| By Amy Zsohar, Administrative Assistant
Our 6th week of sailing started yesterday with 30 junior sailors and upper 90s temperatures. After making sure everyone was sunscreened and watered, we were off! Rachel, Ryan and Kendall started the day with some get to know you activities and the fundamentals. After some fundamental sailing and capsizing drills, the games were on!
The beginning and advanced sailors joined forces to form the Rebellious Rainbow-Eating Pandas of Doom for Sailing Quidditch while the intermediate sailors formed the Rainbow of Muse. After some intense sailing, some much needed cooling off from splash wars, the quidditch match was won when Bryce Hardin (age 13) and Jeff Milbrath (age 13) caught the elusive snitch. As members of the Rebellious Rainbow-Eating Pandas of Doom, the winners were the beginner and advanced sailors. Audrey Urbanowicz (age 9), Nina Urbanowicz (age  and Isabelle Aboaf (age 11) all tell me that Sailing Quidditch is the “greatest sailing game known to man!” Aubrey, Nina, and Isabelle were hoping to play Quidditch again today and enjoyed meeting new people. They are all really nice, except during quidditch when the competition was ON!
In my talks with the junior sailors, it was great to see so many smiles. Justin Fink (age 10) and Nick Alexander (age 10) said that Monday was really fun, especially the gusts of wind. Justin is getting his first taste of sailing while Nick has sailed in California. They both had a lot of fun on the Prams and can’t wait for more sailing games.
The energy and enthusiasm were palbable watching the boats being rigged for the second day. The junior sailors have already started forming alliances and friendships that lead to some great teamwork. Many of the juniors did not come dressed for the 60 degree morning. The chill in the air led a slow morning of rigging and instruction. The juniors were anxious to get out on the water.
“Do we have to learn? We just wanna sail.” -Max Ollig (age 13)
Figure 8 drills are scheduled today. Kendall, Ryan and Rachel taught the fundamentals of the figure eight drill and tacking. While some of the juniors look less than interested in the chalk talk, they will have a blast once they get to apply the knowledge.
If you ever get the chance, come watch these amazing young people. Through a series of questions, they displayed their knowledge and made the chalk talk about the figure 8 drills into an interactive lesson. As I was leaving the lake to come to the office, the juniors were setting sail to go forth and apply the lessons they had just learned.
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