Clinic & Coaching
The clinic portion of the event includes intensive work on and off the water followed by three days of racing.
The U.S. coaching team is led by Betsy Alison (pictured to the right), a five-time winner of the prestigious U.S. Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award.
She also was named 1999 Sailing Coach of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee for her work with disabled, youth, and women sailors. Ms. Alison is the current head coach for the United States Disabled Sailing Team (USDST).
Another prodigious coach featured in this year's C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Clinic & Regatta is Craig Guthrie. (pictured to the right)
Craig's background in sailing begins in skiffs from International 14's to 49ers, 18 and 12 foot Skiffs and dinghies classes of the 505 and Fireball. Coaching sailing for 12 years, he began coaching sailors with disabilities in the 2.4mR and SKUD classes in 2007. Craig's results at the high performance end of sailing are notable but his passion for development in sailing in all classes remains fundamental to his coaching focus.
Coaching Highlights:
- Gold Medal for Team Canada in the 2.4mR at the 2008 Paralympic Games in China
- Bronze Medal for Team Canada in the SKUD at the 2008 Paralympic Games in China
- 2008 Petro Canada Sports Leadership Award
- 2009 IKON Awards Coach of the Year
- NSYA Coach of the Year 2008
- NCCP 4 High Performance Coaching Diploma
- National Coaching Institute at University of Victoria Class of 2002
- National Academy of Sport Medicine CPT
C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Regatta & Clinic is honored to also have amongst it's smiling elite coaches, Amanda Callahan (pictured to the right)
Amanda Callahan is the Head Sailing Coach at Roger Williams University. Over the last three years Callahan has helped the Hawks coed team earn a consistent top ten ranking in Sailing World's college rankings. During that time, the Hawks have made three trips to the ICSA Dinghy Championship and seven RWU sailors have been named to the All-American list.
Callahan came to RWU from Stanford University, where she spent the 2007 season as the assistant coach of the Cardinal sailing team. While at Stanford, she assisted in qualifying two teams for the Collegiate National Championship. Under her tutelage, she assisted in developing two All-American sailors and one honorable mention.
Prior to her post at Stanford, Callahan held the head coaching position at Tufts University during the 2006 season, where she qualified three teams for the spring Collegiate National Championships and guided them to impressive results. The Team Racing squad finished second in its event, while her Coed Dinghy team came in fourth place at the championships.
In addition to her coaching duties, Callahan continues to sail competitively. Her team, Silver Panda, is regarded as one of the best team race teams in the World. Silver Panda had a banner year in 2007, winning the Wilson Trophy at the British Open Team Racing Championship and the ISAF Team Racing World Championship as well as the US Team Race Championship for the Hinman Trophy.
A 2003 graduate of William Smith College, Callahan is a member of the 2003 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association’s All-America Team. She was named captain of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Varsity Sailing Team 2001-02 and 2002-03.
A native of Canton, Massachusetts, Callahan currently resides in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
Mary Ellen “Meg” Gaillard has come a long way from the days when she used to hate sailing. Growing up in Pelham, N.Y., Meg had plenty of exposure to the sport from early on as the only child of parents who were avid sailors. She not only spent a lot of time racing with them on their Etchells, but like most kids who hate capsizing Optis – not to mention rigging and derigging -- Meg eventually grew into a 420 and found her niche.
During high school and into college, Meg progressed from 420s to 470s, ultimately crewing for Whitney Connor at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Savannah where they placed fourth out of six boats. Her competitive nature was evident in the other sports she tackled which included lacrosse, swimming, and soccer (she was named Captain of both her high school and college soccer teams), and in 1996 she won the Most Athletic Award at Connecticut College.
On the water, Meg made the move to the Europe in 1997 and targeted the 2000 Olympic Games. Sailing full-time, she attained the number one ranking on the 1997 US Sailing Team. Three years later, her bronze-medal win at the 2000 Europe World Championships, the best finish by an American at that event, was followed by a hard-fought battle at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Sailing that ended with a second-place finish. Not one to give up, Meg continued her quest.
In 2003 she had a standout year that resulted in her being recognized as US SAILING’s Female Athlete of the Year for the second time (she was previously recognized in 1998). In January of 2003, at the Rolex Miami OCR, Meg traded first and second finishes during a challenging 11-race series, and ultimately placed second in a field of 25 boats. A month later her win at the Europe U.S. Olympic Pre-Trials (a practice event for the US Olympic Team Trials) solidified her first-place U.S. ranking in the class, a position she had held for three consecutive years.
By far, her most significant performance of the year took place in Spain at the 2003 Europe World Championship. Competing in the 116-boat fleet, she closed out a consistent performance with a 10th place finish in the final race of the series to take third overall and her second bronze medal at a world championship. Significantly, in addition to ending that 11-race series with a place on the podium, Meg’s bronze-medal performance guaranteed the U.S.A.’s berth in the Europe at the 2004 Olympic Games. She went on to dominate at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials: winning 13 of 14 races allowed her mathematically claim the win without the need to sail the final two races of the series. Meg went on to represent the U.S.A. at the 2004 Olympic Regatta in Athens where she finished 14th out of 25 boats in the Europe event.
Following the 2004 Olympic Games, Meg took break from sailing to focus on her health and subsequent pregnancy. She now balances raising her three-and-a-half year old daughter with coaching part time. Earlier in the year she worked for the FAST Sailing Foundation coaching 420, Laser and Optimist racing sailors; currently she is the Jr. Sailing Program Director at Conanicut Yacht Club in Jamestown, RI.