If you are having a junior regatta, look for the Fishing Bay Yacht Club Junior Sailing Race team to show up ready to race. There are over 30 juniors racing with FBYC this summer.  The largest team of juniors EVER!!!!  This is a dedicated group of young athletes with some outstanding coaches this summer.

25 members of the FBYC Race team, four coaches and many parents hit the road in late June.  They participated in five regattas in Maryland.  Members of the Laser Race Team, Opti Race Team, as well as some from the Opti Development Team, raced against other junior sailors from all over the east coast.

The Opti Race Team first started off with a one-day event at Rock Hall Yacht Club, where FBYC finished 5 out of the top 10 overall.  Benton Amthor took 1st in blue fleet, Garrett Levy took 3rd in red fleet, and Guthrie Braun took 1st in the white fleet.  Results.

From there the team joined the Laser Race Team and some members of the Opti Develpment Team for the Junior Olympics in Essex, Maryland.   FBYC's Alexander Hanna won 2nd place out of 45 competitors in the Laser Radial class, and Hannah Steadman was 1st in girls Laser Radials.  Another truly exciting moment for the team was when Benton Amthor won Gold (1st place) in the Opti Division out of 51 sailors.  Congratulations Benton!!! Results.

The team then packed up boats, gear, coaches, racers and parents and moved back to Annapolis for three days of racing.  West River Sailing Club hosted an annual junior regatta in Galesville, Maryland.    FBYC dominated this much smaller regatta, with Alexander Hanna winning 1st place out of 24 in Laser Radials, and again Hannah Steadman 1st in girls Laser Radials.    The most overwhelming results came from the Opti Race Team:  9 out of the top 10 finishes were from Fishing Bay:   Trent Levy 1st, Garrett Levy 2nd, Boyd Bragg 3rd, Benton Amthor 4th, Nicolas Lennarz 5th, Ralph Levy 6th, Guthrie Braun 7th, Gannon Troutman 8th, and Morey Levy 9th.  West River publicly expressed their appreciation for FBYC having made the trek to Galesville.  Fishing Bay Junior Sailors love to race!  Results.

The team then packed up gear at West River Yacht club and moved to  Annapolis Yacht Club to compete in two back two back days of racing at Annapolis Yacht Club and Severn Sailing Association.  Heavy rain, high winds, and sloppy seas cut short the day, with only two races at AYC.  Garrett Levy and Benton Amthor finished 4th and 5th out of 48 Opti sailors.   An FBYC sailor finished in the top 3 for each of the White, Blue, and Red fleets.  The day proved particularly challenging for newer members of our Laser Race Team.  There is a particulary large number of junior sailors racing laser radials this year.  Look for it to be a fantastic summer on the bay. Results (pdf).

With improved weather conditions the following day, the teams headed to Severn Sailing Association for the annual Sandy MacVickar regatta.  Five races were held total, with 3 out of the 10 top finishes going to FBYC sailors Alexander Hanna, Hannah Steadman, and Eric Roos.  On the equally blustery Opti course, FBYC sailors Benton Amthor and Boyd Bragg finished in the top 10 out of 45 total Opti competitors. Results (pdf).

The teams limped home exhausted the day before the July 4th holiday after more than a week on the road, five total regattas, over 25 individual races, and lots of funs times both on and off the water.

For July, members of race teams head to Hampton Yacht Club, the Opti Nationals in Michigan, Corsica River Yacht Club, Tred Avon Yacht Club, and the Laser North Americans in Cork, Canada!  Look for more news on Fishing Bay Yacht Club and Junior Sailing at www.fbyc.net.