Regatta Reports

Melges 24 Worlds Corinthian at Corpus Christi Yacht Club

2011-05-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

The final day of the 2011 Melges 24 World Championship in Corpus Christi, Texas saw the regatta come to a close with some thrilling racing action out on the water. A third place in the first race of the day for reigning world champion Lorenzo Bressani on ITA 817 Uka Uka Racing, was enough to see him retain the title he won in Tallinn, Estonia last year, with a race to spare. Despite not sailing the final race, Bressani's overall winning margin was still a massive 23 points - a real indication of just how comprehensively the Italian has dominated this regatta.

A solid second and a fourth today for Brian Porter on USA 749 Full Throttle was good enough for him to secure second overall. Porter, who started the series with an uncharacteristically poor first day, fought his way up to second during the week with a determined and consistent performance.

The battle between Alec Cutler on BER 655 hedgehog and Nathan Wilmot on IRL 607 Embarr, for the final podium place really went down to the wire. Lying in fourth place, 7 points behind Cutler going into the final day, Wilmot gave himself the best possible chance of a place on the podium by winning the penultimate race of the championship. Cutler finished that race back in seventh, meaning that he held a tenuous single point lead over Wilmot going into the final race. The final race scrap between these two was a real classic, with Cutler leading the fleet for most of the race and Wilmot having to fight his way back from eighth place at the first windward mark. On the final run Cutler initially looked to have done enough to win the race and claim third overall, however in the last third of the leg everything changed at the front, with Cutler appearing to fall out of the best pressure and allowing a pack of four boats to overtake. Kristen Lane on USA 812 Brick House 812 was furthest right boat and perfectly positioned to capitalise on the new breeze. She came through to take her second race win of the week, ahead of Eivind Melleby on NOR 804 in second. Behind them Wilmot, Porter and Cutler all approached the finish line abreast, with Wilmot diving down at the last second to take third by what looked like just the width of his bowsprit block, from Porter in fourth and Cutler in fifth. Wilmot's last-ditch efforts elevated him to third overall in the regatta, with a disappointed Cutler having to settle for fourth, just 1 point behind. Kristen Lane's final race win, earned her fifth overall, 3 points adrift of Cutler.

As reigning World Champions, Bressani and the Uka Uka Racing crew went into this regatta as the firm favourites, a mantle they more than lived up to during the championship. Their performance this week has been nothing short of remarkable, winning six out of the twelve races and never finishing below sixth in any of the races they sailed. Tactically astute throughout the series, they started well in virtually every race and both upwind and downwind they always appeared to hold a speed advantage over their competitors. Bressani's victory this week is his third in the Melges 24 Class, an achievement also matched by both team owner Lorenzo Santini and tactician Jonathan McKee. Trimmer Federico Michetti goes one better, now with a record breaking four Melges 24 World Championship wins to his name. Not to be outdone by his crewmates bowman Fabio Gridellie is now a double Melges 24 World Champion.

In the all amateur Corinthian Division, Eiichiro Hamazaki on JPN 783 closed out an comprehensive victory with two more race wins to secure the 2011 Corinthian Melges 24 World Championship title by a margin of 17 points over second placed Christof Wieland on GER 635 Unsponsored. Scot Holmgren on USA 674 Rosebud took third place on count back, having tied on points with fourth placed August Hernandez on USA 533 High Voltage.

Our final Pusser's Painkiller Wipeout Of The Day Award, sponsored by our wonderful long standing sponsor Pusser's Rum, goes to Warkwick Rookly and the Australian crew of Bandit for their hooking of the weather mark in the final race of the series. Happy fishing boys! Huge thanks to Pusser's Rum, represented here this week by the fabulous Jamie Jackson, for all the great Pusser's Painkillers and for making this very entertaining award possible. All our winners have greatly appreciated their Pusser's prizes and the press team have had huge fun selecting the winners!

The final day of the championship also saw the announcement of the winners of the cash prize in the Velocitek $1000 Speed Challenge for the fastest speed achieved by a boat using a Velocitek device on Friday. With both David O'Reilly on USA 700 ARDOR/C.R.E.A.M. and Bora Gulari on USA 820 New England Ropes/West Marine recording maximum 10 second average speeds of 16.9 knots, the competition went to tie break, with O'Reilly winning out by virtue of a maximum recorded top speed of 17.6 knots, compared to Gulari's 17.5 knots.

On behalf of all the competitors at the 2011 Melges 24 World Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas, the International Melges 24 Class Association would like to thank the Corpus Christi Yacht Club, Corpus Christi Marina, City of Corpus Christi, and the State of Texas, for their most generous Texan hospitality and all of their hard work in making this year's World Championship such a success. We would also like to recognise the contribution of the many individual sponsors of the championship whose support has been invaluable.

Reprinted from melges.com, May 24, 2011.

2011 Melges 24 World Championship Pre-Regatta at Corpus Christi Yacht Club

2011-05-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

The concluding day of the Pre-Worlds Regatta at the 2011 Melges 24 World Championship in Corpus Christi, Texas, saw an unexpected return to the breezier conditions with which the venue is more synonymous, with the final two races being completed in 15 - 18 knots.

A 6,2 scoreline today for overnight leader Eivind Melleby on NOR 804 Full Medal Jacket, was enough to seal an overall win in the Pre Worlds Regatta. Melleby finished the two day series tied on points with second placed Lorenzo Bressani on ITA 817 Uka Uka Racing, who chalked up a win in the first race today before finishing fourth in the second race. A seventh and a sixth score today saw Nathan Wilmot at the helm of IRL 607 Embarr take the final Pre-Worlds podium position. The winning Corinthian, all amateur team was USA 15 Abordage owned and helmed by Erwan Le Gall from San Francisco.

The Melges 24 World Championship will take place at the Corpus Christi Yacht Club from May 11 to 21.
With racing in the main World Championship series scheduled to start in the morning, most teams spent the afternoon after racing today on boat preparation, final sail selection and planning for the week of racing ahead.

Soling Olympian and America's Cup sailor Espen Stokkeland, tactician aboard Full Medal Jacket, said that the Norwegian team were looking forward to the coming week. 'There are so many great teams here this week. The racing is going to be intense, with all of the top guys battling it out against each other. We expect the racing to be really close. It's going to be great.'

470 Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Wilmot seemed content with his team's preparation in the lead up to the championship. 'This is my first Melges 24 regatta. It's been interesting so far. I think I need to learn to stay behind the line a bit more as we have managed two recalls in three races. The boats are great though - great fun to sail and close racing, a pretty similar style to the 470, other than you also have a backstay to deal with. All in all the Melges 24 experience has been really nice and we are looking forward to the week'.

AUDI helmsman Ricardo Simoneschi (ITA) appeared confident and relaxed on the eve of the main championship. 'As a team we are happy with the job we have done up to now. In terms of the venue, I think it is a very interesting place. We were told that the winds were generally very strong and quite steady here, but in the last few days we have already seen a variety of conditions and some quite big windshifts. So I think there will be plenty of tactical options and the racing will actually be quite open.' Simoneschi also noted that the steep chop which prevails in Corpus Christi presented it's own challenges. 'For sure the wave patterns here make life very challenging for the helmsman upwind in particular. It is very easy to let the boat slow down and you have to do lots of work with the mainsheet and the tuning of the boat to counter this.'

With so many strong teams competing, there is little doubt that this year's championship will be one of the most closely fought ever, and picking a clear favourite at this point is virtually impossible. The general consensus amongst the competitors at this evening's Opening Ceremony held at the Corpus Christi Yacht Club, was that consistency, starting ability and downwind speed were likely to be the key factors in determining the overall winner. There was also a general anticipation of some spectacular sailing ahead when the inevitable classic big breeze Corpus Christi conditions make an appearance.

J-22 Circuit #3/ Leukemia Cup Regatta

2011-05-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the lake wide Leukemia Cup Regatta, hosted by the Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club. It is an annual regatta that raises money for the fight against leukemia.

After a week of the weather people telling us about the expected 20-30 mile and hour winds, we were all a little apprehensive about getting out there. It was windy early in the morning, but by the time we started, it was blowing about 3 mph. As it turned out, it became a beautiful day.

There were a total of 56 boats registered for the races. We were all broken up into 2 courses, with the Vanguard 15s and the Butterflys in the north end of the lake near CSC, and the Flying Scotts, Corinthians and miscellaneous in the south end of the lake.

Saturday was really busy for our group with the committee holding 8, maybe 9 races. I lost count. Many were short, too short, races. One of those races took only 7 minutes.

The Butterfly entrants were Amber, Frank, Sandy, Burton, Luigi, Brad and Shawn. Tom and Bruce were part of the race committee in the rescue boat.

On Sunday the weather had really changed. It was 70 degrees at 7:30 AM, and the wind was just ok. About 30 minutes later, it had changed to the north, started blowing at least 20, with a gust to 40. It rained and the temp was suddenly 52 degrees. When the committee blew the horn to signal that there would be no racing, a big cheer went up from the crowd.

Frank won the first place prize in the Butterflys, with Burton second and Sandy third. Congrats to them.

It was a very active and fun event.

Reprinted from Fleet20.blogspot.com, May 9, 2011

2011 Houston Yacht Club Offshore Race

2011-05-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

The Houston Yacht Club's Offshore Race, previously known as the Freeport Triangle, was defined by a 100+ nm triangle course anchored by the Buccaneer Platform (180 degrees), the Freeport Texas Outer Sea Buoy (267 degrees) and the Galveston South 5A jetty marker (45 degrees). The unusually small spinnaker fleet consisted of a King 40 (Hot Ticker), a 1D35 (Tres Hombres), an Express 37 (Milleniumm Express), a J/109 (Surprise), a J/105 (Stinger) and a Catalina 36 (Island Time). Both the Catalina and the J/109 were forced to withdraw due to rig problems. Wind forecast was for 15-20 knots out of the South building to 25+ after midnight, but a more accurate prediction would have called for ESE winds ranging from 12-30+ knots. The start at the Galveston Channel 11 marker came off exactly as predicted at 13:00 with the J/105 hitting the line first about two boat lengths ahead of the 1D35. Stinger rounded the 5A marker first on her way to the Buccaneer platform and held her own with the 1D 35 for several hours. At approximately 7:30, she rounded Buccaneer in third (25 minutes behind the lead boat) and hoisted her 110 sq mt spinnaker in a surprising 12 knots of breeze. Running toward Freeport the wind began to build (20+) providing ample power for 13-14 knot surfs with steady 10-12 knot runs. The Freeport Outer Buoy saw Stinger within view of at least one of the lead boats and in good position to take over first in PHRF. After a beautiful douse in 23 knots of breeze, she rounded the mark with a excessively large 155% genoa on the furler. Unfortunately this sail was far too powerful for the 24+ knot breeze. Great crew work produced an almost perfect douse followed by a very fast head sail change. The 40 mile fetch back to 5A saw speeds in excess of 9 knots with gusts to 31 knots. For most of this fetch, the winds averaged 24 knots. After rounding 5A, Stinger finished under main and jib at 03:19:28 to take first place in the regatta. While the seas were rough and the spray was very wet, the awesome crew work made the win possible. The 24 nm run back up the Houston Ship Channel was done under main alone with a following 3+ knot current and average speeds between 8 and 9 knots.

