Skipper Mike and son Erik had a good two days of racing. A strong breeze welcomed guests to Leatherlips Yacht Club for the NACs, giving the Juniors a 15 knot wind with gusts up to 20. Unfortunately the wind didn't perform as well for the adults, but talent, tactics,and years of experience, kept the two from Massachusetts and DC in the lead. Fridays wind was too soft to sail, so it was a day of fun, food, and Scotty Graham's penny game that kept folks entertained. LYC members welcomed guests not only to the club with a welcome picnic, but housed participants in their homes if an Air B&B or camper wasn't their preference. Fleet 98 had a blast hosting the regatta, and sharing Scotty's home for a super Friday night meal of City BBQ on his patio before the annual membership meeting. Leadership will remain the same for 2024 except for the addition of Matt White as upcoming President. We look forward to building the association, which continues to draw members nationwide. Areas of focus include cruising and involving non fleet members, continuing to build upon the Junior national regatta, which this year boasted 9 boats and roughly 25 sailors, as well as reviewing the value of DSA membership. Keep sailing, even in the rain. Tiller time is what improves sailing skills whether participating in fleet racing or cruising your local lake. Our knowledge bank on the forum is a treasure trove of information whatever the age of your daysailer. To everyone who made it to Nationals, thank you! It was a great time. Here's to next year...TBD, but hoping in the Northeast.

More photos can be found on the Leatherlips.com website, the Uffa Fox Daysailer Facebook page, and ddmm.smugmug.com under sailing/sailing photos 2023. PW for adult racing NACR*2023, for the Juniors it's *NACR*2023* Thank you to Deb Mason-McCaffrey for taking professional pics!

Family Teams take First and Second Place in Junior Nationals

Erin and Kevin Flanagan from Ohio and Morgan Whitlock and Matt White from Northern Virginia led the winning lineup for the 2023 Junior Nationals at Leatherlips Yacht Club in central Ohio. It truly was a race to the finish with a one point difference. Zane Boswell, Macy Savage, with DS member Chris Lewton from Severn Sailing Association took third. All boats were either participant or club member loaners. The wind was stiff, fickle, and at times wicked, but there were no capsizes and the host club brought out their junior sailors who weren't sailing at Edgewater Yacht Club in an I-ILYA regatta in Cleveland. The kids had a great time along with the DS members. Thank you to everyone who lent their boat and enjoyed the awards presentation and dinner afterward. Kudos to DS and LYC members who made this regatta memorable. We may have even found some future members in the process! Congrats to all!

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I am a DSA member and a member of my local DS Fleet 98 based at Leatherlips Yacht Club in central Ohio. My husband and I started sailing as adults. First renting sunfish sailboats at state parks on the weekends, and then finally deciding to buy a boat (a DS2) from a local guy who was downsizing. We knew little about sailing. My husband took a Red Cross class with his family as a child. My first experience was with a sunfish during a weekend getaway.

This started our journey of sailing. We stored the boat behind a bait house along a reservoir about 20 miles from our home. Trust me when I say we did not know what we were doing. One time we took the boat with us to Pymatuning State Park, which borders the Ohio/Pennsylvania state line to camp and sail (as they had a ramp). If I recall it was a muddy path through the woods. The park has since been updated. Anyways we were warned about the 3 o’clock special, which was the locals’ way of saying the breeze off nearby Lake Erie would make its rounds to this strip of water between the state lines. They were not kidding. Once it picked up, we struggled back to the dock, dropped our sails (I prayed the entire time), finally ramming into the dock while a bunch of teenagers stood by and laughed. But that did not deter us.

We found a local guy, whose day job was with the state parks department, but also ran a weekend sailing program out of his home on the water where we sailed. That weekend in September was unseasonably wet and cold. We sailed a Chrysler Buccaneer and some other odd old boats, and practiced capsizing. It was then that I learned that wet wool was much warmer than the cotton sweatshirt I changed into. Anyways, we gained confidence and learned quite a bit. Wind over Water was the name of the school if it is still around. From there we took a few vacations to Annapolis, for the annual boat show – a must if you have never made the trip. Shopping on the weekend by national vendors can garner some of the best prices on race watches, foul weather gear, dry bags, you name it. And hotels are not cost prohibitive outside of historic Annapolis proper.

After that, we took more lessons including a weekend day-course with a guy on his 30-foot sailboat on the Chesapeake. Great getaway and what a treat to experience “big” water with someone who knew what they were doing. Later we took a few J-School courses, even when I was pregnant, we took a weeklong class on J-80s, a race boat popular in the area. We bobbed in some of the worst heat on record that week, but Friday was blowing stink and the two college students instructing us helped us feel confident as well as experience the absolute joy of sailing in high winds.

