Story by Sheri Duff

Laura Dunphy literally grew up sailing on her parent's boat: a Catalina 27 named Becalmed at the Lake Champlain Yacht Club (LCYC). From her first sail as a six-month-old baby to crewing for her father in the LCYC Wednesday night racing series at age eight, to the start of her junior sailing career two years later, Dunphy has became a fixture on Lake Champlain.

Born on Jan. 13, 1993, Dunphy has lived in Shelburne her entire life. Her family includes parents Betsy and Michael, 15-year-old sister Rachel, and their cat, Ben.

Quickly advancing from beginner lessons at LCYC to the advanced Flying Junior (FJ) class, Dunphy has acquired the skill set of an accomplished sailor. (For those unfamiliar with sailing, an FJ is a small open-hulled two-person sailboat typically used for sailing instruction. In single design or single class racing, FJs are commonly used in youth sailing programs.) Not that this humble 17-year-old would consider herself a gifted sailor. In fact, during our conversation she failed to mention her LCYC sailing accomplishments at all. In 2006 she was awarded the Bruce Hill Trophy for Outstanding Sportsmanship. In 2007 and 2008, Dunphy was awarded the Endurance Trophy as Junior Skipper of the Year, the first junior sailor to be so honored in consecutive years. Fortunately for this reporter her LCYC awards are well-documented because Dunphy is not one to sing her own praises. I'm somewhat surprised since this is the same teen who claimed, just moments ago, to be terrible at keeping secrets.

Dunphy, along with her crew and friend Eva Williford in photo at right, has been a member of the Northern Vermont High School Sailing Team since her freshman year at CVU. Hosted by the Community Sailing Center in Burlington, the sailing team is a community-wide sailing program open to any high school student in good standing from Chittenden or surrounding counties regardless of their sailing experience. "Laura is the most committed sailor on the team," according to former high school coach Mike Collins. "She is a talented sailor who is also a great role model for the other athletes," he added. The team focuses on boat-handling, team racing, and fleet racing through on-the-water drills and off-the-water discussions. Currently a junior at CVU, she has participated in many varsity level regattas around New England.

Last summer in one such regatta Dunphy achieved her greatest milestone to date. "The Cheeseburger in Paradise Regatta is the holy grail of junior sailing," Dunphy shares. "Four sailing teams compete in the FJ racing fleet event: my club LCYC, the Mallett's Bay Boat Club, Northern Lake George Yacht Club, and the Lake George Club. There were about 25 FJs in the regatta I think. My crew, Ming Fen Congdon and I, won the event."

"The Cheeseburger in Paradise Regatta is the largest regional event the kids participate in," said Jim Turvey the junior sailing director at LCYC. "After a second place finish last year this was quite a plum for Laura."

A certified U.S. Sailing Level 1 instructor, Dunphy has taught sailing at LCYC for the past three summers. As one of two head instructors for LCYC this summer, she looks forward to another great season on the water and implores students ages 8-17 interested in learning to sail to visit www.lcyc.info/junior-sailing.

In addition to sailing, Dunphy participates in the international club and is on the math team at CVU. She also enjoys recreational snowboarding in the winter and her favorite sport, after sailing of course, is scuba diving. "I became certified in scuba diving in August in Lake Champlain," she commented. "In February I went diving in Honduras and Belize." This summer she plans on adding windsurfing and kite boarding to her athletic arsenal.

It appears that Dunphy is a planner. She is already charting her course and future plans to include sailing in college and studying marine biology. She also hopes to be a sailing instructor in the Caribbean before settling down to a "real career." May fair winds fill her sails and the wind always be at her back.