North America

When we started out with the US edition of Sailing News last March we didn’t know just how much fun that will be. Here we are six months later, continuing to build a loyal following that loves Olympic classes and one designs and sees sailing as a global sport where stuff happens 24/7. Thanks for your support, it is validation of our daily efforts and motivation to try even harder.
According to some analytic sites we are showing triple-digit growth rates while others are bleeding readers. We have no way of verifying such claims. Instead we went back to our archives to see how we do. We randomly selected the week from Aug. 21 to Aug. 28 and counted. Then we counted again, but it the number didn't change: 150 published regatta reports (translated into three different languages) with images, results and links to videos, tracking sites and sailors’ blogs, Facebook and Twitter pages.
This is what it's like now. And it isn't trickling. It is pouring from the rock star regattas down to the grass roots of sailing where most participants spend their time. If we want to “save sailing,” we must strengthen and promote the volunteer-run organizations and events. Modern technology like smart phones and social media make it easier than ever, but we can’t do it by ourselves. If you are involved in an Olympic or one-design class, in a club or community sailing organization, we encourage you to join us on Twitter and Facebook, and to submit your event reports, images and results to editor@sailing-news.us. If you do, we’ll run it. Even on weekends.

Over this Labor Day weekend, 170 boats raced in the traditional Annapolis Race Week with the Farr 30s holding their North American Championship and the Cal 25 their Nationals.
In the 46-boat Fleet 2 the Farr 30 started last Friday and held 12 races with Jim Richardson’s ‘Barking Mad’ winning another North American trophy in a landslide from Bodo von der Wense’s ‘Turbo Duck’ and William Markel’s ‘Standard Deviation’. In the J/80 Allan Terhune Jr. also tallied a 25-point advantage over Dan Wittig. Closer, but not really close was the finish in PHRF A2 where John White had a seven-point cushion over Mike Frampton’s ‘Defiance’ after eight races.
In the 54-boat Fleet 1 eight races were held with the class winners as follows: Beneteau 36.7: ‘Stardancer’ (John Blais), Farr 40: ‘Endorphin’ (Erik Wulff), J/105 ‘Rum Puppy (Jack Biddle), J/35 Mr. Bill’s Wild Ride’ (William Wildner), PHRF A0: ‘Anemascore’ (Ennio Staffini), PHRF A1: ‘The Fish’ (Karen Lenkey).
In the 61-boat Fleet 3 the Cal 25 Nationals went down to the wire with Brian Shenstone on ‘Draco’ losing a bullet to a 40% penalty in Race 6, but coming back with a 1-2 to edge Jimmy and Mike Praley’s ‘Upchuck’. The other winners in this fleet are: Catalina 27: ‘Slam Duck’ (T. Walsh/J. Potvin), J/24: ‘Spaceman spiff’ (Pete Kassal), J/30: ‘Bebop’ (B. Rutsch/M. Costello), PHRF B: ‘Flying circus’ (Dave Coleman), PHRF CD: ‘Defiant’ (Fred Caison). Lastly, in PHRF N ‘Divide by Zero (John Lanigan) at the top after three races. No reports or images were posted during the event, so try the ARW Web site later this week.

Over this Labor Day weekend, 161 boats assembles for the traditional Annapolis Race Week where the Farr 30s hold their North American Championship and the Cal 25 sail their Nationals. In absence of any reports, here are the results: In the 54-boat Fleet 1 the class leaders after five scored races are Beneteau 36.7: ‘Stardancer’ (John Blais), Farr 40: ‘Endorphin’ (Erik Wulff), J/105 ‘Rum Puppy (Jack Biddle), J/35 Mr. Bill’s Wild Ride’ (William Wildner), PHRF A0: ‘Stray Dog’ (Charles Engh), PHRF A1: ‘The Fish’ (Karen Lenkey).
In the 46-boat Fleet 2 more races were added in the Farr 30 North American Championships (started on Friday) where Jim Richardson’s ‘Barking Mad’ continues the rampage and leads now by 25 points over Bodo von der Wense’s ‘Turbo Duck’. In the J/80 Allan Terhune Jr. is nearly as dominant with a 16-point advantage over Dan Wittig. It’s much closer in PHRF A2 where John White has a one-point lead over Mike Frampton’s ‘Defiance’ after six races. In the 61-boat Fleet 3 Brian Shenstone holds a four-point lead over Jimmy and Mike Praley in the Cal 25 Nationals.

Earl be damned, the 13-boat Farr 30 fleet started their races at the Annapolis Race Week. After four races the score sheet shows 'Barking Mad’ (Jim Richardson) on 6 pts., doing a horizon job on everyone else. In second ‘Standard Deviation’ (William Markel (18) followed by Seabiscuit (Gail Owings (22). The 8-boat PHRF Division N which sailed the distance race to Gibson island showed ‘Nembo’ (Marino Dimarzo) ahead of ‘Divide by Zero’ (John Lanigan) and ‘Kolohe Anakalia’ (Robert Yoho). Nothing else was posted at press time so check the event site.

It was the windiest day yet at the 2010 Finn Gold Cup on San Francisco Bay and Ed Wright GBR (20) underscored his title ambitions by winning the day with a third and a first, and bringing his total number of bullets to four. Before today’s double-point, non-discard medal race he holds a 13-point margin in the overall standings over Rafael Trujillo ESP (33), who also did well with 2-5, but can’t seem to quite match Wright’s level of performance and consistency.
Four Brits will be in the medal race when no other nation has more than one sailor. One of the four is Giles Scott GBR (38), who posted a 1-4 score and lurks in third overall, five points behind Trujillo and 17 clear of Zach Railey USA (55). Finishing fourth here would be great for Railey, but also bittersweet, because he wanted more. He sailed consistently with nine top-10 finishes, but no top-3 result yet. Second best US sailor remains Caleb Paine in 28th. He’s also the top junior, although only one point clear of Ioannis Mitakis GRE.
The event Web site , the gallery and the YouTube channel.

Ed. note: Please take a moment to reflect on August Miller USA, who stands in 78th and continues to confound common wisdom. Mr. Miller is 75 and has been sailing Finn, the most athletic Olympic dinghy class, for 44 years. In this regatta where hardly a race is run in less than 20 knots of wind and often with brutal chop on Berkeley Circle, Miller has finished every race and got his best result yesterday. He finished 66th in the last race of the final day, which was sailed in a blustery breeze. Seeing how many of his considerably younger colleagues have DNFs and DNS in their scores, please join us in saluting Gus Miller.

Earl had some roar but luckily not a lot of bite as it skittered up the East Coast, bringing with it breeze, high surf and some rain, but only minor damage, before it was downgraded to a tropical storm and cleared out to sea in time for millions to resume their Labor Day vacations. That means the weather will clear in time for the Annapolis Race Week and the regatta weekend up in New England. In New Jersey, one person went swimming Thursday night and was reported missing. See this report in the WSJ.

Ernesto Rodriguez/Mary Hall USA emphatically claimed their Western Hempisphere & Occidental title in the Snipes by also winning the last race, which was sailed in 12-19 knots of southerly breeze on Lake Erie just as hurricane Earl was rumbling up the East Coast. This is Rodriguez’ first major international win in the Snipe. Augie Diaz/Kathleen Tocke USA finished second in the race and in the final standings with Bruno Bethlem/Rodrigo Lins BRA taking third yesterday and overall as well, two points ahead of fellow Brazilians Alexandre Tinoco/Gabriel Borges. Top juniors were Raul Rios/Marcos Teixidor PUR in 6th overall, top ladies were Trixy and YuYu Agusti ARG who were in 18th overall (second juniors). The club’s Web site.

Registration is now open for three upcoming development training camps in Miami, Fla., for young sailors competing in the Laser, Laser Radial, I420, 29er, 470, 49er, RS:X and Techno 293 classes. Hosted by US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Program and run by elite coaches, the clinics are open to US Sailing Development Team (USSDT) members and other athletes who are interested in launching an Olympic campaign in the future. In addition to on-the-water drills and racing, athletes will participate in off-the-water seminars about fitness, nutrition and technique. Guest speakers, including US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) members and past Olympians, will share knowledge and insight about how to run successful Olympic campaigns. Get all the details. The dates of the three fall/winter training camps, and the registration deadlines, are:
October 9-11, Miami, Fla. – registration deadline: September 24
November 26-28, Miami, Fla. – registration deadline: November 12
December 18-21, Miami, Fla. – registration deadline: December 3

The decision in the small but fine 11-boat fleet of the 5O5 Canadian Championship in Kingston, ON came down to the last race and it was a rematch of the Olympic hockey final CAN vs. USA. Jeff Boyd/ Martin Tenhove carried the hopes of the hosts while Henry Amthor/ Clayton James were the challengers from south of the border. Despite the best efforts of both teams to matchrace each other, the affair had to be settled by the jury after the Canadians produced an OCS forfeiting the title to Amthor/James who took the trophy home to America where the ghost of Canada will live on the walls of Hampton Yacht Club for the next year. See the full report and the final standings.

Day 3 of the Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championships saw more stellar sailing by leaders Ernesto Rodriguez/Mary Hall USA (14). Lake Erie served up another fine day with 8-12 knots of breeze and slight chop challenging the sailors to stay powered up for the long windward-leeward courses. Rodriguez/Hall added 1-2-1, thus putting the event nearly out of reach for all others. Their only loss yesterday was to National Champs Augie Diaz/Kathleen Tocke USA (31). Alexandre Tinoco/Gabriel Borges BRA (39) who disappeared a little on Wednesday, are back on the podium in third. Today is “Earl Day” with rain and some fat breeze forecast. One more race - maybe. For the details check the results and the club’s Web site.

US Sailing’s weekend weather forecast talks about the track of hurricane Earl, which is forecast to parallel the US East Coast and create disruptions and quite a bit of chop. It’ll pass close by Cape Hatteras and Outer Banks early Friday as a Category 3 storm. It'll get close to Cape Cod and the Outer Islands as it weakens to a Cat. 2 storm, then it'll move on to the Canadian Maritimes by Saturday, followed by fair weather but rough waters from residual swells. See NOAA’s live tracking page and the story about preparing for New England hurricanes (PDF).

The New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup U.S. Qualifying Series, with 24 US yacht club teams will be held in Newport, RI from September 7-11. The top three will join the top six teams from the 2009 Invitational Cup: New York, Royal Canadian, Japan Sailing Federation, Nyländska Jaktklubben of Finland, Royal Cork of Ireland and Royal Bermuda, plus at least 10 other international teams, at the NYYC Invitational Cup presented by Rolex right after that, September 10-17, 2011. It’s an amateur competition, but there will be some rock stars mixing it up, including Moth master Bora Gulari (Bayview Yacht Club, Detroit, Mich.), former Sonar world champion Bill Lynn (Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Mass.), Finn Olympian Russ Silvestri (St. Francis, San Francisco Calif.), All-American college skipper Becca Dellenbaugh (Pequot Yacht Club, Southport, Conn.) and seasoned big-boat campaigner Bill Campbell (San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego Calif.) Get the details on the NYYC Web site.

Ernesto Rodriguez/Mary Hall USA (17) carved out a 13-point lead (all before discards) in the overall standings on Day 2 of the Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championships in Canada. Behind them it’s stacking up, though. In second, Junichiro Shiraishi/Koji Saito JPN (30) tied with Augie Diaz/Kathleen Tocke USA (30) in third. Three races were added in breezes ranging from light to moderate with some Lake Erie chop thrown in. Look for some interesting weather changes as Earl is expected to rumble by on Friday.

The oldest sailor in the fleet is 75-year-old Gus Miller USA. He started his Finn career back in 1966 and has no intentions to give up just yet. Miller has seen the class evolve over more than four decades and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the boats and its sailors. What keeps him coming back? “For me it has opened doors for me all over the world. The boat is a special boat. It is highly evolved but it's like having a little Maserati. It's so sensitive and such a good sea boat. As a kid up until I was 38 I sailed a hundred different types of boats, including 505 and oceans racers but when I sailed a Finn it was the best boat I had ever gotten into.”
“The Finn takes a big guy and a big smart guy and one of the characteristics of the Finn is that the sailor has to be smart. If he's not smart, big and strong, it's hopeless. You gotta have brains out there.”
How long does he think he will continue the sail the Finn? “For a couple of decades now I have told my body, ‘just get me through one more regatta and I'll quit.’ Well in the practice this week I came in one day and my body said to me, ‘You lied.’ So as long as I can physically do it I will probably carry on." See the whole video

As Tropical Storm Danielle dissipates in the North Atlantic, the East Coast of the U.S. is bracing for a brush with Hurricane Earl. Earl is now a powerful Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands and a watch is in effect for the southeastern Bahamas.The center of Earl will continue to move away from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands this morning and move over the open Atlantic east of the Turks and Caicos. Tropical storm force winds extend as far as 200 miles. The hurricane center warns that interests from the Carolinas northward to New England should monitor the progress of Earl. Complete report in Trade Only Today.
Check out the NOAA's storm page to get a read on the predicted track of the season’s second major hurricane that looks like it will be rolling up the eastern seaboard from Florida to Newfoundland. You might find value in playing with the animations on the tracking page by Sailing Weather Service where you can zoom in over the Chesapeake or New England.

