Information for New Teams

The Box vs. The Triangle

2011-03-22T17:07:00.000-04:00

College team racing, and most of high school team racing, both use the Digital-N/Collegiate-N as their race course. However, many schools still sail a port triangle. One issue raised last spring was the number of marks required to set a Digital-N. A great compromise is the Box Course.

The Newport V-15 fleet uses this course all summer. The bottom two marks can also serve as a starting line, and the top two can be a finish. As long as the course is set so that it is long and narrow - creating a true down-wind leg (not a reach), then the concept of a Digital-N can be practiced with fewer marks to set and move.

Another great advantage, at least for practice, is that the coach boat does not have to be anchored in order to do starts. Blow whistles as always and then just position the boat next to the mark to sight the line. While not perfect, it does keep you mobile during practices.

Information for Spring 2011

2011-03-22T14:16:00.000-04:00

The following information was emailed originally by NESSA President, Andrew Nugnes. It has been updated in this posting with new information.

Hello Coaches and Advisors:
As the spring racing season gets under way, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. NOTICES OF RACE

NESSA SPRING REGATTAS - The 3 NESSA Events are posted on the NESSA website. Go to http://nessa-sailing.org/race.htm for NOTICE OF RACE and registration process. Only schools that are NESSA Members in good standings are eligible to participate in NESSA Events.
NESSA Team Racing Championship (Mark Trophy) – May 14-15, 2011 at the University of New Hampshire. Deadline: Sunday April 10, 2011

Meet Results are posted on the Sailing Standings website (see below for instructions)
Only School’s properly registered for the Mark Trophy will receive a NESSA Team Racing Ranking.
Only schools that have satisfied the 7 meet requirement are eligible for the Mark Trophy. See NESSA By-Law Article K, Section 2 (d).
NOTE: Only the schools that qualify for the Mark Trophy and Wild Card Weekends will be required to pay a $35 fee per team. See the NOR for details.

NESSA Fleet Racing Championship (O’Day Trophy) – April 16-17, 2011. Deadline: Friday April 1, 2011

5 Qualifying Regattas at venues across NE on Saturday, April 16, 2011

Cape Cod Academy (Osterville, MA) – Brent Jansen
Narragansett Bay/Ida Lewis Yacht Club (Newport, RI) – Roy Williams
Charles River (Boston, MA) – Carl Zimba
The Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, CT) – Roger Rawlings
SailMaine - (Portland, ME) – Sarah Helming

Finals at Tabor Academy on Sunday, April 17th. The top 4 teams from each qualifying site will compete in this event.
Only schools that have satisfied the 3 meet requirement will be able to compete in the O’Day. See NESSA By-law Article K, Section 2 (c).

NESSA Women’s Invite (Herreshoff Trophy) – May 22, 2011 at Mass Maritime. Deadline: Wednesday April 30, 2009

The Women’s registration is first come, first served and limited to 15 schools. All others will be put on the waiting list.

OTHER SPRING REGATTAS – State/League Championships and Invite Regattas, provided by host schools, plus Racing Clinics, are also posted on the NESSA Website. Go to http://nessa-sailing.org/race.htm for information.

2. NESSA DIRECTORY INFORMATION

FOR NEW SCHOOLS and FIRST TIME REGISTRATIONS, go to http://www.highschoolsailingusa.org/directory/addnew.asp
FOR EXISITNG SCHOOLS, go to http://www.highschoolsailingusa.org/directory/district.asp?ID=NESSA
Make sure your school's team database webpage is up-to-date, including sailor’s names and current Coach/Advisor and Team Captains.
Nick Judson, NESSA Secretary/Treasurer, will only approve requests made by the “official team adult,” coach/advisor or school administrator.

3. NESSA E-MAIL LIST: NESSA email list is for NESSA business only.

NESSA’S EMAIL SERVER WILL BE GOOGLEGROUPS STARTING APRIL 1ST 2011. ALL TEAMS MUST HAVE ONE REPRESENTATIVE WHO WILL BE MONITORING THIS EMAIL SERVER. TO SUBSCRIBE TO GOOGLEGROUPS PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO NESSA-sailing+subscribe@googlegroups.com

NORs for, and results from, any high school regatta can be sent to the NESSA E-mail list
Please abide by the NESSA e-mailing list policies:

NO attachments, anonymous or commercial messages.
NO Job postings, except for high school coaching jobs.
Use ISSA Sponsor Sail 1 Design for other job listings http://www.sail1design.com/21.html?sm=78167
NO auto-responses or away messages. Please Unsubscribe from the NESSA list while you are away.

4. RACE/REGATTA MANAGEMENT:

Racing shall be run under the Racing Rules of Sailing 2009-2012, the 2009-2012 ISSA Procedural Rules, and the NESSA Procedural Rules and By-Laws.

