louisa Chafee ran practice on Saturday and we were 1 sailor short of a 4th boat. Solo sailors please join us. The class-owned boat is waiting for you. This Saturday, October 1 Katie Flood will coach. Jibs up rigged and ready at 10am. $75/sailor – checks payable to Sail Newport. RSVP if you plan to attend. I need a head count.
Columbus Day Weekend
We have Louisa lined up to coach 3 days but we need a head count. Please reply to Richard with your interest and availability.
Sailors: Please fill out this Google form to help me get a head count for the rest of the season: https://goo.gl/forms/5fuBz0GXts9CBP583
9/14/2016
Three 29ers enjoyed sailing last week (9/10) at Sail Newport and we are expecting 3 or 4 this week (9/17). All are welcome. The forecast is excellent again. Fred Strammer will coach this week and he will follow up with a note of his own. Louisa Chafee returns to coach the following 2 weeks.

If you are receiving this email you are invited. Bring your own boat, or come and rotate through the class-owned boat. We would like to have 1-2 “extra” sailors each week to rotate through, so everyone gets a water-break and lunch break on the coach boat. Pricing for the fall practices will be $75/sailor/day payable to Sail Newport.

All sailors must fill out this form for Sail Newport:
9/7/2016

Hi Skiffies,

We have Louisa Chafee confirmed to coach 29ers at Sail Newport this Saturday from 10-4. Next Saturday Fred Strammer will coach. If you are receiving this email you are invited. Bring your own boat, or come and rotate through the class-owned boat. We would like to have 1-2 “extra” sailors each week to rotate through, so everyone gets a water-break and lunch break on the coach boat.

Pricing for the fall practices will be $75/sailor/day. Online payment to Sail Newport will be set up later today. Sailors borrowing boats should also contribute to the coach boat fuel fund. Of course if you are borrowing a boat you are expected to repair or replace anything that gets damaged and leave the boat better than you find it. ALL BOATS MUST BE TIED DOWN SECURELY WHEN YOU LEAVE.

I have identified a good used boat for sale in Kingston, Ontario with a trailer and lots of spares. $5,000 US. Let me know if you are interested. Zim only has 2 new boats remaining for sale. Contact Bob Adam for details.

I have confirmed our invitation to the November Olympic Development Clinic in Miami. The format will be similar to the clinic in Newport this June.

Sail Fast,

Richard

mobile 415-233-1630

20170317_141500

Previous communication:

29er fleet,

Gretchen Hibben is leaving her role as squad leader for the North East 29er fleet. Thank you, Gretchen. The fleet is 12.5 boats strong and growing. The class has asked me to be the interim squad leader.

I am organizing practices at Sail Newport on weekends beginningSaturday, September 10th ending late October. I will organize and drive a trailer to Florida for the winter season there and return it to Sail Newport in the spring. I will need some help from parents of sailors in various ways. For example finding coaches.

In addition to the privately owned boats we are lucky to have a fleet boat, provided by the 29er class. Email me to use the class boat. The Sail Newport boat is for use by the 420 race team there. So there will be sailing opportunities for those of you who don’t yet have a boat.

Pricing of practice will probably be coaches fee/number of sailors. Timing of practice will be 10 – 4 in September. Further details to follow.

-Richard

29er 2016 – 2017 Eastern Schedule 

September 10 First Sail Newport Fall Practice

September 17 2nd Sail Newport Fall Practice

September 24 3rd Sail Newport Fall Practice

October 1 4th Sail Newport Fall Practice

October 8-10 29er Clinigatta at Sail Newport

October 16 5th Sail Newport Fall Practice (Sunday)

October 23 6th Sail Newport Fall Practice (Sunday)

Nov 1 (approx) Trailer leaves Newport for Miami

Nov 12-13 Naples Cup (Gulf Coast, Florida)

Dec 3-4 Fall Harvest Regattas (Miami YC)

Dec 19-23 Clinic – East Meets West (Miami)

Dec 26-30 Open Orange Bowl (CGSC?)

January 14-16, 2017 Midwinters East (Miami YC Ocean?)

Approx May 15 – June 15 Sail Newport Spring Practice season

Mid-June Brooke E. Gonzalez Youth Clinic (by application early spring)

June 24 – 28, 2017 US Youth Champs (Corpus Christi, TX)   Apply in February

Late June/Early July Cape Cod Training Camp (Wianno or Hyannis)

Estimated July 13-15 – Sail Newport Regatta

July 29-Aug 5, 2017 World Championships- Long Beach, CA

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club

August 14-17, 2017 CORK Kingston, Ontario

Olympic Development Program Training Camps

Nov 24-26 @ Coconut Grove, Miami.  Joint Practice with all regional teams/coaches.  Coaches run-regatta

Try It Out Clinics appropriate for new 29er sailors:

Martin County Sailing Center (dates TBD)

Key Biscayne Yacht Club – November 5-6  https://goo.gl/forms/X4QQezBdX6ajSihU2

Used boats: http://www.29ernorthamerican.org/classifieds/classifiedadsindex.shtml
Support Zim – Buy boats, sails, parts from Zim in Warren, RI.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.