- © 2024 Annapolis Home Magazine
- All Rights Reserved
By Kymberly Taylor
Photography courtesy International Sailing Academy
For many of us, Annapolis is a sailing town, and wind is our drug of choice. You know who you are. You get up and immediately check your Windfinder App. Driving across the Severn River Bridge, your head swivels dangerously as you assess wind direction, speed, wave height, and who is sailing what.
Chances are you work with a closet “wind junkie.” You know your colleague owns a sailboat but have no idea about the secret life they lead or why they mysteriously duck out of work early. In our quaint town, racing takes place year-round on Wednesday nights. But did you know we also race seven days a week during regatta season and all through the winter? Glance out at the Severn, and you’ll see what I mean. Large stately boats and mid-size keelboats glide around the marks. Dinghies whiz about like wild butterflies, including Lasers, Optimists, Lightnings, Snipes, Day Sailers, and 4-20s.
The laser, renamed Ilca, is a very popular 13-ft. one-design dinghy. Many adults in Annapolis are drawn to its speed and performance. I sailed one as a kid and always meant to get back to it. I had heard about a terrific fleet of lasers at the Severn Sailing Association, the venerable home to over a dozen one-design fleets. I joined and found an incredible group of friendly and gifted Ilca sailors. However, I learned very quickly that racing a laser is very different than simply sailing it and involves some acrobatics, both intended and accidental! In fact, my first regatta was a mind-and-body-bending experience. At the day’s end, I had quite a few bruises. In fact, when I visited my sister for dinner that night, she thought I had been mugged! To put it delicately, I knew I needed help.
My friends at SSA told me about clinics offered through the International Sailing Academy in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico. Located on the shores of Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific Ocean, La Cruz is home to a charming fishing village, terrific ocean-front dining, and, happily, not much else. Though just 15 miles north of Puerta Vallarta, it still feels “undiscovered.” If you want to improve your sailing abilities, you have a junior who needs training, or you wish to plan a field trip with friends, I highly recommend it. Once there, you’ll not only get your “wind fix,” you will feast on jumbo shrimp, fresh fish, and guacamole from avocadoes harvested right from the fields. Food and lodging are quite reasonable.
Founded by Vaughn Harrison, a long-time Olympic coach (including in the 2024 Paris Olympics), and operated by Ilca coach Colin Gowland and his experienced team, ISA offers six-day clinics for all sailors—from those new to racing up to those at the pre-professional and professional levels. The relaxed after-sailing atmosphere is wonderful, but it is in teaching that ISA excels. The staff includes Master and World Champion sailors and in-depth, insightful instruction, both on and off the water. It was from Gowland that I learned my true goal as a laser sailor: “to become one with my boat.”
During my trip last March, classroom instruction began at 10:00, and we were out on the water by 11:00 or so, sometimes tacking and jibing around whales! This often occurs if you are there between December and April when the humpback whales mate and migrate. Boats return to the marina between 3 and 4 p.m.
Your instructor will take a video as a tool to review your strengths and weaknesses once you are back in the classroom. Later in the season, the winds can be intense. When I visited, the wind built steadily throughout the day, often averaging 20 knots. Luckily, I was fitted out with a smaller sail and began to learn the art and science of sail trim during the calmer morning hours. Thanks to a fine coach, Paul Swan, I participated in their Saturday regatta at the end of the week—and mercifully emerged unscathed!
After hours, stroll La Cruz and explore its narrow streets and intimate restaurants. The fish market is right in the marina next to the ISA classroom. In the late afternoon, fishermen pull right up to the docks in small and medium-sized wooden boats painted in bright colors and unload their daily catch. Simple pleasures like this abound here.
International Sailing Academy: internationalsailingacademy.com
Severn Sailing Association: severnsailing.org
© Annapolis Home Magazine
Vol. 15, No. 6 2024