RACING RULES OF SAILING http://ussailing.org/rules/
ISSA PROCEDURAL RULES http://www.highschoolsailingusa.org/PRs/09Jan01proceduralRules.pdf
NESSA By-laws and Procedural Rules http://nessa-sailing.org/about.htm
RACE PARTICIPATION FORMS - required at NESSA Championships http://www.collegesailing.org/forms

Note: there are changes with the Racing Rules of Sailing and the ISSA PR’s that affect how the game is played. Please make sure that you review the RRS 2009-2012 plus the ISSA PRs and that you are familiar with any changes before you coach.

Also Helpful is the Team Racing Call Book 2009-2012 at http://www.sailing.org/9514.php

REGATTA SCORING – FLEET RACING

We will continue to use the Navy Scoring Program for the results for NESSA Fleet Racing regattas. To download, go to: http://highschoolsailingusa.org/Downloads/scoring_program.htm

POSTING NORs and RESULTS

NORs for, and results from, any high school regatta can be sent to the NESSA E-mail list for distribution. These results may be posted by NESSA on the NESSA website.

5. 2011 NESSA TEAM RACING STANDINGS

STANDINGS - ALL SCHOOLS: NESSA will again post on a website the team racing results for all current NESSA Schools during the spring racing season. Thank you to Rob Hurd for again taking on this huge task.
MEET REQUIREMENT: A reminder that NESSA By Law Article K, Section 2 is in effect. The Team Race Standings site can be used to verify that a school has sailed the 3 meet requirement to be eligible for the NESSA Fleet Racing Champs (O’Day) and the 7 meet requirement for Mark Trophy consideration.
STANDINGS - SCHOOLS for MARK TROPHY CONSIDERATION: Per the NOR, http://www.nessa-sailing.org/race.htm, schools properly registered for Mark Trophy consideration must send scores to Rob Hurd (rshurd@hotmail.com) to be posted on the NESSA Teams Website.

For Mark Consideration and to be ranked at the end of the season, it’s each school’s responsibility to keep their scores updated.
Scores are posted at http://www.taboracademy.net/nessa/standings.asp
Per the NOR, Meet scores through Sunday May 1, 2011 will count towards resumes

PLAN K COMPUTER RANKINGS: When enough Schools, who have registered for the NESSA Team Racing Champs, reach the 7 meet requirement needed for consideration, we will post the PLAN K Computer Rankings. After the May 1st resume deadline, the rankings from each NESSA Teams Selection Committee members will be added to PLAN K, per the NOR “Selection” process, for the final rankings.

6. SCORING A TEAM RACE

For a meet to count, it must be a best of three or higher.

Go to “NESSA Meet Scoring Rules” at http://www.taboracademy.net/nessa/scoring_rules.htm or http://www.nessa-sailing.org/race.htm for detailed instructions on how to score a meet properly.

7. POSTING TEAM RACING SCORES

KNOW how to Score a team race. Go to http://www.taboracademy.net/nessa/scoring_rules.htm or http://www.nessa-sailing.org/race.htm. The WINNING coach should e-mail Rob Hurd (RSHurd@hotmail.com) within 24 hours of the meet’s completion and CC the losing coach. Coaches’ Contact E-mail Addresses can be found on the NESSA website. http://highschoolsailingusa.org/directory/district.asp?ID=NESSA

E-MAIL should contain.

Date
Winning school and score
Losing school and score
Location of meet (home, away, neutral site)

SCORES can be viewed at: http://www.taboracademy.net/nessa/standings.asp

8. WILD CARD WEEKEND - May 7-8, 2011

Membership approved the use of the Wild Card Weekend for the 2009 Spring Racing Season.
Check the NESSA Team Racing Championships NOR for details and section process.

9. JUDGES/UMPIRES

Quality Judges are needed to for the NESSA Championships. If you or you know someone who may be able to judge at a NESSA Championship, please contact NESSA VP, Rob Knecht (robk@dbms.org).

UMPIRES are needed for the Mark Trophy May 14-15. The only way to continue to hold the Mark Trophy with umpires is for NESSA coaches to help. If you do not have a team competing and/or your team participated at a Wild Card Regatta and did not make it to the Mark, we ask that you help umpire this event. Don’t worry; you will be teamed up with an experienced umpire that you will work with to make calls. It is a great opportunity to better understand the game, the rules and tactics you can apply to your coaching. In the past the NEISA college coaches have stepped up to help NESSA events, so it is also a good way to build relations with college coaches.

10. HEALY VENUE

Looking ahead to the fall of 2011, a host venue is needed for the 2011 Healy, to be held in late September 2011. (Exact Date TBD). This is a BYOB regatta and a great way to jazz up HS Sailing in your area.

The venue should be able to accommodate 50+ lasers with ample parking and an effective launching strategy.

Contact NESSA President, Andrew Nugnes, alnuggs@hotmail.com, if you are interested

11. PFD USE

PFD use is mandatory. Be familiar with ISSA Procedural Rule 2.2: A US Coast Guard Approved life jacket is required to compete in a NESSA or ISSA Championship. The use of a non-USCG approved PFD is a violation of ISSA PR 2.2, unsafe and not legal in HS Sailing.