Flat waters with 9-11 knots of breeze were the reward for the 40 Snipe teams on Lake Erie after they waited out a postponement. After two races only one point separates the top three and another tight spread in the next tier. Alexandre Tinoco/Gabriel Borges BRA and multi-world Champ Augie Diaz/Kathleen Tocke USA the freshly minted national champions are tied at the top of the standings. Raul Rios/Marcos Teixidor PUR won the second race and are third. In fourth Junichiro Shiraishi/Kogi Saito JPN (10) followed by Ernesto Rodriguez/Mary hall UA (13). Better breeze predicted for today. More on the event site.

The 2010 edition of the Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship in Ridgeway, Canada is being held at the Buffalo Canoe Club and is preparing to name a new champion – with the current World Champion Bruno Bethlem of Brazil in attendance as well former Snipe World Champions Augie Diaz & Tomos Hornos USA, competition is stiff. With 40 teams representing 10 nations, the waters of Lake Erie will be teaming with anticipation when racing begins on August 31. The sailors stretched their legs during the practice race held on Lake Erie with PRO David Sprague and his team running the race course and although the conditions were light with 5-6 knots of breeze, the entire fleet was on the line. The event site.

Struggling with marginal conditions but successfully so, Phil Robertson NZL and his crew of Garth Ellingham, Sam Bell and James Williamson, won the 2010 Knickerbocker Cup and win an automatic entry into the Argo Gold Cup, one of the stops on the World Match Racing Tour. Taylor Canfield ISV with crew Matt Clark, Tod Reynolds and Dave Shriner, although only sixth at the Knickerbocker, won the first-ever East Coast Trifecta, that also included the CMRC Chicago Cup, and the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup. Canfield’s reward is a berth at the 2011 Congressional Cup in Long Beach, Calif., the only US Grade 1 Open match race. The details.

Be more current with Sailing News. Our mission is timely coverage of Olympic class and one design racing, which is why we publish daily (in French and German, too!), including weekends when all the sailing actually happens. Get the latest headlines on your desktop, laptop or phone from our Twitter feed www.twitter.com/sailingnews_us and stay ahead of the game.

With five bullets and two seconds the Melges 20 U.S. National Championship went to Michael Kiss (9 pts.) on ‘Bacio’ sailing with son Mitchell and Chris Rast. It’s the latest in along list of top results for the kiss family this summer, including father’s win at the Charleston Race Week in spring, Mitchell’s third-place finish at the Laser Radial World Championship in Scotland, and daughter Morgan’s second at the Women’s 420 Worlds in Israel. A distant second in the overall standings was John Arendshorst on ‘Blink’ (27) followed by Tony Tabb ‘USA 88’ (40) in third. Yesterday’s final two races were sailed in moderate 10-12 knot breeze at the Macatawa Bay YC in Holland, Mich., with Kiss finishing second in the first one behind Arendshorst and heading for the bar in the last one as he already had wrapped up the overall win. The reportand the gallery.

San Diego's Challenged America adaptive sailing program for the disabled sponsors the third Department of Veterans Affairs' Summer Sports Clinic for recently injured veterans, held at the Marriott Hotel and Marina, September 19 - 25, 2010. More than 100 recently wounded US veterans will participate in this year's event. Along with Challenged America, Sail USA 11, and Hipp Marine have joined to provide the sailing opportunities on San Diego's Bib Bay, from the dock of the Marriott Marina. An estimated 400 to 500 people will be involved in the program, to include participants and their families, medical support and other VA personnel, government officials, celebrities, and volunteers, most coming from around the nation. See the Challenged America Web site.

Canadians Fred Eaton and Magnus Clarke sailing ‘Canaan’, the defenders of the International C-Class Catamaran Trophy keep the trophy. In the forecast light air on Narragansett Bay they defeated the formidable challengers Glenn Ashby/James Spithill on ‘Alpha’ twice in convincing fashion yesterday to retain the title. The delta in the first race was a whopping five minutes in favor of the Canadian defenders, while in the second race they had to come back from 46 seconds down at the first mark to pass their rivals with superior downwind speed and stretch out to 48 seconds at the second windward rounding before taking the gun and a 3-1 lead. After that racing was called. The consolation round was won by ‘Invictus’ GBR with ‘Patient Lady VI’ FRA second and Orion third. The report.

After a long and shifty day of racing at the Knickerbocker Cup match race four contestants have qualified for the semifinals: William Tiller NZL eliminated Anna Tunnicliffe USA in a hard-fought and close series that was decided by mere inches with a 3-2 score, the same tally as Evgeny Neugodnikov RUS in his quarterfinal against Sally Barkow USA. So it was guys 2, gals 0. In the other matches Bill Hardesty USA squeaked past Taylor Canfield ISV with 3-2 as well while top seeded Phil Robertson NZL dismantled Dave Perry USA with 3-0. At press time the pairings for the semis have not been set, but Robertson will pick his opponent first. The elimination bracket and the event Web site.

Speed, spills and thrills! Check out the videos by Simon Brown with commentary by Bob Killick from the 18-foot Skiff International Regatta at San Francisco. Some of that stuff is absolutely amazing, especially the aerials of Day 4 with the Bridge-to-Bridge “Fiasko”…

Yesterday the match racing portion of the International C-Class Catamaran Championship began between defender ‘Canaan’ CAN (Fred Eaton/Magnus Clarke) and challenger ‘Alpha’ AUS (Glenn Ashby/James Spithill). However, spotty winds forced a couple of race attempts to get abandoned before the start was moved north of the toll bridge into steady 12-knot wind. ‘Canaan’ stalled in the dial-up for the first race, essentially forfeiting it to the clever and highly decorated Aussies. Ashby is multiple world champion in various catamaran classes while Spithill helmed the BMWOracle trimaran to America’s Cup victory. The Canadians fared much better at the second start, keeping it close at the first mark before turning on the turbo and telling the Aussies ‘hasta la vista’ downwind to tie the score at 1-1. The consolation series resembled Haydn’s farewell symphony as ‘Orion’ CAN dropped out before the start and ‘Patient Lady VI’ FRA lost her mast after finishing behind the only other boat that remains intact, ‘Invictus’ GBR. No word what they’ll do today, but expect an exciting match for the championship. Forecast calls for 5-knot winds from the northwest, becoming west 10 knots later in the day. The report and a gallery.

John Bertrand AUS (13) retained his grip on the World Etchells Championship at Howth IRL after coming back from deep in the day’s only race to score a fourth while his rival Ante Razmilovic GBR (18) had a second to cut the Australian’s lead in the overall standings down to five points . Race 8 had to be abandoned for lack of breeze and too much current and again Bertrand got lucky, because he was near the bottom of the fleet when the RC halted proceedings while Razmilovic was in the lead. After seven races Bertrand leads Razmilovic by five points. New in third is Jake Gunther AUS (31) who had a sixth-place finish. Jud Smith USA (57) is in eighth, Marv Beckman USA (59) is 10th after getting a third yesterday. Today there will be two races and Bertrand will have his hands full to keep Razmilovic at bay if the breeze stays light. The report and the gallery.

Four US teams made it out of the round robin at the Kniockerbocker Cup, the third and last Trifecta match racing event. Yesterday's racing was highlighted by protests, lead changes and photo finishes and Phil Robertson NZL (9-2) maintained the top seed for the quarters, holding the tiebreaker over Evgeny Neugodnikov RUS. Bill Hardesty USA (8-3) and Anna Tunnicliffe, USA (7-4) were next. Completing the quarterfinals were Dave Perry USA (4-7), Sally Barkow USA (5-6), Taylor Canfield, ISV (6-5) and the surprisingly strong newcomer William Tiller NZL (7-4), who beat Robertson, Perry and Corbett. Late afternoon in the quarter-finals found Robertson leading Perry 2-0, Neugodnikov vs. Barkow and Canfield vs. Hardesty tied, each winning one match. The series Tunnicliffe vs. Tiller hasn’t started yet. Racing will continue early Saturday morning, with very light wind conditions predicted. Get the details.

The 2010 Melges 20 U.S. National Championship, started yesterday with 23 boats at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. With 15-17 knots out southerly breeze, sunshine and large seas, the conditions were tailor-made for the Kiss family. Father Michael at the helm with son and hotshot Laser Radial sailor Mitchell (15) plus three-time Olympian Chris Rast on crew. Three bullets in as many races put them in the driver seat of this regatta. The excursion to the Melges 20 Gold Cup in Italy last month certainly did not hurt. In second overall, is Jon Arendshorst (9) who had a triple-three for the day, followed by Simon Strauss (13). The class Web site, the Facebook page and the gallery.

The Canadians girls piled it on during the last day of their National Opti championship in Hamilton ON with five more races. As predicted, Meredith Megarry CAN (48), the dominating sailor in the 76-boat fleet of this event, ran away with the title and an incredible 42-point advantage over second-place finisher Allie Surette CAN (90) and Jared Collinson CAN (98). The last day was a bad one for Max Flinn (107) CAN and Ceci Wollmann BER (126) who lost their podium places they had held on Thursday. Wollmann started the day well with a 3rd in the ninth race before her bid became unhinged with all double-digit results the rest of the way. Flinn added two 10th places but also two discards to slip top fourth overall while Wollmann fell to eighth. Top US sailor was Dave Hein (187) from Ohio in 14th. The event Web site.

The 8-Metre World Cup 2010 is in the books with ‘Aluette’ SUI (12) a runaway winner overall and in the Modern division. Iris Metten’s crew carded all top-three finishes and sat out the last race. In second, as it has been all week long, ‘Lafayette’ GBR (15) with Murdoch McKillop nearly equally as impressive, but only nearly. The final podium spot went to ‘Sarissa’ SUI (18) with Ralph Reimann. The top three were in a league by themselves, winning all eight races between them. In fourth ‘Mystery’ USA (34) with Ron Palm the top US boat tied with ‘Yquem’ SUI. In sixth the best classic and winner of the Sira division ‘Raven’ CAN (35) superbly sailed by Richard Self & Mark Decelles. The final results and the event Web site.

It was all Canada yesterday with ‘Canaan’ sailed by Fred Eaton and Magnus Clarke winning all three races with ‘Alpha’ AUS Glenn Ashby/James Spithill in second each time. These two teams will determine the winner of the C-Class Championship in a best-of-nine match racing series that starts today. While the Aussies pointed higher upwind, the Canadiens displayed better tactics and superior downwind performance. ‘Invictus’ GBR finished third with ‘Orion’ CAN in fourth. Patient Lady “ FRA did not make it to the starting line with rig failure. Missing from the day’s racing was ‘Atheon’ USA, which capsized yesterday in spectacular fashion and destroyed its wing mast. Read Clark’s statement explaining the incident. The official report with the results.

Evgeny Neugodnikov RUS (5-0) is the only one with a clean record after the first day of round-robin racing at the Knickerbocker Cup match race. On top of the leader board however is Phil Robertson NZL at 7-1. The US Armada had mixed results: Bill Hardesty (4-1) and Anna Tunnicliffe (5-3) are the only ones in the money right now while Sally Barkow is 4-4 and Dave Perry will need a lot of luck to get out of hock at 3-5. More round robin flights today, before the top eight move on to the quarterfinals. The event site.

For the next 10 days, San Francisco will be the epicenter of the Finn world as the site of the 2010 Gold Cup, the class world championship. After the successful if low-key prelude of the Silver Cup, the Junior World Championship, the intensity level will be up a few notches as 95 of the world’s best Finn sailors descend on the City by the Bay. Look for a strong US contingent led by Olympic silver medalist Zach Railey, freshly minted Junior world champion Luke Lawrence and Brian Boyd. The home team also includes vets like Henry Sprague, Gus Miller and Louie Nady, who seem to have been sailing Finn forever. From abroad, watch for Thomas Le Breton and Jonathan Lobert FRA, Rafa Trujillo ESP, the current European champion Ivan Kljakovic-Gaspic CRO, Eduard Skornyakov RUS and, of course, Giles Scott and Ed Wright GBR. Other notables include Matt Coutts NZL, Philippe Kahn USA and reigning Masters world champion Michael Maier CZE. Racing to start Monday, Aug. 30. The event Web site.

In each of the four classes (2.4 Metre, SKUD-18, Sonar and J/22) competing at the eighth annual C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta for sailors with disabilities, an unbroken winning streak on the second and final day of racing determined the championship winners. The second and final day of the event started with a 5-7 knot westerly breeze that built to a top speed of 12-14.
In the five-boat Sonar fleet, John Porter with 2008 Paralympic Gold Medalist Maureen McKinnon Tucker and Gerry Tiernan USA (10) were unbeatable, scoring 10 bullets for the class win. Second overall was Paul Callahan/Brad Johnson/Tom Brown (18). SKUD-18 Silver medalists at the 2010 IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship, Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett USA (6) clinched their third consecutive class win at The Clagett after winning all four races on Day 2. In the 12-boat 2.4 Metre fleet, Charles Rosenfield USA (7) won all four races to move up from fourth and take the championship ahead of Britt Hall USA (12) and Peter Wood CAN (16). 2006 IFDS Blind Sailing World Champions JP Creignou/Jan Bartleson USA (8) with 2000 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Magnus Liljedahl and David Bannister wrapped up the 2010 Sail Newport Blind National Sailing Championship title after winning all five of their races today in the seven-strong J/22 fleet. Details at the regatta Web site.