Reprinted from J105.org Class News, 3-May-2011.

Loe Real Sets Border Run Long Course Record

2011-04-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

NEWPORT BEACH -- 230 skippers and crews competed in the third annual Border Run April 9, racing everything from 90-foot catamarans to dinghies -- with many donating to a worthy cause at the same time.

Early morning hail on race day worried race co-founder Randy Reynolds. But by dawn, the sun and a decent amount of wind both made their presence known.
“A lot of hardy sailors showed up -- and we had 6 knots of wind at the start and up to 15 during the race,” Reynolds said.

Of the race’s 233 registered boats, 34 crews raised more than $50,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

“Imagine what we could do in the future for this charity if everyone helped with the fundraising,” Reynolds said. “We’re really going to push that in the future.”

Three courses starting in Newport Harbor offered racing for boaters of every experience level, Reynolds said. The 91-mile International Long Course around Los Coronados islands finished outside San Diego Bay; the 70-mile Short Course took boaters from Newport Beach to San Diego; and the new 14-mile Sprint Course took small boat skippers from Newport Beach to Dana Point.

H.L. (Loe) Enloe’s 60-foot trimaran Loe Real set a new Long Course record, finishing in 7 hours, 48 minutes, 52 seconds elapsed time -- topping Mike Maloney’s R33 record of 7 hours, 57 minutes, 2 seconds set in 2009.

William Gibbs’ Afterburner finished the Short Course first with an overall elapsed time of 6 hours, 11 minutes, 37 seconds -- but was unable to beat the 2009 record of 6 hours, 7 minutes, 36 seconds set by Reynolds’ Cat Attack.

The fastest Sprint Course overall time was 2 hours, 21 seconds, by David Martin in his Hobie Cat 18, Sueno Majado.

“The 14-mile Sprint Course has a bright future, judging by those involved,” Reynolds said. “We had windsurfers and paddleboards, Weta trimarans, lasers, dinghies, catamarans, monohulls and multihulls.”

Reynolds said feedback was positive, and everyone involved seemed to have a good time. He was pleased to see participation from boaters near and far -- including Maryland and Canada.

The race was presented by XS Racing and assisted by several yacht clubs, including South Shore YC as the organizing authority, Southwestern YC as host of the trophy party and Dana West YC as host of the Sprint Course after-party. Reynolds expressed gratitude to the many sponsors and has high hopes for the future.

“Next year we hope to get more kids out there in the sprint course,” Reynolds said, going along with the Border Run’s “all-inclusive” philosophy.

Long Course top finishers include:

West Coast 70 PHRF
1st: Holua, Brack Duker, California YC; 2nd: OEX, Peter Tong, Long Beach YC; 3rd: Condor, Lindy Thomas, San Diego YC.

PHRF Light AA
1st: Medicine Man, Robert Lane, Long Beach YC; 2nd: Pendragon VI, John MacLaurin, California YC; 3rd: Katana, Laura Schlessinger, Santa Barbara YC.

Short Course top finishers include:
XS Light A
1st: Cat Attack II, Randy Reynolds, Lido Island YC; 2nd: http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifHoku Lani, Mickey Ryan, San Diego YC; 3rd: Afterburner, William Gibbs, Pierpont Bay YC.

PHRF Light A
1st: Dare, Kettenhofen, Balboa YC; 2nd: Heartbeat, Charles Brewer, Newport Harbor YC; 3rd: CoolManCool2!, Ken Johnson, American Legion YC.

Sprint Course top finishers include:
XS Mono
1st: Holder, James Conner, Oceanside YC; 2nd: Pendragon, Howard Lewis, Dana Point YC; 3rd: Bolero, Rich Fischbeck, Balboa YC.

For full results, go to regattanetwork.com and click on “results archive.”

Reprinted from the Log California's Boating and Fishing News.
By: Heidi Kulicke Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:44:00 AM
Last updated: Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:44:00 AM

Houston Yacht Club - Southwest Circuit Heritage Cup

2010-11-19T13:21:00.001-08:00

This weekend Houston Yacht Club hosted the J 22 Heritage Cup. This is the seventh and last stop in our J 22 Southwest Circuit and had 29 boats. Other stops include regattas in Dallas, Oklahoma City, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. The individual regattas are scored but the overall winner is the best point total of your top four regattas. This year the district set a new high with twenty one boats sailing in at least four regattas. Last year only twelve sailed in four or more regattas. We also had two boats that made every stop.

This years Heritage Cup was one of the biggest regattas this year in part due to the fact that the R.I W.K.C starts next weekend also at H.Y.C so some of the teams were hoping to get an extra weekend of practice in. Sarah Bury and her team from RCYC in Toronto was the top women’s team and sailed very well. I expect to see her at the top next week also.

Matt Romberg sailed a great regatta in the light and shifty Easterlies to win. Rounding out the rest of the top five were Kelson Elam, Terry Flynn, Eric Faust and Brant Koepke.

I also want to invite anyone who is thinking of making the trip down to Dallas for the Midwinter’s to leave your boat and attend one of two of our early regattas while it is still cold up north. Please feel free to contact me or go to the Southwest Website at http://www.j22southwest.org . We are putting the finishing touches on next years schedule but should have it posted by the end of the year.

Quantum Sails finished 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th for the Heritage Cup an 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th, 7^th, 10^th , 11^th Overall for the Southwest Circuit. This caps off another great year for Quantum Customers. We look forward to an even stronger next season.

Images courtesy of Marie Wise.

Article courtesy of Terry Flynn, Quantum Gulf Coast

Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta 2010

2010-11-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

The annual Richmond Yacht Club barn burner got off to a wet, gray start, as the weather god tussled between giving the fleet a trick or a treat. Saturdays buoy races set out on 3 courses, Southampton The Circle and Deep Water for divided the 152 strong fleet into 21 classes, 7 on each.

With light breezes in the 5-6 knot range and courses of just 1.5 miles, once around, (except the Deep water course) the committee kept things moving, although slowly. A few bands of showers dampened the participants but not the spirits during the midst of race 2. In race 3 a huge shift swung through with a tad more breeze in the 8-9 knot range, and changed the course from a Windward leeward to and into a reach/ reach.

By days end, the clouds began to part and the party on boats rolled into gear…until darkness fell and the RYC’s upstairs became a 2010 edition of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, complete with Frank-N Furters, Riff Raffs, Eddies, Magentas and more.

Sunday’s hangovers were quickly quenched with dockside Gin Fizzes and large contingent of the 193 registered Pursuit Race participants sailed gallantly out to South Hampton to the 12:00 first start.

This time the Weather Gods shone brightly upon the fleet, basking them with brilliant sunshine and a gentle if not fickle breeze. The fleet initially broke into two factions, the Clockwise round Alcatraz then Angel Island takers and the Counter Clockwise, Raccoon Straits to Knox to Alcatraz gang.

It became apparent to many of the CCW gang that the wind was severely lacking in the lee of Angle Island, and many shifted back to a CW course and got an un-expected wind shift and breeze enhancement all the way to Point Blunt.

Rounding Alcatraz, the CW’s had enough breeze to carry white sails to the slot and with a little assist from the ebb and a gently building south westerly, were able to set chutes and carry them into Raccoon Straits. Attempt to buck the still flowing ebb, the edges were favored and for moments, it appeared enough breeze to punch though the swirling currents. Wind lessened for a while and the whole straights looked like a water skiers paradise for a while as the water glassed over, extending then race into late innings…

Meanwhile the CCW boats which were able to sneak through Raccoon Straights earlier were enjoying a bit of westerly in the slot from Treasure Island and across the circle.

In the end, Scott Easom, sailing his newly acquired Mumm 30, 8 Ball was able to eecked past Richard Coucirers Farr 36 Wicked and Sylvain Barrielle’s Archambault 40, Ciao!

85 Boats were able to complete the course out of 176 starters, but keep in mind there was Trick or Treating to do and a World Series Game to watch!

Courtesy of Eric Simonson and Sail-World

USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival Presented by Subway*

2010-07-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Pensacola's Harrison Prochaska and his Flying Scot crew took the SUBWAY Celebration Trophy as the top boat in the 2010 U.S. Sailing Junior Olympic Sailing Festival held on Saturday and Sunday in Pensacola Bay.

Prochaska's crew — which included Eric Amos and Seth Dobson, also from the Pensacola Bay area — dominated 1-1-1-1-1-2.

In the first annual U.S. Optimist Dinghy Association Gulf Coast Championship, Greiner Hobbs from Davis Island snatched the win from Jonathan Pottharst of New Orleans, who led going into Sunday's two races.

Hobbs came through the last day with a 1-2 while Pottharst suffered with a 5-4. Hobbs ended the regatta with eight points (6-2-2-1-1-2) while Pottharst had 10 points (2-1-1-2-5-4). A total of 50 Optimists Dinghys entered the regatta.

In Junior Olympic Opti, William Diaz from Bay Waveland, Miss., won the Opti 'beginners' Green fleet on a 10-point tiebreaker over Dominic Leccese of Pensacola. Caroline Johnson of Pensacola won the White Fleet, Phillip Dobbins of Fairhope, Ala., used six bullets to win the Blue Fleet and John Pereia won the Opti Red fleet.

Brandon Addison (4-1-[5]-4-3-1-2) of Pensacola took first in the seven-boat Laser radial fleet with 15 points.

Dodge Rees, Pensacola's nationally ranked Laser sailor, led after racing Saturday but had to leave Sunday for the Laser World Championship and Youth Worlds. At 16 years old, he is eligible for both.

