The 33rd Annual CISA Advanced Racing Clinic was held in Long Beach on April 8-11, 2010, with 111 of the best youth sailors from around the country taking part in one of the most strenuous, high-level sailing clinics in the world. With a coaching staff comprised of most of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team, the training was intense both on and off the water. Eight youth sailors from Santa Barbara were invited to participate, a very strong turnout and a clear indication of the amount of talent we have here in town. Each day of the clinic had a specific focus (boat handling, boat speed, tactics, and the final race day), but the instruction format was the same. “The day started at 8:00 with rigging and the plan for the day,” said SBYSF sailor Stephen Long. “Then we went to exercises run by the Annapolis sailing fitness trainer. After that we talked to our individual coaches to go over what we would do for the day. Following that, we would start the on the water training. When we came in from the on the water training we were given dinner, then they would give us a debrief, and after all that we would listen to the coaches tell stories of their sailing experiences. The day ended at 9:00 at night.”

The coaching staff at CISA is one of the main attractions, and the reason why the clinic is at such a high level. Sören Wilde, another of our Santa Barbara sailors, commented that the coaches had an answer for almost every question thrown their way. “All of the coaches had many great opportunities and experiences due to sailing. This encouraged me to get out there and become the best sailor I can.” Tucker Atterbury was able to sail with one of the coaches on a 29er on the first day and said, “This was an amazing opportunity for me.”

Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey coached the Laser fleet, and our sailors were able to learn just as much from him off the water. “In the evenings, we had special presentations,” said SBYSF sailor Sky Adams, “including a talk by Zach Railey on his campaign and Olympic experience. I was able to have dinner with him the next two nights and learned a lot about training and running a campaign from him.”

Another great CISA clinic is in the books, and our top youth sailors took every advantage of the opportunity to learn everything they could from the elite coaching staff.

CISA Website (Results, Photos, Press Releases and More)