Coaches and parents who allow team members to use non-Coast Guard Approved life jackets assume the legal liability for their use. It is the coach’s responsibility to make sure that all of their sailors have USCG approved PFDs on and fastened properly while competing.

12. FAIR SAILING/SPORTSMANSHIP

Fair, safe and fun competition is the backbone to a successful racing season. Sail clean, sail fair and have respect for the competitor. Play by the rules and know how the game is played. Accept responsibility when wrong and exonerate on the race course. Use boat handling, sail trim and clean race tactics to win…not the protest room. Let’s pride ourselves as a leader in fair sailing.

13. STEPHEN B. LESLIE SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD

Rob Hurd brought this fine award back to the forefront a few years back. It’s awarded annually to the team that stands out and is most respected by its peers in NESSA. This team always uses good clean racing and skill, no matter if its win, lose or draw, and you’re left thinking those sailors are good people to sail against. If a school leaves an impression on your team while competing this season, nominate them for this award at the end of the season. Details will be posted on the NESSA Website.

14. NESSA COMMITTEES

NESSA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – Please welcome the following to the NESSA Executive Committee:

Andrew Nugnes
Rob Knecht
Nick Judson
Rob Hurd
Roger Rawlings
Roy Williams
Susie Duncan
Alexa Schuler
Carl Zimba
Sarah Helming

NESSA TEAM RACING SELECTION COMMITTEE - The selection committee will rank teams first through last which will be computed with the PLAN K computer ranking to determine the final Team Racing Rankings. Welcome this year’s committee.

Andrew Nugnes
Rob Knecht
Nick Judson
Rob Hurd
Roger Rawlings
Roy Williams
Susie Duncan
Alexa Schuler
Carl Zimba
Sarah Helming

Getting Started with the Rules

2010-11-18T09:31:00.000-05:00

At the NESSA annual meeting, we had a long discussion about how to best teach our sailors the rules. Particularly with team racing, this is a critical knowledge set - possibly even more so than understanding shifts, plays, and tactics. As you plan your first Rules lesson, here are a few resources that you should definitely check out.

ISAF: Racing Rules of Sailing - while it's great to have a complete rule book, sometimes its easier to keep a PDF on your computer or a few print outs in a zip lock bag. The ISAF site has the current edition as well as any changes.
ISAF: Call Book for Team Racing - in addition to knowing the basic rules, sailors who team race should also be familiar with significant judges calls. Many situations that appear fuzzy have actually been clearly defined.
ISSA Procedural Rules - these are crucial for both coaches, sailors, and parents to understand, particularly with regard to how protests should be handled as well as items that differ from the standard racing rules.
Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing - Dave Perry's book is hands-down the easiest interpretation of the rules. If you or your team are just getting started, then this is a must-have book.

Once you have all of your resources, how do you start teaching? Last year, with our JV group, we did about a 2 hour chalk-talk on rules on a rainy, windy afternoon. We opened up Dave Perry's book and started with Part 2: When Boats Meet. One person read while another person drew on the white board. We didn't have any magnetic boats, so we used 2 different colored markers. It was probably the best rules lesson that I've ever taught at a beginner level.

NESSA Spring News

2010-04-16T09:01:00.006-04:00

The spring season is well underway at this point, and - for the most part - the New England weather has even been cooperating! Here is a list of updates that may be of use.

New Officers

At the Annual Meeting in November, a new slate of officers was nominated and elected.

Andrew Nugnes - President: Previously, Andrew served as VP to Doug Heil. He has been coaching the Barnstable High School team for several years, and can be contacted at alnuggs@hotmail.com.

Rob Knecht - Vice President: Rob coached Duxbury High School to win the Mark Trophy last year, and now takes on this new leadership role with NESSA. He can be reached at robk@dbms.org.

Nick Judson - Treasurer/Secretary: Nick has coached Nantucket High School, and run Nantucket Community Sailing for quite some time. A master of logistics, he can be reached at nfjudson@aol.com

For more information about the officers and their responsibilities, check out the NESSA website.

Championship Dates and Venues

For official news and updates, make sure you are also checking the NESSA website. The O'Day Qualifier allocations have been set, the Mark location announced, and the Herreshoff NOR posted.

The O'Day Championship will be held on the weekend of April 24-25. Saturday, 60 teams will be competing from 5 different sites. The allocations were completed on a first-come-first serve basis. The 5 sites (and their contact people) include:

Lewis Bay (Hyannis, MA) – Andrew Nugnes
Narragansett Bay, Ida Lewis Yacht Club (Newport, RI) – Roy Williams
Boston Harbor (Boston, MA) – Mary Farrell
The Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, CT) – Roger Rawlings
Casco Bay - (Portland, ME) – Rob Scribner

Click here to download the Word File with the final allocations for Saturday. The finals will be held on Sunday at Indian Harbor YC in Greenwich, CT. This is also the site for the Mallory. Click here to download the complete Notice of Race (NOR) as a Word File.

Registration to be considered for the Mark Trophy - the New England Team Racing Championship - closed on April 1st. No, this was not a joke. Rankings are determined by both human and computer ranking according to the established scoring system. For more information on how this works, there is an abridged version on this blog, as well as details on the NESSA site.

