33 The Carraway Family Teenagers Trey and Chase Carraway began sailing at 6 years old, when they attended Camp Seagull. The boys fell in love with it. ab When the family moved to Wrightsville Beach, they took more lessons at the Carolina Yacht Club and soon joined the racing team. Trey, 17, started on a Sunfish, about 13 feet. He now sails a Laser Performance sailboat, which is about 16 feet. Trey is also a US Sailing Level 1 instructor and certified lifeguard. “Sailing has helped me get into college,” Trey says. He’s been recruited by Jacksonville University to sail for its team. Chase, 14, sails an Optimist, Opti for short, a beginner boat about 8 feet that youth can sail until they are 15 years old. However, Chase is tall for his age and will size out of his boat before he ages out. Trey’s first regatta was an Atlantic Coast Championship. He has also competed in the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami for the past two years. It’s the biggest international youth regatta in the US with top Laser sailors representing 26 different countries. He has also raced in the Cressy Trophy Regatta, the only high school Laser sailboat regatta of the season. “Traveling with the team is fun,” Trey says. Chase is a member of the United States Optimist Dingy Association (USODA) and competes for Carolina Yacht Club, PRIME Sailing Team in Charleston, SC, and SailStrong in New York. He practices with teams around the country. USODA sailors qualify for team trials then the national, or development team. Chase’s race finishes have given him the chance to travel to the 2014 British Nationals Championship, an eight-day race in Weymouth, a seaside town in Dorset, England, where the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic Games were held. “My goal is to make the US Olympic team,” Chase says. Sailing is one of the few sports in which men and women compete against each other on an equal plane. One of Chase’s teams includes eight girls and seven boys. The Carraway brothers’ mother, Boo Carraway, 45, says, “I’ve seen some cute little sailors who can clean their clocks.” Her husband Stanley, 49, adds, “Our boys communi-cate better with girls Stanley and Boo Carraway. because sailing is a co-ed sport.” Chase spends his free time train-ing on water and exercising to build endurance. He practices tacking — the maneuver of turning the boat upwind or downwind. Sailors use their bodies to change the direction of the boat, which is difficult because the sailor is working against the wind. Chase also works out to strengthen his abdominal muscles with planks, wall sits and six inches, or holding his feet six inches above the floor. “It helps me hike out longer,” Chase says. Regattas can be hours long. Participants could sail one to three miles before even reaching the racecourse. www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
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