He finished in second place, winning a tiebreaker over Adrian Pereira of Fairhope, Ala.

Four 420 class boats sailed the regatta. Joseph Bello of Ft. Walton Beach Yacht Club led 6 to 13 over clubmate David Beaudry.

Placing second to Prochaska in the Flying Scot Class was Seth Cooke of Fort Walton Beach.

The Opti USODA Gulf Coast Championship is the second USODA team qualifier event. The top 13 sailors from the Pensacola championship are eligible to compete in the team qualifier event for a chance to be on the U.S. International Team for the USODA.

Pensacola Yacht Club Commodore Sam Foreman said of the event: "We did not let the Gulf (oil spill) make us cancel this regatta and the decision was a good one. We had some of the best junior sailing ever. Pensacola Yacht Club was at its best and the SUBWAY SailFest was a spectacular event."

Mark your Calendar July 24, 2010

2010-07-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Edgartown Yacht Club's

'Round the Island Race
Sponsored by Mount Gay Rum

Coveted Red Hats to all participants

Open to PHRF, IRC, Cruising, and One-Design Classes

Friday evening cocktail party and buffet dinner

Trophies Galore - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

For information, Notice of Race, and registration:
www.rtirac.org or call 508-627-4364

2010 Laser North American Championship

2010-06-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Laser North American Championship, for Standard, Radial and 4.7 rigs, was hosted by the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club in Kemah, Texas, on June 24-27, featuring sailing on Galveston Bay. The final summary is:

It’s all over now with racing in the sweltering Texas summer heat for the 182 contestants at the 2010 Laser North American Championships on Galveston Bay.

The RC did a fine job in squeezing in as many races as possible after the first day was lost to calm. Three more races were added sunday in all classes with the following final standings: Laser Standard (67 boats), the top three were cast in stone on Friday with Juan Ignacio Maegli GUA (11 pts.) crushed the fleet with only top three finishes to count. In second followed College Sailor of the Year (Yale) Thomas Barrows USVI (19) who was only slightly less impressive, a whopping 29 points ahead of third place finisher Raul Aguayo DOM (48). No changes also in the podium spots of the Laser Radial where Alec Anderson USVI (21 pts.) calmly closed it out with a big cushion on Mateo Vargas USA (37) and Cameron Pimentel BER (40). In the Laser 4.7 it was a seesaw battle between winner Brendan Shanahan USA (29) and third place finisher Juanky Perdomo PUR (40 pts.) who was called for a BFD in the seventh race, which allowed Madison Gates USA (31) to slip into second.

Written by Tracy Usher

2010 McNulty Cup held in Milwaukee

2010-06-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

2010 McNulty Cup

The Milwaukee Yacht Club hosted the 2010 McNulty Cup on June 19. The event is held concurrently with the Summer Sailstice 2010 and the Milwaukee Bay Challenge Regatta.
The collaboration is also a food drive and benefit for Feeding American Eastern Wisconsin.

Feeding America is a national hunger relief organization that is made up of more than 200 member food banks and food rescue organizations across the United States including Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. Feeding America is the largest domestic hunger relief organization.
The McNulty Cup is a five race series on the waters of Lake Michigan, approximately two miles off the Milwaukee Shoreline.

Celebrity Sailor on the Waters of San Diego Bay

2010-06-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

West Marine/Challenged America Regatta

Competitive sailor, radio talk show host, and author, Dr. Laura Schlessinger spoke at the second annual West Marine/Challenged America Regatta held June 11-12. The regatta is a fundraising event launched by Cortez Racing Association and supported by West Marine to help support the Challenged America adaptive sailing program for disabled veterans, children and adults with disabilities.

With the help and support of skilled sailing enthusiasts and passionate volunteers such as Dr. Laura, Challenged America helps people with disabilities of all kind learn to sail in specially modified boats.

Three-time America's Cup Champion Dennis Conner, a personal supporter of the organization, introduced the keynote speaker, Dr. Laura on Friday, June 11, at a reception after the local Commordore's Challenge race.

Dr. Laura charmed the audience of the more than 150 with a recollection of how she fell in love with sailing. She also encouraged support for Challenged America so that all people can enjoy sailing.

“I was very proud to be apart of all those events to benefits such a worthy operation,” said Dr. Laura.

Saturday, June 12, the regatta officially began with the noon start of the first race.

More than 50 boats raced on the San Diego Bay course. Two exciting races were sailed with many sailors with disabilities competing.

2010 Laser Pacific Coast Championship

2010-06-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Racing for the 2010 Laser Pacific Coast Championship began Friday, June 4 on the waters of beautiful Monterey Bay.

On day one 19 Standard and 21 Radial rigs saw a classic Santa Cruz day with big wind, big waves and lots of sun and three races were sailed with the breeze starting in the mid-teens and reach to the mid-twenties by the second race.
Day two saw four races in very interesting conditions - the first race the breeze built from 8-10 into the upper teens, the second race was solid upper teens, the third race was puffs to twenty with giant holes and saw a drifter on the short beat to the finish, the last race saw upper teens the first beat which was then replaced by a light easterly!

Santa Cruz has hosted this event several times over the past 10 years or so and its always a big draw from all over the West Coast with lots of good sailing.
by Tracy Usher and the International Laser Class Association

2010 Flying Dutchman Nationals pictures

2010-06-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Flying Dutchman Nationals were held at the Santa Cruz Yacht Club May 28-30. The SCYC celebrated two great days of sailing. Take a look at some of the pictures.

Photos provided by: SmugMug

Lakewood Yacht Club 2010 Shoe Regatta

2010-06-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

LYC’s McMahan takes Shoe Regatta trophy

Lakewood Yacht Club racer Robert McMahan, left, was the overall winner of the Sea Lake Yacht Sales Shoe Regatta held May 15-16. LYC Commodore Don Rauscher presents the Shoe Trophy.
Lakewood Yacht Club racer Robert McMahan captured the top award on his J/80 “Kaos” at this year’s Sea Lake Yacht Sales Shoe Regatta held over May 15-16 on Galveston Bay.

This is given annually to the best racing boat in the most competitive class which was the J/80 fleet of seven boats.
Over 65 boats from all over the Gulf Coast, including the Viper Class for the first time, raced three races on Sunday, May 16. Races on Saturday, May 15, were called due to inclement weather.

McMahan reported that winds on Sunday were light and spotty.

“I think we did well in the race because we were so consistent, had a lot of patience, and worked well together as a crew,” McMahan said. “I must say that Forbes Durdin, another club member, on ‘Mojito’ sailed a really good regatta and kept us on our toes as did Bill Rose and his crew on ‘KICKS’ from the Galveston Bay Cruising Association.”

Crewing for McMahan were his sister Carter Wimberly and her husband Layne, Terry Flynn, and McMahan’s fiance’ Laura Broeker.

McMahan’s name will go on the perpetual Shoe Race ships wheel which is on display in the club’s main lobby.

The awards ceremony was held in the ballroom of Lakewood Yacht Club late Sunday afternoon with an attendance of over 100 racers. Past Commodore and sponsor coordinator Tony Wessendorff passed out complimentary Mount Gay Rum shirts and hats as they were the Silver Sponsor of the race. Additional sponsors included Banks Sails and Bay Access, a local not-for-profit organization that fosters amateur sailing on Galveston Bay.

Article and photo from The Bay Area Citizen

2010 Melges 24 Texas Gulf Coast Championship

2010-05-26T14:57:00.001-07:00

Corpus Christi Yacht Club hosted the ultimate warm-up for the premiere 2011 Melges 24 World Championship May 12-15.

The Texas Gulf Coast Championship (TGCC) provided the perfect opportunity to check out the facility that will host the world championship. The venue boasts fabulous sunshine, gulf coast winds, and perfect sailing weather.

The TGCC held this summer is the 4^th North American ranking event of the 2010 International schedule.

The ten boats competed under challenging conditions on the coast and enjoyed true Texan hospitality from the Corpus Christi Yacht Club. With 8 races scored over the weekend Alan Field and his crew secured the top spot on-board WTF.

The Corpus Christi Yacht Club, the Internation Melges 24 class association, and the U.S. Melges 24 class association will host the 2011 Melges 24 World Championship Regatta May 11-12, 2011 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Great competitors from around the world will be ready to race in the sea breezes of the Gulf of Mexico.

2010 Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta

2010-05-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Spectacular Racing For St. Francis Yacht Club 2010 Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta

Day one of the St. Francis Yacht Club's Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta was sailed in spectacular conditions. Somehow day two was even better.

With most fleets sailing four races on the first day the Formula Windsurfing fleet was one race behind having only 3 races under their belts from Saturday's racing.

The Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta includes Finn, 29er, Laser, and Laser Radial classes in conjunction with the Formula Windsurfers. Conditions for Saturday were a bit late in arriving so the fleet had been held on shore while the Olympic class dinghies' went at it.

The St. FYC is famous for mixing up traditional racing with newer 'boats' in their course racing regattas and has been including the Formula Windsurfing classes alongside the standard Olympic class dinghies' for years.

Sunday's conditions were right on time and just as St. FYC race committee head, John Craig, had promised the fleet the day before, a 12:30pm start, he boldly called the Formula Fleet out first. Usually needing a bit more breeze than the dinghies it was a display of skill by the race committee in instantly recognizing sailable conditions for the boards that only comes with years of experience. Most sailors grabbed their 11.0 sails, the ‘big' sail for the local fleet, and headed out.

With 12-16mph winds blowing the first race was to be the lightest of the day with each race picking up 4-5 mph of wind until the final race of the day with was sailed in 25-30mph of breeze.

The competitors were profuse with thanks for the professional race committee and incredible hospitality of the St. FYC staff. One the most incredible efforts put forward was that of the 20 strong volunteers who helped make the regatta possible. The applause put forward for the volunteers at the award ceremony was the day's loudest. One note regarding the nature of the competitors and the management of the event was that across some 65 boats, sailing 7 races each, across two days of competition, in 25mph+ winds, not a single protest was lodged.

Written by: David Wells, www.waterbound.com

Laser Northern California Championship

2010-05-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

The Laser Northern California Championship at The Santa Cruz Yacht Club produced exciting conditions for its competitors on May 8. The one-day event served as the Area G qualifier for the 2010 US Sailing Single-Handed Championships.

The low-key event held favorable winds for the sailboats as they fought for the number one spot.

10 boats competed in the men's standard laser class. The battle for the win from the Elvstrom Zellerback Regatta held the previous week continued between Stephen Bourdon, Tracy Usher, and Peter Vesella.

