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

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)

8. Maria Ramires (POR)
   

CoverItLive brings your event to life

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

(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

(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

(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

(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

(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

(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

(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

(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

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

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

Opti Yellow (38 boats) -- 3 Races

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

Opti Red (27 boats) -- 4 Races

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

Opti Blue (33 boats) -- 4 Races

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

Opti White (28 boats) -- 4 Races

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

Laser (8 boats) -- 8 Races

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

Laser Radial (23 boats) -- 8 Races

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

Laser 4.7 (6 boats) -- 8 Races

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

Club 420 (8 boats) -- 8 Races

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