The Opti Team Trials is the qualifying event for the US National Youth Sailing Team and the US Youth Development Team. It is also the regatta that determines the sailors that represent the United States at the IODA World Championships, North American Championships, the British Nationals and the European Championships. Top five are awarded the opportunity to sail for the US team at World's.

Our team consists of five sailors: Esteban Forrer, Dane Wilson, Quinn Wilson, Romain Screve and Kristopher Swanson. They are coached by Nicaraguan, Manny Resano. The team was organized over the summer of '08 and has been diligently preparing for this event since early '09. Esteban has been sailing with Manny for two years, but the rest of us met him just a year ago at the Team Trials in '08. Manny has an amazing quality teaching kids to go fast in Opti's; however, that's only part of his magic. He brings a perspective on life and competition that is rare in junior sports, especially here in the United States, and these kids are lucky to have found him.

All sailors attending Team Trials were required to qualify in regional events throughout the country. So, in the US, this is the best of the best. The format for the regatta divided the 211 entrants into flights of 70. Each day the flights were re-configured based on the standings. Flights were determined by counting off order of finish: the first place boat is paired with 4th, 7th, 10th and so on. Each day a new pairing was determined. Twelve races were scheduled over the four days of competition with 2 throw outs, the best 10 races contributing to the final standings.

The goal of the USODA is to instill a love for sailing that will last a lifetime. While this is certainly our team's goal as well, the lessons also extend to integrity, personal responsibility, kindness, teamwork, environmental responsibility, and sportsmanship. From a competitive perspective the quest is to become successful on the International stage. As personal "finishing" goals go, Dane was looking at top 30, Quinn top 50, and Romain Kristopher and Esteban shooting for top 25. Anything in the top 50 would land them on the National Team and qualify them for an International event.

Our odyssey in Connecticut began with practice, 5 days prior to the regatta starting at Pear Tree Beach across a small inlet from Noroton Yacht Club. We spent four days getting into our routine as a team as the kids sailed each day speed testing, practicing starts and races with several other teams, and generally getting familiar with the local conditions, The first days were brutally hot on land and tryingly light on the water. Life on the water was much more civilized due to the water temp of only 49 degrees. Each practice day seemed to build the kids' confidence as their speed was good and all the logistics were falling into place. Quinn and Romain were using new sails (Tony Tios) tested the week earlier in San Francisco. They both were very excited about having new-found speed. Dane, Esteban and Kristopher were sporting various new spars, which although subtle, was helping as well.

After four days of practice everyone was ready for a break. One of the great things Manny does as a coach is he makes certain the kids are able to disconnect from sailing and the "competitive scene" as much as possible. So, each day we would clean and pack up quickly and head for our hotel. On the fourth evening we burnt off some extra energy with an hour or so of capture the flag. As part of our routine we timed our dinners so we could return to the hotel, shower, relax for half an hour or so, then meet in the lobby for a "picnic." Each night we either pieced together meals from Whole Foods, or grabbed some salad and pasta from local restaurants. We then took over the bar in the lobby and had our own little catered meals. Nice set up… Low key, relaxing and easy. Kids were always in their rooms by 8:30pm or 9, and usually asleep by 9:30 or 10. One other aspect I personally think helped greatly is the kids almost exclusively drank water. No sodas or other drinks. On water and on land their drink of choice was primarily tried and true water.

Registration day was another plus for Manny. He encourages the kids to be pretty much responsible for everything themselves. This regatta is unlike any other in the US as far as the details of measurement and paperwork. Manny makes it mandatory the kids behave as a team to help each other work through the process. He stands by to help with questions, but it's part of the learning process for them to sort it out for themselves. With registration done the kids cleaned their boats, packed up their goods and we all headed out to relax and again think of something other than sailing. Manny and the team spent the afternoon watching a movie. The Sherpas stocked up on food and water. Then it was time for dinner and bed.

Day One
So much for the warm weather, we went from baking in the 90's to the low 60's. Mood change for certain. The light air stayed with us for the day however with the wind never getting over 7-8 knots. The cooler temps being generated by a northerly wind direction. Water 49. Air 53. Brrr. The current was a factor all week in practice and remained so for day one. At times the upwind legs almost stood still as the sailors coaxed every inch of distance up current. The launching process on day one of regattas like this always creates some tension as everyone wants to be on the water first. At Noroton, there is only one ramp and a couple beaches for access to the water. This didn't sit well with coach as two of our team members were nearly last on the water. Manny cherishes being first on the water in order to test the breeze, get tuned, and begin to focus on the task at hand. We remedied the launching situation later that afternoon by commandeering a spot down on the docks… No need for the ramp or the beaches. The remaining days our team was always first out to the race-course.

