Sag Harbor - Breakwater Yacht Club and JY-15 Fleet 2 of Sag Harbor will host the JY-15 North American Championships on Friday, September 30 through Sunday, October 2, 2011.

Forty boats are expected to compete, including sailors from Mexico City, Michigan, and Rochester, NY. The racing area will be in the waters North of Havens Beach.

Participation is open to any current member of the JY Class Association ($25 annual dues). The Notice of Race and Regatta Entry Form can also be found at the website. Sailors can register and join the JYCA either in advance or at registration for the event at Havens Beach on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. (BYC if raining).

The JY-15 is a two person one-design centerboard dinghy designed by Rodney Johnstone in 1989. Breakwater Yacht Club owns a fleet of JY-15's that it makes available to its junior sailing program and to local high school sailing teams. Competitors may charter boats for the regatta for a fee of $25 per day. Members of Breakwater may also pay a small fee to "rent" the boats.

The original JY-15 was made out of thermoformed ABS plastic rather than the usual fiberglass or wood materials used for most dinghies. In 2010, the ABS version ceased being manufactured, but a fiberglass version is now being made by Nickels Boatworks in Fenton, Michigan. This regatta will be the first for the class in which fiberglass boats will compete against plastic boats. The goal of the new builders is to ensure that all boats remain equal in performance. Thus it will be the skill of the sailors that determines the outcome, rather than the quality of their equipment.

For the first time ever in the class, there will be two sailmakers permitted to provide "legal" sails for the event. North sails, which have up until now been the only "class legal" sails, and Intensity sails will both be permitted for use in the regatta. Intensity has donated a set of sails which will be auctioned off at the dinner on Saturday.

The event will begin on Friday, September 30 with racing beginning at 2 p.m. followed by a dinner at BYC and talks by Johnstone and Hugh Armbruster, the new builder of the fiberglass boats. Racing will continue on Saturday with a dinner at BYC and will wrap up on Sunday afternoon with an awards ceremony and luncheon at BYC.

Many local sailors and enthusiasts will volunteer their time including Regatta Chair, Bud Rogers, and Co-Chair, Mark Webber, both of whom will also be competing in the event. The Principal Race Officer, Steve Kelley, will run the race committee assisted by local sailors Barry Allardice, Doug Culver, George Martin and Mary Ann Eddy, among others. Jane Babcook and Betty Martin will head up the shore committee. Northfork Chips has donated locally grown potato chips, The Milk Pail will donate apples from its Mecox orchard. Southampton based Janet O'Brien Caterers will donate some of the food.

Breakwater Yacht Club, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, provides sailing education and racing experiences to residents of Eastern Long Island. Unlike traditional yacht clubs, Breakwater Yacht Club has, since its inception, dedicated itself to community based charitable and educational "good works." This is evidenced by its past sponsorship of the "Race Against Drug Abuse" and the creation of its Youth Sailing School and Scholarship Program, which awards scholarships to local children. BYC sponsors an "Adventure Sail" Regatta which gives "at risk" young women the chance to participate in an activity that may help change their futures for the better. BYC is a community sailing organization, and membership is open to the public and affordable.

JY-15 Fleet 2 consists of members of Breakwater Yacht Club who race JY-15's off of Havens Beach on Sunday afternoons from May through- October. New sailors are always welcome.

For more information about this event contact Mark Webber, markwebber@optonline.net or Sara Nightingale, sara@saranightingale.com.