Rich du Moulin, who sailed with the Junior Sailing Program at the Knickerbocker YC, will embark on an adventure that most of us only dream about. On March 16, he and his skipper, Rich Wilson, will set sail from Hong Kong in their 53-foot trimaran Great American II. Their journey will cover the 15,000 - mile China Trade route to New York in pursuit of the record set by the clipper Sea Witch in her 1849 voyage. Now, 154 years later, Great American II will challenge Sea Witch's great record of 74 days 14 hours, and take over 500,000 school children from across the country along with them for the ride. Both men are passionate about sailing and teaching young people about the sport they love. This trip allows these two sailor/educators to pursue their dream and open a new world to the children who will follow their escapades for the next two months. Students will be able to see how math, sciences such as meteorology and oceanography, and even the lessons of history apply in real-time adventure. In a letter written to supporters, du Moulin writes, "Imagine a classroom that no student wants to leave...where learning comes alive with teachers who have access to real-world content and real-world people. Imagine how a raptly engaged classroom of students reinvigorates a teacher. Imagine a parent's satisfaction when their child comes home excited and motivated to learn." During the trip, through a special hybrid newspaper/online Newspaper in Education (NIE), the LA Times, The Hour, Newsday, the Seattle Times will showcase their real-world learning adventures using the curricular materials developed by Rich Wilson's Ocean Challenge. Students can also log onto AOL@SCHOOL to follow the voyage. Wilson has developed a teacher's manual and curriculum designed with lessons for the K-12 age group, which are timed to be taught during the voyage. The curriculum will include teaching related aspects of geography, history, math and science, nutrition, weather forecasting, perseverance, astronomy, goal setting. For more information, visit www.sitesalive.com. For those who would like to learn more about sitesALIVE, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, log onto www.sitesalivefoundation.org

Pedro Lorson and Mimi Lorson Berry are well-known frostbiters who have been sailing together during the winter months with our local frostbite fleet for a long time, winning most of the races and giving the other frostbite teams a good challenge. Last month, on February 8-9, the duo participated in the Frostbite Mid Winter Championship, hosted by the Annapolis InterClub Fleet and the Severn Sailing Association. Thirty-five teams registered for the event, but 29 teams, complete with many all-American sailors, actually participated due to the snowstorm that hit the mid-Atlantic with eight inches of snow a day before the regatta was scheduled to commence. As is to be expected with the skill level of participants, the fleet was packed "like a swarm of bees" throughout the racecourse. First and last place was often only separated by a few minutes, giving the very experienced Race Committee a run for their money as they recorded the fast and furious finishes. 18 races were completed, nine per divisions. The format of the mid-Winter Championship is a bit different from other regatta as the RC set up what is called the Collegiate AB format. According to the regatta's sailing instructions, the each team "shall consist of an A and B divisions. Each division sails a number of races followed by an intermission allowing rotation of division skippers and crew. This cycle repeats as many times as possible." Each boat is shared among sailors from two divisions who form a team for scoring purposes - just like in college sailing. First one division sails a few races, then the other. Alternating between racing and socializing is even tempting for those sailors who normally consider frostbiting "as part of the lunatic fringe." Our team of Pedro and Mimi were assigned the A division and their teammates Mike Funsch and Lisa Griffith, were assigned to Division B. The Lorson/Barry team sailed three races and went ashore, while their teammates sailed the next three races. When asked if this interruption in sailing was a distraction, Pedro said, "Actually, no. It was a very cold day. The chili, bagels and the warm fire were great. And it gave us time to think about our tactics and change them if necessary." In fact, it was a cold, cold regatta. At mid-morning on Saturday, the air temperature was 27 degrees, the water temperature 31 degrees and with the wind out of the west at 14 knots, the wind chill felt like it was 15 degrees. The snow remained on the boats throughout the day despite the bright sunshine, and according to Pedro, "the spray turned to ice on the shrouds." These two intrepid frostbiters were challenged by the wind conditions - or the lack thereof. On Saturday the wind was 10-15 but tapered off toward the end of the day. Sunday brought very light and fluky wind, which forced the Race Committee to abandon the first race of the A Division. The wind was also "all over the place" and at one point turned a final beat to the finish line into a downwind run. The Lorson/Barry team came in 4th and their teammates Funsch/Griffith placed third, which gave them an overall second place for the regatta. The next stop for our duo is the upcoming Stanley Bell Regatta at Larchmont, thought of as a tune up for the Frostbite Nationals. The actual Interclub Dinghy Frostbite Nationals will be April 4-5 at Larchmont YC.

Many America's Cup followers believed that the Swiss, who recently won the Cup away from Team New Zealand, and will bring it to Europe for the first time in history, really didn't care all that much about the America's Cup, spending most of their time following the Swiss National Ski Championships, which were held about the same time as the Cup. But when Ernesto Bertarelli, the syndicate head of Alinghi, and Russell Coutts, the skipper stepped off the place in Geneva carrying the "Auld Mug", there were 40,000 brave souls waiting in the icy cold temperature. The group included hundreds of local media and local dignitaries, plus the Swiss President Pascal Couchepin. According to Bertarelli, "One day I dreamed of landing here at Cointrin airport with the America's Cup. I was really the only one to believe it". With his arrival, the America's Cup enters a new era, an era that will modernize the Cup and make many changes to Cup protocal. In the months and intervening years until the next Cup defense in 2007, Cup followers will most likely spend a lot of time debating the pros and cons of the new protocol.

Womanship, the renowned sailing school for and by women, has added a schedule of 2-day and 3-day daytime-only sessions to its traditional schedule of Live Aboard Cruising Courses on Long Island Sound. Sailing is out of Greenport from May through mid-September, and will provide step-by-step practical instruction in all the skills and tasks needed to sail and manage a cruising sailboat or day sailor. Courses are taught by U.S. Coast Guard-licensed and Womanship-trained instructors who promote hands-on, collaborative learning, and always keep to their motto of "no yells." For more information, call 800-342-9295, e-mail sail@womanship.com, or visit their website at www.womanship.com.