Summer Sixteen

Summer of 2016 is coming down to its final weeks and it has been a blast so far. It began with post season practice with my college sailing team. We spent the two weeks leading up to the ICSA National Championship practicing out on Boston Harbor with the Tufts team. After we brought the boats back onto the river we made one final trip down to Roger Williams University for a joint practice with several other schools.

Mark rounding at ICSA Nationals.

The BUDS had an early flight out to California and we arrived just in time to watch the last day of racing for the ICSA Women's National Championship, where our teammates came through with an excellent finish placing 12th in A-Division, 1st in B-Division, and 3rd overall. Using the experience gained from the women's event, we spent a couple days practicing out of Long Beach Yacht Club. During our rest days leading up to the event we took advantage of the nice weather and went out to Venice beach.

Nationals was definitely one of the most difficult regattas I have ever sailed in. The morning of each day of racing brought a light southerly wind that soon died and filled into the steady westerly San Diego is known for. These reliable sailing conditions and tough competition brought top level racing to the semifinals and final championship. I raced in the A-Division and at the end of the semifinals the BUDS finished 11th in A, 6th in B, and 8th overall. By the end of the finals we finished strong especially in the B-Division and placed 15th in A, 4th in B, and 8th overall. Several of our teammates received All-American awards later in the summer, which show they exemplify the true spirit of collegiate competition as well as high performance on the water.

After racing finished in California I returned to my home in Florida for a week before driving back to Boston with the F18 in tow. Once back up North I began practicing in the carbon Nacra 20 FCS, M32 (Marstrom 32), and F18. I have since joined 13Fifty Racing in their campaign for the American spot at the 2017 Red Bull Youth America's Cup. In order to prepare ourselves for this competition we have practiced in the FCS in order to get used to foiling and high speeds in a catamaran. The FCS is a 20 foot, all carbon catamaran with curved J-shaped main foils and long T-shaped rudders that lift the boat completely out of the water while sailing, greatly reducing friction between the boat and the water and raising the top speed the boat can achieve. It is not uncommon to average 25kts while sailing downwind with the spinnaker hoisted and exceeding 30kts on a run with just the main and jib. I have become quite comfortable sailing this boat on the foils and will use this experience to help my teammates progress.

The M32 has provided an excellent training platform for teams preparing for the Youth America's Cup. These boats are 32 feet long, approximately 18 feet wide, close to 1000lbs, fully carbon fiber, and are sailed with only a mainsail, furling gennaker, and 4-5 crew. They are also the same boats currently used on the World Match Racing Tour. We have used the M32 to work out team dynamics, try out new sailors, build endurance and strength outside the gym, and learn new tactics. The courses we sail during M32 regattas are nearly the same as those used in the America's Cup, allowing us to learn how to handle these unique tactical situations in a big fleet of catamarans. Reaching starts, upwind gates, and a revised set of sailing rules have made the racing all the more intense and fast paced.

The Young Guns

My first event on the M32 was the New York Yacht Club Race Week, where I put together a team of crew members who I have raced with or against in different boats throughout my career. After 3 long days of practice before the event and 4 days of the regatta we finished in 2nd overall, which was an outstanding finish for our young team and me as the skipper. Race Week was an amazing experience that would not have been possible without the help of 13Fifty Racing and M32 North America.

Next began a tour of the midwest and the first stop was Harbor Springs, Michigan where I intended to race on Escape Velocity, a privately owned M32 on which my BU coach sails. Unfortunately, during the practice day before the event I sprained my ankle and was not able to walk well for several days. This took me out of the racing, but even with only 4 crew members the Escape Velocity team sailed very well through the event. I spent that week on various support and mark boats, taking notes on both EV's and 13Fifty's performance. Since I couldn't sail I made the most of my time off the boat by learning from observing racing as well as sharing notes with my teammates to help them improve.