After eight races at the Canadian Optimist Championship Meredith Megarry CAN (32) looks like she’s running away with it. Her 24-point cushion over Max Flinn CAN (56) should be enough to see her through the last day of racing today. In third place is Ceci Wollmann BER (63). Top US competitor remains Dave Hein (94) in 12th. The standings and the event Web site, which sadly makes no mention of the results at Wednesday’s team race competition.

A light five-knot southeasterly breeze on Lake Ontario on Day 4 of the 8-Metre World Cup allowed the classic boats to race head-to-head with their modern counterparts. ‘Raven’ CAN had another fabulous day with 6-6 to lead the Sirena division of the classic designs while ‘Aluette’ SUI continues to lead the modern boats, followed by ‘Lafayette’ GBR. Top US contestant is Ron Palm’s ‘Mystery’ in fifth. See all results and the gallery.

In the end, there was no discussion: Paris and Hans Henken (37) won the 29erXX North American Championship. They added a bullet in the last fleet race on Wednesday to build a 10-point lead over Jen Glass/Mallory Fontenot USA and topped it off with a conservative fifth in the medal race. After winning top female honors at the 29er North Americans last week, it was another coup by 14-year old Paris Henken. Fraser/Liebenberg (44), the North American champs in the "regular" 29er, had dropped to third after the fleet race and had to pull out all the stops with a third in the medal race to take back second overall from Glass/Fontenot (45). Tyler MacDonald/Tudor Atterby USA (49) and Piet van Os/Dan Goldman USA (87) rounded out the top 5.

In fit and starts, as it has been at times during the 2010 CORK OCR the racing wound down yesterday in a light and shifty breeze. The Canadian 49er Championship looked to slip away from Jon Ladha/Dan Inkpen on Tuesday, as Gordon Cook/Paul Ehvert made a run for it, but on the final day the pendulum swung back. Ladha/Inkpen (55) got a second in the last fleet race to retake the lead then won the medal race. Cook/Ehvert (62) took second followed by Billy Gooderham/Ian Hogan (71). The Laser Radial Gold fleet they added one more race, which changed little at the top as EJ O’Mara USA (34) sailed to victory with a 15-point margin over Matt Morris USA (49) from San Diego, who used a ninth in the last race to pass Claire Merry CAN (53), who sailed her discard. Merry, however won the Girl’s division from Danielle Dube CAN who finished fourth overall. Quinn Howes USA (128) rode a ninth place at the end to victory in Radial Silver followed by Julia Kidd CAN (137) who led Tuesday and Liz Dubovik USA (141). In the Laser Standard, Evert McLaughlin CAN (22) could afford a DNF in the end after a stellar series and still win by 21 points, followed by Greg Clunies CAN (43) and Tom Brosky (55). Peter Shope USA (107) as the top US skipper finished eighth. The event site and all results.

Competitors in the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta heard it from PRO John Craig early Wednesday afternoon before they launched their swift, unstable rides: "Get ready to get wet," he said. And so they did. First, the seventh race of the week was cut short as boats flipped over like in a slapstick film, down near Alcatraz Island, where a 3.5-knot ebb ran into nearly 30 knots of westerly breeze. Then the ensuing Bridge-to-Bridge Race from the Golden Gate to the Oakland Bay suffered similar catastrophe. Michael Coxon AUS, Alex Vallings NZL and Herman Winning AUS swept the first three places over all of the kite boards and windsurfers, with John Winning AUS fifth. But only one other 18 finished and two sailors were injured - Maersk Line skipper Graham Catley with a severely cut lower left leg and Chad Freitas, leader of the bay's Skiff Sailing Foundation, with possibly broken ribs.
The standings: 1. ‘Thurlow Fisher Lawyers’, Michael Coxon/Aaron Links/Trevor Barnabas, AUS (11), 2. ‘Appliances Online’, Herman Winning/Peter Harris/Euan McNicol, AUS (11), 3. ‘Yandoo’, John (Woody) Winning/David Gibson/Andrew Hay, AUS (17), 4. ‘CST Composites’, Howard Hamlin/Matt Noble/Fritz Lanzinger, USA (19). The results page and the gallery. Colder temps and more wind are forecast for today, so there’s no guarantee they will be able to sail three more races.

As a summer nor’easter reluctantly released its grip, sailing got underway on Narragansett Bay for the eighth annual C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta for disabled sailors. In the five-boat Sonar fleet, 2008 SKUD-18 Paralympic Gold Medalist Maureen McKinnon Tucker/Gerry Tiernan/John Porter USA (5) won all five races. In the 3-boat SKUD-18, Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett USA (4) hold a one-point lead over husband-and wife team Brian Skeels/Sarah Everhart-Skeels USA (5). There are seven teams racing for the 2010 Blind Sailing National Championship title in J/22s, with each four-person team comprised of two sighted guides who assist the two sailors with visual impairments. After four races, 2006 IFDS Blind Sailing World Champions JP Creignou and Jan Bartleson with 2000 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Magnus Liljedahl and David Bannister are leading the standings with five points The 12-boat 2.4 mR fleet sailed three races with Britt Hall USA (4) leading Peter Wood CAN (8), followed by Scott Lutes CAN (14). The event Web site, all results and the Facebook page.

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ Anna Tunnicliffe has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 2010 Sportswoman of the Year Award, based on her outstanding athletic achievements over the past year. Tunnicliffe, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Laser Radial and 2012 Olympic hopeful in the new Women’s Match Racing event, joins an impressive list of elite athletes from a range of sports, including Lindsey Vonn and Serena Williams. Founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, the Women’s Sports Foundation is the leader in promoting sports, health and education for girls and women. Voting is open to the public through August 31, so please show your support for Tunnicliffe and the sport of sailing by casting .your vote

Luke Lawrence USA likes to live life as it comes, but he does so efficiently. How else can one explain turning his B’Day into C’Day by winning the 2010 Finn Junior World Championship aka Silver Cup? Even on a normal day that would have been a fine accomplishment, but so it’s extra special. Lawrence, who is coached by Finn impresario John Bertrand, escaped a scare on Monday with the wacky situation at the second gybe mark where some thought the race was over when it really wasn’t. He had the overnight lead and sailed a masterful medal race on a scorchingly hot day in San Francisco, which in itself is rare as the Blue Mauritius. Because it was hot, the breeze first blew offshore and later, as it filled from the ocean, remained light. There were several lead changes and big gains could be made on the downwind legs, playing the foul current inshore. Lawrence came back from deep after the first beat to finish third, which was pretty much what he needed to do since the score could not be discarded, no matter what. It gave him a three-point edge in the final standings over Ioannis Mitakis GRE (25) the reigning European Junior Champion in this class. In third Oliver Twedell AUS (26.5) who surprised with an incredibly consistent series, counting eight top-five finishes. Caleb Paine USA (30) was in striking distance of the podium when he led at the first windward mark, but in the end he finished just out of the money with a ninth place that weighed heavily on his score. Defending champion Jorge Zarif BRA (36) rounded out the Top 5. The event Web site.

After Monday’s mayhem in high winds and big currents that decimated the fleets or kept them ashore entirely, more moderate conditions prevailed at the penultimate day of the CORK OCR in Kingston ON. Big changes in the 49ers, where Gordon Cook/Paul Ehvert (49) of Toronto took four bullets out of six races to bump previous leaders Jon Ladha/Daniel Inkpen (51) from Newfoundland to second, which promises an exciting inshore medal race today. In the 42-boat Laser Radial gold fleet EJ O’Mara USA (30) has a 10-point lead over new second-place holder Claire Merry CAN who simultaneously leads the Radial Girls and matt Morris USA who’s tied with Merry. Julia Kidd (116) of Toronto has taken the lead in the Radial Silver fleet.. At the top of the leader board in the 43-boat Laser Standard fleet after 12 races remains Evert McLauglin CAN (18) with half as many points as Greg Clunies CAN (36) who ascended to second yesterday. Bob Shuttleworth CAN (18) won the windsurfing class, which concluded yesterday.

After the proverbial ball buster on Monday, where five boats managed to finish the lone race, the 29erXX fleet had to work overtime yesterday to get back on schedule with their North American Championship. The RC kept them on the water for six races and by the end their eyes glazed over as they dragged their horses back into the stable. The top five remain in US hands, but now Paris (a 14-year-old skiff wunderkind) and Hans Henken (26 pts.) are prime time after counting 3-3-2-3-2 (and a fourth as their second throwout) to replace previous leaders Max Fraser/Dave Liebenberg (32) at the top of the overall standings. In third Jen Glass/Mallory Fontenot (33). In the medal race that concludes affairs today, the Henkens have some breathing room, which might just be enough to wrap up the 2010 NAs with the trophy.

With one discard in play the picture at the top of the 76-boat fleet at the Optimist Canadian Championships changed quite a bit. After Monday’s wild ride and tough four races, the kids enjoyed milder wind and weather yesterday and sailed two more races. In the lead now is Meredith Megarry CAN (24) beating max Flinn CAN (33) and first-day leader Doug Buttigieg (35)who faded a bit, just like Ellie Wollmann BER (41) who slipped from second to fourth. Interestingly, nine of the top-10 are racing in the Red group. The event site

It was a different look for sailing on Day 3 of the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta on San Francisco Bay. On The City's hottest day of the year no locals could recall offhand when their thermometers last touched 96 degrees, especially following what they were calling their coolest summer in years. Three Australians led by Herman Winning, the son, (8 pts.), Michael Coxon(10), and Woody Winning, the dad (13), and Howie Hamlin USA (14), cut themselves a 10-point gap in the standings from the other 10 entries with four races remaining over the next two days. Those include this evening's madcap 7 1/2-mile Bridge to Bridge Race when the 18s will be joined by the best of the local windsurfers and kite boarders. Following the 18s' seventh race at 3 p.m., they'll start all at once from under the Golden Gate and race 7 1/2 miles to the Oakland span around the corner of San Francisco's city front. Rich Roberts’ gallery and the St. Francis Web page

Well, after eight races at the 2010 Junior Worlds aka Silver Cup in San Fran, Luke Lawrence USA (19) still remains the man to beat in the overall standings. But barely so. Hot on his tail and down by a mere point is the reigning European Champ Ioannis Mitakis GRE (20), who added a 4-1 yesterday. In third, Caleb Paine USA (21) who revived his chances with a 2-4 day. Don’t discount Josip Olujic CRO (23.5) and Oliver Twedell AUS (24.5) who were scored as tied in Race 8 (2,5 pts each). The regatta concludes today with one last race for all, which will be a keeper as it can’t be discarded, so sit back and enjoy an exciting final where the current, the individual form and most likely a few inches will decide who's going to get the Silver Cup. Check the event Web site for the latest report, which was not posted at press time.

POST SCRIPTUM:
There was a lengthy protest hearing last night that determined the finish order in the second race, a triangle course in 18 knots of wind. The leading boats, Mitakis, Lawrence and Olujic who was neck-and-neck with Twedell, believed that a St. Francis committee boat flying a start/finish flag anchored near the gybe mark signaled a shortened course, when in reality it was part of a starting sequence for the 18-footer race nearby. However, not realizing what was going on, the first three Finns stopped racing after passing the wing mark. The boats farther behind realized the mistake and carried on to the real Finn finish, with Caleb Paine winning the race. The top three asked for and were granted redress after a lengthy jury deliberation that decided to take the order at the gybe mark as the finish order. That’s how those decimal points in some scores came about.

Wind, rain, capsized boats, broken spars but no broken spirits were reported from the first day of the Canadian Opti Championships hosted by Royal Hamilton YC, Ontario. Four races were run with Douglas Buttigieg CAN (19) holding a one-point lead over Ellie Wollmann BER (20) in the 76-boat fleet. In third Alexander Fritz CAN (30) while the top US racer at the moment is David Hein (58) in 13th. Expect some changes when the discard comes in after today’s races. The event Web site.

After three days of qualifying, the fleets are now sailing their finals at the CORK OCR. A stiff breeze mixed with a steep chop from a counter current produced an army of DNF or DNS scores as many were in over their collective heads or elected to wait it out ashore. In the 42-boat Laser Radial gold fleet EJ O’Mara USA (22) has a one-point lead over Nicolas Croft NZL after three races. Matt Morris USA (27) is four points further back. In Radial Silverit’s Quinn Howes USA (90) over Gabe Frame CAN (92). In Radial Girls the leader is Claire Merry CAN (24) has a narrow two-point edge over Danielle Dube CAN (26). No change at the top of the 43-boat Laser Standard fleet after nine races. Evert McLauglin CAN (16) still has a commanding lead over Vaughn Harrison CAN (31). Despite wild conditions, there were five races in the 49ers, which are sailing for the Canadian Championship. Only seven of the 20 boats were racing, with Jonathan Ladha/Dan Inkpen CAN (25) continuing their rampage. In second Billy Gooderham/Ian Hogen CAN (38) followed by Mathieu Dubreucq/Trevor Parekh CAN (39). Bob Shuttleworth CAN (18) now leads the RS:X boards, while Caroline Alcala CAN (8) has all bullets after 10 races in the Tecno 293 windsurfers.

