Young sailing champion leaves rivals in his wake

A Seminole boy's love of sailing has led him to become an international competitor.

By WILMA NORTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 11, 2000

SEMINOLE -- He tips the small boat, which weighs about the same as he does, so far out of the water that it looks like it has to capsize.

Balancing on the boat's edge, Mitch Hall lets the wind catch the sail and carry him as fast as it will. Going fast, trying to pass other sailers who have managed to get ahead of him in races, is what the 11-year-old Seminole Middle School student loves.

"I was third going up to the last leg last weekend," said Mitch, the state champion at sailing Optimist dinghys, bathtub-sized sailboats raced by kids from about age 8 to 16. "I caught up, and it felt really good."

He caught and passed all the competition in the state championships in late February. In New Orleans in November, he caught all but two of his opponents, finishing third in the Optimists Midwinter regatta, the youngest sailor in the top 10.

"That felt great," he said with a huge grin.

This week, Mitch gets to see how he can stack up against international competition. His third-place finish in New Orleans qualified him for one of 15 places on the U.S. team for the Optimist South American Championship, which begins Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It's not quite the world championships, but it is a big deal, Mitch said. He has been racing since he was 8. "Before that, I sailed just for fun."

His mom, Sherry Hall, said Mitch got interested in racing because his older brother Mike competed. Mike, now 16, still sails competitively and is highly rated in his age group. Their little sister, Mary Kate, 7, also started racing this year.

Mitch tried baseball and soccer and other sports, but Mrs. Hall said sailing is his big love.

"He's been doing this non-stop," she said.

She and her husband David Hall like the values of racing, she said, the sportsmanship, the responsibility, the discipline, the commitment. "Hopefully, this can be one of those lifelong sports," Mrs. Hall said.

Eric Bardes, Mitch's coach, said Mitch is a rare talent.

"The unique thing is he's so young, competing against 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds," Bardes said. "He's able to compete in all conditions. I'm not sure how he does it. He's a very determined sailor."

In light wind conditions, in the 5-knot range, a small sailor like Mitch, who is 4-foot-8 and weighs 80 pounds, has a bit of an advantage, Bardes said.

In stronger winds, more than 20 knots, a larger child would tend to have an advantage.

"Mitch seems to be able to solve the 25-knot problem," Bardes said. "He works harder in his boat and out of his boat than any other sailor in the country right now."

Mitch said he just likes to sail.

"It's great," Mitch said. "I think it's a great experience to sail and how you meet international sailors from around the world and practice with them."

Optimist racing got its start in Clearwater in the mid-1940s, when Clark Mills of the Clearwater Optimist Club developed a sailing pram for children as an alternative to soap box racing. The Optimists boats are 8-feet long and 3-feet wide and made of fiberglass. Fully rigged, they weigh 77 pounds. A used boat can be purchased for a few hundred dollars. Optimist racing has spread to more than 100 countries with about 150,000 young sailors.

Chris Fontana of St. Petersburg, who sails with the St. Petersburg Yacht Club team, also will be making the trip to Rio, along with Cullen Shaughnessy and Erik Bindslev. Cullen and Erik train with the St. Petersburg team but live in Marco Island.

Mitch sails with the Optimist team from the Clearwater Yacht Club.

The team practices from about 4 to 7 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. "We eat lunch on the water," Mitch said. "We don't even come in for lunch."

They work on physical conditioning, strategy and tactics.

Before a race, Mitch said, you have to think.

"You have to check the wind before you start and make a strategy. If you follow your strategy, usually you're winning," he said. "If you're not winning, you have to go to tactics."

Bardes compared sailing competition with chess. Keeping your head in the race is one of the toughest challenges, something Mitch excels at, he said.

"It takes a lot of brainpower," Bardes said. "He's able to do what he sets his mind to do. There hasn't been another sailer like that in Clearwater for eight or nine years. It's a real nice thing to watch him work."

Mitch's grandmother, Mary Emma Hall, said she remembers when Mitch started; he was scared and nervous and could hardly get in the boat. When she told him he didn't have to, she said, he would answer, "But it's so much fun. I love it."

After more than three years of dinghy racing, Mitch, who said the fastest he has pushed his boat is 12 mph, appears fearless.

It's his grandmother who sometimes gets scared now. "That's one of my babies," she said.

After the South American race, Mitch will travel to Egg Harbor, N.J., in May to compete for a spot on the U.S. team for the world and European championships.

He has his sights set on the world championships next year, to be held in China.

"That would be neat," he said, "to see the Great Wall."

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