Following the Harbor Springs regatta I made a quick trip back to Boston in order to catch up with missed summer class work before heading to Wayzata, Minneapolis. At this venue I worked as part of 13Fifty Racing with the World Match Racing Tour to host a match racing expedition event on Lake Minnetonka. We assembled two M32s, attended several sponsor-hosted events, interviewed with local and regional news programs, took VIPs out for rides, spoke with junior sailors at the youth sailing center, and put on a show for the locals with eight match races. The goal of the event was to help set up a tour stop in Wayzata, beginning with a qualifying event, to bring more high performance racing to Lake Minnetonka, and to show younger sailors one pathway into professional sailing. The event was a huge success and I really enjoyed the time we spent there. The hospitality and support from the locals, sailors or non-mariners, made the event as fun as it was and I am looking for the next opportunity to return to the lake soon.

After missing nearly half of my classes this summer term I have to spend a week here in Boston to get caught up. Fortunately, I have kept up with the work and will finish strongly. Next weekend I will be competing in the US Team Racing Championship for the Hinman Trophy with a group of Tufts sailors. This will be a very challenging event and will help prepare me for team racing in the Spring college sailing season. The following week the BUDS will be reuniting in Newport for preseason practice where we will focus on getting more open water experience in 420s. At the end of that week I will resume my college academic and sailing schedule, but will continue working with 13Fifty Racing in our challenge for the Red Bull Youth America's Cup.

Warm Winter Break

I spent this winter break in the beautiful sunshine state of Florida with my family. This was a much needed break from school and the colder weather and as my break was twice as long as the average school's I had plenty of time to catch up on sleep and sailing. This free time was spent preparing for the Tradewinds Regatta which I sailed at the end of break. Held annually in the Florida Keys, this venue is notable for its beautiful water, sandy beaches, and excellent wind. After sailing Saturday and Sunday in the F18 Sam and I packed up the boat and drove back home as I had to return to school on Monday. We took first at this event which shows how all our hard work and training is continuing to pay off. Now I am back at school and beginning my second semester classes. The workload is quickly growing, but I enjoy this challenge and am looking forward to the Spring sailing season.

2014 F16 World Championship

I just recently arrived back home after spending the past week traveling to and sailing in Newport, RI. This week was full of many adventures, experiences, and memories, all of which taught me valuable life lessons. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Newport and racing in the F16 Worlds; however, after spending a week away from home living with several other sailors and approximately 50 hours towing a trailer I am glad to finally be home and back on my regular training schedule.

The whole trip started on Thursday June 19th when we began the drive. All of Thursday afternoon and Friday was spent in the car taking turns behind the wheel. We didn't hit bad traffic until we reached New York City, where we decided to take a short break from driving to get a nice dinner in order to avoid rush hour traffic while crossing the Hudson River. We arrived at the regatta venue, Sail Newport, on Saturday morning and after rigging the boats, greeting fellow competitors and friends, and moving into our home for the week we were able to get acclimated to the change in scenery and explore Newport. I had already sailed in Newport once before, but since this was several years earlier at an Opti regatta it was still a new experience.

Sunday and Monday were both spent practicing out on the Narragansett Bay where the race course would be placed. This time was quite beneficial to my teammate Sam and I as we had implemented several new systems and upgrades to the boat prior to coming to Newport. This included carbon rod rigging in place of the standard stainless steel wire that holds the mast upright. These carbon rods are much stiffer, lighter, and thinner than the wire, increasing the sensitivity of the boat and platform as well as decreasing the overall weight and windage of the boat. With this new rigging came new boat settings and we used our precious practice time before racing to figure out our optimal mast rake and rig tension settings in all wind conditions.

Racing began Tueday morning and we were fortunate enough to have a consistent breeze of 10-15 knots with occasional sustained gusts in the upper teens. Unfortunately, we had a mechanical issue during the first race of the regatta when our spinnaker halyard cleat pulled out of the mast. Sam and I quickly sailed to our coach Jim Zellmer and repaired the rivets on the water. After missing the first two races of the regatta in our preferred sailing conditions our spirits were beginning to break; however, we knew that this was going to be a long regatta with 15 races on the schedule and we approached the following races with a fresh mind. In order to make up for this loss we worked very hard to win the next two, keeping us in a good position to place well by the end of the week.