In the 29er XX North American Championship they tried one race, but according to SN contributor and US crew CC Childers, it was just too much that the RC decided to send them home after only five out of 15 boats finished. “So much wind that we didn't even go out. (Not worth the risk of breaking our rig, or ourselves) [The] 29erXX's sailed one race and then got sent in and the races were called off for the day. HUGE wind driven chop and 2-knot currents fighting each other, the race committee called it "a washing machine." A good day to stay in and keep the boat in one piece. After nine races Max Fraser/Dave Liebenberg (13) are still ahead overall, although now they’re tied on points with yesterday’s race winners Paris and Hans Henken USA. Jen Glass/Mallory Fontenot USA (22) hold third and top-girl spot.

There's some gambling going on at the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta, and it's paying off bigtime for the boys from Down Under. Australian sailors Herman Winning (6 pts.), Michael Coxon (13) and Winning's dad John - Woody - (13) have been rolling the waves on port tack starts and now occupy the top three positions in the 13-boat fleet. Howie Hamlin USA (15) is in fourth. The fleet is sailing a 1 1/2-mile windward-leeward course past the host St. Francis Yacht Club between the Golden Gate Bridge and the city front. Racing is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. daily, although the first two days were postponed to 2:30 because of unsettled breeze that soon developed into 12 to 15 knots. Wednesday's race for the 18s will start at 5 to precede the Bridge to Bridge race for a mixed fleet including sailboards and kite boards. The results and Rich Roberts’ gallery.

No racing at the C Class Catamaran championships in Newport RI since there was real wind. Up to 30 knots, according to the NYYC Web site and the event pages. They'll have another try at fleet racing today.

2009 Star world champion George Szabo, sailing with German journeyman crew Frithjof Kleen, who just won the Sail for Gold World Cup regatta in Weymouth GBR with Irish skipper Peter O’ Leary, secured his third North American title by besting a 42-boat fleet from three countries at California YC. Szabo/Kleen (23) had a seven-point edge over the 1992 Olympic Gold medalists Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (30) and a 10-point cushion over third-place finishers John MacCausland/Rick Peters. As always, winning a major Star event is a fine accomplishment, and Szabo has done it often enough, although it should be noted that this time several top US skippers like Mark Mendelblatt, Andrew Campbell or Andy Horton were not in attendance. The report and the complete results.

Dave Perry USA is the 2010 champion at the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup after a 3-1 victory over Anna Tunnicliffe. In curtailed event (no quarterfinals or consolation due to lack of breeze Saturday) the RC and the competitors made the most of Sunday’s perfect conditions. First Perry eliminated the opponent he chose for the semifinals, Taylor Canfield ISV, by a 2-1 score while Tunnicliffe dispatched Laurie Jury NZL 2-0. In the petit final, Jury made short work of Canfield and secured third place with a 2-0 win. In the finals Perry went up 1-0 against his former student, now the world’s third-ranked women’s match racer, only to see Tunnicliffe draw even in the second heat. But Perry came back with another win in Flight 3 and then held serve for a 3-1 victory and 100 points in the Trifecta scoring scheme. Get all the Detroit details on the event Web site. Next and last up in the Trifecta (with Perry and Tunnicliffe) is the Knickerbocker Cup at Manahsset Bay YC, starting Wed. Aug 25.

The 200-boat CORK OCR continued Sunday with the qualifying races and the discards are now in play. In the 84-boat Laser Radial, EJ O’Mara (9 pts.) assumed the lead after five races, followed by Claire merry (11) and Matt Morris (12). In the 43-boat Laser Standards (6 races one disc.) Evert McLaughlin (8) holds a commanding 13-point lead over Tom Brosky (21) and Vaughn Harrison (22). The 15-boat 29er XX (8 races) contend their North American Championship, which looks more like a US Championship with five US boats on top. Still in the lead are Max Fraser/Dave Liebenberg (9) with Paris and Hans Henken (13) and Jen Glass/Mallory Fontenot (17) kind of close. Fourth-place Tyler McDonald/Tudor Atterby (34) are out of striking distance for the time being. In the 20-boat 49er (9 races) the Canadian National Championship is at stake and it’s all CAN with Jon Ladha/Dan Inkpen (14) leading Matthieu Dubreucq/Trevor Parekh (19) and Billy Gooderham/Ian Hogan (28). In the 15-board RS:X (6 races), the largest windsurfing class, the lead is still in the hands of Bob Shuttleworth (10). Get all the interim results.

Observing the sailing rivalry between the Winnings, father and son, on opening day of the ninth annual 18ft Skiff International Regatta in San Francisco, one could conclude it's intense, but it doesn’t stop there with father John ‘Woody’ running a successful appliance business, and son John Jr. ‘Herman’ the same stuff over the Internet. As an arriving high-pressure system turned reduced the expected 25-knot breeze to 15 knots with slightly warmer temps (relatively speaking) the sailing was close, with few flips that included Australia's Michael Coxon and his all-star crew of Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas, multiple JJ Giltinan world champions, among them. After two of 10 scheduled races, John Winning Jr. AUS (2) has two bullets for the lead, followed by John Winning Sr. (5) and the top US team of Howie Hamlin/Matt Noble/Fritz Lanzinger (6). Here's Rich Roberts’ gallery. Alas, no complete results were posted online at press time, so you want to try your luck on the club Web site.

George David and his 90-foot Maxi ‘Rambler’ set a blistering pace at the Ida Lewis distance race from Newport RI around Block Island and back finishing at 2:18 a.m. Saturday morning and correcting out two hours ahead of Ron O’Hanley’s ‘Privateer’ for first in the IRC class in the 36-boat fleet. Arthur Andrews 70 ‘Shindig’ won on corrected and elapsed time in the 11-boat PHRF Division 1. There were six Youth Challenge teams that were made up of at least 40 percent junior sailors between the ages of 14 and 18 who were scored in their own class racing for the Arent H. Kits van Heyningen who was awarded by Mr. van Heningen himself, who at age 94 competed in the event. The winner was the crew aboard the X-41 ‘Sarah’, owned by Greg Manning, which also finished third in PHRF Division 1. The top Youth finisher in Division 2 was Tom Rich’s second-place finisher ‘Settler’. In the Doublehanded Class, sailing under PHRF, Michael Hennessy’s Class 40 ‘Dragon’ took top spot, followed by Pete Binkley’s ‘Wildeyes’. Get all the results and more details on the event site.

Six Races have been completed at the Melges 32 California Cup on San Francisco Bay, a tune-up for the Melges 32 Worlds here. If Day 1 was known for its collisions and carnage, Day 2 was similarly exciting, but for its close racing, not expensive repair jobs. The skies again cleared around the same time as Saturday, and once the breeze started to fill, calling good laylines from the far corner of the racecourse and solid boat handling proved helpful for a good result. In the 13-boat Melges 32 fleet, John Kilroy on ‘Samba Pa Ti’ (17) won the warm-up for the class World Championship, followed by Jeremy Wilmot, who held the reins of ‘Bliksem’ (24) this time. In third, Steve Howe on ’Warpath’ (29.60). In the Melges 24, the turnout was light with 12 boats, and Dan Kaseler on ‘pTeron’ (11) destroyed the fleet. In eight races he scored six bullets, a second and a third. In second Dave Brede ’12 happythoughts’ (37) followed by Dan Hauserman on ‘Personal Puff’ (38). Find the results and the blog.

Last weekend, the annual Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge was sailed on J/24s in New York Harbor with Societe Nautique Rolloise SUI (14 pts.) from Lake Geneva at the top of the preliminary standings (with a protest pending). In second was the Southern Yacht Club USA (15), followed by Royal Cork Yacht Club IRL (17) and the Austrian lake sailors from Burgenlaendischer YC AUT (20). The club’s Web site.

Greg Fisher defeated 50 other teams to claim the J/22 North American Championship in Buffalo, NY. With crew Jeff Eiber, Jo Ann Fisher and Martha Fisher, Fisher finished the event with 30 points over five races (no discard). No races were sailed on the final day of the regatta due to a lack of consistent winds. After a rare score of 20 in the first, Fisher tallied two third-place finishes and two second-place finishes. Runner up is Jim Barnash (35) followed by Chris Doyle (36) in third. Special awards were also distributed to the highest finishers in three categories: John Loe (youth), Keith Zars (master) and Sue McIntyre (women). The full results, the event site, the official report and the sparse gallery.

After two victories in the second day of racing at the Finn Silver Cup (the Junior World Championship) in San Francisco, Luke Lawrence USA (10 pts.), trained by US Finn legend John Bertrand, took the overall lead. In second is Josip Olujic CRO (13) with a 4-2 yesterday, followed by a new third, Oliver Tweddell AUS who had a 2-5 day to rise from fifth. At 93 kgs (205 lb), Lawrence is one of the lightest sailors here, but handled the breeze really well as it increased from 13 knots in the first race to 20 in the second. Friday’s leader Caleb Paine USA (19) had a 10th and a fourth to drop back to fourth overall. Once the discard comes in, look for the move of Ioannis Mitakis GRE who is in seventh momentarily, saddled with a DNF. Racing will continue on Sunday with races 5 and 6. Winds are forecast to reach 25 knots and more current. The report and the gallery.

Rain and uncooperative winds hampered the proceedings on Day 3 of the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup. It was just enough to finish Round Robin racing but not the quarterfinals, so the top four round-robin teams were seeded in the semis. David Perry USA (9-2) emerged on top, followed by Taylor Canfield ISV (8-3). Completing the semis are Laurie Jury NZL and Anna Tunnicliffe USA who both squeaked in with a 7-4 record. Perry picked Canfield, which leaves Tunnicliffe and Jury in the other bracket. Semis and finals today. The event site, with all the info and Meredith Block’s gallery.

Yesterday, 200 boats started racing in the CORK OCR, an ISAF Grade 1 event. The regatta includes the Canadian Championship for the 49er and the North American Championship for the 29erXX. Laser and Laser Radial are sailing for world ranking points. A light 8-knot breeze permitted racing on all four courses, with Ehvert Mclaughlin CAN leading the Lasers after three races while the 84-boat Radials were split for the qualifiers. Danielle Dube CAN (2) leads Brenda Bowskill CAN (3). 29er North American Champions Max Fraser/David Liebenberg USA lead in the 29er XX class followed by four other US teams, while in the 49ers, Jon Ladha/Daniel Inkpen CAN are in the lead after winning two of Saturday’s 5 races. William Combaluzier is ahead in the open Windsurfing class, while Caroline de Alcala is leading the Bic 293 Youth division. All results and Geoff Webster’s gallery.

After a span of 20 years the Snipe Nationals once again were held in Annapolis, moistly in light air. And it turned out that Miami still is the hotbed of the top sailors in this class. Without getting wet on Friday when racing had to be canceled for the lack of wind, Augie Diaz/Kathleen Tocke (14 pts.) claimed the Heinzerling Division for the national championship with finishes of 3, 8, 1 and 2. In the end they had a 4-point margin over Brian Kamilar/Enrique Quintero (18), also from Miami, who won the tiebreak over Nick Voss/Nicole Popp, winners of the Junior National Championship last weekend. In fourth, another Miami product, Ernesto Rodriguez/Megan Place followed by the first Non-Floridian and the top lady skipper Carol Cronin of Newport RI with Kim Couranz tending the jib. The Wells Division consolation round was won by Ken and Kay Voss (of Miami, of course) who got the tiebreaker over Laura Stamets/Dan Dalgleish (Galveston, Tex), followed by John Lally/Kerry O’Brien (Boston, Mass.). The club’s site the event site and the Facebook page.

What a difference a day makes. Trite, but true. Chirs Doyle (36 pts.) who had a comfortable lead on Friday in the J/22 North Americans in Buffalo NY, tumbled from first to third with a 24th-place finish in yesterday’s only race in light and shifty conditions to make way for new leader Greg Fisher (30) and new second-place holder Jim Barnash (35). Today is the final day with no warning signals after 2:30 pm. The full results, the event site, the official report and the sparse gallery.

Day 2 of the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup (ISAF Grade 2) did not last long enough to complete all flights after the wind shifted and blew across the river current. Six teams have some Round Robin racing left before the quarterfinals can be established. Presently on top is Dave Perry USA with a 7-1 record and three more races to sail. Next are Bill Hardesty USA, Anna Tunnicliffe USA and Laurie Jury NZL with 7-4 records and no more RR races. Taylor Canfield ISV (6-2) could be the spoiler here if he wins his three outstanding races today. Get all the details on the event Web site.

Chris Doyle of Kenmore, NY dominated day one of the 51-boat J/22 2010 North American Championship in Buffalo, NY. Team Solid Layer finished the day with just 12 points over four races. A three-way battle exists for the next spots between Todd Hiller, Greg Fisher and Jim Barnash (28 points). Competitors experienced winds starting around 12 knots, building to 15-20 with large waves. Racing continues through Saturday. Visit the event Web site and see all results.

