Navy Big Boat Clinic

I was asked to coach at the Naval Academy for their Big Boat Clinic.  It was 4 days of coaching with 26 kids ranging from ages 13 to 18 sailing onboard Navy 44s.

It was a lot of work for the coaches and even more for the kids as we worked them hard.  I was very impressed with the whole organization although, I guess I shouldn't be since it is Navy and organizing is a big part of what they do,  but the biggest satisfaction came from the caliber of the kids in the program and their rate of improvement.  Navy 44's are not the most nimble and user friendly boats but these guys and girls figured out how to work around the challenges and to work as teammates.

I was able to get onto each of the boats throughout the week and took some training video, which we were able to view the morning after each day of sailing.  It can be viewed at : http://gallery.me.com/dawnriley#gallery http://gallery.me.com/dawnriley#gallery Anyone can view it but be warned, it is not edited to be entertaining it is simply for educational purposes.

To all of you participants – congratulations on a great week!