The Mark will be sailed at MIT on the weekend of May 15-16. Click here to download the full NOR.

The Women's Invite for the Herreshoff Trophy has been scheduled for Sunday, May 9, at Maine Maritime Academy. At this point, registration has closed, but interested teams may still be able to try to get on the waiting list. You can click here to download the NOR with contact, registration, and housing information.

Back to Practice

2010-03-28T13:39:00.003-04:00

Though the college teams have been on the water since late January or early February, most high school teams are just getting started. As you prepare for the new season, a few things to keep in mind.

Registration & Dues - make sure that all of your paperwork has been filed correctly with NESSA
Schedule - if you plan on competing in the O'Day, you need to have completed at least three meets before the qualifiers begin. Given the weather of these past few weeks - and what is forecast for this week - that may be easier said than done.
Gear - the water is cold. Is your team fully dressed? At St. George's, we still have some new sailors looking for lifejackets and dry suits. Our first day on the water, yesterday, proved that many of our sailors are not layering properly under their drysuits. While this sounds simple, it's worth reviewing.

If you are a new team or coach this season, and have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sail Fast and Good Luck!

O'Day Host School Info

2009-04-19T19:11:00.003-04:00

This year, the qualifiers for the O'Day will be held at Barnstable, Brewster, Fan Pier, Greenwich, and St. George's. Sail Maine is hosting the championship round on Sunday for the O'Day Trophy.

To ensure the most equal racing, all sites will use the same Sailing Instructions (SIs) and will conduct the same type of racing. Here is what you can expect at all sites. (This information was provided by Doug Heil.)

1) REGATTA NOTICE BOARD - A place at each facility will serve as the "Official Regatta Notice Board". The following will be available there:

Record of Participation forms (make sure that these are accurate and signed)
Protest Forms
Breakdown Form (the ISSA protest form also serves as a Breakdown and redress form-please make a mention at the sailors meeting)
Rotation sheets
Sailing instructions
Updated scores

2) REGATTA TOOLS: all sites will adhere to the following

NESSA PROCEDURAL RULES. http://nessa-sailing.org/about.htm
ISSA PROCEDURAL RULES http://highschoolsailingusa.org/PRs/printro.htm
RECORD OF PARTICIPATION FORM http://www.highschoolsailingusa.org/Forms/regattaOrganizer/regattaOrganizerInfo.htm
- You may also use the college sailing RP FORM found at http://www.collegesailing.org/forms/ICSA-RP-AB.pdf

PROTEST FORMS http://www.highschoolsailingusa.org/Forms/regattaOrganizer/regattaOrganizerInfo.htm

NAVY SCORING PROGRAM http://www.collegesailing.org/docs/scoring_notes.asp

3) JUDGES.
Each site will try to have a judge available. However, ff a judge cannot be found, the coaches will be notified at the sailors meeting that they may be called on to serve as a judge in a protest. Coaches will be used in the following manner:

Each person in the protest finds a coach, who is not their own, to hear the case. A coach must respond if asked. No coach can be asked a second time unless all the other available coaches have served.
The two coaches hear the testimony and determine the facts. Then they apply the appropriate rule. All this should be written down and handed over to the event chair, who, will hold it along with the rest of the race documents until June 1.

4) ARTICLE L and NO SHOWS

NESSA By Law Article L- Penalty For Failure to Compete is in effect for this regatta. If “A school which fails to attend a NESSA regatta for which it has been scheduled, attends with less than a full team, or departs before the conclusion of the regatta without the consent of the Event Chair, shall be placed on probation…”

To avoid the penalty, schools must notify NESSA VP or the Event Chair at least 48hrs prior to the report time of the regatta or in this case, Thursday April 23, 2009 at 0900.

A list of schools that have withdrawn without penalty will be provided by 1100 Thursday April 23, 2009.

5) ARTCILE K

NESSA By Law Article K (c ) is in effect. It states... “Schools must sail at least 3 scheduled meets or regattas prior to the championship between 2 or more schools in the season that the championship is being held. Results of those meets must be presented at the championship”. This is to ensure a fair and safe regatta.

Andrew has sent out an email on April 17th, reminding schools of this requirement. Please be aware of which schools are at your site and enforce it if necessary. Remember this is a NESSA by-law and no one has the power to overrule it.

6) CONTACTING SCHOOLS RACING AT YOUR SITE

In order to contact schools who will be racing at each site, use the NESSA directory.

http://highschoolsailingusa.org/directory/district.asp?ID=NESSA

7) ROTATIONS/NUMBER OF RACES

Quick rotations are controllable factor to getting races off and a key to a successful regatta, and each facility will be set up so rotations can be done quickly. The goal will be to run a full rotation by 1600.

According to ISSA PR 8a “Coaching”, at least 1 coach from each team should have equal access to the rotation area to meet with their sailors between races. However, the goal will be quick rotations. Make sure that your sailors are aware of the rotation schedule and quickly get back on the water.

