Ida Lewis Distance Race: Why You Should Sail the Youth Challenge

By: Joe Cooper, Photo: Stephen R. Cloutier

Fess up, offshore sailing, seeing dolphins, the starry sky, all seems kinda normal to us, after all these years, doesn’t it? Time to pay it forward.

The Ida Lewis Distance Race Is to be held in 2026, starting on Friday 14 August with the Starting line off Rose and Goat Island. with signals hoisted, late morning and circumnavigating the sights of Block Island Sound.

As the club has offered for several years, there is again this year Sub Class’s for boats with High School Sailors aboard and for college sailors.

Named respectively the Youth Challenge and Collegiate Challenge, the requirements are simple:

1. 40% of the crew must be (on the starting day) under 20 years of age for the Youth Challenge
2. AND under 26 for the collegiate fleet.
3. And all junior sailors must complete the USSA Online SAS.

Last year there were a total of 11 “junior” boats comprising 5 college entries and 6 under the High School banner. This year we have interest from colleges further afield, College of Charleston, Embry Riddle, Notre Dame, Maine Maritime, Colby, Bently, Mass Maritime as well as repeat colleges from previous years.

This idea is gathering steam. What we need now are owners (and boats) willing to introduce these skilled junior sailors to the arts and sciences of offshore keel boat sailing.

Almost anyone who knows me in the sailing world knows of my interest in getting high school kids sailing time on Keel boats. AND this race is an ideal venue for such exposure.

The stories the kids come back with are almost as big as their smiles. They all remark on how clear the sky is, how they can readily see so many more stars than being on land.

Another favorite is seeing the Dolphins cavorting off the bow.

AND the sound of the water swooshing by as they fall asleep is up there too. Peaceful, fun, fantastic are some of the remarks I hear from the Nippers. Remember your first time on a keel boat? Overnight? At sea? Pretty special experiences, no?

Experiences granted to so few humans, let along students. Are they not though the experiences that light off the long time, lifelong love affair with sailing, in general and offshore sailing in particular? Blasting down the reach in the 420 or maybe the 29’r with the kite up spray flying all over the place is fun, but in a different category to offshore sailing.

Granted not every junior is going to take off into the wild blue ocean, possibly for a living, but I know of two women sailors who fell in love with it and are doing just that.

Erica Lush is getting plenty of column inches as she plows ahead into her Second Figaro series. She is a graduate of NK high school and did her first overnight race in the Ida Race, probably ten years ago now. That led to two circumnavigations with the Maiden Girls, under Tracy Edwards.

Less well known, for now, is one of my former Prout sailors, Aurora Meunier Mott. Aka Rory, she came to Prout as a freshman with no sailing experience. She worked her way through the ranks to the point of winning Fleet races, steering in B fleet as a Senior.

On the way, in her junior year, we had a tour of Malazia during T.O.R. stop over. As we were walking back up the dock after the Nickle tour, she stopped, looked me hard in the eye, pointed at Malazia and said, very firmly, I want to do that!!!

Well, we started with an Ida race aboard Vento Solare, with the ever-supportive Bill Kneller. And she has gone on from there. More Ida races, a Vineyard race or two, the return passage to Newport from BDA with Sheila McCurdy after the 2024 Bermuda Race. She spent time nippering for Cole Brauer, before the latter’s Great Adventure in 2023. AND with Erica Lush in France and Jessie Fielding at the DH worlds last year including sailing in France in the class nationals prior to the main event. She topped of 2025 with a Transatlantic passage from the Canaries to Antigua with CCA Commodore Jay Gowell.

She will be sailing in the DH class with Tim Kent in his Class 40 Kent racing in June for her first Bermuda Race, at age 20.

AND this came from merely getting a tour of an offshore race boat? That is where it started. A very simple way to plant the seed.

Ask yourself: what am I going to do for crew when my present lot age out or otherwise pass on from sailing with me? How many boats at YOUR club have scaled back their racing due to difficulty finding crew? OR given it up all together?

SO:

Do yourself and the rest of us a favor and sign up for the Ida Race with some kids. '

Forty percent of the crew is only four juniors on a basic 40-footer with ten aboard. This leaves you with plenty of your regular crew to manage the boat, if it hits the fan. AND four juniors can easily be rotated into the watch system, and attached to regular crew positions to learn, literally, the ropes. James Phyphe has been bringing High school sailors on Digger for the Ida race now for a few years. AND this year one of them is going to Bermuda with him, age 18…

You will be helping yourself in mentoring the next generation of Crew.

Never mind the kick you get watching these kids have the adventures we kinda take for granted,

Fess up, offshore sailing, seeing dolphins, the starry sky, all seems kinda normal to us, after all these years, doesn’t it? Time to pay it forward.

Contact me for particulars or to get involved.

Thanks,

Coop

Joe Cooper

Bushranger147@gmail.com