But that was just the beginning. We would later buy a Starwind 22 which we raced at Alum Creek State Park, a fun big boat club that held regular beer can races on Wednesday nights. Again, great times…before kids. We had rented a dock with a 5-year lease, which made it easy to get on the water and to the line on time. But once the lease expired, the arrival of a baby, combined with owning two sail boats and LYC Friday night fun sails, Alum Creek Weds night beer can races, and Sunday races at Leatherslips, along with mom back to work, it was just too much. We decided to sell the large boat and focus on the Daysailer and the family friendly club on the Scioto River, Leatherlips Yacht Club.

We have been members at LYC for more than 20 years now and have enjoyed every minute. We were introduced to the club through JP Clowes, whom my husband met in a US Coastguard Auxiliary navigation class. JP grew up sailing daysailers on Long Island Sound. Soon after we joined LYC, we met Scotty Graham, a California transplant who also grew up competitively racing daysailers. His mother named him after the author of The Wind and the Willows, Kenneth Graham, who wrote “there’s nothing better than messing about in boats”. From this group we all joined the national DSA organization and started traveling to regattas…even with a baby.

Over the years, we have traveled to Smith Mountain Lake near Roanoke, Annapolis too many times to count, La Crosse WI at the mouth of the Mississippi River and home of that Native American game so popular today, the Sierra Nevada Mountains where we sailed at 7500 feet (AWESOME!), Cape Cod (BEAUTIFUL), Put-In-Bay on Lake Erie where my fleet hosted the 2016 NACs (There was a time I would never have believed I would sail Lake Erie, but it was the absolute BEST!), Tampa Bay and Sarasota in FL, and last year in Eugene OR where we followed the event with a west coast family vacation with our camper and college age daughter through 10+ national parks!

Through the DSA, we have met what we consider our second family. Our national regattas are like family reunions, but also where you hone your skills (the true purpose of competing), see how the best sailors rig their boats for ease of trimming in high winds, learn about local conditions, current, tides and more. If you think these sailors are youngsters, think again. Some are, but most are working stiffs of all ages with day jobs. Used boats can be found with a trailer for under $2500. See Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, eBay and the many sailboats for sale websites. Even our forum has a few at times. You can even find a boat for under $1000; this is a “project” boat that may have serious issues. A new DS is great if that is to your liking. They are beautiful and built by our partners Cape Cod Shipbuilding in Massachusetts. But if you want to test the waters, buy used and move up…it is a lot like any sport. Dip your toe before jumping in.

Over the years, we learned that the McLaughlin-built boats, besides the earliest boats by O’Day (there have been many builders over the years…check the website for more info), were the best for racing. So, once decided, the saving and the search began. I must share that we had tricked-out our DS2, a model designed for pleasure sailing…actually they all were, but put two boats together, and there has to be a competition! Sailing is for everyone. At our club we have 4 female DS skippers with crew that is not a spouse! When a McLaughlin became available in Wyoming, we were on our way. Whatever DS model you have, new sails are life changing. You will go from zero to 60 so quickly you will kick yourself for not doing it earlier. North, Quantum, Doyle, SLO (not in speed, but San Louis Obispo where they are made), and Intensity Sails, are some of the major sail maker/suppliers. Even inexpensive sails will prove effective. Great Christmas, Father's/Mother's Day, or Birthday gift to yourself or from family…and get gloves. Your fingers will thank you as well as supply grip when wet.

My point of all of this is that Leatherlips Yacht Club might be the club for you. If you live a few hours away joining is still a value. For under $700, you have year-round boat storage. You cannot rent a storage lot or garage for that. We dry sail, meaning boats are stored on their trailers. We have a hoist, which makes putting in effortless. We have a launch ramp too if you do not have a bridle, but you will soon find the advantage. Further, we have monthly social events, Tuesday night Laser Sailing, Friday night potlucks/and sailing if you want, and our regular Sunday races that start at 2 pm. Two races. The first is by class, the second is a single start and Portsmouth-rated. Junior sailing. High school sailing. Adult evening lessons, kayak storage, and some of the friendliest folks in the area. You will not feel like an outsider here. We are a Corinthian club, meaning we all volunteer to keep the place running. Our only paid staff are the summer sailing instructors. We sail from the first weekend in April until “docks out” on the first Saturday of November. Oh yes, we have also graduated some of the nations top one-design class racers…and an alumn instructor who runs the sailing program at the Naval Academy in Annapolis!

We recently hosted the 2023 Day Sailer North American Championship Regatta (NACR). Please do not let the name intimidate. While we still have some of the best sailors in the country racing, everyone who takes part gets better each year, and the camaraderie, food, and fun socializing cannot be beaten. When we have the numbers, we have two fleet starts, so there is a right race start for everyone. So join a club, if not LYC, find a local club near you that sails Daysailers, or welcomes non-fleet boats, and build an in-person “friends” network while improving your sailing skills and messing about in boats. It is great for the spirit whatever your age. As our website says, Come Join the Fun!