On Day 1 of the Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup, an open Grade 2 event and the second stage of the so-called Trifecta, Team Tunnicliffe leads all 12 teams with a 5-0 record. “The conditions,” skipper Anna Tunnicliffe said on her blog, “were great, but very puffy at times, which allowed the boat behind to be able to make up distance on the lead boat downwind if they played the breeze well. We were also fighting the current downwind which made for long legs, and so giving the trailing boat an even bigger advantage.” Next are three skippers Laurie Jury NZL, Bill Hardesty USA and Reuben Corbett NZL with 4-1 records. The official report and the event site with lots of downloads, complete results, photos and images.

The 2010 29er North American Championships, part of the CORK International Regatta in Kingston ON, ended with a quadruple US triumph. After the 10 races in the gold fleet finals (two discards) Max Fraser/David Liebenberg (13 pts.) stood on top of the podium followed by Sterling and Hans Henken (19) and Tyler MacDonald/Brian Bolton (35). Top lady skip was 14-year-old Paris Henken sailing with Connor Kelter (68) in sixth, beating Emily Tsang/Lauren Laventure CAN (82) in 9th and Chanel Miller/CC Childers USA (103) in 12th. Tight finish in the silver fleet where Bror With/Ludwig Johansson NOR (55) eked out a one-point win over Andrew Colebrook/Burgess Malarky USA (56). After a rough beginning that taxed most crews to their limits during the qualifiers in stiff breeze and brutal chop (see our previous reports), conditions mellowed out by mid-week so the regatta concluded in orderly fashion. Many boats stay in town and get gussied up with the XX rig for the CORK Olympic Class Regatta, which starts this weekend.

The CORK International Regatta dedicated to youth and development classes, concluded yesterday in much lighter conditions than at the beginning of the week. The following class winners were posted: Optimist (93 boats 12 races): Meredith Megarry CAN (37); Laser Standard (21 boats, 11 races): Fraser Wells CAN (10); Laser 4.7 (3 boats, 11 races): Rachel Bryer USA (9); O’Pen Bic (6 boats, 12 races): John Robert Lawless USA (14); Byte CII (10 boats, 11 races): Sacha Roberts CAN (9); 420 Gold (46 boats, 6 final races): Malcolm Lamphere/Riley Legault CAN (21); 420 Silver (48 boats, 5 final races): Alexandra Cushing/Jarred Babty CAN (80); Laser Radial Silver (72 boats, 6 final races): Sandy Beatty CAN (52).

You wouldn’t know the Snipe Nationals are going on, unless you have friends there. They were sailing the last two days, but somehow the results just can't seem to find their way onto the Net. Yesterday’s entry from Carol Cronin’s Facebook Page: “One race completed today in 3-5 knots and flat water. Top six finishers in Heinzerling: Voss, Diaz, Sinks, Cronin, Bustamante, Rodriguez. Sorry I don't remember more... and hopefully overall scores are posted online soon.” Well Carol, we are sad to report that by 12 am EDT they have not posted anything, not on the club’s site nor on the event site or on the Facebook page. You have to check back at your leisure.

The International C Class Catamaran Championships (IC^4), the successor to the Little America’s Cup, will be hosted at New York Yacht Club in Newport, RI from August 22-28, 2010. Racing begins with an up-to-12 race series of fleet racing to determine the seeding for the match racing. The top two seeds will have a first to five point match race series to determine the winner of the International C Class Catamaran Championship. The course is a 6-mile windward-leeward, with one mile legs and up to four races each day. In related news: Steve Clark USA, who aims to win it back for the US, yesterday announced he had to withdraw the old ‘Cogito’ from the event in order to have a rig for his new entry ‘Aethon’ whose new wing was damaged during sea trials. The event site.

“Its funny how it can be 25+ one day and 5 knots the next... Oh how I love CORK, “ Is how CC Childers USA summarized the proceedings in Kingston ON at the 29er North Americans where gold and silver fleets went at it for six races (one discard) in much less breeze than on the first two days. In the gold fleet, Max Fraser/Dave Liebenberg USA (13 pts. have the lead by a point from Sterling and Hans Henken USA (14) and Tyler McDonald/Brian Bolton USA (27). In the lady’s scoring Emily Tsang/Lauren Laventure CAN (54) lead Chanel Miller/CC Childers USA (92). Curious is the 35-point differential between places 11 and 12. The silver fleet is led by Mike Howarth/Erin Murray CAN who are tied with Andrew Colebrook/ Burgess Malarkey USA at 50 pts. each. View Dave Hein’s gallery and read our exclusive eye witness report.

US 29er crew and roving reporter CC Childers was seriously kaput last evening after a long day on the water for six races and gaining 11 spots with her driver Chanel Miller. Still she found time to bang out a missive on her phone to recap the eventful first three days of the 29er North Americans. Thanks CC and good luck today!
“The past three days of CORK International in Kingston Canada have been crazy. The first two days we saw 25+ knots with serious chop on Lake Ontario. 7+ people on crutches including one coach who broke her leg in three places and required emergency surgery. We also saw concussions cuts and bruises. Oh and did I mention the gnarliest wipe-outs you have ever seen? Only two races per qualifying day, in which only maybe 5-7 teams set their kites successfully. A sketchy broad reach into the harbor mouth caused two teams to flip and get washed into the rocks. One girl unfortunately got her ankle pinned between her boat and the rocks and either sprained or fractured it. Both teams totaled their boats, the other team also totaled their mast, sails and blades. Crazy first two days on Lake Ontario, congratulations to any team who finished or competed in all four 4 qualifying races. Yesterday we saw 8 knots at best for 6 races for the first day of the final series. Team USA is dominating the gold fleet with 7 teams in the top 10 and 9 of 11 teams in the gold fleet.” For results see the accompanying story.

The final US Sailing Youth National Championship of 2010 proved to be memorable with two close class finishes in single- and doublehanded and three-peat brothers in the triplehanded division. Wind speed ranged from 13 to 15 knots at first then dropped to 5 to 8 knots for the rest of the day. Swell and kelp also made life difficult. And all titles stayed in southern California.
San Diego’s hometown twins Scott and Evan Hoffmann of Mission Bay Yacht Club won their third Chubb U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship in four years with a dominant performance and Reece Bernett (Southwestern Yacht Club) crewing for the Sears Trophy winners. On the last day, they finished 2-12, with the championship already sealed. Dylan Vogel/Sam Hallowell/Casey Brown of Sail Newport took second.
In the doublehanded fleet (Club 420s), Jack Jorgensen/Samantha Gebb (Alamitos Bay YC) won the Bemis Trophy by winning the final two races for a five-point margin over Kate Rakelly/Colleen Hackett of the Mission Bay Yacht Club and Alex Curtiss (Chicago Yacht Club) and Katie Hall (Lake Forest Sailing Club). In the singlehanded fleet (Lasers), Nevin Snow (San Diego Yacht Club) won the Smythe Trophy by holding off Kieran Chung (Newport Harbor Yacht Club) by four points and a DSQ for both in the final race. Jake Fish’s wrap-up report and the final standings.

Two more races were added yesterday at the 2010 Snipe National Championships on Chesapeake Bay. After four races the discard came into play, which helped Brian Kamilar/Enrique Quintero (4) move into the lead of the qualifying series, followed by Tyler Sinks/Jeff Aschieris (5) and Monday’s leaders Augie Diaz/Cathleen Tocke (5). Racing promises to be intense today with the top seven separated by only four points. The event site.

Defending champion Evan Hoffman and his team put on a show Tuesday in the triplehanded (Lightnings) fleet to lead through nine races at US Sailing’s 2010 Chubb U.S. Junior Championships. However, competition is much closer in the single- (Lasers) and doublehanded (Club 420s) fleets. The day started with significantly more breeze than yesterday on the doublehanded and singlehanded courses. Wind speed ranged from 5-7 knots, with no marine layer, and less swell in the beginning of the day. However, the wind died down to only 3-5 knots by the end of the day, making for more challenging conditions.
Hoffman, his brother Evan, and Reece Bernett sailed their way to a clean sweep on day two. They won all five races today to take a commanding 15-point lead. Despite a few [penalties for being over early, Nevin Snow moved ahead of Kieran Chung by two points after six races after winning the first three races of the day. Chung is within striking distance after winning the last race. Competition is even tighter in the doublehanded fleet. Jack Jorgensen/Samantha Gebb are tied with Alex Curtiss/Katie Hall through six races. One point back are Kate Rakelly/Colleen Hackett. The breeze is forecasted to reach 11 knots tomorrow’s final day on the water, which is good news for most competitors. The results and the event Web site.

“Carnage on the racecourse the past two days,” Facebooked US 29er crew CC Childers from the CORK International Regatta, which also doubles as the 29ere North American Championship. “We have seen it all... two boats completely destroyed from hitting the rocks. 7+ people on crutches, 2 concussions, lots of cuts and bruises and some pretty serious wipeouts. Craziness at CORK! Forecast says its supposed to get lighter but then again they said today was going to be lighter as well... NOPE!”
Well, not everybody had a tough time. The Henken brothers USA (3 pts.) and Maxwell Fraser USA are doing just fine, thank you very much. Both share the lead in the 57-boat fleet with three points, which is three better than Tucker Atterbury USA (6). CC sailing with her skipper Chanel Miller has 34 points, for 23rd overall.

Big breeze was wreaking havoc among the young sailors classes at CORK International Regatta in Kingston, ON as evidenced by the large swaths of DNF/DNC scores in the results. Class leaders after four races include in the Optimist (93 boats 6 races): Meredith Megarry CAN (9) Laser Standard (21 boats, 4 races): Fraser Wells CAN (8.), Laser 4.7 (3 boats, 4 races): Rachel Bryer USA (5); O’Pen Bic (6 boats, 3 races): John Robert Lawless USA (6); Byte CII (10 boats, 4 races): Sacha Roberts CAN (4); 420 qualifying (83 boats, 3 races): Julien Fougere CAN (3); Laser Radial Youth (19 and younger, 137 boats, 5 races): Olivier Corbeil CAN (4), Nicolas Croft CAN (4).

Nick Voss and Nicole Popp skinned the fleet at the 12-boat Snipe Junior Nationals (hosted by the Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Md.) last weekend.In five races they had four bullets and a cozy DNC at the end to win the title. In second Taylor Scheuermann/Jackson Fadely (16) followed by Addison Hackstaff/Kristen Walker (20). In the Snipe Open Nationals the first two races were held yesterday. In the "real" chamnpionship, multi-talented Augie Diaz sailing with Kathleen Tocke had a 1-2 day to lead the divided 60-boat fleet by two points over Tyler Sinks/Jeff Aschieris (5) and Ernesto Rodriguez/Megan Place (5). More on the event Web site and the US Snipe Nationals 2010 Facebook page.

Light air prevailed on Day 1 of the US Sailing 2010 Chubb U.S. Junior Championships. Wind ranged from 4-5 knots with large swells and a significant marine layer that failed to burn off until early in the afternoon on the single- and doublehanded course. The breeze began to die as the first race concluded with some boats barely making the time requirement.
Still the triplehanded fleet (Lightnings) reeled off four races with four teams within four points of each other. Scott Hoffman/Evan Hoffman/Reece Bernett are tied for the lead with O.J. O’Connell/Kyle Seniff/Ben Wilkinson. In the doublehanded fleet (420s), Jack Jorgensen/Samantha Gibb have a three-point lead after two races followed by Holly Tullo/Haley Fox and Kate Rakelly/Colleen Hackett.
There is a tie for the lead in the singlehanded fleet (Lasers) between last year’s doublehanded champion, Kieran Chung and Nevin Snow. The breeze continued to drop later in the afternoon, which forced the race committee to delay and subsequently end racing for the day. Tomorrow's forecast looks more promising with breezes predicted to reach nine knots. The report, the results and the event Web site.

The Ventura Star reported that Zac Sunderland, once the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world, was arrested in his hometown of Thousand Oaks following a run-in with police that he said was based on a misunderstanding. Sunderland, 18, was arrested about 1 a.m. Thursday in the 2200 block of Calle Riscoso on suspicion of resisting arrest, unlawful entry of a house and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, all misdemeanors, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department officials said in a statement today. Sunderland was booked into the Sheriff’s East County Jail and released about seven hours later. The cops allege Sunderland was drinking alcohol in the backyard of a vacant residence with other teens and that when a deputy arrived and told him to stop, he “lowered his shoulder, charged at a deputy and had to be physically subdued as he was apparently trying to escape from the yard,” according to the statement. A news video.