After five races the results turned out the exact same as the previous week. First place went to Bourdon, Sequoia Yacht Club, second place went to Usher, St. Francis Yacht Club, and third went to Vesella, St Francis Yacht Club.

The radial class had three boats compete first place went to Roger Herbst, Sunnyvale, Calif., second went to Christy Usher, St. Francis Yacht Club, and Jacques Kerrest, Palo Alto, Calif., in third.

The top male competitor in the laser standard fleet from this event qualifies for the men's U.S Single-Handed Sailing Championship and the top female competitor in the radial fleet qualifies for the female US Single-Handed Sailing Championship.

2010 US SAILING Youth World Qualifier

2010-01-20T10:04:00.001-08:00

Eleven youth sailors have qualified for US SAILING's 2010 Youth World Team, and will receive invitations to represent the United States at the 40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, from 8-17 July 2010.

Nine of these athletes were selected based on first-place finishes in their respective classes at the 2010 US SAILING Youth World Qualifier in Clearwater, Florida, which concluded Monday after three days of racing. The multihull team was chosen by resume and did not compete at the Youth World Qualifier.

Ian Liberty, pictured left competing at the 2009 Youth Worlds, is
one of 11 US team members heading to Istanbul in 2010

©Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

The members of US SAILING’s 2010 Youth World Team are:

Event	Equipment	Team Member
Boy’s One Person Dinghy	Laser Radial	Mateo Vargas
Girl’s One Person Dinghy	Laser Radial	Erika Reineke
Boy’s Windsurfer	RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin	Cullen Ahearn
Girl’s Windsurfer	RS:X with 8.5m2 sail & 60cm fin	-
Boy’s Two Person Dinghy	420	Ian Liberty and Colin Murphy
Girl’s Two Person Dinghy	420	Marlena Fauer and Christina Lewis
Open High Performance Dinghy	29er	Antoine Screve and James Moody
Open Multihull	Sirena SL16	Taylor Palmer and Mac Agnese

No RS:X girls registered to compete in the qualifier, so the U.S. will not send an athlete in that class to Turkey.

“We have a very strong team,” said High Performance Director Kenneth Andreasen. “This event was a true test of skill in heavy and medium air, and these sailors demonstrated they were the strongest in their fleets. We’re excited about the prospect of them winning the Volvo Trophy this summer.”

These young sailors are no strangers to trophies and top finishes: Last month at the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, Vargas won the Laser Radial class and Reineke was the top female, finishing fourth overall in a huge fleet of 135 boats. Last summer, Reineke also demonstrated she can compete against very tough international fleets: She finished an impressive second out of 75 boats at the European Laser Radial Youth Championship in Charlottenlund, Denmark, and 15th out of 75 boats at Kieler Woche, an ISAF Sailing World Cup event held in Kiel, Germany. This is the second year in a row Liberty has been named to the Youth World Team.

Vargas, Reineke, Liberty, Fauer, Lewis, Screve, Moody and Agnese are also members of the newly-launched 2010 US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), which includes young sailors identified as Olympic hopefuls in the Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, I420, 470, 29er and 49er classes.

Hosted by the Clearwater Yacht Club, the US SAILING ISAF Youth World Qualifier was a competitive regatta for 75 athletes in four events. Open to athletes born in 1992 or after, the event consisted of ten races over three days.

“Clearwater Yacht Club did a phenomenal job hosting the event,” said Andreasen. “They were so hospitable, and they organized a premiere and fair regatta on the water.”

For complete results from the Youth World Qualifier, please visit Clearwater Yacht Club’s website:

2010 Seiko 29er & 49er World Championship

2010-01-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

Photos by Fried Elliott, www.friedbits.com

Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez of Spain have won their third 49er World Championship (’02, ’04, ’10) adding to their Olympic Gold medal from Athens in 2004 and Silver medal from Beijing in 2008. In true championship fashion, Martinez/Fernandez also won today’s medal race, held in 8-10 knots. Two-time defending champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen from Australia made a strong push by winning both the morning races moving them into 2nd which they held through the final results. Pietro and Gianfranco Sibello of Italy won the bronze.

The 25 boat gold fleet sailed two races in 16-23 knots which increased to 20-25 for the silver fleet’s two races amidst tropical showers. The medal race sailors anticipated the heavy breeze, but unexpectedly the wind dropped to a manageable 10 knots.

On the 29er course, French sailors Kevin Fisher and Glenn Gouron consolidated and won the Worlds by 28 points. Pepe Bettini and Fernando Gwozdz, the perpetual bridesmaid, sailed to 2nd overall with a 10-3-2 final day. Danish sailors Oscar Haumann and Taus Holtug who lead the majority of the event, tied for 3rd with Lorezo Franceschini and Riccardo Camin of Italy, losing and having to settle for 4th overall. However, Haumann and Holtug won the Highest Placing Youth Team award. Top placing women’s team was Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen of Denmark who also won this trophy in 2009.

Young Bahamian sailors from the Grand Bahama Sailing Club Optimist and Laser program were able to view world class sailing up close and experience the camaraderie that international sailing affords.

For full results, go to www.29erworlds.org and www.49erworlds.org as well as the Facebook: 49er World Championship page and Twitter. Int49er. Channel 49er, the latest video link for the 49er Class has video and interviews.

Seiko is the official sponsor of the 49er Class and title sponsor of the 2010 World Championships.

Virgin Islands and France win the Open and Women’s Division of the 2nd Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race

2009-12-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

December 6, 2009 (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, ISV) – Peter Holmberg, Maurice Kurg, Morgan Avery and Ben Beer (ISV) utilized years of experience to defeat Taylor Canfield, Max Nickbarg, Tyler Rice and Chris Rosenberg (ISV) in an all US Virgin Islands final at the 2nd Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race. Holmberg took Canfield down with two straight wins in the best of three finals in the Grade 3 Match Race in which junior sailors and locals went head to head against America’s Cup skippers and sailors who have reached the top of the match race standings in their careers. In the Petite Finals, Jes Gram Hansen (DEN) defeated Colin Rathbun (IVB) 2-0. In the preceding Semi Finals, Holmberg defeated Gram Hansen 3-1 while Canfield topped Rathbun 3-1.

Racing in the beautiful natural amphitheater of St. Thomas’ harbor, the sailors enjoyed 4 perfect days of sailing in the double round-robin, semi and finals event. Consistent trade winds of 10-15 knots, sunshine and warm weather treated the racers to some of the best sailing in the world.

In the Women’s division, the #1 Women’s Match Racing team in the world, Claire Leroy, Eladie Bertrand, Clarie Pruvot, and Marie Riou (FRA) defeated the US Women’s Match Racing Champion and the defending Carlos Aguilar Match Race Champion, Genny Tulloch and her team, which included Sally Barkow, Alana O’Reilly and Amanda Callahan in two matches in the first to two wins final.

Leroy was enthusiastic about the experience her team gained during the past three weeks of practice and racing in the US Virgin Islands. “Peter Holmberg gave us some time and we practiced against him. The quality of the sailing and competition was excellent. We look forward to returning for next year’s event,” said Leroy.

Claire Leroy (FRA) and Genny Tulloch (USA) dispatched their Semi-Final opponents by winning three straight against Katy Pilley-Lovell (USA) and Julie Bossard (FRA), respectively.

Open Results:

1. Peter Holmberg (ISV)

2. Taylor Canfield (ISV)

3. Jes Gram Hansen (DEN)

4. Colin Rathbun (IVB

5. Dave Perry (USA)

6. Chris Haycraft (IVB)

7. Fritz Bus (AHO)

8. Mauicio Gallardo (ELS)

Women’s Results:

1. Claire LeRoy (FRA)

2. Genny Tulloch (USA)

3. Julie Bossard (FRA)

4. Katy Lovell (USA)

5. Liz Baylis (USA)

6. Renata Decnop (BRA)

7. Kelly Obrian Uzenski (ISV)

Maria Ramires (POR)

CoverItLive brings your event to life

2009-10-13T14:14:00.001-07:00

We recently had the opportunity to test a new service on a couple of our regattas. The service is CoverItLive, which works a little like a moderated forum, and a little like the popular social networking sites (i.e. -- Facebook or Twitter).

Coveritlive lets you report live (on the web) the conditions, mark roundings, and other observations from your event. At the J/22 North Americans, we used it extensively from the water via laptop, and smart phones. You can set the CIL system to accept posts directly from a list of approved Twitter accounts and post photos or video directly from YouTube and other sources. Reader Comments are posted for you (or the moderator) to review and approve before posting, so it becomes a dialog between you and the followers of your event.

For the J/22 NA's we ended up with over 800 Readers, and all stayed with the site for more than 1 minute. For the 29er and 49er World championship, we ended up with almost 4500 followers, and 2887 followers respectively. If you'd like us to add CoverItLive to your next event just let us know, there is no cost for the service, and it's a great way to increase the reach of your event for your sponsors and the spouses/families of your paticipants.

You can review the coverage of the J/22 North Americans online here of visit the CoverItLive website for more information -- www.coveritlive.com

Shoe Regatta

2009-05-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

(As reported by guidrynews.com)

Lakewood Yacht Club Race Committee Chairman Dwight Bengtson announced at the Sea Lake Yacht Sales Shoe Regatta awards ceremony that “Tejas”, a J-22 owned by Terry Flynn captured the first over-all winning position which awarded him the coveted Shoe Regatta Challenge Cup.

Held in the ballroom of Lakewood Yacht Club on Sun., May 17, approximately 200 racers were on hand for the ceremony which awarded 31 trophies to the winners. First place winners in all classes received gift cards for the skipper and crew to purchase in-stock shoes from Free-Ur-Feet shoe store in Seabrook. “This is why we call it the Shoe Regatta,” explained Bengtson. First place winners also received a gift certificate from Banks Sails worth $500.

An experienced racer and regatta winner, Flynn has placed first in the J-22 World Championship, earned four first place wins in the North American J-22 Championships, and has also won the J-22 Mid-Winter Championships four times.

When asked about his first place for the Shoe Regatta Challenge Cup, Flynn replied that although it was the first time that his crew of Even Smith and Larry Blankenhagen had raced together, they did a good job. “The wind conditions were unbelievably good on Saturday and even stronger on Sunday,” he related. There were six races total with one thrown out. Not only does Flynn sail for fun, he works for Quantum Sails in Seabrook and is a resident of League City since Hurricane Ike.

Hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club, the Shoe Regatta is presented by Bay Access, Inc., a not-for-profit charitable organization that sponsors amateur and youth sailing. In addition to the Title Sponsors as Sea Lake Yacht Sales, Gold Sponsors were Free-Ur-Feet Sandals & Boat Shoes and Bank Sales with Mount Gay Rum as the Silver Sponsor.

Lakewood racers earned a total of twelve awards. The five first place awards were the following: Bill Zartler on “Solaris, a J/105; Al Goethe on “Hamburg”, a J/109; Uzi Ozeri on “Infinity”, a J80; Ashley Walker on “Tenacity”, Cruising Non-Spinnaker; and Steve Rhyne on “Mojo”, PHRF Spinnaker A. Second place awards went to Tom Sutton on “Leading Edge”, a PHRF Spinnaker B. Third place awards were earned by Al Poindexter on “Andale”; Jack Seitzinger on “Asylum:, Cruising Non Spinnaker; John Barnett on “Sirly”, PHRF Non-Spinnaker A; Laird Cogburn on “Loopy”, PHRF Non-Spinnaker B and John Butler on Millennium Express, PHRF Spinnaker B. One fourth place award went to Tom Macaluso on “Pro-Re Nata”, Cruising Non-Spinnaker.

A special appreciation award was presented to Lakewood member Jack Tshupp who has reported weather conditions for the Lakewood racers for over ten years and who has written numerous weather related articles for Telltales magazine. He is moving to Tucson, AR to be closer to his daughter.

Complete Race Results

Dinghy Invitational 2009

2009-05-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

(As reported by www.norcalsailing.com)

A haven for racing sailboats of all sizes and well set up for small boat racing, Richmond Yacht Club hosted yet another dinghy regatta this past Saturday. Race Committee Chair Tony Castruccio described the conditions: “The wind was predominately out of the south to south southwest, which made for ideal conditions on Keller Cove. Good wind pressure and flat water was helped by the flood tide. The wind range was between 6 to 10 knots with a brief period (half an hour) as the fog pushed into the Gate when readings reached 15-16 knots.

“A total of 27 boats, predominately Lasers and Bytes made it to the regatta,” said Tony. “We had two Snipes and three Weta trimarans. The developing Weta fleet is working to show more presence at more dinghy regattas.

“Most of the volunteer Race Committee was made up of the Wylie Wabbit Fleet. Kim Desenberg contacted me and said that the Wabbit fleet wanted to help out on this regatta and give some volunteer time to the club as a fleet. How we can pass that up? You watch them race and you begin to think, ‘They are going to make for a top notch Race Committee team.’ They provided good information on the race course and kept the races rolling on the Pelican. We were able to fire off multiple races as boats were finishing.”

Kevin Kuhn showed up Saturday morning, looked up Tony and offered to work race committee, or if there was a boat available he'd also like to sail.

Having all the committee he needed, Tony introduced Kevin to Gail Yando who set him up with the fleet's Charter Byte. Big Mistake. Kevin sorted things out in the reasonably sedate (8-10 knots of breeze) first race. He took a third. Then came second or as Kevin put it, "My speed and tacks got better." Last two races: two bullets. The last race was particularly difficult with lots of shifts and lulls as the cove started to ease down from the 15-knot wind. Not keeping the pedal off the metal was runner-up Trish Sudell who at least for today didn't have her mojo. But here's the best part. Kevin developed his talent through intercollegiate sailing at the Coast Guard Academy (class of 2008). He's currently the Damage Control Officer on the USCG Cutter Morganthau, and his next deployment is in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Dan Ouellet and Michele Logan tied for third.

No surprise in the 15 boat Laser fleet. Drake Jensen nabbed two bullets and did well enough for a three point win over Mike Bishop. Nick Burke took third.

Full Results Here

Southwest Circuit #3 & Leukeima Cup 2009

2009-05-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

(As reported by www.leukemia-lymphoma.com)

The 2009 Leukemia Cup Regattas Results are in!!

In case you missed it, the event for Dinghies at Corinthian Sailing Club at White Rock Lake will be April 24-26, 2009 and the event for Keelboats and Multihulls at Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club on Lewisville Lake will be May 1-3, 2009. For more information, please contact Stacey Russell at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at (972) 996-5913, toll free (800) 800-6702 or Stacey.Russell@lls.org.

Celebrating Succes

The 2009 Leukemia Cup Regatta was a success raising over $120,000 to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Thank you to all the committee members, sponsors, participants and donors who helped to make this year a great year despite the weather conditions!

Top Fundraising Participants for this year are:

Charles and Janell Hoffman $16,200
Red Dog and Sally Jones $15,000
Jay Hoppenstein $3500
Joe Sircely $1400
Mike Simpson $1036
Jeff Doutaz $651

Thanks for your amazing efforts!

Thanks and Recognition
We wish to thank our co-hosts, Corinthian Sailing Club, Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club, and co-chairs for the 2009 Leukemia Cup Regattas, Red Dog and Sally Jones with Diane and Bob Van Buren at CSC and Rich and Vida Peregoy at DCYC. We appreciate support of the sailors, sponsors and volunteers for their dedication and generosity. Special thanks to our 2009 LCR Planning Committee and Gary Jobson, National Regatta Chair, for sharing their love of sailing and committment to the Society's mission.

A speical thank you as well to our sponsors, REd Dog and Sally Jones, The Spangenberg Family Foundation, IAMCP, Tenet Healthcare, Doctors Hospital at White Rock, Texas Instruments, The Dallas Rowing Club, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Coca Cola, The Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-a, Einsteins Bagels, Ben E Keith, Gorman Foy Promotions, American Foods, Mattitos and Prairie House Restaurant!

Way to go on your outstanding efforts to raise funds and awareness for our quest to find a cure!

Full Results Here

2009 Bay Cup I

2009-04-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

(As reported by GuidryNews.com)

Over 60 race boats participated in this year’s Bay Cup I regatta held on Galveston Bay on March 7. Hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club, this is a long distance race of approximately 20 miles into Trinity Bay.

Racers experienced unusually heavy winds in the mid 20 knot range with gusts up to 27 knots.

“We were very pleased with the near record turn out for this winter regatta,” remarked Race Committee Chairman Dwight Bengtson. “I am so appreciative of the race committee’s effort in executing the starts for the race in such windy conditions and of the racers for their courtesy and sportsmanship on the course. “

When the awards party took place Sat. night in the club’s lounge, ten Lakewood racers won trophies as Bengtson announced the winners from the podium.

Taking first place for their division were Laird Cogburn on “Loopy”, PHRF Non-Spinnaker A and Tom Youen’s “Material Girl”, PHRF Spinnaker B.

Claiming second place for their division were Carl Drechsel on “Patriot”, PHRF Non-Spinnaker B; Bill Zartler on “Solaris”, PHRF Spinnaker A; Tom Macaluso’s “Pro Re Nata”, Cruising Non-Spinnaker B; and Past Lakewood Commodore Glenn Robinson on “Dixie Apple”, Cruising Non-Spinnaker A.

Winning third place for their division were Gerry Laster on “Between the Sheets”, Cruising Non-Spinnaker A; former Kemah Mayor Bill King on his catamaran “Hard Times”, Multi-Hull B division; Sol Zittrer with son Jay on “Legacy”, PHRF Non-Spinnaker B; and Tim Vogelsang on “Tanura”, PHRF Non-Spinnaker A.

“We would also like to thank our sponsors without whom our race would not have been possible: Bay Access, Sea Lake Yacht Sales, and Sobieski Vodka,” concluded Bengston.

Complete Race Results

Spring Opti-Fest 2009

2009-04-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

(As reported by sail-world.com)

US SAILING Center’s latest event- the Spring Opti-fest hosted by the Sailing Center Martin County March 14th - 16th was a great success. Strategically scheduled ahead of the FL State Championships, USODA National Team Trials, and the South American Optimist Championships, the event attracted many great sailors from around the country and as far away as Germany and Denmark.

There was some rain and a lot of sun. Winds were sustained from the SE at 19kts gusting to 24kts. Sea conditions were a 1.5’ chop.

The purpose of these events is to promote the development of skillful youth sailors aged between 8 to 21 years and to provide an Olympic pathway for talented sailors. But more than anything, the purpose of these events is to have fun.

Team Zoum again showed a competitive edge earning medals in each of the Championship classes. Axel Sly of Coral Reef Yacht Club ('CRYC') won the overall Championship fleet as well as the Red Fleet. Conner Harding of Naples Community Sailing ('NCSC') overcame a broken sprit halyard preventing his competition in race 5 to take second overall in the Blue Fleet.

Ian MacDiarmid of Palm Beach and Booth Bay Yacht Club won the White Fleet. And a new kid on the block, Prescott Coleman just turning 9- the youngest competitor in the Championship Fleet of Lauderdale Yacht Club ('LYC') took second place also in the White Fleet.

Complete Results

Big Daddy Regatta

2009-04-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

(As reported by Latitude38.com)

Richmond YC's Big Daddy Regatta was the third big event this weekend, and in terms of sheer numbers, it was the largest. Just under 100 boats showed up for Saturday's three buoy races, sailed on two courses by six one-design and four PHRF divisions. Sunday's pursuit race drew 81 boats and Peter Stoneberg's Formula 40 Shadow — see the March issue of Latitude 38 for more on the Bay's newest high-performance multihull — notched her first win in her first ever race.

Complete Saturday Results
Complete Sunday Results

2009 HYC XXIII Annual Elissa Regatta

2009-04-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

(As reported by Globe Newswire)
The Port of Houston Authority (PHA), the Texas Seaport Museum and the Houston Yacht Club have teamed up again this year to bring the 1877 Tall Ship Elissa up the Houston Ship Channel for educational and public tours. The Elissa will be open for tours at PHA's Bayport Cruise Terminal from Monday, March 30, through Friday, April 3, and will also be the site of the skippers' meeting for the 23rd Annual Elissa Regatta Festival to be hosted by HYC April 3-5.

"This event is an example of how well the Texas Gulf Coast is recovering from Hurricane Ike," said HYC Commodore Mike Bordelon. "Both the Elissa and HYC were significantly affected by the storm, but the Elissa volunteers have done a masterful job of repairing their historic vessel and HYC is anxious to show off the plans for our new harbor, which is under construction at this time."