Their may or may not be a dock master with a VHF who can communicate with the start line. This person may also be the official to whome breakdowns are reported. This will be clarified at the sailor’s meeting.

Ideally, boats will rotate after every 2 races. This helps to get more races in, and each school will sail each boat at least once between their A & B division. For example; “A” sails “boat 1” for two races, then “B” sails boat “2” for 2 races, “A” sail boat “3” for 2 races, ect.

Most likely, racing will not stop for lunch. Teams will be encouraged to eat lunch in between races.

8) MAINTENANACE/BOATS

Each site has no more than 12 schools, so at least 12 boats will be available to have 1 division on the water at a time. In some locations, if there are enough boats, both divisions may be on the water at the same time, but with separate starts. There may also be at least 1 extra boat rigged and ready to go in case of a breakdown.

Before Saturday, the host schools will take the time with to check over all of their boats and make them as equal as possible. However, it is the competitors' responsibility to make sure to pay attention to common breakdown areas (ie tiller universals) and do preventative maintenance prior to each race. While a proper tool kit and spare parts will most likely be on hand, and someone on site during the regatta will handle repairs, competitors should have their own bailers and emergency spare parts.

Schools with a mixed vintage fleet, and sails of different ages, will try not to load up the new boat with the best sails. Instead, they will try to even out the fleet - put the worst sails on the newest boat. Vice versa

9) REGATTA REPORT: At the completion of the regatta, each host will file a complete Regatta Report with the NESSA VP and the NESSA Secretary/Treasurer. They will follow the ISSA guidelines for Regatta Reports, found on page 19 of the ISSA Procedural Rules (ISSA PR 13). This report must contain:

the regatta name and date
a tally sheet showing total scores for each school. The winning competitors and crews, and the skippers and crews of at least the first three schools in each division
a report showing the points scored by each school in each race
all signed Record or Participation Forms as required by ISSA PR 4.3
a synopsis of the race conditions.

10)NAVY SCORING PROGRAM

All sites MUST use the Navy Scoring Program to score the O’DAY QUALIFIERS. It may seem complicated to use the first time, but once you become comfortable with it, it makes scoring a High School Regatta very easy by doing all of the calculations for you.

It also creates an emailable text report that can be sent to the NESSA e-mail list, and it creates a great looking regatta report.If you are not comfortable with it yet, please have your scorer download it from the ISSA website and get comfortable with it. http://www.collegesailing.org/docs/scoring_notes.asp

11) AT THE END OF THE REGATTA: At the end of sailing for the day, each site will do the following:

POST THE RESULTS- at the site on the regatta notice board. This will allow everyone to double-check for possible errors before the results are published.

RP FORMS- make sure that all of the Race Participation forms are filled out correctly and signed. *******There is a penalty for teams that fail to complete and/or sign the RP form. See ISSA PR 4.3(a). *******

POST THE SCORES ONLINE- Once the visiting teams have left, hosts will post at least the scores online (with sailing conditions) at the NESSA e-mail list (nessa@topica.com) or take the time to do the full regatta report using the Navy Scoring program.
- Hosts will try to spend a little extra time to do the full report (including competitors names). The names are VITAL to successfully reporting scores and it helps coaches plan for the Championship regatta.

POST THE REGATTA REPORT ONLINE- Use the NAVY SCORING PROGRAM to create a complete regatta report.
- Enter the competitor names into the Navy Scoring Program. Spend the time to enter the names correctly.
- Once done, an updated report will be sent to the NESSA e-mail list and send to NESSA Secretary , Evan Olmstead, evan_olmstead@greenwich.k12.ct.us and NESSA President Doug Heil, dougheil22@otmail.com . This will count as filing the regatta report with NESSA. Results are not final until they are certified by NESSA.

CONTACT Sarah Helming- Each qualifying site shall contact Sarah at sarah@sailmaine.org .
- This will inform Sarah of the schools that have qualified for the O’Day finals. She has to turn around her site to prepare for 15 unknown schools. The sooner she knows the identity of those schools, the easier it is for her.
- Keep hard copies of all documents (scoring sheets, protest forms, race results, RP forms, etc) on file until June 1, 2009. After that date, hosts may throw them out.

Understanding the Mark

2009-04-19T08:22:00.006-04:00

The Mark Trophy, held this year the weekend of May 16-17, serves as NESSA's team racing championship. This two-day, 8-team round robin is not only the New England championship, but also the qualifier for the team racing nationals - the Baker Trophy.

So, how does it get narrowed from 83 teams down to 8? There are several factors that come into play. Qualification for the Mark is a process that has been under review for the last few years. Originally, the top 8 was determined by a computer ranking system, resume, and a panel of judges. However, in 2005, a Wild Card Weekend was added to the system so as to expand the number of teams involved in the championship from 8 to 16.

General Qualification Requirements
According to Section 2.d of the NESSA By-Laws, in order to qualify for consideration to the Mark, a school must sail at least 7 team scheduled meets or regattas, during the championship season, prior to the championship, and be a member in good standing. These schools must then submit their resume to the NESSA Vice President by the due date as specified in the NOR (notice of race).

