Since there has been so much discussion on the junior program lately, here are some of the numbers:

5.
Five years ago the NOYC jr. sailing program was essentially non existent and the club did not own any 420s

1 and 15.
279 high schools competed in high school sailing in the Spring semester of 2021 (and that is a down year due to COVID). Of the 279 schools, Ursuline Academy had 39 Regatta entries, more than any other team in the country. Ben Franklin had 14 regatta entries, which was 15th in the country. Both teams call NOYC home.

2.
NOYC hosts two junior regattas a year, the NOYC High School Regatta in the Spring and the NOYC Girls Regatta in the Fall.

16.
The NOYC High School regatta held on April 24th had 16 boats on the line.
Results:
https://scores.hssailing.org/s21/new-orleans-yacht-club-high-school/divisions/

9.
The NOYC Girls Regatta, last held on September 17th, 2019. (2020 cancelled due to COVID) The 2019 event had 9 teams in attendance from Austin, Houston, and New Orleans, each team sailing two boats. With subs, we had about 40 girls sailing at NOYC on that day. It is the largest high school girls regatta on the Gulf Coast.
Results:
https://scores.hssailing.org/f19/noyc-girl/full-scores/

I for one am quite proud of our junior program!

Why do we do so many high school events rather than GYA events?
I am not opposed to our sailors sailing in GYA events.; however, the high school events are currently a better fit for our sailors. The vast majority of the sailors (or at least skippers) in GYA events such as Junior Liptons and the GYA 420 events grew up sailing Optis. Our sailors are learning to sail starting in high school. The high school regattas which are held in 420s or FJs do not use trap and spin. As a result, it is easier for our sailors to progress up scoring sheet without the added burden of dealing with a spinnaker. Without spinnakers, the high school races are much shorter, only about 10-20 minutes a race. Beginning sailors tend to prefer shorter races since they will never be too far behind. No one want to be in last place for 30 minutes at a time. Should any of our juniors ask to sail in a GYA 420 even, we do keep one 420 rigged for trap and spin. It should also be noted, that GYA clubs are hosting high school events. Our juniors have sailed out of Southern, Bay Waveland, Fairhope, Gulfport, etc.