Day 2 of racing had similar conditions and wind direction as day 1, but with less velocity and more dispersed wind lines. We were able to maintain our hot streak through the first race of day 2 by placing first and we kept consistent scores for the remainder of the day, all in the top 5. Day 3 brought light wind from a new direction with a forecast of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. After a survey by sailors and conversation with the race committee, which was a new way of making decisions at this world championship, racing was postponed on shore until late in the afternoon and then finally canceled for the day. Even though we did not have the opportunity to sail and stay on schedule with races, we were able to see more of the city of Newport. The Etchell World Championship was held during this same week out of the famous New York Yacht Club and it was very interesting to see the list of competitors for this event as it included several former world champions and professional sailors.

Racing resumed the following day and in order to make up for our lost time the race committee ran 5 more races for a grand total of 13. We started out the day strong with several top finishes, but during the third race we had a problem with our spinnaker retrieval line wrapping on the forestay, putting us just two points out of fist place by the end of the regatta. Sam and I finished as the 1st youth, 1st American and 2nd overall team and even though we were slightly disappointed with our performance this is still quite the achievement for us.

Sarasota Youth Sailing was strongly represented at this regatta. Another youth team consisting of a brother and sister, Nico and Sophia Schultz, also came to the event and placed very well despite fighting through some tough situations that were similar to those Sam and I faced. They also missed two races on day 1 of the regatta, but they quickly recovered from this and ended the regatta on a great note by winning the final race.  They placed 7th overall which was still a strong finish in this World Championship. Sarasota Youth Sailing has come a long way with it's youth multihull team and it is great to see how we are benefiting from this program and getting good results at top regattas.

Now came the time to leave Newport and drive back home. The trip back to Florida was quite uneventful and now that I am back home I have some time to reflect and learn from last week's experiences. I learned that it is absolutely essential to be prepared for any boat issue that could arise on the water and that boat prep work is key prior to a big event. I also learned that even though I may face several obstacles and setbacks, it is important to keep the bigger picture in mind and to continue progressing forwards. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel with my friends and sailing partners and the memories I have created will remain with me for the rest of my life. I must thank my family, coaches, friends, and teammates for their continued support as without their help I would not have been able to make last week a success.

The remainder of my summer will be quite busy leading up to the beginning of my school year in September. Mid July I will be traveling to Portugal with Nico Schultz and competing in the ISAF Youth World Championship. This is the same regatta that I sailed in last year with Sam as a member of the US Sailing Youth Worlds Team. After I return back to the states I will be sailing an F18 in the Hyannis Regatta off the coast of Massachusetts late in July. Near the end of August I am planning on sailing the Nacra 17 National Championship at Oakcliff Sailing in New York. I am not pursuing an Olympic campaign for the 2016 games as my primary focus is my education at Boston University, but, as it is important to stay competitive and learn as much as possible, I am attending as many regattas as I can fit in my schedule. Continue to check this blog in the weeks to come because I will be posting updates about my travel and sailing experiences!

Summer Shenanigans

High school has finally ended! I have graduated from Southeast High School and am patiently waiting for early July to find out if I received my International Baccalaureate diploma. Now that I am officially on summer break I have had a considerably larger amount of free time which has been spent planning my academic courses for next year at Boston University as well as preparing for the F16 World Championship which will be taking place next week in Newport, RI.


Last week I had the opportunity to attend my Boston University freshmen orientation session. After being forced to spend an additional night in Charlotte, NC due to a cancelled fight and finally arriving in Boston a day later than I had planned, I managed to arrive at my orientation activities on time. My three days were spent getting familiar with the city and transportation systems around the school, understanding the course curriculum, registering for class times, and finally meeting other freshmen students. When I departed from Boston on Friday I left having developed a strong passion and excitement for the school as well as several new friendships that will make my college experience quite memorable.

In preparation for the F16 Worlds I have been fine tuning and upgrading my boat with several smaller tweaks and adjustments. These upgrades include a skipper trapeze system that is run through the hull rather than across the deck, carbon rod rigging rather than the traditional stainless steel wire, and other smaller additions spread around the platform. These changes to the standard boat design were implemented to reduce weight, minimize the possibility of binding and catching while sailing, and increase the performance capabilities of the boat. As the departure date for Newport quickly approaches, I will be loading up the trailer and will begin driving with another Sarasota team comprised of two siblings, Sophia and Nico Schultz. We're all very excited to put our skills to the test against some of the top F16 teams at the Worlds!

