Some AYC families are lucky enough to be members of two yacht clubs, as is the case for Renata Hejduk and Darren Petrucci, parents of Gianni Hejduk-Petrucci. In 2020 they joined AYC so their “budding sailor” could sail year-round. Although Renata described Darren and herself as “below novices,” they wanted to give their son all the sailing opportunities they could find. Enter AYC.
When they first joined, Renata had this to say, “Our 7.5-year-old son started sailing an Opti two summers ago at our little yacht club on Martha’s Vineyard (where we live in the summers), and he self-identifies as “a sailor” now. We figured what could be better than being able to sail in the winter in Arizona and summer in Massachusetts!
‘Gianni is our budding sailor who started off as a tadpole in a Junior Sailing program when he was 5, two summers ago, and this coming summer he will stay in Novices and start Open Bic in Nevin Sayre’s program at our club.”
Five years later, 10-year-old junior member Gianni Hejduk-Petrucci was awarded the Katharine Willauer Douglas Memorial Trophy at the end of this summer’s Junior Sailing Program at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
This trophy has been awarded annually since 1958 to that junior who demonstrates the greatest improvement in sailing. He’s looking forward to the Fall season with the AYC.
A big AYC congratulations to Gianni on his determination and improvement. You are absolutely “a sailor!”