Yesterday the 2010 US Laser National Championships hosted by Milwaukee Yacht Club concluded with a heavy load of racing. The RC had no mercy and kept competitors on the water for four more races with dramatic consequences for the final overall standings in two of the three classes where the friendly neighbors from the north raided the podiums. In doing so, they followed the examples set at the Sail for Gold event in Weymouth last week by Michael Leigh (3rd overall) and Dave Wright (6th). However, in the 8-boat Laser 4.7 class the title stayed in the US, as Brendan Shanahan (9 pts.) closed out the deal with a steady diet of bullets and seconds. In second, Rachel Breyer (16) followed by Hannah Goethe (19). In the 56-boat Laser Radial Isabell Berthold CAN (18) from Royal Vancouver Yacht Club shocked everyone with three bullets and a second in the last four races to edge EJ O’Mara USA (23). In third Ryan Schmitz USA (40) followed by another young Canadian lady, Brenda Bowskill (46). Matt Mollerus, Saturday’s leader, disappeared into the abyss with 10-10-20 and a BFD. In the 57-boat Laser Standard, the last day of the regatta ended with a Canadian double whammy: Evert McLaughlin (18) who’d been hanging around near the top since the beginning, seized the opportunity to put it away with a 1-2-1-7 score. In the end he had a 15-point cushion over fellow Canadian Al Clark (33) and 20 points over third-place finisher Vaughn Harrison USA (38). Sadly, the Milwaukee Yacht Club Web page carried no timely reports about a National Championship in the largest Olympic boat class…

Yesterday the 2010 Laser Masters North American Championships hosted by Alamitos Bay YC in Long Beach CA concluded in perfect sailing conditions with customary sea breeze and sunshine for the 60 competitors from five nations. After 10 races and two discards at, the winner is the man who led wire-to-wire at this regatta, Kevin Tougher USA (Apprentice Master, 32 pts.) In second, Vann Wilson USA (Master, 43) followed by Andy Roy CAN (M, 48). Top Grand Master was Peter Vesella (57) in 5th. In the Laser Radials Dave Leuck (AM, 32 pts.) made his move with six bullets in the last six races to jump from third to first. In second the best Great Grand Master with Nils Andersson (34) followed by Saturday’s leader Jay Winberg (GGM, 39). No official report available from the club's Web site, but they posted the full results and Captain Rob’s gallery.

The 61-boat 2010 Lightning North American Championship at Tomes River NJ last weekend was tight to the finish and came down to the last downwind of the last race. David Starck/Jody Starck/Ian Jones USA (13 pts.) surfed past Tito Gonzalez CHI (15), the 2005 World Champion, in a freshening breeze to win the race and the championship. The Chileans finished second ahead of Skip Dieball/Tom Stark/Sarah Paisley USA (17). See the final results (PDF).

From Aug. 17 to Sept. 4, San Francisco Bay will be the site of the Finn Gold and Silver Cups (Open and Junior World Championships). The Juniors go first Aug. 17 – 24 with presently 17 boats registered. In attendance will be two US hopefuls, Luke Lawrence and Caleb Paine, who will be up against a formidable foe, Joannis Mitakis GRE, who won the Junior European Championship in Croatia earlier this year with a sensational performance that also netted him 12th overall in the European Open results. Practice race on Thursday, fleet racing Friday through Monday, medal race Tuesday Aug. 24.
On a different note: Other classes who grumble about the Finn’s seemingly unchallenged status as an Olympia class may take note how the Finn folks have responded to the ISAF requirement of professionally run Web sites. The event site, the class Web site, with blog, Facebook- and Twitter feeds the YouTube Channel and the official Gold Cup site.

The International Knarr Championship, hosted by St. Francis YC, concluded Saturday with another race win by perennial Knarr champ Jon Perkins USA. The win left him with a commanding eight point lead over his brother and second place finisher Chris. Soren Pehrsson DEN and Lars Gottfredsen DEN finished third and fourth overall, respectively, followed by Sean Svendsen USA. After 2005 and 2002 this was the third IKC championship for Jon Perkins, which puts him in the Knarr Pantheon behind Frank Berg DEN as the only one who has won more titles in the 42 years this class has contested this regatta that alterantes between San Francisco, Denmark and Norway. The report and the final results (PDF).

In near-perfect conditions on Lake Michigan the lowest-ranked team to advance from the Round Robin won 2010 Chicago Match Cup. Mike Buckley USA sailing with Nathan Hollerbach, Dave Hughes, Danielle Soriano, and Mark Pinney claimed the top prize in this ISAF Grade 2 race, the first of the August Grade 2 Trifecta, plus an invitation to next month’s Danish Open, the next event on the ISAF Grade WC World Match Race Tour. Buckley defeated Reuben Corbett NZL in the finals by a score of 2-1 after previously eliminating top favorite and reigning US Match Race Champion Bill Hardesty USA by the same score in an action-packed quarterfinal with numerous lead changes and multiple penalty flags flown. The report with the results.

Riley Gibbs (11 pts.) of Alamitos Bay YC won the Naples Sabot Junior Nationals at San Diego, a six-race, one-throw out series with 140 boats. In second Conner Kelter (Newport Harbor YC, 17) in third Robert Rice (ABYC, 20). Local favorite Scott Sinks (Sand Diego YC, 21) finished fourth. The results.

The world’s best Olympic class sailors battled it out for the medals at the Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth GBR, the venue of the 2012 Olympic sailing events, and for the ISAF Sailing World Cup titles in 5-15 knot northerly winds and rain. The US team came away with two bronze medals thanks to the women’s match racing team of Anna Tunnicliffe who defeated Renee Groeneveld NED in the petit finals and the 470-ladies Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar who were tied on points with the Spaniards but lost the tiebreaker in the medal race. For the overall tally of accumulated points from the seven World Cup events in 2009-2010, the US had three: Silver for Team Tunnicliffe and Andy Horton/James Lyne in the Star class, and Paige Railey got Bronze in the Laser Radial. Tunnicliffe won the Rolex Miami OCR in Miami, Fla., took second at French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyeres, France, and third Kiel Week in Kiel, Germany. Horton/Lyne took second at Miami OCR and third at Delta Lloyd Regatta in The Netherlands. Railey won Miami OCR and Kiel Week.
The US sailors in the medal races: 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey finished fourth in the Finn medal race and seventh overall in the 52-boat fleet. In the Men’s 470, 2008 Olympians Stu McNay/Graham Biehl finished the medal race in fifth to take seventh overall and in the Star Andrew Campbell/Brad Nichol finished 10th in a star-studded, 36-boat fleet.
Read the full report, check the complete results, see Fried Elliott’s photos and visit the US Sailing micro site.

Australia went home laden with gold after the Skandia Sail For Gold 2010 held on Weymouth Bay, the 2012 Olympic venue. The Aussies picked up Gold in four classes with Nicky Souter, in the Women’s Match Racing, the Skud-18 with Daniel Fitzgibbon/Rachael Cox on Friday, Tom Slingsby in the Laser Standard, and Nathan Outteridge/Iain Jensen in the 49er class. The French team had three gold medals – Pierre Leboucher/Vincent Garos in the 470 Men, Charline Picon in the RS:X Women, and Damien Seguin in the 2.4mR. The Dutch got two Gold with Marit Bouwmeester in the Laser Radial and Udo Hessels team in the Sonar. That left the favored Brits with exactly one, Scott Giles in the Finn, where Ben Ainslie missed the podium by 0.4 points, but GBR had a decent overall haul with two silver and four bronze medals as well.
The venue, Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, is the 2012 Olympic venue and it threw everything at the competitors this week – saving the best for last, with a medal race day that was vintage British summer; wind, rain, near calms and even a little sunshine right at the end. The huge entry of 975 sailors from 57 nations, spread across 712 boats in 13 classes, will go home having learned to expect the unexpected in August 2012.
The complete results, the video of the day and the final report with all the medal race drama.

On Day 2 of the US National Championships at Milwaukee Yacht Club two new leaders emerged in the three classes. Not new are the top three after four races were scored is Brendan Shanahan who leads the in the Laser 4.7 (5), Rachel Breyer (10) and Hannah Goethe (12). In the 56-boat Laser Radial, one Matt replaced another at the top. Now in the lead is Matt Mollerus (10) who won yesterday’s race, followed by Drake Lyon (12) and Andrew Puopolo (16). Top girl is remains Annie Rossi (25) in fifth. In the 57-boat Laser Standard it looks like a club championship of the Vermilion Boat Club with three of its members in the top four. Tim Zacher (20) is in the lead followed by Kevin Shockey (26) yesterday’s leader Evert McLaughlin CAN (28) and John Shockey (31). All the results and the club’s Web site.

Day 2 at the Laser Masters North American Championships four more races were added for the 60 boats from five different countries, with only very few changes at the top of the respective leader boards. In the Laser Standards, Kevin Tougher (Apprentice Master, 27 pts.) now leads Vann Wilson (Master, 34) and Peter Vesella (Grand Master, 37). In the Laser 4.7 Friday’s leaders remain in place with Jay Winberg (Great Grand Master, 18) carving out a 10-point lead over Nils Andersson (GGM, 28)and Dave Leuck (AM, 30). The results and Captain Rob’s gallery.

For next week’s US Sailing’s 2010 Chubb U.S. Junior Championships in San Diego, Calif., sailors between the ages of 13 and 18 represent their geographic regions. However, they had to qualify through ladder event eliminations that were held among more than 1,000 yacht clubs and 150 community sailing programs across country to compete in three disciplines - Lasers (singlehanded), Club 420s (doublehanded), and Lightnings (triplehanded). Chubb’s U.S. Junior Championships, hosted by the San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs, begins on Monday, Aug. 16 and runs through Wednesday, Aug. 18. The report, the
event Web site, the Twitter and the Facebook feeds.

Sunny skies and light air for the Chicago Match Cup (ISAF Grade 2), the first of the so-called Trifecta (Knickerbocker Cup and Detroit are the other ones) where only two matches were completed yesterday in the second Round Robin. Event organizers have therefore decided to forego completion of this stage and proceed directly to the quarterfinals where the top eight teams will be seeded: Bill Hardesty USA, the top seed chooses his opponent and boat, while ceding starboard entry to that rival in the first match of a best-of-three series. Hardesty’s options are: Taylor Canfield ISV, Don Wilson USA, Nicolai Sehested DEN, William Tiller NZL, Mike Buckley USA, Laurie Jury NZL and Reuben Corbett NZL The report.

After the first day and some very close racing, especially in the Laser Radials at the 2010 US Laser Nationals in Milwaukee WI, the following class leaders were posted: Laser 4.7 (8 boats, 3 races): 1. Brendan Shanahan (4 pts.), 2. Rachel Bayer (8), 3. Hannah Goethe (8); Laser Radial (56 boats 2 races): 1. Matt Morris (8), 2. Drake Lyon (8), 3. Matt Mollerus (9), 5. Annie Rossi (12) ; Laser Standard (57 boats 3 races): 1. Evert McLaughlin (7), 2. Kevin Shockey (10), 3. Sean Kelly (12). Winners of the US National Laser Championship qualify for the World Championship and the selection for the 2012 US Olympic Laser Sailing Team. The club’s Web site.

A fleet of 60 boats is battling it out for the 2010 Laser Masters North Americans at Alamitos Bay YC, scored overall and in each age group (Apprentice Master, Master, Grand Master and Great Grand Master). After three races in the 43-boat Laser Standards, the lead belongs to Kevin Taugher (AM, 13 pts.) followed by one of the Old Stars, peter Vessella (GM, 16) and Vann Wilson (M 18). In the 17-boat Laser 4.7 fleet Jay Winberg (GGM, 10) has a 6-point lead over Nils Andersson (GGM 16) and Dave Leuck (AM 16). All results, the event Web site and Captain Rob’s gallery.

After a long day of conditions that varied from light to moderate breeze, but never without Lake Michigan’s large choppy seas, Bill Hardesty USA has taken an early lead at the ISAF Grade 2 Chicago Match Cup on a score of 8-1. The varied conditions and huge chop generated off the Belmont Harbor waterfront favored teams with experience in the Tom 28 Max keelboats like CMRC regulars Don Wilson USA and Taylor Canfield USVI who sit in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, on six wins each. The event site with the results.

It is starting to shake out at Sail for Gold in Weymouth after the first day of racing after the larger classes were split into Gold Silver and Bronze fleets. , Seven US teams currently sit in the top ten of the Olympic classes with one more day to go before Saturday’s Medal Races. Medals will be decided today in the Paralympic classes.
The US highlight of the day was delivered in the Women’s 470, where Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar scored two consecutive bullets for sixth overall. Not a good day for Amanda Clark/Sarah Chin who dropped back to 22nd and from medal race contention.
Women’s Match Racing quarter finals, Anna Tunnicliffe is 2-0 against Lucy MacGregor GBR, while Sally Barkow is 1-1 against Renee Groenveld. NED.
In the Finn Zach Railey lost a fourth-place finish on /Wednesday to an OCS and had to battle back with a 2-12 for 7th overall, nine points out of third. In the Men’s 470, Stu McNay/Graham Biehl shad a 10-20 to remain seventh overall while Adam Roberts/Nick Martin are 24th. Three races for the 49ers and Erik Storck/Trevor Moore are still in 17th overall, after a 15-9-15 day.
Tough day again in the Lasers where all US competitors lost ground. Rob Crane dropped eight spots to 21st in Gold while Brad Funk is 42nd and Charlie Buckingham is 47th. Other US sailors in Gold are Charlie Buckingham (36th) and Brad Funk (40th). Clay Johnson holds fifth in the silver fleet. Same story in the Laser Radial where Paige Railey finished 12 - 2 to lose on spot for eighth overall while Sarah Lihan dropped four to 17th and Clair Dennis six to 30th.
The US Star sailors continue to struggle, with no Top 10 boat at the moment. George Szabo/Mark Strube are 11th followed by Mark Mendelblatt/ John von Schwartz in 12th both five points out of the medal race while Andrew Campbell/Brad Nichol still try to find their grove in 16th. Ben Barger could not sustain his good form from Wednesday and is 29th in the Men’s RS:X while Farrah Hall is 41st in the Women’s RS:X.
In Paralympic sailing Rick Doerr/ Brad Kendell/Hugh Freund had a decent day with 7-2 in the Sonars while reigning 2.4 mR World Champion John Ruf had to pocket an OCS which pushed him back to 9th in the 22-boat fleet. The US Sailing report, all results, Fried’s galleries and the US Sailing micro site.