The Selection Process and Ranking System
The selection process for teams to compete in the Mark is based upon a ranking system that has been developed and improved upon over several years. The current version combines a computer ranking with a coaches’ poll. This is the computer ranking system that comes into play when determining the official top 12 teams to be considered for the Mark, and calculates (1) overall winning percentage, (2) strength of schedule, as well as (3) the winning percentage against top 20 teams.

A few weeks prior to the NESSA Team Racing Championship, a panel of coaches selected by the NESSA President ranks the teams that have applied for consideration to a berth in the NESSA Team Racing Championship. The average ranking of the coaches’ panel is then averaged with the computer ranking so that the computer ranking and human polling have equal weight. This combined ranking is used to determine which teams are invited to compete in the preliminary Wild Card Weekend sail-off and then the Team Racing Championship.

Wild Card Weekend
The idea of having the Wild Card weekend evolved from discussion amongst coaches in 2004. This came from the desire to include more teams in the championship process. Essentially, the top 4 teams, as determined by the ranking system, automatically receive berths to the Mark. Teams 5-8 who have already qualified for the Mallory (fleet racing nationals), also receive automatic berths. The remaining teams ranked 5-12, sail off against each other in a Wild Card Weekend. This mini-championship determines teams 5-8 to compete the following weekend at the Mark against the pre-determined top 4.

For complete details, read the Wild Card Weekend NOR. (This will open a Word Document)

The Computer Rating System
The current computer rating system, in use since 2006 with one update, is based upon the following three factors: overall winning percentage, strength of schedule, and winning percentage against Top 20 teams, each expressed as 1000 times the decimal fraction. Once the computer rating is determined for all the teams in NESSA, they are given an ordinal computer ranking. The foundation of this system is that there are no preconceived or a priori assumptions and that all the computations are based on actual on-the-water results for the current season. (Information provided by Carl Zimba)

Click here for complete details about the Computer Rating System (again, thanks to Carl).

Specific Information for the 2009 Mark Trophy

Scores from scheduled meets need to be reported to NESSA and posted on the NESSA website at http://www.taboracademy.net/nessa/all_results.asp. You can get full directions about how to properly post results at http://nessa-sailing.org/results/how_to_post_TR_results.doc
Standings by winning percentage, with links to results by individual teams, are posted at http://www.taboracademy.net/nessa/standings.asp.
The NOR for the Mark Trophy, with the due date to register for consideration, is posted to the NESSA website at http://nessa-sailing.org/nors/09mark.doc.
Full details about Wild Card Weekend are also posted to the NESSA website at http://nessa-sailing.org/nors/09wildCard.doc.

Knowing Your Team's Limits

2009-04-17T11:10:00.006-04:00

We've had a windy spring in Newport, RI. For the first few weeks, we may have spent as much time in the classroom as on the water. While the urge to just get on the water is huge, it's not always the best idea.

The question then becomes: how do you know when to say when? As coaches, it's our job to make the judgment call. We not only need to determine what is best for the safety of our team, but also our competitors. Here are a few questions to ask yourself that may help you to know your team's limits.

Can your team safely get on and off the water? For us, it is extremely difficult for even our top boats to get off the dock in a strong northerly. We had to cancel a meet earlier this week not necessarily because of the gusts, but because of the fact that we didn't think everyone could get sailing without risking damage.
Can your weakest boat stay upright? Sometimes, we are confident that our top boats, with heavy air crews, can sail the conditions. However, are we creating safety risks by letting our JV boats out? If you have enough support, don't hesitate to tell some kids that they should just watch for a day while you sail the top boats. It's better for them to learn something rather than just go swimming.
Would you want to sail the conditions? Honestly, do you think that you would enjoy the practice? If you are looking at the breeze and thinking, glad I'm not out there, then the kids probably are too.
Is it your equipment? A few weeks ago, we had a varsity meet against another school while using a third school's boats. It was gusting to 25, and blowing onto a lee shore. After the first race, we all agreed to call it a day before something got broken. If you are using some one else's boats, they will appreciate your judgment call.
Are you going to gain anything from sailing the conditions? Not all conditions are conducive to a good practice. If the goal is to speed-test with heavy-air crews, then 20+ is ok. However, if your team is still learning to boat handle, then a day of chalk-talks may be a better use of you and your team's time.

Finally, know that opposing coaches will always appreciate your good judgment. With both fleet racing and team racing events, it is often up to the coach to determine whether or not their sailors can compete in the given conditions. A hosting coach would rather have you pull out of a race before some one, or something, is put in harm's way.

Understanding the O'Day

2009-04-10T06:31:00.004-04:00

On the weekend of April 25-26, NESSA holds the O'Day Trophy. This is the New England fleet racing championship as well as the qualifying event for the Mallory - the national fleet racing championship.

So, you may ask, how does this all work? Well, first off, understand that this is a two-day event. On day one, all schools who (1) are NESSA members in good standing, and (2) have sailed at least three scheduled meets or regattas prior during the season, are eligible to sail. During day one, twelve teams sail at 5 different locations. The top three schools from each location then move on to Sunday's event. (See Section 2.c of the bylaws for more information.)

