Cape Coral teen taking sailing world by storm

Scott Rasmussen competes in relative obscurity but the Cape Coral sailor is on track to reach the highest levels of the sport.

The 16-year-old Bishop Verot High Schooljunior vaulted to the top in youth solo radial sailing in August when he won the national laser radial single handed sailboat race in the U.S. Youth Championships at Grosse Point Shores, Mich.

Five days ago Rasmussen finished second in the Interscholastic Sailing Association regional finals in Charleston, S.C., and will advance to the High School Singlehanded finals in Bellingham, Wash., Nov. 1-2.

Rasmussen finished second by a scant two points behind Nic Baird of Tampa while Jack Gower of North Fort Myers High School was fourth.

"Qualifying for the national finals will open up new opportunities for me in regards to the Junior Olympic program and sailing in college," Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen has already mastered a complicated sport, starting six years ago at the Edison Sailing Center in North Fort Myers and then continuing training on the east coast at the Lauderdale Yacht Club with other nationally ranked youth sailors.

"Sailing is difficult because the conditions are always changing and it becomes a chess game on water," Rasmussen said. "You must pay attention to your opponents and what they do."

Rasmussen was playing soccer when he attended a sailing summer camp and became hooked.

"The competition interested me and I gave up soccer because of time conflicts," said Rasmussen, who will select his college from sailing schools Stanford, Charleston, Boston College, Harvard, Yale and Navy.

"I love racing solo — it's all on me without depending on someone else," Rasmussen said. "Being alone you must be good at multi-tasking."

Rasmussen spends time in the gym locally working on building strength and cardio training and then travels to Fort Lauderdale every weekend.

"We spend the weekend doing drills and practicing maneuvers and then watching video to see what was right and wrong," Rasmussen said. "You focus on steering, speed and sail trim tactics that involves the wind."

Travel for competition is part of the sport and Rasmussen has made five trips to California in the past year, winning a March race in San Francisco.

Parents Steve and Lois Rasmussen are constant travel companions.

"The Grosse Point win was huge. He was last after the first day, reached the top 10 on the third day and then the final day went 4-2-1-2 in the races," Steve said.

"Scott's eyes were the size of golf balls when he found out he won the national title, knowing what he won was like an Olympic gold medal for a youth sailor," Rasmussen said.

"U.S. Sailing runs the Olympic selection process so this elevated Scott and of course college coaches follow the races for recruiting purposes," Rasmussen said.