Tom Slingsby AUS is doing a demolition job in the Laser Standards leading Michael Leigh CAN by 31 points after the first two final races. Paul Goodison GBR is in third, another eight points back. Tough day again in for US competitors who all lost ground. Rob Crane dropped eight spots to 21st in Gold while Brad Funk is 42nd and Charlie Buckingham is 47th. Other US sailors in Gold are Charlie Buckingham (36th) and Brad Funk (40th). Clay Johnson holds fifth in the silver fleet, 15 points behind leader Stuart Godwin GBR.
The battle is much closer in the Laser Radials with Sarah Steyaert FRA leading Sophie de Turckheim FRA by two points and Marit Bouwmeester NED, who lost her lead yesterday by three. Same story in the women's Radials where Paige Railey finished 12 - 2 to lose on spot for eighth overall while Sarah Lihan dropped four to 17th and Clair Dennis six to 30th. See all results.

Two young windsurfers, Margot Samson and Ian Stokes, have qualified to represent the United States at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee announced today. They join the U.S. Youth Olympic Team of 82 athletes competing in 18 sports, the maximum number of qualified U.S. athletes. The 12-day event kicks off this Saturday, August 14, with an elaborate Opening Ceremony and torch relay. The Youth Olympic Games is an international, multi-sport event held in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee that will take place every four years, consistent with the current format of the Olympic Games. This year, some 3,600 athletes, ages 14 to 18 and from 205 countries will compete in the 26 sports that will be featured at the 2012 Olympic Games. Per the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) qualification system for the sport of sailing, eligible athletes must have been born between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1995. Samson and Stokes qualified for the team at the 2010 Calema Midwinter Windsurfing Festival, where they were the highest finishing American male and female. The regatta was held in March in Merritt Island, Florida. The full report and the event Web site.

The sun returned to Weymouth and so did the good results of the US Sailing Team members at the Sail for Gold event with 12 top ten finishes in fleet racing, including three bullets. 49er sailors Erik Storck/Trevor Moore had an 8-1 for 17th overall, which means they are the only US boat in the Gold fleet. Finnist Zach Railey found some redemption after essentially giving away a bullet on Tuesday with a capsize on the last run by adding a solid 4-1 yesterday for 4th overall. In the Men’s 470, Stu McNay/Graham Biehl scored their second win of the week for seventh overall. They are accompanied to the Gold fleet by Adam Roberts/Nick Martin in 26th. In the Women’s 470, Erin Maxwell/Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar are 7th despite two high finishes, while Amanda Clark/Sarah Chin added more baggage to their score with 27-21 and now are 14th.
Strong comeback by the US Lasers Rob Crane had a 6-3 in his fleet and is 13th overall. Other US sailors in Gold are Charlie Buckingham (36th) and Brad Funk (40th). Clay Johnson got second in the first race yesterday while Kyle Rogachenko got a fourth in his fleet in the second heat, but it was not enough to qualify them for the 60-boat Gold fleet. In the Laser Radial Paige Railey had a BFD and slipped to seventh overall while Sarah Lihan is 13th and Claire Dennis is 24th. The Stars so far are sailing belowe the high expectations with George Szabo/Mark Strube in 10th and Mark Mendelblatt/ John von Schwartz in 11th, while Andrew Campbell/Brad Nichol are in 15th.
Both Women’s Match Racing teams, Anna Tunnicliffe and Sally Barkow advanced to the gold round, which sets the seeding for the quarterfinals. There they lost their first three races. 2008 Olympian Ben Barger scored his first top-ten finish in the last Men’s RS:X race and 2008 Paralympic skipper Rick Doerr/ Brad Kendell/Hugh Freund finished with a 5, 4 in the 10-boat Sonar fleet. 2010 2.4 mR World Champion John Ruf finished 5-5 in the 22-boat fleet.
The US Sailing report (not quite to date without mentioning Zach Railey’s stellar day), all results, Fried’s fine galleries and the US Sailing micro site.

Wonder what happened to Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol, one of the hopeful US Star teams? Well, after six races they are in a mediocre spot as 15th overall but even that did not come easy with a seemingly endless string of equipment failures. Rudder mount issues in practice, then an ill-fitting spare on Day 1, a broken batten and a jammed main on Day 2, a blown out job tack grommet yesterday. Without making excuses, Andrew is taking us through the ordeal of the battle, including this rarest of all Star exercises, which has the skipper (not the burly crew) shimmy up the mast to capsize the boat. Huh? Capsizing a keelboat? To find out how and why, read the post.

Wet, windy and long for many competitors] could be the short summary of Day 2 at the sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth GBR. Again the US sailors turned in some good results, which could have been even better without two capsizes. In Women’s Match Racing, Team Tunnicliffe won all three races again today and advanced to the gold round, regardless of the result of their last race Wednesday. The Laser Radials spent more than 9 hours on the water with Paige Railey getting two fourths and Sarah Lihan with 5-7. They are sixth and 12th overall. In the lone Finn race 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey led until he flipped on the last downwind but he salvaged fifth and holds fourth overall. “All things considered, I will take a fifth,” said Railey. In the Lasers Charlie Buckingham holds on to 16th overall after getting 12-15 yesterday. The 49ers need to get nine races in before the top 25 are seeded into the gold fleet. Storck/Moore got a sixth in the first race and flipped in the second, but came back to finish 13th. In the Men’s 470, 2008 Olympians McNay/Biehl added 4 - 10 for sixth overall. In the Women’s 470, 2008 Olympians Clark/Chin scored a 9, 3 to propel their comeback after their customary slow first day. They are 13th, four behind Maxwell/Kinsolving Farrar in ninth overall. In the Star Mendelblatt/von Schwartz are sixth Szabo/Strube are ninth after a difficult day that saw no US team in the top 10. In the RS:X boars, Farrah Hall holds 41st in the women’ s division while Ben Barger is 34th in the men’s. The Sonars raced during the worst of the storm, but 2008 Paralympic skipper Rick Doerr (and crew finished 5, 3 and stand in 5th overall. 2010 2.4 mR World Champion John Ruf had a ninth and a DNF with a steering problem. Qualifying continues todaybefore the big fleets are split Gold and Silver. The full report the results and the US Sailing micro site.

The Columbia Gorge One Design regatta posted the final results. As we reported Sunday, Jamie Cox/Simon Pearson CAN won the Fireballs North Americans (10 races, 10 boats) with four other Canadians right on their heels. Top US team in 5th was Peter Wirth/Tate Chamberlain. The other class winners: Melges 24 PCC (10 races/10 boats) : Stig Osterberg (15); Moore 24 (9 races, 13 boats): Morgan Larson (10); Laser (8 boats, 9 races) Bill Symes (18 pts.); Laser Radial (9 races, 24 boats) Teddy Weaver (13); Laser 4.7 (9 races, 10 boats):Abby Hartmann (13); Opti (10 races, 10 boats): Jack Toland (8); Tasar US Natioanls (10 races, 4 boats) Norris/Norris (8).

The 2010 Buzzards Bay Regatta, with more than 400 entries one of the larger one-design regattas not just in New England but in the entire country, offered fine summer sailing and exciting battles for the top spots in several classes. In the J/80s the traveling circus that moves to the Newport for the World Championship later this year made a stop in town with 27 boats on the Red Circle. Winner was J-Boat chief Jeff Johnstone who ran away with it in the end. In the J/24s Ryan Walsh never relinquished his lead. The largest class was the C 420 with 157 boats, which was dominated by Graham Landy (18 pts.), who won five of the 10 races. Next were Graham Slattery (40) and Marlena Fauer (46) who represented the US in the Youth Worlds in Istanbul. Richard Hyde won the PHRF 1, the largest class on the Yellow Circle. Only Saturday’s standings were posted for the Blue Circle with Scott Ferguson ahead in the Laser Standards and the Masters, Ryan Schmitz in the Laser Radial and Collin Merrick in the V15. All results.

Under overcast skies and winds between 16 and 25 miles the Fireball North Americans concluded yesterday with three more races in the Columbia Gorge at Cascade Locks, OR. After 10 races with 2 discards Jamie Cox/Simon Pearson CAN secured the title, followed by Rupert Holmes-Smith/Evelyn Chisholm CAN and Frank Crawford/Sean Holmes-Smith CAN Full race results will be available at CGRA.org but were not available at press time. But overall our Fireball correspondents Peter Wirth and Deb Dietch recommend the CGOD regatta for fleet championships. Good racing, good food, great wind and an awesome site lead to a great overall experience. The Canadian Fireball Fleets will be active in Alberta for their Provincial Championships on Labour Day weekend and in Victoria BC for the Royal Victoria Yacht Club Fall Dinghy Championships in late September. Check the results page for updates.

At press time no new results were posted for the Buzzards Bay Regatta and the Columbia Gorge One Design events, which concluded yesterday. We will make every effort to post the final results when the clubs have communicated them.

It was an overcast day in the Pacific Northwest yesterday with a good helping of rain up in Seattle, so the wind machine in the Gorge was not cranking as high as it did on Friday at the Gorge One Design Regatta in Cascade Locks OR where all eight classes got some good races in. After seven heats, the Fireball North American Championship is firmly in Canadian hands. Cox/Pearson CAN (10 pts.) hold a three-point lead over Crawford/Sean Holmes-Smith CAN (13) with Rupert Holmes Smith/Chisholm (14) in third. The 10-boat he Melges 24 Pacific Coast Championship has five races on the books, with Stig Osterberg (7) leading, followed by Keith Hammer (12) and Dave Brede (15). In the competitive 13-boat Moore 24 fleet none other than Morgan Larson (4) is making an appearance at the top of the leaderboard. Sad story in the Tasars, who call this regatta their National Championship, but only have four boats and class secretary Tony Norris (5) in the lead. Other class leaders: Laser Standard (5 races, 8 boats): Joe Burcar; Laser Radial: (5 races, 23 boats): Karl Haelsig (4); Laser 4.7 (5 races, 9 boats): Abby Hartmann (8); Opti (6 races, 10 boats): Jack Toland (5). See all the results.

Four more races have been sailed yesterday at the Laser Districts in New Bedford MA. Scott Ferguson took over the lead in the Laser Standard while Ryan Schmitz now is clear leader in the Radials. See all results.

Intense racing yesterday for the large C420 fleet with already 7 races sailed in just two days and Landy/Graham as clear leaders after winning four races. On top of the J/24 rankings remain Ryan/Walsh while in the J/80 class, Jeff/Johnstone are in the lead. All results of the day and the event web site.

A fleet of 118 Lasers buzzed around the crowded Blue Circle yesterday for their first two races of the District 7 Championship at the huge 2010 Buzzard’s Bay Regatta. In the Laser Standard (57 boats) it’s a duel at the top with Erik Bowers in the lead with a clean 1-1 record for 2 points. In second, only two points behind, is Scott Ferguson (4), who also leads the Masters standings. In third follows Sam Altreuter (12) the second in the Masters. In the 65-boat Radial fleet, the top five are separated by four points. OJ O’Connell (8) owns the lead, followed by Drew Shea (10) and Alex Post (12). The regatta site.

The Buzzards Bay Regatta is one of the largest multi-class regattas in the US with approximately 450 boats and 1200 sailors across a variety of different classes. Boats and sailors come from all across the Northeast and the country as they look to enjoy the renowned sailing conditions, competition and race management. 2010 marks the 38th anniversary of the BBR. This year it is being hosted by and located at Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, MA with Community Boating Center in New Bedford, MA. Yesterday, racing started in the 11 classes with special focus on the Lasers (see separate report), Club 420s and J/80 that are ramping up to their World Championship in Newport later this summer. Among the leaders are: Club 420 (157 boats): Alex Ramos (18 pts.); J/80 (27 boats): Gary Kamins (5); J/24 (16 boats): Ryan Walsh (2); V15 (33 boats): Pete Levesque (4); PHRF 1 (18 boats) Richard Hyde (1). All results and the event site.

