America's
Top Young Sailors Gather At CISA Clinic
LONG
BEACH, Calif.-–The American sailors for
the 2004 Olympics at Athens this summer have been
selected. Now for the future.
Based
on the successful history of the California International
Sailing Association's annual advanced racing clinic,
prospects for future Games will emerge from the
134 boys and girls from 14 states plus Canada's
British Columbia participating in this year's
event Saturday through Tuesday at the Alamitos
Bay Yacht Club.
It's
four days of intense instruction supervised by
a world-class staff of coaches, most of whom were
once CISA students. CISA, founded in 1971, conducts
the clinic each year for boys and girls age 13
and older who are selected on the basis of their
sailing résumés. Boats to be used
are Laser, Laser Radial, Club 420, International
420, Club FJ and 29er.
This
year's participants are about one-third girls,
a representation consistent with the Olympics'
growing emphasis on women's classes.
Leigh
Kempton, 18, and her brother John, 16, of Island
Heights, N.J., will be first-time participants
with their respective sailing partners. Leigh
and Kaity Storck, Huntington, N.Y., will represent
the U.S. in the Youth Worlds in Poland in July
in the women's International 420 class. John Kempton,
16, and Molly Lucas, Little Silver, N.J., are
sailing a Club 420.
Even
a bitter Eastern winter hasn't slowed their preparation.
Island Heights is on the Jersey shore where the
Toms River flows into Barnegat Bay. The Kemptons'
mother said, "We had skim ice on our river
about two weeks ago but they've been out, anyway.
They go out as often as they can, as long as the
river's not frozen."
John
Kempton said, "We did a high school regatta
last Sunday. The air temperature was 65-70 but
the water was below 40."
Leigh
and Kaity Storck are already international competitors.
"We were at the I-420 clinic at ABYC over
last Thanksgiving, and last year we sailed in
the I-420 worlds in England," she said.
She
also has sailed in the Opti Internationals in
Europe, but this will be her brother's first trip
to the West Coast. What does he hope to get out
of it?
"Good
coaching and good competition that will help me
go faster and do better boat handling," he
said.
Long-range,
he added, "Maybe sail in college . . . maybe
go to the Olympics."
The
program will consist of morning lectures and evening
programs scheduled around on-the-water drills.
Tactics, sail trim and the financial and personal
demands of an Olympic campaign are included in
the curriculum.
Instructors
are Andrew Lewis and Nick Adamson, Laser; Carisa
Harris-Adamson and Adam Deermount, Laser Radial;
Zach Leonard, Brian Doyle, Mikee Anderson, Peter
Alarie, Rob Hallawell, Jamie Malm and Simon Cooke,
Club 420 and International 420; Jay Kehoe and
Billy Uniack, CFJ, and Dalton Bergan and Ted White,
29er.
Two-time
Olympic medallist Charlie McKee will be the featured
speaker Sunday evening.
CISA
supports amateur sailors by providing travel grants
for regional, national and international competition
and funds local sailing programs and racing clinics.
Unlike
other nations, the U.S. has no federally supported
assistance programs for its amateur sportsmen
or for the development of young talent. CISA,
a 501(c)3 organization, relies on contributions
of corporations and individuals to provide support
of amateur sailors. Because it is non-profit and
tax-exempt, all contributions are tax deductible.
More
information:: www.cisasailing.org and www.abyc.org
CALIFORNIA
INTERNATIONAL SAILING ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 17992
Irvine, CA 92713-7992
www.cisasailing.org
President
Tim Hogan, 3090 Pullman Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 434-4400
timhogan@warmingtonhomes.com
PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net