Wade Battles, acting executive director of the Port of Houston Authority, said PHA is pleased to host the historic vessel again this year. "The Elissa's visit to Bayport last year was beneficial to the community. We hope even more area residents, especially school groups, will take the time to come visit the ship this year. She is an important symbol of Galveston Bay's maritime heritage."

The tall ship will be open for student and public tours for five days before taking part in the three-day Elissa Regatta Festival, which is also open to the public, according to Ruth Keenan, HYC's chair for the event. The yacht club, located in Shoreacres near the Bayport Terminal, has supported the Elissa with a benefit regatta every year since 1986.

A special feature of this year's festival will be a Consuls' Regatta, which will honor the country of Spain.

"We hope this will be the beginning of a new tradition for HYC and the Houston Consular Corps," said Cheryl Thomas, HYC's Rear Commodore and Consuls' Regatta chair.

Another highlight of the weekend will be a concert by singer and songwriter Jay Nash the evening of April 4.

"The three-day event, as well as the educational and public tours the preceding week, will support the exhibits, community activities and educational programs of the Elissa and the Texas Seaport Museum," Keenan said.

Results

Big Dinghy Regatta

2009-04-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

(As reported by Latitude 38.com)

Ninety-six boats in eight classes showed up for a fine weekend of racing at Richmond YC's Big Dinghy Regatta. There were two to four races on Saturday, and a pursuit race Sunday. Big winners on Saturday included Lawrence Henderson, whose I-14 topped a 24-boat Southampton Open Class, Mike Gillum on an O'Day Daysailer in the Keller Cove Open Class (11 boats), Fred Paxton in El Toros (16 boats) and Chris Boome in Lasers (14 boats). On Sunday, Tim Parsons' Hobie 20 topped a 34-boat field to win the 13.5-mile pursuit race around Red Rock, Southampton and Brooks Island.

Complete Saturday Results
Complete Sunday Results

Boomerang Regatta

2009-01-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

Lauderdale Yacht Club,
Lauderdale, Florida
Jan 24-25, 2009

Lauderdale Yacht Club hosted over 208 junior sailors for the 2009 Boomerang. The race is named for the unique course configuration sailed by the Opti Fleet to accommodate a sand bar just off the shore of the LYC facility.

Again this year, the Optimist Green class was divided into Opti-Green (37 boats) and Opti Yellow (38 boats) to accommodate the number of sailors. Despite the large number of entrants, and an atypical north wind which necessitated a 2-hr postpone for the Opti Course, Regatta Chairman Are Friesecke and the team at LYC managed to get four races for the Opti Course on Saturday, and five races on the ocean course (for Laser, Laser Radials and Club 420s).

Sunday's conditions were a bit more difficult, the wind never settled in for the Opti course, but the Ocean course managed to get another three races in. Results for the event:

Opti Green (37 boats) -- 3 Races

Olivier Grup (PBSC) - 1,1,4 -- 6 pts.
Blair Lalor (PBSC) - 5,4,6 -- 15 pts.
Brooke Conrad (MRPF) - 9,5,2 -- 16 pts.

Opti Yellow (38 boats) -- 3 Races

Zachary Jordan (SYSP) - 1,2,2 -- 5 pts.
Shawn Harvey (CRYC) - 2,10,4 -- 16 pts.
Dillon Riera (CRYC) - 3,14,1 -- 18 pts.

Opti Red (27 boats) -- 4 Races

Christopher Williford (LYC) - 1,1,3,1 -- 6 pts.
Elliot Caple (NCSC) - 5,2,4,3 -- 14 pts.
Christopher Craven - (LYC) 3,7,8,2 -- 20 pts.

Opti Blue (33 boats) -- 4 Races

Wade Waddell (LYC,PBSC) - 1,2,2,2 -- 7 pts.
Kai Friesecke (LYC) - 3,3,3,1 -- 10 pts.
Scott Ewing (CRYC) - 2,1,1,10 -- 14 pts.

Opti White (28 boats) -- 4 Races

Ian MacDiarmid (PBSC/BHYC/Team M) - 1,1,4,2 -- 8 pts.
Sean Brennan (CRYC) - 4,2,2,12 -- 20 pts.
Jensen McTighe (LYC) - 5,7,1,10 -- 23 pts.

Laser (8 boats) -- 8 Races

Mike Matan (CPYC) - (3),1,1,1,1,1,1,3,3 -- 11 pts.
Michelle Davis (CGSC) - 1,4,2,2,2,3,4,(6) -- 18 pts.
Chalmers Pierce (ESC) - 2,(5),4,4,5,2,1,1 -- 19 pts.

Laser Radial (23 boats) -- 8 Races

Erika Reineke (LYC) - 1,2,(6),1,2,4,2,3 -- 15 pts.
Dodge Rees (PYC) - 3,4,4,4,1,2,1,(18) -- 19 pts.
Edgar Diminich (FLYC) - (9),3,1,3,5,1,7,1 -- 21 pts.

Laser 4.7 (6 boats) -- 8 Races

Mallory Willett (SPYC) - 1,2,1,1,1,1,1,(4) -- 8 pts.
Danny Friedman (USSCMS) - (4),3,2,4,2,2,3,3 -- 19 pts.
Kayla Ellis (BBYC) - 3,4,(5),3,5,4,2,1 -- 22 pts.

Club 420 (8 boats) -- 8 Races

Chanel Miller/Christina Lewis (LYC) - 1,1,1,1,1,(3),1,3 -- 9 pts.
Axel Sly/Mac Agnese (LYC) - 2,(7),3,2,4,1,2,2 -- 16 pts.
Julian Harris/Megan Place (LYC) - 4,3,2,(5),2,2,3,1 -- 17 pts.

Buzzards Bay Regatta 2008

2008-08-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

From Southcooast Today.com, August 2,2008
By Barbara Veneri
Standard-Times correspondent
August 02, 2008 6:00 AM

David Risch was bracing for a long, frustrating day. When he should have been shouting directions to his seven-member crew aboard Corsair, all he could do was have them practice setting the spinnaker.

"It looks like today's going to be a light load day," Risch said Friday morning as the 36th annual Buzzards Bay Regatta was scheduled to get under way.

But he would eat those words three hours later when the southwesterlies blew up the bay at 18 knots.

The Standard-Times got an up-close and personal look at racing Friday aboard Corsair, a 40-foot C & C from the Beverly Yacht Club, host of this year's regatta in Buzzards Bay outside Sippican Harbor.

Racing continues today and Sunday in 16 classes for more than 420 boats and more than 1,200 sailors in one of the East Coast's premier yacht races.

Finally given the all-clear to race a little after noon — smaller boats closer to shore had begun racing at 10:30 — Terry Watson of Duxbury hung over the bow of Corsair as 17 boats in the PHRF 2 racing class jockeyed to be first over the starting line without going over early.

"Try and stay in the center of the course," Watson yelled back to Risch.

Watson, who worked the foredeck and the mainsail along with Bob Kostyla of Marion, returned to his position in the bow at the start of three races, which that got more grueling as the day wore on.

Even with the 3-knot air, the PHRF 2 class made it over the line by 12:15 p.m. Three boats ahead of Corsair raced over the line too early and were forced to turn around and restart. At least one, X-Dimension, made up time on the next two legs of the race.

Halfway through the first upwind tack, the southwesterly wind came up. "Now, we're making tracks," Risch said.

Each race consisted of four legs, upwind and downwind twice over the 1.4-mile course, totaling 5.6 nautical miles — if the boats moved in a straight line.

But they don't. On one leg, Corsair took three tacks before rounding the windward mark; on another leg, one long starboard tack did the trick, before Risch brought the boat about in preparation for raising the spinnaker.

"This is our first chute race in years," said Risch. Aboard Corsair, he has raced mostly in the PHRF Cruising class, where spinnakers are not flown, at the past few BBR's.

With guys and sheets, foreguys, lazy guys, halyards and topping lifts, spinnakers are tough to get up in the best conditions. Chris Kostyla, 22, scrambled around the deck tugging and fixing, as the spinnaker rose to the top of the forestay, gybed, or came down at the next mark. As he was setting the spinnaker during Race 2, Watson's leg got caught in a jib sheet and he nearly went over the side.

Diane Kelley of Portsmouth, N.H., and "pit girl" for the day, held onto Watson's lifejacket, freeing up both hands so he could pull errant lines out of the water, rescuing him from a near-soaking.

Kelley's job meant moving below when the spinnaker came down to pull it into the boat and rearrange it for the next downwind leg. During the final leg of the second race as the boat approached the finish line, the red, yellow, blue, brown and green spinnaker started to tear at the top.

"Be careful when you take it down guys," Risch yelled. "We don't want it to rip any more."

Even with repair tape aboard, Risch switched to a heavier silver-gray spinnaker for the third race.

After each race, Risch polled the crew — Watson, the two Kostylas, Tim Herring of Wareham, and the "afterguard" of John Collins and Charlie Burnett, both of Marion — about how the race went, or "lessons learned."

Strategy on the second race — the best of the three aboard Corsair in terms of strategy, tactics, and just plain exciting moments — meant approaching the upwind mark from a port tack, which some competitors heading for the same mark at the same time on starboard tack did not take to kindly.

Between the second and third races, the downwind mark shifted about a quarter mile to the west, frustrating Herring, Corsair's navigator.

"Either they (the race committee) moved the mark," he said, "or it moved on its own." Herring sat in the nav station below working the Chart View Pro software connected to the GPS, in order to call up tacking recommendations to Risch.

What Herring told Risch was based on a "comparison of angles," he said, to get the boat where it needed to go faster and most efficiently. The relocated windward mark caused Herring to call up some bad advice, for which he apologized when he came topside to view the lay line himself.

During the third race, when every mark rounding brought a new emergency as sheets got caught around other lines, the jib curled around the forestay, or the spinnaker pole got stuck on the roller furling gear, Collins noted, "it's strange how you can have a great race like we did (in the second race), then have one like this that's in the 'Twilight Zone.'"

"We did pretty well out there today," Risch said as Corsair headed into Sippican Harbor just before 6 p.m.

Barbara Veneri covers sailing for The Standard-Times. Contact her at bveneri@hotmail.com

Island Heights Junior Olympics

2008-08-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Story and photo from Asbury Park Press, July 30,2008. (Photo by Shawn Huber/Asbury Park Press #42210)

ISLAND HEIGHTS — Little cockleshell boats with snub noses are a familiar sight on Barnegat Bay, where they are often piloted by budding sailors who have not even been riding bicycles very long. But put an Optimist pram tiller in an aggressive hand, and it's a racer.

