Manatee River Pram Fleet Website

The Manatee River Pram Fleet has been working hard on building our own website. We have finally got it launched and it can be seen @ www.manateeriverpramfleet.org. It contains all our program information, information about summer camp, our race team and more. Be sure to check it out!

Florida Women's State Championships

On March 6-7 we attended the Allison Jolly (Florida State Womens Junior Championships) Regatta. We had 6 girls attend this event which was based out of the St. Pete Sailing Center which is on the waterfront of downtown St. Pete. There were 64 female sailors from all over the state of Florida who all came with one thing in mind, to become the next Florida Womens State Champ.

Conditions for this regatta were very challenging. There was very little wind, a lot of short, choppy waves and tons of current. The current was so strong in some races that they had to be abandoned because there wasn't enough wind to make the little boats move. While the conditions were very tough to sail in and keeping composure was vital, all our sailors faired well at this regatta.


In Red, White & Blue Fleet we had 2 sailors. Darby Capellin finished 11th overall. Her best finish was a 5th in one race. Alicia Muscatto finished 13th overall. Her best finish was a 9 in one race. RWB Fleet sailed 5 races all weekend.Eliot Caple of Naples Community Sailing won this fleet winning 3 of the 5 races they sailed.

In Green Fleet the competition was very tight. We are very proud to announce that our own Hannah Cantolino won and is now the new Womens State Champ! Hannah is MRPF's very first sailor to become a state cahmpion. She sailed a very consistent regatta winning 2 of the 8 races sailed with her worst score being a 6th place. She edged out Louisa Nordstrom of Venice Youth Boating by 2 points. Also competing from MRPF were Hayley Cantolino in 20th, Molly Cantolino in 21st and Taylor Deitrick in 22nd place overall respectively. Congratulations to Hannah for winning this event and great job to the rest of our sailors for hanging in there in tough conditions

So much to say, so much to say!

When I realized it's been since October that I have updated the blog I realized I have been seriously slacking in my duties! A lot has gone on over the past 6 months. We formed our race team, got them trained for their first regatta and off we went into the hustle and bustle of the racing season. We have competed in regatta's all over the state of Florida, some as far away as Ft. Myers and Naples and as far North as Clearwater.

The kids have been working hard to improve their skills and to move up in the regatta standings all season long. Several MRPF sailors have really got their boats tuned well and have been sailing very fast. We had a strong showing at the Junior Olympic Event in Ft. Myers. In the RWB classes Alicia Muscatto was 50th and Brooke Conrad was 53rd overall respectively out of 92 boats. Our Green Fleet sailors had a very strong showing at this event. Hannah Cantolino finished 3rd overall, Alex Woodbridge 10th overall and Austin Hoaglin 12th overall! MRPF was the only program to have 3 sailors in the top 15 overall. Other MRPF sailors were Hayley Cantolino in 54th and Taylor Deitrick 67th overall out of 97 boats. Great job to everyone at this event.

I will get more stories about events we have attended up soon! I promise!

Great job to everyone and keep sailing fast!


Sail Fast,
Danny Wiedenhoft
Director of Sailing

Long Overdue!

I know, I know, I've been slacking in updating the blog lately!

Since the end of Summer Camp we have been very busy here at the Pram Fleet. Summer Camp ended on a great note with many happy little sailors going home with smiles on thier faces. MRPF had never had afternoon classes during the summer camp before so we decided to add 2 of them. They were such a success that we ended up having afternoon classes every session.

The day after Summer Camp ended, we held our Learn to Race and Race Team Tryouts. After 2 days of alot of learning, 5 new kids made the team and would be sailing in Green Fleet. Congrats to Alex Woodbridge, Taylor Deitrick, Austin Hoaglin, Hannah Cantolino and Hayley Cantolino for making the team. They will be joining a couple of the other Green Fleet sailors from last year and competing in regattas all over the state.

We have competed in 4 regattas so far. Labor Day Regatta in Sarasota being the first, then Bruce Watters Regatta in St. Pete which was a Green Fleet only regatta. Then we were off to Clearwater for the Clearwater Championships and most recently the River Romp Regatta which was a US Sailing Junior Olympic Event which was held in Ft. Myers.

Stay tuned for updates on all those regattas which will be coming very soon.

Remember you can also view our Youtube page with videos from our practices and regattas that we attend. The link is http://www.youtube.com/user/ManateePramFleet.

Half way there!

Well, we are about half way through the summer so far. The kids are having a blast and learning a great deal about sailing. Since we are getting later in the summer it sure is getting hotter out by the day. The instructors are constantly hiding in the shade from our bimini tops and we are throwing the kids in the water as much as possible to keep them cool. We don't want any dehydration injuries!

We are just over the half way mark of our 3rd session. 2 more to go. We are preparing to finish out our last 2 sessions and then plan for our learn to race program and our race team tryouts. Many kids have expressed interest in this and I think it is going to be a great turnout. Some of the kids look very promising and are great sailors and great kids. They would make a great fit to the Manatee River Pram Fleet race team. More info coming on that when available.

On a sad note, I was just informed by one of our race team oms that her family will be relocating to TN. The sailor on the team Nica who will be moving is not looking forward to it and is quite upset. Nica is a great fixture to the team and has a never say die attitude. I have never seen her give up once while sailing. The team will miss you greatly Nica! If you ever decide to do a regatta in Fl you are more than welcome to join the team. We wish you and the rest of the family the best of luck in everything you do with fair winds and smooth seas!!

