High School Sailing (Interscholastic Sailing Association – ISSA) kicks off the Championship sailing season with the Mallory Championship, in San Diego, CA this coming weekend, May 10-11.  The Mallory Trophy, dedicated in 1930, will determine the best of fleet racing among the 7 Districts represented by 20 schools across the USA.  The best High School sailors will descend upon San Diego Yacht Club with the racing to be held off the city front with spectacular viewing from the Embarcadero.

As referenced in ISSA’s Basic Guide for Safety Practices which is posted on the ISSA website under Safety Practices, High School Sailing recommends that all competitors to be safety conscious. It’s important that we follow safety practices during all sailing practices and regattas as injuries can happen. The basic guide provides information that will help all competitors and organizers continue with a positive safety environment for our sport.

After attending the US Sailing’s leadership conference last week in San Diego with 650+ attendees, I came away with a lot of ideas so we can improve junior sailing from the high school sailing point of view. I believe we fit in a box that is simple and structured. We are not trying to change any aspect of youth sailing other than creating a team sport that becomes important for high school students. The message from the conference was to learn as much as you can but come away with 5 key items that can use in your organization