Auction to Benefit Junior Sailing: 1965 Dyer Dhow

High Bid: $850 (SOLD!)
(updated Saturday, August 9th, 2030hrs)
1965 Dyer Dhow

Generously donated by the estate of Eric Layton, this gorgeous 1965 Dyer Dhow dinghy is in pristine condition and has been lovingly restored. She is 7’ 9” and complete with spruce spars, Ratsey and Lapthorn sail, vintage Smoker’s Quality Brand oars, bronze oarlocks, and registration documents. This is your chance to own a classic!

Bids for this beautiful dinghy will be accepted through 8:30pm on Saturday, August 9th and will be updated online several times each day. Bids will be accepted by phone, email or on the bid sheet posted at the Club. To place your bid, call Chris Lucas at (917) 750-8292 or send your bid via email with your name and phone number to bids@hempsteadharbourclub.com. The current high bid will be updated several times daily on this page.

Click images below to view fullsize photos.
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Interested in seeing her in person? The dinghy will be exhibited Tuesday-Friday evenings at the club and Saturday during the day. Please email Chris Lucas at HHCJuniorSailing@gmail.com if you would like to arrange to view the boat at a different time.

Junior Sailing Scholarship

As the summer boating season draws near, Glen Cove’s Hempstead Harbour Club is gearing up for its summer Junior Sailing Program. Each summer for the past ten years, the Hempstead Harbor Club has offered sailing instruction to boys and girls aged 8 thru 15. This year, Hempstead Harbour Club will be awarding a full, all-expense-paid scholarship to the 7-week program for an opportunity to learn to sail and spend the summer on the water. This scholarship is generously provided by the Heritage Cup Regatta — a classic wooden boat regatta founded by Captain Mike Emmert of Glen Cove. “Through the Heritage Cup Regatta’s generosity, we are proud to be able to extend this unique opportunity to our community” said HHC Commodore Al Reres. “Our Junior Sailing program helps to ensure the future of recreational sailing. This scholarship will share that experience with a lucky recipient and help foster a deeper appreciation for our waterfront.”

Scholarship candidates should submit an essay of any length explaining in detail why they want to learn to sail together with a letter of recommendation. No previous sailing experience is required! Be sure to include your name, age, address and phone number and mail to Hempstead Harbour Club Scholarship; P.O. Box 192; Glen Cove, NY 11542 or send via email to HHCJuniorSailing@gmail.com. Entries must be received no later than June 10th and the winner will be notified in mid-June.

Located on Garvies Point Road in Glen Cove, the Hempstead Harbour Club was founded in 1891 “for the encouragement of sailing, swimming and other amateur sports.” The club has preserved its rich history and sailing traditions and was recognized as a historic landmark by the city of Glen Cove in 2010. The club’s Junior Sailing program runs for seven weeks from Monday, June 30th through August 14th with half-day sessions held Monday thru Thursday led by the club’s staff of US Sailing-certified instructors. The program is open to both members and non-members and caters to everyone from first-timers to experienced racers. Adult instruction is also available. Additional program information and registration forms can be found at https://hempsteadharbourclub.com/juniorsailing or contact Program Chair Christopher Lucas at HHCJuniorSailing@gmail.com.

Each fall, the Heritage Cup Regatta draws classic wooden yachts from up and down the east coast to compete in an event celebrating the art of wooden boat building and classic yacht racing. A spectacle for participants and spectators alike, Hempstead Harbour Club is proud to host this year’s event on September 27th.

Junior Sailing Wraps Up Summer 2013 Program

2013 HHC Junior Sailing
HHC Junior Sailing closed its 2013 summer program with its traditional Awards Barbecue on Friday, August 9th. Over sixty hungry kids, parents and siblings enjoyed traditional barbecue fare and far too many desserts while celebrating the kids’ accomplishments and acknowledging our fantastic staff.

Each year, program instructors nominate and vote for recipients for four awards presented at the barbecue: the Instructor’s Award, Most Improved Sailor, Most Improved 1st Year Sailor, and Junior Sailor of The Year. Awards for 2013 were presented as follows:

  • Instructor’s Award: Joseph Traina
  • Most Improved Sailor: Caroline Lucas
  • Most Improved 1st Year Sailor: Sophia Duff
  • Junior Sailor of The Year: Gregory Zito

Gregory Zito: 2013 Junior Sailor of The YearAward recipients each received an award certificate signed by Commodore Al Reres along with gift cards for The Dinghy Shop in Amityville, NY. As Junior Sailor of the Year, Gregory Zito’s achievement was additionally recognized on the perpetual trophy at the club.

Our Junior Sailing staff for 2013 included Head Instructor Shanna Rae Savignano, Instructors Tori Keegan and John Maisano; and Junior Instructors Alec Snow, Vidar Minkovsky and Peter Budraitis. Hempstead Harbour Club’s Junior Sailing Program is chaired by Rear Commodore Chris Lucas.

Congratulations to all our junior sailors on their achievements and to our fine team of instructors.

Junior Sailing: Regattas, Raffles and Racing

Junior Sailing’s busy summer came to a peak last week with JSA regattas, our annual fundraiser and a first annual Junior Sailing Champagne race. July 15th marked the start of Larchmont Junior Race Week with 6 HHC program participants venturing across the Sound to participate in three days of competitive sailing. Aisling Sullivan, Peter Budraitus, Caroline Lucas, Alex Rebuffi, Katerina Gaun and Olivia Occhi made a solid mid-fleet showing in the Laser and Pixel classes. Competition was tight in very light winds and scorching heat. On Friday of that same week, Junior Sailors were partnered with Champagne racers to compete in the first annual Junior Sailing Champagne Race. The event brought record participation for a Champagne Race with 12 boats on the line. The weather responded in kind with 18 knots out of the SW, providing a special night to remember for 12 Juniors and several parents who participated as crew and/or passengers on a warm but breezy night.