The kids sailed in different flights on day one based on the random distribution of all the sailors. Dane, Quinn and Romain were in the first flight; Kristopher and Esteban sailed in the next two flights respectively. Last year, Quinn's first race at team trials was a disaster… at the first weather mark he rounded in last place. This year? Race one, first mark, Quinn worked the left middle after a pretty reasonable start at the leeward end to round in first place by 15 boat lengths. Absolutely amazing! It was probably just as shocking to Quinn as it was to those of us watching from the sidelines as he scrambled to locate the upcoming reach mark. A couple of tactical errors on the second downwind leg and final beat saw Quinn fall to third at the finish. No matter, any finish in the top ten at team trials is a major achievement. In fact, averaging 15's throughout would put a sailor in the top 25 overall. This scenario served as foreshadow of Quinn's entire regatta as he posted 6 top ten finishes. As this first race proved to be the storyline of Quinn's regatta it also played out to be the story of Dane's as well, but not for the positive. Dane was definitely on his game heading into the event. He'd just sailed an excellent event the week prior in San Francisco and had an outstanding four days of practice. However well he was sailing he was forced throughout the regatta to overcome unforeseen challenges. Rather than make excuses and say he was unlucky, best to simply describe them as unfortunate. In race one his first hurdle came in the form of him serving as the example for the entire fleet as he was lined up middle of the line good to go and was yellow flagged by a judge for sculling, resulting in two penalty turns right at the first gun. Tough way to start, but it didn't shake him. In race two he posted a 10th, then played the middle left shifts of the first upwind leg to breakaway along with Connor Swikart in the top two. Dane eventually overtook Connor just before the finish, but just to add insult to injury, Dane's first place finish never came to be as he was a mere few feet from the finish the wind died from the north and began to fill from the east. Because this was affecting the majority of the fleet in arrears the race committee blew the whistles and cancelled the race. The next race Dane salvaged a 20th to end the day not great, but well enough to stay in the hunt. Esteban began quietly under the radar posting just 20 points total for day one. Quinn kept the dream alive with an otherworldly 4 and 11 to finish the day in 5th place overall. Romain sailed as stunningly as Quinn and was lurking just a few points back. Kristopher also quietly posted excellent scores to start the regatta. Although he finished the day with only 35 points over three races averaging 12's he felt he could sail much better.

Lessons observed from the spectator boat on day one? The team was sailing really well. Starting well was important because the starting lines were very large and the fleet spread out very quickly.

Day Two
Cooler and a forecast of rain and possibly some breeze, but the promise of breeze only materialized for one race. Most of the day was spent in a light southerly shifting to a light easterly. The current was causing havoc at mark roundings and on the starting line. Three more races and an emotional roller coaster… remember the lesson from day one? Impossible if you were a parent watching. Romain and Esteban both used up their eventual two throw outs and Kristopher struggled through a day of 20's and 30's. The pain continued for Dane as well starting the day with a 30, but he came back with a tenth and a third appearing to turn things around, only to learn back at the dock his 3rd place was erased and replaced with an OCS… 70+ points, another unfortunate turn of events for him. Ah the beauty of sailing.

Quinn's gem of a start continued for at least one more race as he posted a 9th and was fourth overall after four races. His second race was the windy race of the regatta. 15 knots. He showed some versatility with a top 20 finish. Long way to go however and he began to fall to earth in the afternoon ending the day with his first race out of the top 20 a rough 46th. Romain began to demonstrate a distinguishing characteristic: The come back. All three races on day two he rounded the first upwind buoy in 30th or more; however, his scores reflected a much better result, even one top 10 finish.

The end of day two results had Quinn in 12th, Romain in 22nd, Esteban in 38th, Dane in 60th and Kristopher a touch behind Dane.

Lesson for day two? Keep it all in perspective. Don't get too high and don't get too low.

