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07/17/2012 12:00 AMSkip Young says his favorite part of competitive sailing is the challenge of the decision-making process, and how numerous elements need to coalesce in order to see success.
Such was the case on Memorial Day weekend, when Skip and five of his friends took to the seas for The Storm Trysail Club's 67th Block Island Race, an event which featured 90 boats traversing 188 miles from Stamford to Block Island and back again. Skip and company certainly had to make numerous key decisions while navigating the course on the foggy weekend, and according to the lifelong sailor, "no huge tactical errors were made," which is why Skip's boat, Dragonfly, placed second amongst in its class and finished 10th overall.
"It was a combination of many decisions we made along the way which were all good; we never made that one wrong decision that would have buried us," says Skip, whose J-109 boat was competing against eights others in the 34-to-42-foot range. "It was extremely rewarding for us because there were more challenges in this race than most with all the fog and the lack of breeze. It was also satisfying because anybody who is anybody in the local sailing community participated in this event, and so it felt good to do well against the best of the best."
Skip, 63, grew up in Darien, has lived in Guilford for 27 years, and been on the water for as long as he can remember. Skip's parents were both avid sailors with his mother twice earning runner-up honors for the Adams Cup that goes to the nation's top female sailor, and so sailing has forever been an integral part of Skip's life, whether in the competitive or recreational arenas. After completing his tenure in the Navy and then graduating with a marketing degree from Western New England University, Skip frequently began sailing competitively and had done the Block Island Race 14 times prior to this year. Skip's previous best finish was third, but he and his cohorts went one better this time as the team of Skip and fellow Guilford residents Mark Andrews, Chip Cooper, Duke Young, Peter Johnson, and Connor Paige were just next-to-best in their class. Skip and Andrews functioned as Dragonfly's captains during the race, which involved three sailors doing one watch while the other three rested, after which the trios switched off.
"It's a big advantage when you're with a group of people who you've sailed with for years," says Skip, who works for the Gowrie Group, an independent insurance agency in Westbrook. "Everyone knows their job through each maneuver and you've done it so many times that you don't even have to say anything."
This vast amount of familiarity proved huge during the race as the fog was so thick that one couldn't even see another's boats lights at night if it was more than 20 yards away. On top of that, just when Skip and company had entered the home stretch at Norwalk Island, the wind completely died down, causing the final 10 miles to take eight hours. But at 8:30 in the morning on Sunday, May 27, some 41-and-a-half hours after setting sail, the Dragonfly cruised to its finish at the docks of Stamford Yacht Club.
Still, there was uncertainty abound amongst Skip and his mates as sailing races aren't like the 50-meter dash in which you see every competitor cross the finish line in a short span. Instead, boats are spread out for miles along the water, and so Skip's team didn't event find out they had claimed second place until seeing the results online on the drive back to Guilford.
"It was high-fives all around and such a sense of relief because we honestly had no idea how we had done until we saw the results," says Skip.
Fellow Guilford resident Ned Bennett wasn't part of Skip's on that weekend, yet he has sailed both with and against Skip countless times through the past 23 years, and discusses the attributes which make his friend an effective sailor.
"Skip is a focused person who can concentrate for long periods of time, and that's an important thing to have as a sailor, especially when you're the one responsible for steering the boat," Bennett says. "Another thing about Skip is that he has a strong competitive instinct and never gives up, so if something does go wrong, he's going to find a way to dig out of that hole and get back into the race. Skip is also in great physical condition, and no matter what type of sport he does, he's good at it."
Indeed, Skip's athletic pursuits extend beyond sailing as he's also an avid skier-something he enjoys doing with two of his three daughters who live in Connecticut-in addition to playing in a paddle tennis league in Essex.
One other thing Skip has done for the past two decades is help run the juniors sailing program at Sachem Head, a way to use his years of experience on the water to foster a love for sailing in a new crew of youngsters.
"It makes me feel good to generate a level of excitement in kids who want to sail," says Skip. "You teach the kids skills that they'll have for the rest of their lives, whether they want to become hardcore racers or just go cruising and enjoy the water."