Brigadoon
Saturday’s Annual Junior Sailing Cocktail Party & Raffle event was a tremendous success. Raffle items included everything from US Open tickets to gourmet food baskets, HHC fashions, and more. The event additionally featured several special silent auctions, including original artwork, custom marine canvas and private race coaching from Junior Sailing’s Head Instructor Shanna Rae Savignano. Bidding was very competitive with several attendees waiting until the final minutes so as not to be out-bid. A special presentation was made to Margaret Garay for her generous donation of Brigadoon to the Junior Sailing program. Brigadoon, a Pearson 26, is providing additional ‘big-boat’ sailing experience to our class of 2013.

Finally, on the morning of Sunday, July 21st, 7 junior sailors headed over to Port Washington Yacht Club to participate in the annual Make-a-Wish regatta. The event featured a total of 82 boats in classes which included Optimists, Pixels, C420s, Lasers and Blue Jays. Make-a-Wish ReturnHHC had a tremendous showing at the event with Greg Zito and Sophia Duff competing in the Opti ‘Green fleet’ (reserved for first-time racers) and Caroline Lucas, Samantha Zito, Emily Budraitus, Roselle Caccio and Joe Traina racing in the Pixel division. In his first-ever regatta, Greg Zito secured 2nd overall in the Green fleet over the course of 4 races. HHC Pixels scored a solid 2nd and 3rd place in their division under skippers Roselle Caccio and Caroline Lucas. Later that afternoon, Head Instructor Shanna Rae was off to Cedar Point YC in Westport, CT for the C420 and Laser week with sailors Aisling Sullivan, Peter Budraitus, Alex Snow and Vidar Minkovsky. Alex and Vidar secured 5th place overall and, in doing so, qualified for the JSA C420 Championships. Aisling and Peter finished mid-fleet in the very competitive Laser division.

Congratulations to all our Junior Sailors and a special thank you to Jim Kowchefski for his hard work in keeping our coach boat fleet in working condition.

Junior Sailing: If Boats Could Talk…

At our upcoming club work days, we’ll be giving our junior fleet a thorough going over — preparing each for a summer introducing kids to sailing and fueling new stories of adventure the kids will remember for many years. If boats could talk, our junior fleet would have many tales — about the boy or girl who began the season a bit nervous and each day grew more confident.  About the girl who just couldn’t grasp the difference between tacking and jibing, had a few unexpected swims and got bonked in the head more than once until the ‘aha!’ moment when it finally clicked. About the 1st year sailor who tentatively entered his first regatta and, out of a fleet of 30 boats placed in the top 3 and took home some silver — a coaster-sized plate that proudly sits on the mantle above the fireplace. For an 8-year-old with zero sailing experience, their first time skippering an Opti can be summed up as roughly 3 parts excitement and 1 part fear. I recall my daughter coming home from her first day of Junior Sailing telling of her adventures sailing around the harbor. She was brimming with excitement and pride as she told tales the likes of Joshua Slocum or Seinfeld’s George Costanza – “The sea was angry that day, my friends…”

Junior Sailing is about more than just learning to sail.  Kids in our program develop self-confidence and assuredness that comes from being able to sail a boat alone in a harbor that for a child in a 7-foot dinghy can seem pretty big. They learn leadership and teamwork working with their fellow program participants, not to mention a thing or two about weather, water safety, marlinspike and more — all while having a blast.

A First Boat for Your Child

Parents looking to take their child’s sailing interest to the next level should consider purchasing a new or used Optimist dinghy for their child. Just over 7 feet long, Optimists are the one of the biggest one-design fleets in the world (over 130,000 registered boats) and are the boat of choice for sailors up to age 15 in Junior Sailing programs. Your son or daughter’s very own ‘Opti’ teaches responsibility and pride of ownership — you can expect their boat to be cleaner than their room as they wash, wax, polish and learn to adjust their rig for the best performance. HHC’s Junior Sailing fleet is comprised of boats that are service-able for learning purposes, but are less likely to be competitive in regattas. Your child’s own boat with crisp sails, better hardware and set up especially for your child will be far more competitive against similarly equipped racers. Of course, because it’s their boat, it is also available for use outside of class (supervised, of course). Used Optimists start at about $1,000 and have incredible resale value — unless you overpay, you can expect to recoup your investment when your child outgrows the boat. New Optis retail for roughly $3,000-$5,000 or more depending on manufacturer and options.  Used Optis can be found online at Craigs List or at the Dinghy Shop (http://www.dinghyshop.com) in Amityville at their annual spring used boat event. The Dinghy Shop also sells new Optis and all related gear. Need help evaluating a used boat? Give me a call or drop me an email.

Junior Sailing 2013

Enrollment is already underway for this summer’s Junior Sailing program. Our program is open to both members and non-members and runs for seven weeks beginning Monday, June 24th through August 8th. Half-day sessions are held mornings or afternoons Monday thru Thursday. Our staff of US Sailing-certified instructors lead a program that is as educational, fun and safe. Register by April 30th for an ‘Early Bird’ discount and take advantage of our ’Refer a Friend’ offer for additional savings. Fees are listed on the attached program application.

Questions about our program? Drop me an email at HHCJuniorSailing@gmail.com.