Day Three
Rally day. Colder still. More rain, and of course… 3 days of sailing, 3 wind directions, and a 3rd puzzle to solve with current. The tides were swinging through 8 feet with low tide occurring today right in the middle of the day. A west/northwest breeze was just tickling the tree-tops as the races began for the day close to the shore. The shoreline is made up of coves and inlets causing the breeze to be rather shifty, all of the 2.4 knots that race 7 started with. The lesson from day two would prove quite handy. Esteban and Dane got to lead off in the first flight. First weather mark, Dane in 7th, Esteban in 15th. Keep with the program… Second mark, Dane in 6th, third mark, Dane in 5th, Finish, bullet by two boat lengths. Esteban begins his rally by coming back from the opposite side of the course on the last beat that Dane makes his rally to finish in 5th. His fifthness has arrived. Romain rallies throughout the day with not so great first legs, but continuing to pass boats to salvage solid scores throughout the day. His knack for coming back will prove to be his signature. Quinn is up and down with two top tens and two 30+'s. Unfortunately by the end of day three he used what will hopefully be his two throw outs. Another bad race and his run will end, but he finishes the day solid with a fourth place. Dane, Esteban and Max Simmons, the eventual regatta winner, put on a show. With a stacked flight of top contenders including Max and the second place regatta finisher Christopher Williford, Max posts a 2, 1, 1, 1 for the day losing only to Dane in race one of the day. Esteban rolls with a 5, 4, 2, 2 and Dane rocks with a 1, 9, 6, 4.

Esteban ends the day in 9th overall, Dane in 24th, Quinn in 27th, Romain in 13th and Kristopher still struggling on the starting line, but managing to hang tough.

Lesson learned? Trust. Trust your self. Keep your routine. Keep concentrating. "Never give up."

Day Four
You never know what is going to happen. Long regatta. Lots of kids up and down, the arguably best sailor in the country packs it in after three days sitting in triple digits overall. What appeared as a relatively straightforward regatta on day one was now showing its teeth. They say the top sailors gravitate to the top, but there was a special filter here that was making it difficult for everyone. If you made it into the top 50, good for you. The weather for today: Cold, raining consistently and at times hard, the wind light from the north. The current on day four was much less of a factor than on days one and two. No less the challenge as the wind shifts were swinging more inconsistently and more severely. If you were caught on the wrong side of a verrrryyyyy long starting line there was little coming back. Unfortunately that was Dane's fate. With too many "unfortunate events" already posted from days one and two he couldn't afford any pain on the final day and two times he was caught guessing wrong. Quinn came out firing on the final day posting a 14th and 8th, but mistakenly putting it all at risk with a yellow flag at the start of the final race. Having never been in the situation before, and only two big regattas under his belt, having the judge boat single him out for sculling right at the start was a bit intimidating. Quinn made his first turn, but then had to avoid another competitor before completing his second turn. Having taken what seemed a bit too long before the second turn was completed (and the fact that Quinn never looked back to check with the judges if he was cleared to keep sailing) coach felt it was likely he'd be disqualified. It turned out he was not disqualified, but his lesson learned for certain. Unfortunately the same was not true for Forest Short, the sailor sitting in fourth place overall. His second yellow flag of the regatta required him to retire from the race in order to allow him to discard the score. Not having understood that eventuality Forest sailed on and was disqualified and had to keep the score. It's officially called a DNE, which means "do not exclude." This opened the door for Esteban. If his rally continued where Dane's faltered he had a chance to qualify for World's having started the day only 10 points out. Esteban hung in with a 5 and a 9 to qualify by one point for the US World's Team.

A remarkable team, coach and week. Kristopher rallied on the last two days ending up in 45th, Dane in 37th Romain in 23rd, Quinn 18th and Esteban in 5th.

Lesson learned from day four and the regatta in total?
Earlier in the week, during one of the many mental escapes, the kids all sat around and watched a ridiculous movie starring Owen Wilson, called "You, me and Dupree." As the team struggled to coin an appropriately funny name oozing of confidence and panache it came evident in the waning moments of the movie this team had something in common with Dupree. As the seemingly misguided Dupree lands at the top of the world, living out his destiny in his passion realizing success beyond measure by simply discovering his "Dupreeness." His philosophy is called "Seven Different Kinds of Smoke, Finding Your Ness." The essence of which is, believing in your self and trusting all will work out for the best if you simply pursue your "ness;" that is your Estebanness, Kristopherness, Romainness, Quinnness, or your Daneness.

Seven Different Kinds of Smoke found their Ness!

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