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Student Sailors Finish Fall Season with 3 Regional Regatta Wins

Ranney Upper Schoolers had a very successful first season as part of a new independent, school-sponsored student Sailing Team.
This fall, a group of Ranney Upper Schoolers and their families got together to form an independent, school-sponsored student Sailing Team to pursue their passion for boating and to take advantage of our Jersey Shore location. The group had a very successful first season with six team members participating, including: Ava Atanacio (10th grade, Middletown), Luke Arnone (9th grade, Mantoloking), Cameron Giblin (9th grade, Monmouth Beach), Matthew Hamelsky (9th grade, Marlboro), Mari Patient (11th grade, Oceanport) and Catherine Vucetic (9th grade, Holmdel).

Sailing out of the Toms River Yacht Club in two-person 420 boats, the team competed in four regattas within the New Jersey Interscholastic Sailing Association against high schools from across Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Facing teams from schools such as Red Bank Catholic, Rumson-Fair Haven and Christian Brothers Academy, Ranney won three of the four regattas and placed third in the fourth event.
 
The new Ranney team is coached by Clay Johnson, a Harvard University sailing alum who competed in four Olympic Trials, finishing 19th, 6th, 3rd and 2nd. Johnson was the youngest sailor to ever compete in the Olympic Sailing Trials in 2000. He also earned recognition as a College All-American at Harvard for four years in a row and served as the 2011 U.S. Pan-American Representative. Most recently, Johnson won three of the last four U.S. Sailing Singlehanded Championships for the George O’Day Trophy (2012, 2013 and 2015).
 
“All of the Ranney sailors had different sailing experiences before joining the team, so this fall we focused on developing skills and learning the boats,” says Coach Johnson.  “We had a productive fall coming together as a team and spending a lot of hours on the water.”  
 
The team looks forward to hitting the water again for the spring 2016 season, when most of the big regattas take place. “We plan to continue to practice hard with the hopes of doing well at our league and district championships and earning a berth at the nationals,” adds Coach Johnson.
 
“I really enjoy working with the student-athletes that Ranney has produced. All of the sailors are hard-working, polite and coachable—and that is a testament to their parents, teachers and the school,” he said.
 
Of note:
Team member Luke Arnon, Class of 2019, began sailing at just 8 years old. This past July, Luke won the U.S. Optimist Nationals in Pensacola, Florida.  He also won the U.S. Team Trials, earning him a spot at Opti Worlds for the second year in a row, held in Dziwnow, Poland in August. Sailing has brought Luke to competitions in Lake Garda in Italy, St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Antigua in the West Indies over the past year alone. Last year, he and his team won the Nation’s Cup after finishing first place in the Optimist World Championship. Prior to this, a U.S. team had not won the Nation’s Cup in 48 years. Read an article about Luke on our website. UPDATE: In January 2016, was named S1D Optimist Sailor of the Year. 
 
 
Team member Cameron Giblin, Class of 2019, also has been sailing since he was 8 years old and most recently competed in the International i420 class (a two-person boat). Over the summer, he participated in the i420 Under 17 World Championship Regatta in Karatsu, Japan. He and his skipper finished 8th in Japan and then went on to compete in the open fleet at the i420 Junior European Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria where they finished 40th. This past fall, Cameron joined the Laser Class (a one-person boat) and represented Ranney at the MASSA Cressy qualifier for the High School National Championship at Surf City Yacht Club in September. He finished 20th out of 30 boats after only having sailed the laser a few times.
 
 
 
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.