Our headline meeting of the fall: Hall of Fame sailor and teacher Dave Perry. Special meeting date to meet Dave’s schedule: Monday, October 8, but the regular meeting time and place, the Caddy Shack @ Rolling Hills Golf Course, 1415 North Mill Avenue, Tempe. (map) Dinner at 6. And come prepared for a longer than usual meeting, about two hours (but if you need to leave early, we’ll be taking an intermission).
Also, come prepared to taste some more of that sweet Old Poultney Scotch. Just as they did with “Luigi” last year, Old Poultney is pouring tastes of the good stuff.
Oh, back to sailing. What’s Dave’s subject? Tactics in Crowds. What happens when you approach the start or mark in a herd of boats that all want to go first? Dave will offer the entertaining answers, backed by what he says are some spectacular videos.
Dave is one of the country’s top sailing coaches and he’s fresh from coaching the US Sailing Team women’s match racing team for this summer’s Olympic Games. He currently chairs the US Sailing Appeals Committee, was rules advisor for U.S. Olympic Sailing Team and he’s rules advisor for Artemis Racing, the Challenger of Record for the 2013 America’s Cup.
Here’s his bio:
Dave grew up on Long Island Sound in Connecticut, racing Lightnings. He received his undergraduate degree at Yale University, and has received an honorary Doctorate of Education from Piedmont College. He is Chairman of the US Sailing Appeals Committee, and is a Senior Certified Judge.
He has authored three books on the sport, Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing, Winning in One-Designs, and Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes. He is a two-time All American sailor and Intercollegiate Dinghy National Champion, 5th place finisher at the 1979 Laser Worlds, two-time Congressional Cup winner (1983 & 84), Silver Medalist in the 1983 Soling Pre-Olympic regatta, 2003 Ideal 18 North American champion, and the 2006, 2008 and 2011 winner of the U.S. Match Racing Championship for the Prince of Wales Trophy (a championship he also won in 1982!).
He is a member of the Sailing World Hall of Fame, and recipient of US Sailing’s W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Trophy for Sportsmanship and Captain Joe Prosser Award for Excellence in Sailing Instruction. He was the Rules Advisor and Afterguard Coach for Victory Challenge, Sweden’s 2007 America’s Cup Team, and the Rules Advisor for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team. From 2009-2012, he was the coach for the US Sailing Team Alphagraphics women’s match race team, and is the Rules Advisor for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team and Artemis Racing, the Challenger of Record for the 2013 America’s Cup. He has conducted hundreds of “rules talks” and seminars on the sport, and is best known for his clear, humorous and highly interactive presentations.