ISSA (the Interscholastic Schools Sailing Association) determines the number of berths to the nationals for each district. This can vary annually, depending on membership numbers. Usually, the top 4 teams from the O'Day qualify for the Mallory.

More Information for 2009

Notice of Race (NOR) for the O'Day (this will download a Word document to your computer)
O'day Qualifying Site Assignments (another Word document that will show who is sailing at which location)
ISSA Championship Regattas (this page has links to all national NORs)

Getting Ready to Host

2009-04-03T18:17:00.004-04:00

Hard to believe that spring season is here. In case you are hosting any meets, or maybe you already have, here is a checklist that may be of benefit. Sarah Helming from Sail Maine put together a great article about what to expect at a high school regatta.

Typical Schedule/Itinerary:

9:30am Report time (all sailors need to be at sailing site)

10:00am Skipper's Meeting

11:00am Regatta begins

Lunch break - There is not typically a lunch “break”. Sailors tend to eat between races. Coaches/parents should make sure to bring food and drinks as it is often not convenient to go find something after you're on site.

4:00pm Last race is sailed

5:30pm Depart venue

* If the regatta is on SUNDAY: Most regatta hosts will end a regatta at 3:30pm on Sunday to allow for people to return home/travel.

Fleet vs. Team Racing events
1) In Fleet Racing there are 2 divisions (A and B). Each team has one boat for each division. Most regattas are represented by at least 4 sailors (2 sailors per boat).

At some of the regattas there may be an option to have 2 “teams” for each individual school. This can help to increase the number of competitors.

Generally, the 2 divisions rotate through the boats. For example, while A-division is sailing, B-division is on shore. Occasionally, if the venue has enough boats, all competitors will be on the water at the same time, but there will be separate starts.
2) Team racing is very different from Fleet Racing. In a team race, there are only 6 boats on the race course at one time. There are two teams racing against one another and each team has 3 boats each (6 sailors).

Spectating
Unfortunately, sailing is not an easy sport to spectate and most HS regattas don't have spectator boats. However, sailors will be on land for a portion of the day and “fans” are always appreciated. ** Binoculars help! **

Coaching
Make sure to consult the sailing instructions (SIs) with regard to coaching at events. Once a start is in sequence, regardless of whether it is a fleet or team race, there is no coaching allowed (except for maybe in a low JV meet). However, if there is not equal access for all coaches to meet with their competitors, then coaching may be limited to just between races. Coaches and parents need to respect and adhere to the guidelines, as written in the SIs.

NESSA Officers

2008-11-01T16:52:00.003-04:00

Every two years, at the annual meeting, the members of NESSA vote for the three officers. Nominations for these positions are made by a nominating committee that consists of former presidents who are still active in NESSA.

President

This person has the overall responsibility of running NESSA, including the annual meeting. The president also assists the secretary with dues collection and advising new members, and the vice-president with race management. Whoever is voted president also serves as the NESSA representative to the ISSA.

Doug Heil is the 2007-2009 President

dougheil22@hotmail.com

Vice-President

This person assists the president with all NESSA organization and serves as a substitute for the president when that person is absent. The main responsibility of the vice-president is to coordinate all NESSA regattas, including: naming regatta chairs, finding locations, producing NORs/SIs/protest sheets/rotations, acquiring trophies, reporting results to the secretary and area media, as well as finding judges.

Andrew Nugnes (Barnstable HS) is the 2007-2009 Vice President.

alnuggs@hotmail.com.

Secretary/Treasurer

It is the responsibility of this person to maintain an accurate, up-to-date membership roster as well as the financial records. This person also maintains regatta records and produces all mailings and emailings, including the Fall Newsletter (Dues Invoices & Fall NORs), the Spring Newsletter (Annual Meeting Minutes, Results from Fall Regattas, and Spring NORs), and the End-of-Season Newsletter (Spring Results, look ahead to the next year).

Evan Olmstead (Greenwich HS) is the 2007-2009 Secretary/Treasurer.

Evan_Olmstead@greenwich.k12.ct.us

NESSA Membership and Dues

2008-10-30T06:39:00.002-04:00

There is only one type of school membership in ISSA, and all school members then belong to District Associations as well as ISSA. All school members have voting privileges in ISSAa and are eligible for all Championships. To be a member of NESSA, each school must annually register through the ISSA website.

In addition to registering, each school must pay both ISSA dues ($75) as well as NESSA dues ($25). The invoice for these dues needs to be downloaded from the NESSA Membership page and returned to the NESSA Secretary/Treasurer.

Where does the money go?

NESSA strives to keep the annual dues as low as possible. The money helps to fund:

The management of the organization
Trophies and prizes
Gifts for judges
Gifts for host schools
Schools who host events
Website fees
Printing and copies
ISSA dues
Damages at events
Running the annual meeting

What is NESSA?