"It was challenging because the wind was very shifty. But I followed the shifts so I almost won the second race," Cally Tullo, 13, said as she and twin sister Holly wheeled their boats ashore at the end of this week's Junior Olympics sailing regatta on Barnegat Bay and the Toms River.

Some 350 young sailors from as far away as Maine and Puerto Rico competed this week in the annual Mid-Atlantic Junior Olympics Sailing Festival regatta on Barnegat Bay and the Toms River, concluding today with a series of events hosted by the Island Heights Yacht Club.

"People from here have gone on to the Olympics and college sailing," said Frank Parisi, a past commodore of the club. "You could call this the lifeblood of the sport."

"It started 26 years ago when Len Egee and Vicky Duff started it as a regatta to attract the better young sailors on Barnegat Bay," explained regatta co-chairman Buzz Reynolds. In 2000, organizers applied for and received sanction from U.S. Sailing, the national governing body for the sport and sailing Olympics in America, and now "it attracts a lot of the top junior sailors," Reynolds said.

In the final race for advanced Optimist pram sailors, Allyson Donahue of Brigantine crossed the finish line first, followed closely by Cally Tullo of Staten Island and Mantoloking.

Both 13-year-olds are members of the Long Beach Island Optimist Sailing Team and spend much of their summer on the competition trail, from the Optimist nationals at Patchogue, N.Y., last week to an international regatta next weekend in Kingston, Ontario. The Tullo twins and their LBI teammates placed high in the final scores, with LOST team members Scott Barbano and Connor Swikart in first and second place in the advanced "gold" class.

"It's really fun to sail (the Optimist) because it's really easy to rig," Tullo said. The Junior Olympics regatta is different from most of the season's Barnegat Bay events because of its sheer size, Donahue said.

"We just got back from the national championships in Long Island, and that was 400 boats," Donahue said. Like Tullo, one of her ambitions is to move up to the 420, a nearly 14-foot-long sailing dinghy: "It's faster because it's bigger and has two sails."

The 420 and the Laser Radial are two other classes featured in the Junior Olympics, with abundant trophies for all three classes in various age divisions, Reynolds said.

"Beyond the sailing we also teach sportsmanship," with the Egee and Duff Sportsmanship Trophy bestowed as a top honor, Reynolds said. The Martin Trophy, named for former Island Heights junior sailor Richie Martin, is awarded to the participating yacht club or sailing organization with the most first-, second- and third-place winners, he said. The top 10 sailors in each class and age division receive medals.

About 180 volunteers help run the event, from preparing food to finding accommodations for visiting sailors with local families, club members said. For two days the Island Heights riverfront was jammed with trucks and trailers. One Annapolis, Md., club showed up with several carloads of sailors and trailers full of boats. The most distant teams came from Bermuda and Puerto Rico, Reynolds said.

It is exciting for the volunteers because they feel they are nurturing sailing DNA in the next generation, and sailors bred on Barnegat Bay's traditions have gone onto great things, Parisi said.

Results: Club 420s, Laser Radial, Opti Gold, Opti Silver

Houston Yacht Club 2008 XXII Annual Elissa Regatta

2008-03-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

Seventy six entrants in nine classes enjoyed warm weather and winds of 6-10 knots for the 22nd Annual Elissa Regatta. The regatta proceeds are donated to the preservation of the 1877 Elissa, the official Tall Ship of Texas.

"Elissa is nearly unique among historic ships in that she sails," said John Moran, longtime volunteer leader at the Texas Seaport Museum. "She is not only fully restored to sailing condition, but she has a large crew of volunteers who are trained and eager to sail her. She represents the maritime history of Texas. That's why it's important to take her to other seaports more often, to show the flag and gain wider support than just Galveston." ELISSA's last port visit was to Corpus Christi in October of last year.

Full Results from the regatta are HERE

Lauderdale Yacht Club - 2008 Boomerang Regatta

2008-01-23T12:42:00.001-08:00

From South Florida Sun-Sentinel Outdoors Noteboo k - January 18, 2008

Teams from Lauderdale Yacht Club swept the top three places in the Club 420 Fleet in the Boomerang Regatta on Saturday and Sunday out of LYC. Skipper Chanel Miller had five firsts and two seconds for a total of 9 points to win the class. Adam Harris was second with 11 points and Mac Agnese was third with 26.

Luke Lawrence of Coral Reef Yacht Club won the Laser class with 9 points. Niklas Anderson of LYC was second with 25 and Colin Smith of LYC was third with 26. The top three finishers in the Laser 4.7 fleet were Patrick Arrington and Nate Rubin of Coral Reef and Audrey Wright of LYC. Ian Holtzworth of CRYC won the Laser Radial Fleet with 11 points. Zack Kelchner of LYC was second with 16 and Blake Cabassa of CRYC was third with 18.

More than 150 sailors raced in five Optimist Dinghy classes. Christopher Williford of LYC won the Blue fleet with 10 points, followed by Erik Weis of CRYC/LYC with 17 and Duncan Williford of LYC with 19. Christopher Craven of CRYC won Red fleet with 10 points. Erika Reineke of LYC was second with 14 and Caterina Cicenia of Miami Yacht Club was third with 18. Harrison Hoy of CRYC had five firsts and a second to win White fleet, Spencer Elmslie of CRYC won Green fleet and Nic Baird of St. Petersburg Yacht Club won Pink fleet.

Results are online HERE

Richmond Yacht Club - Small Boat Midwinters

2008-01-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

After three days of a brutal winter whipping San Francisco bay with gale force winds, power outages, and trees blown down, the 83 competitors for the second installment of the Richmond Yacht Club Small Boat Midwinter Series were greeted by overcast conditions and light and variable winds.

With 10 one design classes and two open classes, the series is comprised of individual events in December, January, February and March. It includes separate race courses for junior sailors (Inside the Breakwater), multi-hulls, and centerboard classes. Conditions favored the Breakwater course where the Breakwater Open Classes, and one design classes got 6 races in. The Southhampton Courses still managed to get three races completed despite the light winds.

Top Finishers include:

El Toro Sr. (10 Boats)

Gordie Nash (Richmond Yacht Club)
Arthur Lange (HP Sailing Club)
Michael Quinn (Richmond Yacht Club)

El Toro Jr. (3 Boats)

Dane Perrott (Richmond Yacht Club

Optimist (9 boats)

Lauren Cefali (RYC/SFYC)
Will Cefali (RYC/SFYC)
Kyle Larsen (PYSF/SYC)

Snipe (3 boats)

Nabil Shahim (RYC)

Byte (6 Boats)

Laurie Davis (Inverness)
Gail Yando (RYC)
Mary Cefali (RYC)

Wylie Wabbit (8 boats)

Andrew Hamilton (RYC)
Colin Moore (RYC)
Tim Russell (SFYC)

Laser (22 boats)

Steven Bourdow (Sequoia Yacht Club)
James Vernon
Mark Halman (RYC)

Finn (2 boats)

Stephen Hutchison (EYC)

Flying Dutchman (6 boats)

Zhanya Kirueshkin-Stepanoff (SCYC)
Michael Spranger (Berkeley Yacht Club)
Douglass McWilliams (Lake Washington Sailing Club)

Southampton Open Class (5 boats)

Ian O'leary (BYC)
David Rasmussen III (RYC)
Chris Currier (LW Sailing)

Breakwater Open Class (8 boats)

David Anderson
Greg Paxton (RYC)
James Parker (City of Oakland)

Complete results are available here. Current Series Standings are available here .

The date of the next installment of the Small Boat Midwinters is Feb. 3, 2008

US SAILING’S 2007 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship

2007-11-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

Olympic Hopeful Barkow Blasts into the Lead

Shoreacres, Texas, USA (November 15, 2007) – Three…two…one…blast off! That familiar sound from nearby NASA Johnson’s Space Center is also the scoreline of Olympic hopeful Sally Barkow’s (Nashotah, Wis.) race results today at US SAILING’s Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship. With a total score of 11 points, Barkow and her team – Debbie Capozzi, Annie Lush and Amanda Callahan – lead the 39-boat fleet racing out of the Houston Yacht Club in Shoreacres, Texas.

“We were a little bit jet lagged yesterday and we had to get used to the boat,” said Barkow of her quick jump into the International J/22 keelboat after match racing in slightly larger boats at last week’s Vitória Brasil Women’s Cup, which she won. “We kind of had to force ourselves to wake up and get moving. We are taking it one day at a time. It was a good day today.”

Yesterday’s leader Cory Sertl (Rochester, N.Y.) slipped into third-place overall, a mere eight points behind after discarding a seventh place result from day one. The regatta’s sailing instructions allow competitors to throwout their worst result once six races are completed in the series.

Moving up into second place is Annapolis’ Derby Anderson. “To have won a race and be in with all the good guys feels really good,” said Anderson of her solid 2-4-6 results today. “I finished 10th last time (in 2005) and people were asking me how we were going to do this time. I didn’t even know how we were going to get into the top 10. Katherine (Wade) has never sailed this type of regatta; she’s only done college sailing. It’s a great learning curve we’ve had.”

Of the challenging 15-20 knot winds that were shifty and gusty at times, Anderson said that their crew weight was a factor. “We are light, 40 lbs light,” said Anderson, regarding the combined crew weight limit. “I’ve sailed in breeze before in these, and the main was always ragging. We finally figured out how to tune the boat and trim the sails because nothing was ragging all day. It’s because of Greg Fisher’s clinic, the Road to Rolex Clinic. Overall, we are really happy together, never having done a regatta together before.”For local sailor Julie Goetschius, satisfaction at the end of the day comes from performance, but also inspires her and her team of Emma Browning, Lisa Simpkins and Phyllis Grounds.

“This is a great regatta for women,” she said. “I think that this is an opportunity for a number of women to show themselves that they can do so much. The Olympians already know what they can do. Those who don’t sail on a regular basis come out and they learn they can do some things they didn’t think they could ever do.”

Of the focus needed to excel in today’s challenging conditions – a marked change from yesterday’s hot temperatures and moderate wind – Goetschius said, “It was a lot more exciting for those who can drive through the chop. The starts were pretty exciting. We had two real good starts and one poor one; the good ones were race 1 and 3 when we came off the (starting) line with speed. Driving in the chop gives you more confidence, having done this before. If you have that experience, then you can do well.”

