49°
LARCHMONT, N.Y. - Lou Magarelli was one of 450 kids at the Larchmont Yacht Club for the beginning of Junior Race Week Monday, as well as one of the few who also raced with the adults over the weekend.
"We didn't do as well as in past years," said the 17-year-old Larchmont resident, who sailed an X34 racer with a six-man crew during the weekend races that kicked off Race Week.
Monday, he sailed a one-man boat, called a Laser, for the 11:30 a.m. launch time. He, along with 450 other young sailors between the ages of 12 and 19 from various yacht clubs, sailed out past the break wall on the Sound and helped set up their race path. There were three race paths for the different divisions of boats, which include Blue Jays/Pixels, 420s and Lasers.
Ryan Mattimore, 13, rode a Pixel for a second straight year and has participated in Junior Race Week for three years. The Larchmont resident, who rode an Opti his first year, lived in Pennsylvania for four years before returning in 2007.
Both Mattimore and Magarelli's fathers introduced them to sailing early on. When his family moved back to Larchmont, Mattimore tried out sailing with his father, who had been riding 420s since college. He liked it and is now hooked.
Magarelli's family has been sailing for three generations. This year, his mother Mini is the co-chair of the junior races, while he is a junior commodore, which tasks him with making sure everyone else is doing their job, he said. But Monday, he was a sailor.
Rachel Keesey, on the other hand, watched over the races between the Pixels from a safety boat. Each race path was assigned one safety boat, in addition to one other that oversaw all of the races, said Carolyn Nye, program administrator, who was on that boat.
The winners of each division's races will be honored Wednesday.
Have you ever gone sailing? Do you have a favorite type of boat? Comment below, on Facebook or Twitter.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Mamaroneck and receive free news updates.
