PYC i420 Training Clinic

This is an i420 sailing clinic led by Coach Tommy Guaragna and Tom Sitzmann.

The club owns 3 i420 that will be available for use. We encourage private boats.

We will focus on sail shape/tuning, boat-handling/tuning, speed, and team goal-setting at this clinic. On-the-water drills will be supplemented by classroom video de-briefing, along with study of training videos from the Youth, North American, Midwinter, and National Championships, along with sail-testing video.

ENTRIES are individual or by partnership (team of 2).

We hope to use this to get ready for the Wickford i420 Regatta on 6-7 June!

Schedule is as follows:

• Saturday

  • 0900-1200:  Introductions, plan for the day, rigging, sailing

  • 1200-1245:  Lunch at the Club (please bring your own)

  • 1300-1600:  Sailing, de-brief, video analysis

• Sunday 

  • 0900-1200:  Plan for the day, rigging, sailing

  • 1200-1245:  Lunch at the Club (please bring your own)

  • 1300-1500:  Sailing, de-brief, video analysis

  • 1500-1600:  Pack Trailer for Wickfor Regatta

The Portland Yacht Club is located in Falmouth Foreside, about 5 miles from downtown Portland. Portland is a great place to visit. Where to stay: https://www.visitportland.com/visit/stay/

About our coaches:

TOM SITZMANN       Tom Sitzmann is returning for his 4th season leading our PYC program. A lifelong sailor, educator, and coach, Tom Sitzmann has amassed a diverse range of sailing and professional experience in addition to excelling in one-design racing and professional sailing.  A graduate of Tufts University, where he was a member of the ice hockey team, he served as a coach at both Tufts and Dartmouth College. He later coached sailing at the US Naval Academy and served as the Head Intercollegiate Coach at Bowdoin College. Currently the Head Coach at Severn School, Tom has led his teams to 12 National Championship podium finishes, earning six National Championship titles, including the 2023 Baker Team Race and 2008, 2024 Mallory Fleet Racing titles. In 2023 and based on their record, Severn School was named the US High School Sailing Team of the Year. Tom also helped coach his son Tommy and Luke Woodworth to their wins at the i420 Midwinters, North Americans, US Youth Championship, and World Championship title. Tom currently works with College Sailing Associates, an athletic/educational consulting firm, specializing in sailing recruitment.

TOMAS GUARAGNA Tomas is an Argentinian sailing coach with almost 10 years of coaching experience. In addition to founding and running his own sailing school to the point of developing a competitive optimist race team, an ILCA and windsurfing program, he is a Argentinian Optimist National Coach, with great experience at IODA and international events. He has trained sailors who qualified for IODA events, and privately coaches high performance Optimist and ILCA. He was a top Opti sailor himself before transitioning to the ILCA, where he has podium finishes in the ILCA South American Championships. In 2024 Tommy was part of PYC as the Head Opti Coach, building a strong race team who achieved good results and podiums in regional events such as Opti Maine States and participated in National level championships too, with one sailor qualifying for Team Trials.