Twenty Five New Junior Women Sailors Graduate!
(Rochester, NY- October 4) – This past weekend, 25 young women sailors traveled to the Rochester Yacht Club to take place in the Next Step to Rolex Program. The young women, ranging in age from 14-17 and representing junior programs from across
the U.S. and as far away as Hawaii, were selected to participate in the once-of-a-lifetime keelboat clinic, the core outreach program of US SAILING’s Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship. Organized by 1988 U.S. Olympian and two-time
winner of the Rolex IWKC Cory Sertl (Rochester), the weekend featured all-day clinics with the focus on making the transition from dinghies to keelboats.
“The girls really came with a lot of experience in different kinds of boats,” said Sertl, noting that the caliber of sailors participating was more advanced than when she first coached the program, in 2001. “They picked things up quickly and we got more accomplished than we ever thought we would.”
In addition to Sertl, a two-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, coaches included Sertl’s Rolex IWKC crew Amy Moran, along with 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist and US SAILING’s 2008 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Justin DaMore, RYC’s sailing director Jon Faudree and RYC’s junior sailing director Liz Bower.
The program utilized International J/22s, the same keelboat used in the Rolex IWKC, with four sailors on each accompanied by a coach. The weekend centered around teamwork, communication and the skills essential to racing keelboats. Easily identified by their bright buoy-yellow caps, with the Rolex IWKC logo and ‘2009 Next Step to Rolex’ embroidered on the back, the young women concluded their learning experience with a video debrief by coach Faudree, who followed the J/22s throughout the
two days. For comparison, he showed the same maneuvers executed by Tunnicliffe and team on a J/22. The enthusiastic group noted the significant difference in style and boat handling.
“We talked about doing a mini regatta at the conclusion,” said Sertl, “but we didn’t want to risk having the boats damaged before regatta. For most of the girls, their time-on-distance wasn’t as good because they’re new to these boats. They were all together, learning to sail in a non-competitive atmosphere. They’re always in a competitive environment when they’re racing, so they were comforted by the fact they didn’t have to race.
Three of RYC Next Step to Rolex Program participants will get to take what they’ve learned straight to the race course this week when they make their debut as a team in the Rolex IWKC. Merritt Moran, Katja Sertl and Julie Wiesner will team up with veteran bow person Martha Parker (Newport, R.I.) for racing this Wednesday through Saturday.
The Next Step to Rolex Program was established in 1997 to expose and mentor juniors interested in taking the “next step” toward advanced women’s sailing. Since its creation as a complementary component of the Rolex IWKC, the Next Step to Rolex Program has served as an inspiration for hundreds of young women from across the U.S. and abroad.
For more information about the 2009 Next Step to Rolex Program, contact Cory Sertl at corysertl@gmail.com or the Rochester Yacht Club at 585-342-5511.
