NESSA News

Hello Coaches and Advisors:

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


 NOTICES OF RACE
NESSA SPRING REGATTAS- The 3 NESSA Events will be posted on the NESSA website by Friday January 27th. All registration windows will open at 0 hours on February 1, 2012.  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 19 - 20, 2012. Deadline: Sunday  April 13, 2013

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 requirements 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 21-22, 2012. Deadline: Friday April 6, 2012

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

Finals at Tabor Academy on April 17th

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 27, 2012. Deadline: Wednesday April 27, 2012.

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

An additional venue will be added if more one is required due to high registration.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

NESSA By-laws and Procedural Rules are at     http://nessa-sailing.org/about.htm

RACE PARTICIPATION FORMS   - required at NESSA Championships http://www.collegesailing.org/forms

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, Got 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.


2012 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 6, 2012 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 6th score 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.

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.

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

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

WILD CARD WEEKEND - May 12 and 13, 2012.

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.

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 VPs Susie Duncan (sduncan@portmsouthabbey.org) or Alexa Schuler (alexaschuler@gmail.com).

UMPIRES are needed for the Mark Trophy May 19 and 20.   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.

HEALY VENUE
Looking ahead to the fall of 2012, a host venue is needed for the 2013 Healy, to be held in late September 2012. (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 VP, Andrew Nughes, alnuggs@hotmail.com ,   if you are interested

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 & parents who allow team members to use them assume the legal liability for their use.

It is the coach’s responsibility to make sure that all of their kids have USCG approved PFDs on and fastened properly while competing.

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. 

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.

NESSA COMMITTEES
NESSA EXECUTIVE  and TEAM RACING SELECTION COMMITTEE –   Please welcome the following to the NESSA Executive and Selections Committee:

Andrew Nugnes

Susie Duncan

Alexa Schuler

Nick Judson

Rob Hurd

Roy Williams

Roger Rawlings

Gary Werden

Carl Zimba 

Sarah Helming

NEW TEAM HELP GUIDE
Beth Holland from St. Georges has created a blog site referencing materials that provide guidance for new NESSA teams, coaches and parents.  This is a work in progress, and a sharing of ideas from all coaches to help new teams get up and running.   Check it out at http://newsailingteams.blogspot.com/

Some items being covered:

Info about NESSA

How HS Sailing works

Fall and Spring Seasons

What happens throughout the year

Planning for the racing season

What it takes to start a team

What you will need

Difference b/t Fleet & Team Racing

Scheduling and running meets

Courses/ protests / scoring

Running practices

Any other ideas you can think of

Contact Beth at beth_holland@post.harvard.edu to share your good ideas.    

HAPPY RACING


Have a great spring season.

Andrew Nugnes
NESSA President