Scuttlebutt editor Craig Leweck spoke to the competitors at the 2022 US Youth Sailing Championship being held in San Diego, CA. Here was his message:
During the past 20 years I have had the privilege to lead the preeminent online sailing publication Scuttlebutt.
Along the way I accrued 16 national and world titles in dinghies and keelboats, a victory at the US SAILING Championship of Champions and conducted an Olympic campaign for the 1992 Games. I also have enough offshore miles to know that airline travel still has an edge.
I don’t tell you this to impress. I tell you that your success and longevity in this sport is not predicated on your performance at this regatta. You can fail because I did.
I grew up outside of Los Angeles, sailed out of Marina del Rey, and nobody from that harbor had ever attended the US Youth Sailing Champs. So I did it in 1980 at 17 years old, which then was the age limit.
There was only two divisions – singlehanded and doublehanded. I barely had any experience in doublehanded boats, and none in the Laser 2 being used. My crew and I were completely out of my element, didn’t know anybody, and I don’t recall there be any coaching support. We were on our own.
But our boat neighbor during the event was JB Braun, and I think he and his crew finished top three in the regatta. More importantly, they could not have been nicer to us. We literally had no idea what we were doing, and their help got us through the week.
Notably, JB is now the Director of Design and Engineering for North Sails, and maybe the smartest guy at that company. But for me, now over 40 years later, I still remember their acts of kindness and the impact it had.
As a youth sailor, I was kind of a big deal in Marina del Rey. I had won the annual perpetual trophies, so it was a pretty humbling experience to do so poorly. However, I didn’t realize at the time how by diving in, the waves from my splash would carry on.
Going to the Youth Champs soon became a thing to do at my club, and it was seven years later when someone I taught to sail won the doublehanded division. And my mind is now a bit blown that Katharine Doble, who grew up where I did, learned to sail where I did, will be competing at the Youth Worlds for the second time this year.
But while you all share the water with Katharine and the others who will soon be off to The Netherlands for the 2022 Youth Worlds, don’t forget who you are.
By competing in this regatta, every one of you is a leader. You are here by invitation at the US Sailing’s pinnacle youth regatta. This experience will be with you forever, and for those around you, never underestimate the positive impact you are capable of.
Mission Bay Yacht Club has special meaning for me, and it was not far from where I am standing now when I accepted the awards for winning the 1989 Snipe North American Championship.
It was a big victory among an elite field, but what nobody knew is that I proposed to my crew during the regatta.
Well, the trophy presentation was pretty exciting for me, and in my speech I announced how Lisa and I were going to get married. Here’s a tip for all you guys. Don’t do that.
Telling the parents before you tell a bunch of sailors is what you do. There’s been plenty of lessons during these past 32 years of marriage.
But Lisa and I have an inside joke because we met at that 1980 US Youth Champs. I say its joke because she doesn’t remember meeting me, which she claims to have something to do with 200 guys and 5 girls competing.
But memories from that Youth Champs have never been far, and last summer we returned to the venue of Port Townsend, WA.
You all may be too young to have seen the Academy Award winning movie An Officer and a Gentleman, which was filmed in the town and at Fort Worden which was where we were housed and fed during the regatta.
We re-watched the movie and rented bikes to rekindle old memories, and how we did in that 1980 regatta had no bearing on how much fun it was to go back in time.
There’s a lesson in there that the people you meet in sailing, and the experiences you have, overshadow your success and failure on the race course. For many elite sailors, falling short of goals hurts more than achievement feels good. Think about it.
I assure you that whatever happens at this regatta, it will have a positive impact on you. There aren’t many of you that will be on the podium at the end, so find another reason for being here.
Meet your boat neighbor. Help someone that needs help. Ask questions and learn something. Find your future spouse.
But most importantly, just because you will age out of this regatta when you turn 20, you do not age out of sailing. Start now and find your path forward toward adulthood.
Just because endless summers, clinics and coaches will be gone after your youth years, this sport offers you massive possibilities for your lifetime.
There’s a boat type and a type of sailing for everyone. It can be as technical and expensive or as simple and inclusive as you want.
There’s not one way to proceed, and race results need not dictate how you do it. Find the fun and follow the sun. Adventure awaits. Just get on the water.
Source: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2022/06/25/find-the-fun-and-follow-the-sun/