Always Sailing Fast at Sailfest

With diverse wind conditions, warm water, and sunny weather, the Sarasota Sailfest is always a great regatta that provides racing opportunities in several classes ranging from the Optimist Dinghy to the newly adopted multihull class. This year's event was as successful as it has been in the past and we were able to get 6 races completed over the course of two days. We were postponed on shore Saturday until noon when the classic Sarasota sea-breeze began to build. This was to my advantage as my crew, Sam Armington, had to take a school exam in the morning and luckily we did not miss any races. Saturday's wind conditions were light and variable, shifting direction drastically several times during racing. We pushed to get four races off and ended up sailing late into the day, coming to shore at about 5:30 pm. On Sunday the breeze filled in much earlier and with substantially more velocity. There was a decent amount of carnage on the multihull course during both of Sunday's races, but thankfully there were no major injuries or damage to equipment. After two long days of racing in both light and heavy wind conditions with varying sea states, Sam and I were able to win all six races of the regatta and capture first place.


The Sarasota Sailfest has always been a major event on my calendar and I love to support my home club and sailing program by participating as a competitor or helping out with running the event. This year 100 Optis, 50 Lasers and 420s, and 9 multihulls attended and I hope this regatta continues to grow.

A link to the full regatta site and results can be found here.

2014 ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier

My teammate Nico Schultz and I have been officially named to the 2014 ISAF Youth Worlds Team and will be sailing in this event in Tavira, Portugal. This summer Nico and I will travel to Europe, meet up with ten other sailors that will also be representing Team USA, and compete in the most prestigious youth sailing event in the world. Each country that is able to support a team sends sailors to race in different boats including the Laser, I420, 29er, RS:X, and SL16. This will be my second year at the event and I will bring experience as well as a matured perspective that will hopefully be of benefit to all members of Team USA.

In order to qualify to be a member of this selective team, Nico and I competed at two qualifying events over this past year to demonstrate our commitment and skill in the multihull class. The first event, the US Youth Sailing Championship, took place during August in Corpus Christi, TX and presented us with rough sailing conditions and 15-20 knot winds every day. The second event, held during January in Miami, FL, differed from the first as we sailed in a mixed fleet of F16s and Nacra 17s and had more diverse atmospheric conditions. The members of Team USA were then chosen based on the combined results from the two regattas. This two-part qualification system gave sailors a chance to race at two venues and in different weather conditions, truly forcing consistency in racing results.

2013 US Youth Sailing Championship

Training was absolutely essential to our success in these two regattas. We spent our time in the months leading up to both events sailing F16s, F18s, Club and High School 420s, and various keelboats in order to gain experience racing against the level of competition we expect to face in Tavira. Of course it is essential to perfect boathandeling and speed in our specific class; however, we understood the importance of becoming well rounded athletes and did not limit ourselves to only multihulls. In addition to spending time sailing, we performed boat maintenance to make sure our equipment would function properly in use and improved our physical fitness by exercising regularly in the gym. Sailing is a physically demanding sport and as regattas are typically held over several days muscular endurance allows sailors to remain strong throughout an event.

A view of downtown Miami.

Now it is time for us to focus on the path that lies ahead. Nico and I are planning on attending several regattas in the near future, including the F16 World Championship. In late June F16 sailors of all ages from around the world will travel to Newport, RI and race in a five day regatta. The winners will become the new F16 World Champions and the top team from the United States will be named the F16 National Champion and take ownership of the perpetual trophy Sam and I claimed in Racine, WI last summer. Even though we will not be sailing together for this event, Nico and I will be able to use the experience gained from sailing in Newport and apply it to the Youth Worlds. We are both ready to display our hard work and commitment to our sport at upcoming regattas and I am especially excited about having a second opportunity to represent my country in Europe this summer.

To read the full press release on the 2014 ISAF Youth Worlds Team click here.

To read the full press release on the 2014 US Sailing Development Team click here.