The top local boat continues to be RIFT, in seventh place and skippered by Chelsea Bethancourt (Shoreacres), the youngest skipper at the regatta.

Tonight the competitors will be treated to an exclusive visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where the daily first awards and the Kaenon Award, awarded to the team with the lowest score of the day. Racing continues through Saturday and is hosted at the Houston Yacht Club.

For results, please visit the websites www.ussailing.org/riwkc and the Houston-specific http://www.riwkc.com/. Daily racing videos will be available each evening at 9pm (CST) on http://www.t2p.tv/.

The Rolex IWKC title sponsor is Rolex Watch U.S.A. Other sponsorships to date include: Platinum level - James & Camille Tichenor, Vince & Margaretta Morvillo for Sea Lake Yacht Sales, and Societe Generale; Gold level - Kirby Inland Marine, Port of Houston Authority, Channel and Lynchburg Shipyards; Silver level - Sterling Bank, Houston Pilot's Association, Segue Websites, Mount Gay Rum, Veolia Water and KO Sailing. The Rolex IWKC is a US SAILING Championship and hosted by the Houston Yacht Club.

Day 2 Preliminary ResultsTop 10 of 39 teams
Position, Boat name, Skipper, Hometown, Results, Total points

1. Sally Barkow, Nashotah, Wis., 2-[16]*-3-3-2-1, 11 points
2. Derby Anderson, Annapolis, Md., 1-[22]-4-2-4-6, 17
3. Lucy, Cory Sertl, Rochester, N.Y. 5-[7]-1-6-3-4, 19
4. Anna Tunnicliffe, Plantation, Fla., 3-18-[21]-4-1-2, 28
5. Nicole Breault 4-[OCS]-14-1-5-8, 32
6. Devonvale, Dominique Provoyeur, Capetown, RSA, 6-[21]-2-12-15-5, 40
7. RIFT, Dana Bethancourt, Shoreacres, Texas, 17-9-[24]-8-93, 46
8. Sundog, Kathy Parks , Annapolis Yacht Club, 12-8-10-11-8-[16], 49
9. Black Socks, Jo Ann Fisher, Annapolis, Md., 10-[20]-8-9-6-18, 51
10. Lynette Edenfield, Fort Worth, Texas, 16-2-5-20-[28]-11, 54

* denotes ‘throwout’ or the race result that is discarded from total points

Lake Canyon Yacht Club - Wurstfest Regatta II

2007-11-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

68 boats registered for the second weekend of the annual LCYC Wurstfest event. Week 2, featured keelboats and multi-hull classes and enjoyed consistent winds of 11+ knots for both days. The classes included:

Beach Cat Non-Spinnaker - 5 boats

Beach Cat Spinnaker Fleet - 1 boat

Catalina 22 One Design - 8 Boats

F-28R One Design - 5 Boats

PHRF Cruiser Class - 4 Boats

F-18 One Design - 8 Boats

J/24 One Design - 6 Boats

Nacra 20 One Design - 6 Boats

PHRF Non-Spin A - 6 Boats

PHRF Non-Spin B - 5 Boats

PHRF Spin - 8 Boats

PHRF Multi-Hull - 6 Boats

Not only were the entrants treated to typical Lake Canyon hospitality, including a free Friday Night bus to the Wurstfest grounds in New Braunfels, Texas and a live band on Saturday night, but entry also included breakfast both days and a traditional Wurstfest sausage dinner Saturday night and Lunch on Sunday!

Results:

Catalina 22

Gene Ferguson - FWBC

Gary Bourgeois - LCYC

Mailyn Boemer - GSC

Gary Peterson - CYC

John Grzinich - AYC

Nacra 20

Michael Yost - (none)

Michael Niggli - TCDYC

Andrew Tatton - UTSC

Jim Rehage - AYC

Lee Wicklund TCDYC

F-18

John Tomko - (none)

Aaron McCulley - AYC

Chris Green - TCDYC

Steve Piche - AYC

Mike Rohrer - Austin Cats (Fleet 64)

J/24

Doug Weakly - CCMORF

Holmes - DCYC

Tonja Sanchez - GBCA

Dave Gamble - AYC

Brian Purcell - LCYC

PHRF Non-Spin A

Bill McVey - LCYC

Josef Scherm - LCYC

Grant Wolfe - BVSC

Mark Bird - LCYC

James McNeel - LCYC

PHRF Non-Spin B

Timothy Voyt - (None)

Steve Wilson - LCYC

Chris Nichols - LCYC

Billie Williams - LCYC

Jess Rolan - LCYC

PHRF Spin

Fred Lindsey - LCYC

Dirk Albrecht - LCYC

Phillip Davis - LCYC

Dent/Garity - LCYC

Mike Jones - BVYC

Cruiser

Tom Geis - LCYC

Jame Kizziar - LCYC

Jon Lockhart - LCYC

Jeff Walne - HCYC

Multi-Hull PHRF

Sam Showalter - PAYC

Marc Waters - (none)

Peter Pattullo - TOMA/LYC

John Novak - (none)

John Kuc - AYC

Beach Cats

Ron Ihle - PAYC

David Czarnet - TCDYC

Miles Payne - (none)

Joe Monosmith - LCYC

Richard Griffin - TCDYD

Beach Cat - Spin

Phil Buck

Lake Canyon Yacht Club - Wurstfest Regatta I

2007-11-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

92 boats registered for the first weekend of the annual LCYC Wurstfest event. Week 1, billed as the centerboard regatta, included:

17 Flying Scot

12 Lasers

7 Laser Radial Junior Fleet

7 Longboard Windsurfers

4 Optimist Dinghy

13 Portsmouth Dinghy

24 Sunfish

8 Vanguard 15's

Not only were the entrants treated to typical Lake Canyon hospitality, including a free bus to the Wurstfest grounds in New Braunfels, Texas, but also included breakfast both days and a traditional Wurstfest dinner Saturday night!

Results

Flying Scots

Richard Wade - Corinthian Sailing Club
Tom Miller - CSC
Jeff Foerster - LCYC
Cummings Berry - CSC
Brad Davis - AYC

Lasers

David Grogono - AYC
Jacques Roy - Rockwall Yacht Club
James Freedman - (no club)
Ravi Subramanian - Austin Yacht Club
Colman Terrell - LCYC

Laser Radial Jrs.

Thomas Young - LCYC
Aaron Stuckey - LCYC
Masie Comen - CSC
Merra Day - LCYC
Ariana Cobb - GSC

Longboard Sailboards

Brian Shepard - Austin Windsurf Club
Chase Kurtin - SSC
Will Hawk - AYC
Garrett Kanstieiner - SSC
Peter O'Conner - SSC

International Optimist Dinghy

Hamrick Morgan
Isabela Young
Myles Gladen
Catherine McNeel

Portsmouth Dinghy

Kevin Gunn - TCYC
Bob Hunkings - CLSC
Randy Yates - BSC
Mike Mashi - SAYC
Jennifer Loehlin - Austin Yacht Club

Sunfish

Greg Gust - ECSC
Hank Saurage - Pelican YC
Ash Beatty - MISA
Ed Hill - (none)
Ellen Burks - AYC

Vanguard 15

Hugh Haggerty - Texas A&M Galveston CSC
Katie Cummings - SSC
Thomas Kaczmarek - HYC
Anderson Jones - CSC
Albert Rodriguez - Galveston Bay V-15 Fleet 49

Congratulations to the Winners, and to the crew at LCYC for putting on a great event!

Full Results are HERE

USA JUNIOR OLYMPIC MID-ATLANTIC SAILING FESTIVAL

2007-07-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Island Heights, New Jersey July 23-24, 2007 -- Congratulations to the 285 Junior sailors that participated in this great event at Island Heights Yacht Club. Over 285 juniors participated in this event in Opti Gold and Silver Fleet), Laser, Laser Radial, and Club 420 Fleets. In addition to crowded starts and mark roundings, these sailors were dealing with wind ranging from nearly 25 knots with rain and cold, all the way down to 2.5 knots under sunny skies on day two.

Max Fraser and David Liebenberg crowned US National Champions

2007-07-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

July 5-8 2007, Santa Cruz, CA -- 23 teams competed over the weekend for the US National Championship in Santa Cruz, CA. After 10 races only 8 points separated the top four teams, proving there was great close racing over a variety of conditions. Oliver Toole / Willie McBride and Alex Bernal / Hunter Williams rounded out the top three. Photos coming soon. ..... final results

Regatta Reports

Melges 24 Worlds Corinthian at Corpus Christi Yacht Club

2011 Melges 24 World Championship Pre-Regatta at Corpus Christi Yacht Club

J-22 Circuit #3/ Leukemia Cup Regatta

2011 Houston Yacht Club Offshore Race

Loe Real Sets Border Run Long Course Record

Houston Yacht Club - Southwest Circuit Heritage Cup

Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta 2010

USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival Presented by Subway*

Mark your Calendar *July 24, 2010*

2010 Laser North American Championship

2010 McNulty Cup held in Milwaukee

Celebrity Sailor on the Waters of San Diego Bay

2010 Laser Pacific Coast Championship

2010 Flying Dutchman Nationals pictures

Lakewood Yacht Club 2010 Shoe Regatta

2010 Melges 24 Texas Gulf Coast Championship

2010 Elvstrom Zellerbach Regatta

Laser Northern California Championship

2010 US SAILING Youth World Qualifier

2010 Seiko 29er & 49er World Championship

Virgin Islands and France win the Open and Women’s Division of the 2nd Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race

CoverItLive brings your event to life

Shoe Regatta

Dinghy Invitational 2009

Southwest Circuit #3 & Leukeima Cup 2009

2009 Bay Cup I

Spring Opti-Fest 2009

Big Daddy Regatta

2009 HYC XXIII Annual Elissa Regatta

Big Dinghy Regatta

Boomerang Regatta

Buzzards Bay Regatta 2008

Island Heights Junior Olympics

Houston Yacht Club 2008 XXII Annual Elissa Regatta

Lauderdale Yacht Club - 2008 Boomerang Regatta

Richmond Yacht Club - Small Boat Midwinters

US SAILING’S 2007 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship

Lake Canyon Yacht Club - Wurstfest Regatta II

Lake Canyon Yacht Club - Wurstfest Regatta I

USA JUNIOR OLYMPIC MID-ATLANTIC SAILING FESTIVAL

Max Fraser and David Liebenberg crowned US National Champions

Mark your Calendar July 24, 2010