Summer Camp 2009

That time of year is here again. Summer Camp. Currently we are halfway through our 2nd session out of 5. Everything has gone very smoothly and no major miss haps have happened. We have lucked out so far and been able to sail almost everyday. I don't think I have ever been that fortunate in a summer camp. The kids have been great on and off the water. We are already keeping on eye on some of them. They have started off very good and have a lot of potential to come to our race team try outs.

All the kids are having a blast so far and that's all we can ask for. Some are having so much fun that they are coming back for another class this summer. Some have said this is the best summer camp that they have ever been to. That puts a smile on the instructors faces.

Our summer camp consists of teaching the kids basic seamanship and sailing skills while having fun and being safe out on the water. Starting with Day 1 we give them a swim test and then do the capsize drill. The capsize drill is where the sailors flip the boat one on one and right it by themselves. We do this so if they are ever out sailing by themselves and flip they know how right the boat and get back in it and start sailing again.

After that we start teaching them what each part of the boat is called and what it does. Next we go into points of sail and where your sail should be while on that certain point of sail. When we get them on the water for there first time they take turns sailing. We have them reach back and forth getting a feel for the boat and doing some tacks and jibes. After that they are in the boats by themselves for the remainder of the session. Some fun things we do with the kids while they are here is take them to the pool and let them cool off after sailing. They take turns jumping off the diving board and the kids have belly flop, cannon ball and diving contests.

Some other things we do is take them a bait shop on Snead Island often called Stinky Dave's. Here they can buy all sorts of goods such as candy, soda and snacks. We usually do this on the day that we take them over to Terra Ceia Bay for our Nature Hunt day. Terra Ceia Bay thrives with all kinds of nature and your almost always guarenteed to see some Manatees and Dolphins. On the last 2 days of the session we have a race day where the kids can put all the stuff they learned together and race each other. The last day we sail over to a beach and hang out and give the kids snacks and sodas. On this day parents are allowed to come along and watch and ride in the coach boat. This is very exciting for the kids because they get to show off everything they've learned to mom and dad. It's so much fun I wish I could go back and do it again!!

We will post more blogs later in the summer with pictures of the kids sailing.

Have a fun and safe summer everyone!!

End of the 2009 racing year!

The end of the 2009 racing season has finally come upon us. In the very short 2 months that I have been here I have gotten to enjoy some great times with the sailors and parents and get to know them all. There are many people who I personally need to thank but the list is to long. THANK YOU to everybody who has helped me out since I have joined the pram fleet! You guys have made this transition for me very smooth and enjoyable!


After the School's Out Regatta, we had one more weekend of fun with each other till we were done for the year. On this day the yacht club asked us to join in on the blessing of the fleet. We arrived at the yacht club early to unpack boats from the regatta and to get rigged for the event. Since it was being held on the cut at Bradenton Yacht Club the kids couldn't sail thru and I would have to tow them thru till we got out into open water. We were one of the last to go in the blessing (guess they were saving the best for last) and it was a great time. I drove our new coach boat and Mike Dowd, our Red, White, Blue coach rode along with me. Also riding with me was Alan Capellin and his daughter Grace. His other daughter Darby would be getting towed thru and her boat was getting blessed. When we made our way thru Commodore Joe McClash introduced the Pram Fleet and announced all the kids names who were in their own boats. After that the Priest gave us a blessing and when he was finished we got a good ovation from the crowd and a good blow from the cannon.

After the blessing of the fleet, we took the kids out to sail around a little bit and to play some ball tag. We didn't let them stay out to long since we had our end of the year party to go to. We brought them in around 11:30 and let them de-rig and clean their boats off before we went for the real fun. On the way to the party I let each sailor drive the new coach boat for a couple of minutes. All the kids were excited since the boat was less than 2 months old and they had all been bugging me to drive it since we got it. By the time everybody was done we showed up for the party fashionably late. Oh well it's our day to do what we want.

The party was being held at the Norrie's house on the Manatee River. Why they decided to let us all kids run around there all afternoon was besides me but a very gracious thank you goes out to them! They had a huge backyard so the boys threw the football around for awhile and the girls went straight to the pool. After letting everybody have there own fun we all gathered for some cheeseburgers and grilled chicken. There were lot's of sodas and snacks as well. We all sat around and ate and told jokes and laughed and had a good time.

One of the things we had the kid's do at the party is come up with awards for Mike and I since we had done awards for them shortly before that. After letting them deliberate for awhile they said they had come up some funny things for us. My award was the 'Slow and Steady Award. They gave me this because everything is done slow but steady and always gets done. They also gave me a very large coconut that had fallen off a tree. Mike's award was the 'I don't Know Award'. They gave him this award because they said whenever they asked him a question, he would just shrug his shoulders and say I don't know. They also gave him a coconut but it was much smaller than mine. We laughed for 20 minutes over these awards.

The party was winding down and I had one last thing for the kids to do before we all departed for the year. BANANA SPLITS!! All the kids got to make their own Banana Splits and eat as much of it as they wanted. After eating 2 boxes of ice cream I think they had enough. We started to pack every thing up and clean up the mess we had made. I have to give another thank you to the parents and the great support they have given me and to the Norrie's for letting us hold our party at their beautiful home.

On another note I have to tell all the sailors how extremely proud of them I am for all the accomplishments they have made this year. I also need to thank them for trying hard at practice and every regatta they come to. You guys have been such a joy to teach and we are gonna have alot of fun in the years to come. Keep up the great work. I'm so very extremely proud of all of you!! I'm very proud to be here as the Director of Sailing and very excited as to what lies ahead of the Manatee River Pram Fleet! Stay tuned for updates on the Summer Classes.

Fair winds and fast sailing,
Danny Wiedenhoft
Director of Sailing