TARPON SPRINGS, FLORIDA - March 23, 2012 - The International Lightning Class Association’s Boat Grant program begins its 6th season by announcing the 2012 grant recipients:
Tyler Braun (24) and his team of Jerrett Scherrer and Dustin Stauffer are from Lancaster, PA and will be sailing with the Susquehanna River Lightning Fleet. Tyler is an engineer in the hydro power industry and while in school was captain of the sailing team at Penn State. In addition to racing at the Susquehanna Yacht Club, they will be attending many events in the mid-Atlantic region over the course of the summer. Their mentor will be local Lightning ace Carol Park.
James Simmons (22) of South Dartmouth, MA and his team of Caroline Hall of Brick, NJ and Jeremy Henry of Groton, MA are all stand-out members of the University of Rhode Island’s varsity sailing team. They will be based in Rhode Island and will be racing in most of the east coast regattas this summer. “This team will be a great fit for the Lightning and the grant program” says their mentor Chris Vann, a veteran Lightning sailor from Niantic, CT. Chris has worked with many of the young Lightning sailors at the Niantic Bay Yacht Club over the years and is looking forward to working with this young team.
According to Co-Chair Bill Fastiggi, once again we had a great pool of applicants for the program and it was tough choosing two teams out of this talented group. Every year we are amazed at the quality of these young applicants, both as sailors and individuals, and we are pleased that will be able to introduce these two teams to the Lightning Class.
Co-Chair Allan Terhune added “The ILCA is very fortunate to be able to run this program for the sixth consecutive season. Our membership continues to be very supportive and without the generous donation of time, equipment and money from the ILCA members and suppliers, we would not have been this successful. The whole Lightning family has been so supportive of the program.”
Team Braun Profile
Team Simmons Profile
More information about the ILCA grant program can be found on the ILCA website www.lightningclass.org, by contacting the ILCA office, or co chairs Terhune or Fastiggi
ILCA Executive Secretary Laura Jeffers - office@lightningclass.org 727-942-7969
Bill Fastiggi - bill@vtsailing.com 802-655-7245
Allan Terhune - allan@od.northsails.com 732-644-1051
About the International Lightning Class Association:
The Lightning was designed by Olin Stephens in 1938. Today there have been over 15484 built. The rig is simple, but offers sophisticated sail shape controls for a crew of three. The hull features a unique hard chine design that combines the stability that provides sail-carrying power, with flat bottom sections that promote planing. It is fast enough to be exciting, slow enough to be very tactical and the boat is very physical to sail in a breeze. In the event of a capsize, she can be righted and sailed dry by her crew. Optimum crew weight is 450 to 500 lbs. The boat weighs 700 pounds and sitting on the trailer with covers, sails and gear the all up weight is about 1100 lbs so it can be safely towed with almost any vehicle.
Many top sailors spent a lot of time racing Lightnings: Betsy Alison, Andy Horton, Jay and Jody Lutz, Greg and Matt Fisher, Tim Healy, Jeff Linton, Cory Sertl, Ken and Brad Read, Jody Swanson Starck, Dave Dellenbaugh, Terry Hutchinson and Ted Turner to name a few.