2008-10-29T20:23:00.008-04:00

According to the NESSA By-Laws:

"The objective of the Association shall be to further the sport of sailing in New England secondary schools and to organize those schools competing by standardizing rules and procedures and by aiding with scheduling."

Beyond that, NESSA is the governing body of high school sailing in the area, and it oversees all of the racing. This includes helping and encouraging new teams as well as running the 4 championship events: the Healy (single-handed), the O'Day (fleet racing), the Mark (team racing), and the Herreshoff (women's fleet racing).

All NESSA business is done via email on the NESSA list serve, as well as at the annual scheduling meeting. The organization is governed by a set of by-laws, has a slate of officers (President, VP, and Secretary/Treasurer), an Executive Committee and a Team Racing Selection Committee. The annual meeting is held in November, during which time members can submit by-law changes and items for discussion. Changes are they made by a majority of votes by those members attending the annual meeting.

To subscribe to the NESSA list-serve, send a blank email to: NESSA-subscribe@topica.com

Welcome to NESSA!

2008-09-26T17:56:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the New England Schools Sailing Association (NESSA). This is the governing body of high school sailing for New England. Unlike other high school sports, sailing competes regionally rather than across districts or states. While some states may hold their own championships, or even create their own leagues, teams are still encouraged to be a part of the NESSA community.

If you are a new team, or a new coach to a new team, we hope that this blog will be a good resource to help you get started.

All About High School Sailing

2008-09-26T17:55:00.000-04:00

As mentioned, NESSA is the governing body for high school sailing in New England. All of high school sailing falls under the ISSA (Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association). Again, unlike other high school sports, in sailing, schools compete regionally and nationally, and includes public as well as private schools. Eligibility to compete begins in the 9th grade and has no age limitations (other than the fact that the student must compete for the school in which they intend to matriculate).

There are active districts in six other regions besides New England, and hundreds of schools across the country that compete year-round. In the fall, there are some double-handed events as well as the single-handed national championships (The Cressy). During the spring, teams compete in both fleet racing as well as team racing events with their goal being to make it to the national championships. (The Mallory for fleet racing and the Baker for team racing) These events are hosted by a different district each year.

If you have not already registered to become a member school, you can do so from the NESSA website. Once you become a member, you will be eligible for the national qualifiers as well as other events with your team.

Everything to Know Before the Scheduling Meeting

2008-09-26T17:24:00.007-04:00

One of the first challenges of coaching a high school sailing team, is the annual NESSA scheduling meeting. This event is more of a free-for-all with teams trying to set up meets with other teams. However, it's actually more organized than it may at first seem.

Meets vs. Regattas

The first thing to understand is what constitutes a meet. Typically, this involves at least two teams sailing a best of 5 series against each other in a team race. A school must sail a minimum of 3 meets in order to qualify for the O'Day (the NESSA qualifier for fleet racing nationals - the Mallory).

Regattas, on the other hand, involve multiple schools competing against each other in a fleet race. During the fall season, there are several opportunities for schools to participate in regattas both within NESSA as well as outside of it. The Healy Trophy - the regatta to qualify for single-handed nationals - usually occurs in late September. Several schools also host double-handed fleet racing events. A full list can be found on the NESSA Race Info page.

The Fall vs. Spring Season

Though sailing does occur during both seasons, the spring often becomes the focal point. In fact, schools belonging to the ISL (Inter-Scholastic League) can only compete during one season of the year. Since both the fleet racing and team racing nationals occur in the spring, they compete during this latter season.

Typically, fall sailing includes more fleet racing regattas, especially since the single-handed nationals (the Cressy) is held in either October or November. Spring focuses on team racing and the double-handed nationals.

The Scheduling Meeting

On the first Sunday in November, the annual NESSA meeting occurs. This is also known as the Scheduling Meeting. During the first part of the morning, coaches discuss who they would like to sail and when for the spring season. Meets can occur on any day, and at any mutually convenient time. Again, a school must sail a minimum of 3 meets in order to qualify for the O'Day - the New England Fleet Racing Championship and qualifier for fleet racing nationals.

A few things to know about scheduling:

Most of the boarding schools end classes early on Wednesdays and schedule meets for those afternoons. They also have classes on Saturdays, and cannot sail before noon.

Many teams have both a JV as well as a Varsity team. Larger schools may have multiple JV teams. Feel free to talk to coaches about which team you may want to sail. Many of the schools are happy to host new teams and to field a team that will ensure that everyone benefits from the meet. (e.g. they won't sail a varsity team against a group of beginners)

There is an important distinction between Varsity and JV meets. The Varsity scores impact the rankings of the schools within NESSA. This is important because only the top 14 schools get to compete for the Mark Trophy - the New England Team Racing Championship and qualifier for team racing nationals (the Baker). If you ask to schedule a varsity meet, then know that the other school will definitely field a varsity level team.

Notice of Race (NOR) Information

NOR information can be found on the Race Info page of the NESSA website. These documents will explain the event, the venue, any prerequisites, and logistics. Some regattas can only accommodate a certain number of teams. That information will also be listed.