Regatta Information for 2023

MYC actively participates in regattas throughout the JSA. The Head Instructor, in conjunction with the sailing instructors, will determine who is ready to attend a particular regatta.

Parents are responsible for transporting their child to and from all regattas. Please make sure you check in with the instructor attending the event when dropping your child off and picking them up.

Parent volunteers may be needed to transport coach boats and trailers. Please let the Junior Sailing Chair know if you are able to tow a boat.

Registering for Regattas
Regatta registration is done through ClubSpot by parents.
If your child is eligible and ready for a specific event, you will receive an email inquiring whether he or she would like to participate. Please respond in a timely fashion to avoid late fees.
Prior to the event you will receive an email with the link to the Notice of Race (NOR) and Sailing Instructions (SI). These links will provide all of the information about the event such as location, arrival and start times, and whether or not lunch is provided. Links are also available through the calendar on the JSA website - www.jsalis.org.
If your child is registered for an event and does not participate in the event you will still be responsible for the registration fees.

Preparedness
Parents and sailors are responsible for making sure that their boats are properly equipped and tuned prior to race day. Instructors can assist with small tweaks, but are unable to provide backup equipment or make repairs.
Please review the NOR and SI with your child prior to race day to familiarize yourself with the details of the event.

At the Event
Arrive at the start of the check-in window to allow your child plenty of time to check in, rig their boat, and meet with their instructor.
Competing in a regatta may require more than a simple drop-off and pick-up at the beginning and end of the day. Especially for first year racers, parents should plan on sticking around for a half hour or hour at the beginning of the day to make sure that their sailor is checked in and ready to go.
Pickup time at the end of the day can be a bit unpredictable at a regatta based on weather conditions. Most regattas will have general guidelines such as “no races will start after X” or maybe even a set time for an awards ceremony, but not an exact time that sailors will be off the water.
If a parent is planning on bringing their own boat to the regatta to watch on the water, it is a generous gesture to contact any other parents of sailors and offer to have them aboard. Parents are not able to watch the regatta from a coach boat.

Regatta Equipment Checklist
Boat with race sails
Blades and blade bag
Spare boat parts such as sail ties, backup sheets, etc.
Lifejacket with whistle
Sun protection - hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, sun shirt
Closed toe shoes
Lunch and reusable water bottle in a cooler to be kept on board the coach boat
Dolly
Ziplock/waterproof bag for phone and other essentials
Foul weather gear (weather dependent)
Towel

JSA Regatta Guidelines for Junior Sailors

Respected sailors ALWAYS:
Know and abide by the Racing Rules. They promptly take a penalty or retire when they know they broke a rule or file a protest when appropriate.
Always obey event regulations on and off the water, including housing rules.
Are always organized, prepared, and responsible for their own equipment.
Show respect to fellow sailors and those helping to run regattas and programs.

Respected sailors NEVER:
Swear at, intimidate or harass anyone, including teammates, on or off the water.
Steal or borrow, without permission, anything that does not belong to them.
Break laws related to alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs.

Please remember that at all regattas you are representing Milford Yacht Club. Particularly at events where housing is provided, bad behavior can result in all members of the team being denied housing in future years.Background on the JSALIS Championship Series

Milford Yacht Club junior sailing is a member of the regional junior sailing association Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound (JSALIS or “JSA”). The goal of JSA is to promote competition between clubs by organizing interclub regattas and a championship series. A major goal of any JSA Junior Sailing program is to have as many sailors as possible participate in the Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Championship series. The championship series consists of several “qualifying” regattas early in the season. Separate events are held for Optimist, Feva, 420, Laser Full, Laser Radial, and Laser 4.7.

In order for an MYC Laser Radial, or 420 to qualify to compete in the JSA Championship, the boat must place in the top 40% of the fleet in one of the following events:

Eastern District Qualifying Regatta at Norwalk and Norton Yacht Clubs
Larchmont Race Week
JSA Race Week at Cedar Point Yacht Club
Shelter Island 420/L/R Regatta

All Laser Standards that sail in a JSA qualifying regatta are eligible to compete in the JSA Championship.

In order for an MYC Optimist to qualify to compete in the JSA Championship, they must meet one of the following criteria:

White and Blue Fleet sailors must finish in the top 30% in an Area C Qualifying Regatta (Milford YC is in Area C).
All Red Fleet sailors who participate in a qualifying regatta automatically qualify.

These are just the basics, many more details and exceptions to these rules can be found on: https://jsalis.securespsites.com/JSA%20organization/JSA_Rules_for_Events.pdf

If a sailor is interested in qualifying in JSA champs, then they should make the qualifying events a priority when deciding on their regatta schedule. Also, it is sometimes easier to qualify in later events because many of the top sailors who qualify in the first or second qualifying regatta choose to drop out and not sail in the later qualifying events. So, if you don’t qualify at the first event, don’t get discouraged.

However, even if we have no boats qualify, each member club is entitled to send at least one boat per class to JSA champs. In this case, the club can nominate one boat that participated in one of the qualifying events, even if they did not achieve a qualifying score. If this happens, we will send the skipper/crew pair who won our own “class champs” series organized by the instructors and held during the regular program throughout the summer.

JSA Champs occur at the end of the summer and are typically two-day regattas. The location of champs generally changes every year.

Sailors who do not qualify for the championships are automatically eligible for “Alternate Champs.” This regatta is more accessible because it is generally only one day instead of two. It is an especially valuable experience for younger sailors who look forward to qualifying for Champs in future years.

After successfully competing in JSA Champs, junior sailors can make it a goal for the next season to compete in North American or US championships events organized by their class association, especially if they happen to be held in the Northeast. They can also make it a goal to participate in the Sears/Bemis/Smythe Trophy ladder events — this is a junior Championship series organized by the US Sailing Association in which sailors qualify at the local level and then compete regionally and nationally. These are prestigious events that expose sailors to competition outside of Long Island sound, but generally require preseason planning in order to compete.