Charlotte Harbor Regatta

The skills involved in making tactical decisions, creating long distance strategies, and  managing a large fleet cannot be fully developed anywhere other than out on the actual race course. I make it a priority to spend as much time possible competing in regattas, no matter how big or small the event, in order to gain experience in these situations. This past weekend was spent racing in the annual Charlotte Harbor Regatta and even though the F18 fleet only had nine boats on the starting line this regatta still provided exposure to long course racing and difficult tactical situations. The wind from Friday through Sunday remained consistently light. Every morning a thick fog covered the mainland and even the entire racecourse Saturday morning. As the day began heating up the wind would die off and change direction to the North. These unstable atmospheric conditions provided shifty breeze that would at times appear unpredictable, but this made for several lead changes and kept the racing exciting. After three long days of sailing and a total of 9 races Sam and I came out on top as the first F18 overall, winning seven of our ten races.

Our sail number for this regatta was NED.

The link to the regatta site and results can be found here.

This upcoming weekend I will be sailing in the Club 420 Midwinter Championship in Jensen Beach, FL. This regatta already has close to a hundred doublehanded dinghies registered with sailors coming from all parts of the country. I will be missing a day of school for this event and am looking forward to using the skills I have begun to perfect during practices in this regatta. Continue to check this site for more updates!

Viper Training

Check out this video of some training in the Viper F16! It shows what we love to do every day. The video was filmed and edited by Dalton Tebo.

The link is here.

2014 Youth Worlds Representatives!

This past weekend my teammate Nico Schultz and I qualified to represent the US Sailing Team at the annual ISAF Youth World Sailing Championship this summer in Tavira, Portugal. In order to qualify for this spot on the US Sailing Development Team we had to be the top team at two qualification regattas; the first took place in August and the second this past weekend. We trained on the water several days a week in the months leading up to these events and our hard work showed in our results. Now we are looking forward to having this opportunity to race against the world's best youth sailors, learn from highly successful US Sailing Coaches, and create new international friendships that will last a lifetime.

Nico, his older sister Sophia, and I drove down to Miami trailering two F16s in order to compete in this regatta. In addition to an F16 fleet, this regatta consisted of other Olympic classes including 49er, 470, I420, windsurfing classes, and the new Nacra 17. The F16 class, due to it's very small fleet size (a measly 2 boats) was grouped with the Nacra 17s on the racing course so we had a large mixed fleet of 23 boats. This provided us with valuable experience on a crowded starting line and a very competitive fleet. The Nacra 17s, having curved daggerboards, were noticeably faster than the smaller F16s on the downwinds in the big breeze but overall we were very well matched with speed.

This regatta taught me several lessons about sailing in shifty frontal conditions. The puffy offshore Miami breeze was rather unpredictable at times, but I learned about effective fleet management and tactical proficiency in these conditions. Now that Nico and I have qualified for the Youth Worlds, we are organizing our training schedule and travel plans. It looks like this summer will be filled with some more traveling!

The regatta site can be found: here.

Winter Break

Over this past winter break I had the opportunity to enjoy myself both on and off the water. While I was in town I spent more time sailing in the Falcon F18 and Viper F16, training different skills in each boat. A few days after Christmas my family and I traveled to the heart of our country, Washington D.C. While there we visited the US Capitol, Library of Congress, Ford's Theatre, and several museums that hold artifacts from American history. It was quite the humbling experience walking among the buildings where our country's officials, representatives, and leaders work on a daily basis. Aside from seeing the national landmarks, I was able to spend some quality time with my family and on New Year's Eve we all gathered for a large family dinner. During this trip I also saw A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens acted on stage in Ford's Theatre and after reading the play in one of my high school English classes I was fascinated by how closely the actors stayed to the original script. This trip unfortunately came to an end and after walking around the town one final time in the snow that had fallen overnight my family and I returned back to our warm home.

Supreme Court of the United States

Since my arrival back home I have been devoting my time to preparing for the second ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier which will be held next weekend, January 18-20, in Miami, FL. I would like to thank the McDonalds and Falcon Marine for allowing Sam and I to test out their new Falcon F18. This boat is definitely a fast and versatile design that performs in all conditions. During the upcoming week I will continue to update this blog with results and media from this event as well as some of my plans for the future.

Library of Congress

Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was assasinated