The winds at the Lightning Juniors, Women’s and Masters Championships were challenging yesterday: "It's never like this here" was heard in the boat yard and on the course. Winds were shifty, streaky and variable in pressure. On the Womens' course Courtney O'Connor cleaned up today with two bullets which was enough to edge Thursday leader Maegan Ruhlman’s team for the title by a single point. Another one-point decision in the Masters with Peter Hall and company getting the better of previous leaders Steve and Jan Davis and Brian Hayes. The 17 Junior teams had a full program with four races and Timmy Crann holding on to the top spot under challenging conditions. Now they are making the trek to Toms River Yacht Club for next week’s North American Championship. The report and all results.

Eleven Fireballs from Canada and the US registered for this three-day event on the Columbia River. And as usual, it was nuking in the Gorge, the breeze whistling through the bullet holes in the fenders of rusted-out pickup trucks. And the Canucks loved every minute of it. “The weather was clear and the wind was blowing 24 steady, gusting to 30 knots,” our correspondents Peter Wirth and Deb Dietch texted. “Only two heats were sailed due to the carnage before and during the races.” In other words: A nice summer day on the Gorge… No results were posted at press time, so we have to trust the reporters: 1. Jamie Cox/Simon Pearson CAN (4 pts.), 2. Rupert Holmes Smith/Evelyn Chilsom CAN (4), 3.Frank Crawford/Sean Holmes Smith CAN (5), 4. Peter Wirth/Tate Chamberlain USA (7) 5. Noah Perves Smith/Greg Ferguson CAN (15)

The USODA New England Championships, one of the larger youth regattas in North America, took place this week in Newport RI with 376 sailors from U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Argentina, British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Switzerland in attendance. Typical Newport SW summer breezes between 10 and 20 knots provided perfect conditions for the young sailors who battled it out over 11 races. Posting four bullets and three seconds among his all-single-digit scores, Jack Parkin USA (24 pts) who raced in Blue Fleet won the combined championship score with a 12-point cushion over Wade Wadell (36) and Duncan Williford (36). Top girls were the Alie (147h) and Liza Topper (21st.) The event site with all results.

Almost 50 members of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) and US Sailing Development Team (USSDT) have descended on Weymouth/Portland, England for the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, the final stop on the 2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit. The regatta is especially important for 2012 Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls because it is held at the venue of the 2012 Games, so this is a crucial opportunity to test the conditions and the world-class competition. Team USA will compete in all 10 Olympic classes and two Paralympic classes. Event organizers are expecting a record number of athletes to compete: to date, 975 athletes have registered from 57 nations. Racing starts Monday for all classes, weather depending. The report and the list of US competitors.

After four races of the Lightning Junior, Women’s and Masters Championships at Metedeconk River Yacht Club in Brick NJ, the following class leader were posted: Juniors (17 boats): Timmy Crann/Lauren Jones/Jeff Markarian (5pts.). Masters (17 boats): Steve Davis/Jan Davis/Brian Hayes (9). Women’s (6 boats) Maegan Ruhlman/Katie Werley/Samantha Maras (6). The complete results.

Six races were held last weekend for 68 boats in the 10 keelboat classes at the Dillon Open Regatta 2010 on the 9,000-foot high Lake Dillon that’s surrounded by peaks of the Colorado Rockies. Among the winners were Bill Darling in J/22, Greg Johnson in J/24 and Jim Pearson CAN who took the North American Championship in the 16-boat Ultimate 20s.
At the same occasion, 25 Laser sailors met for the No Coast Championship, but as you see the results don’t show the winner’s and some other racers’ names. We inquired at the Club and were told that “there is a discrepancy in the final results and how they were scored, and we will send out when it’s settled.”

Steve Clark has been dreaming of winning back the Little America’s Cup for the USA ever since he lost it to Canada in 2007. In 1996, Clark’s 25- foot C-Class Catamaran ‘Cogito’ (pronounced with a soft g) had blown away designers and engineers with its mammoth wing sail and unmatchable speed, and with helmsman Duncan MacLane and crew Erich Chase it handily defeated Australia’s defender Edge IV on Port Phillip Bay to win the International C-Class Catamaran Championship, fondly referred to as the Little America’s Cup. ‘Cogito’ became and remained the gold standard of C-Class Catamarans for the next eleven years, a place in C-Class cat history to which Clark wishes to return by entering his new boat, ‘Aethon’, launched earlier this year, in the 2010 Little America’s Cup, set for August 22-28 off Newport. Full story

The best of the best were on display in four highly competitive fleets (Lasers, Radials, C420s and 29ers) at the 2010 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships, hosted by the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club.
Mateo Vargas overcame a narrow two-point deficit to USSDT teammate Mitchell Kiss to win the 28-boat Laser Radial fleet by 10 points. Kiss finished second, and fellow USSDT member and defending champion, Christopher Stocke finished third. Earlier this summer, Vargas finished second at the Radial North American Championships in Texas. Top lady helm was Erika Reineke in eighth followed by Molly McKinley in13th and Sky Adams in 14th.
The team of Graham Landy and Colin Murphy broke away from the pack on Wednesday and won by a healthy 18-point margin in the 27-boat C420 fleet. Landy and Murphy finished second out of 109 at the C420 North American Championships in New Jersey.
In the 14-boat Laser Standards, John Wallace won seven of the 10 races, including the first six of the regatta and finished 18 points ahead of Trey Hartman. Wallace took third at the U.S. Singlehanded Championships in Pensacola, Fla. last week and sailed in the Laser Radial World Championships in Scotland last month.
In the 13-boat 29er fleet, Antoine Screve and James Moody successfully defended their title. They won the final two races of the regatta to seal a 12-point win over Sterling and Hans Henken. Screve and Moody scored a bronze medal at the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships.
The final report and the event Web site.

It was a rough day for the Columbia Gorge Racing Association's Laser Blow Out. The shindig, an18-mile downwind hara-kiri from Cascade Locks to Hood River lived up to its name, because this year they were blown out for real and pulled the plug at the mandatory halfway stop at Viento Park as winds started to gust above 30 knots. At that point Michael Schalka was ahead of John-Bernard Duler and Drake Jensen. See also our report from last week. Thanks to CGRA for posting this video.

Andrew Campbell is suffering from culture shock. First he was at the seriously truncated Melges 32 Nationals in the bucolic settings of Harbor Springs on Lake Michigan. "The town was full of friendly tourists and people enjoying their summer cottages to the point where we began mistaking it for the set of “The Truman Show” and worried about bumping into the wall of the set if we went too far upwind,” he mused after a ninth-place finish. Cut and pan to grumpy grey England where the stakes will be infinitely higher at the last ISAF World Cup event Skandia Sail for Gold.
“I was immediately thrust back into reality when I flew across the pond to London the day after the regatta ended and took the train into Weymouth. Grey skies and appropriately bitter Englanders noticeably didn’t greet me all that kindly as I wandered to the boat park the last couple of days while training in Stars on the 2012 Olympic course…As if lining up with Szabo/Strube, Merriman/Trinter, and Horton/Lyne wasn’t good enough, we had two other Silver Star winners: Marazzi and O’Leary as well as two more Gold Stars Scheidt and Grael on the practice line today for 8-25 knots of both sunshine and English rain. Read Andrew's entire blog post.

Fine conditions in the Port of Los Angeles greeted the 93 competitors on Day2 of the U.S. Youth Sailing Championships, hosted by the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club. Three of the four fleets are still hotly contested, which sets up a great finale today. Mitchell Kiss won the final two races of the day in the Radials to take a two-point lead over Mateo Vargas. In third Christopher Stocke, in 10th top lady helm Erika Reineke, followed by Molly McKinney in 12th. Graham Landy and Colin Murphy hold a narrow lead over Chris and Daniel Segerblom through seven races in the 420 fleet. John Wallace has a commanding lead in the Laser fleet. With seven bullets in eight races and a 15-point lead over Trey Hartman. In the 29er fleet, Antoine Screve and James Moody now have a four-point lead after winning two of the last three races of the day. Sterling and Hans Henken moved into second place with consistent racing, overtaking Monday’s leaders Mac Agnese and Alek Nilson who dropped back to third place, despite winning four of the first six races of the regatta. The report and the event Web site.

Sunny skies, flat water, and plenty of breeze in the mid- to upper teens set the stage for Day 1 of the U.S. Youth Sailing Championships (USYSC), hosted by Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club for Lasers, Radials, C420s, and 29ers. And the recent medal winners of the US Sailing Development Team are showing that any hope of winning here means they will have to be unseated at the top of their fleets. Competition is tight in the Radial Division. Mitchell Kiss clings to a one-point lead over Mateo Vargas and a four-point advantage over Michael Zonnenberg who won the final two races of the day. Top girls are Erika Reineke in 10th and Molly McKinney in 11th. In the C420s, Graham Landy/Colin Murphy also have a one-point edge over locals Chris and Daniel Segerblom through four races. John Wallace had a clean sweep in the Laser Division, winning all four races for an eight-point lead over Trey Hartman .The 29er fleet was controlled Mac Agnese/Alek Nilson. The report and the event Web site.

In an effort to reach out to the one-design and Olympic class communities, Sailing News US has partnered with the International Laser Class North America Region as a news provider. Under this agreement Sailing News covers more than 50 major North American Laser events annually, plus the important international Laser regattas around the world for the headline section on the Web site. See the announcement in Trade Only Today and contact us for more information.

Sunday the weather held up on Pensacola Bay for the finale of the 2010 U.S. Singlehanded Championships (USSC), hosted by the Pensacola Yacht Club. The men’s and women’s divisions completed two more races, which proved to be just enough for Leonie Shuurmans to complete her come-from-behind win in the women’s Radial fleet and Fred Strammer to close out the deal in the men’s Laser division. Shuurmans won four of the seven races of the women’s division, which was included in this event for the first time, and posted second and third place finishes Sunday to pass Sarah Stubbs in the standings. Despite controlling most of the action, Shuurmans had to battle her way back into the lead following a 12th place finish in race three on Friday. Annie Rossi finished third overall after a 3-12 score on Sunday. Strammer won by a nine-point margin over Sean Kelly and US Sailing Development Team member, John Wallace who posted two second-place finishes to share runner-up honors with Kelly. The final report and the results.

The Melges 32 Nationals in Harbor springs Mich., ended with a second consecutive day on the beach for lack of wind. This means that Friday’s results stand and Ryan DeVos, who drove 'Volpe' and had competent help from tactician Ed Baird, is 2010 U.S. National Champion. He also won the U-21 skippers trophy. In second and winner of the Masters trophy, John Kilroy with Stu Bannatyne calling tactics on 'Samba Pa Ti'. In third, 'Full Throttle' with John Porter, who listened to Charlie McKee. Saturday's report with the results and another gallery.

Starting today, US Sailing will crown champions representing four in San Pedro, Calif. The U.S. Youth Sailing Championships (USYSC), hosted by the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, runs through Wednesday, August 4. and will have a total 91 boats and 137 junior sailors on the line in Laser Standards, Laser Radials, C420s, and 29ers. The Laser Radial division this year is loaded with talent. The 30-boat fleet will go up against defending champion, Christopher Stocke, one of three members of the US Sailing Development Team. Freshly-minted Laser Radial Youth World Champion Erika Reineke and Bronze medalist in the Radial Worlds Mitchell Kiss are also competing for this year’s Laser Radial title. Other competitors include, 2009 U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Champion, Molly McKinney who finished second at last week’s U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship. Sky Adams, and Annie Rossi who were third and sixth, respectively. A number of highly competitive teams are lined up for this year’s 29er division, including USSDT members, Antoine Screve and James Moody who collected Bronze at the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in turkey last month. Another USSDT member, Mac Agnese will be sailing with Alek Nilsen. Agnese also won a bronze medal with Taylor Palmer at the ISAF World Championships in the SL 16 multihull event. See the entire preview and the event Web site.

Light winds in the morning and threatening thunderstorms in the afternoon put a damper on yesterday’s races at the 2010 U.S. Singlehanded Championships (USSC), hosted by the Pensacola Yacht Club. The men’s division managed to sneak in a pair of races, while the women were limited to one. Fred Strammer managed to break yesterday’s tie atop the leader board, while in the female division Sarah Stubbs holds on to her lead. Strammer reclaimed the lead by posting a bullet in race six and finished third in today’s first race. He has a two-point lead over Sean Kelly. Strammer, the former two-time U.S. Junior Triplehanded Champion, is a member of the Brown University sailing team and a 2010 ICSA Honorable Mention All-American Coed Skipper. Leonie Shuurmans continued her dominance in the women’s fleet by winning the day’s only race. She has won four of the five races in the regatta so far, but a 12th place finish in race weighs her down until the discard comes in while Stubbs has chalked up an a consistent 2-2-2-3-3. Annie Rossi had a solid performance today by finishing second and moved into fifth place. The full report and the results.

The 2010 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship is officially two-thirds complete. With only one day left to race, Ryan DeVos on 'Volpe' leads by a substantial margin followed by John Kilroy, Jr. on 'Samba Pa Ti' and John Porter on 'Full Throttle', second and third respectively. The report with the results and the gallery.

Competitors woke up to limp flags on the last day of the 2010 Thistle Nationals and started another round of the waiting game. At 1 pm the RC pulled the plug, which meant that Team Ingham from Rochester, NY led by skipper Mike are the winners of this year's Thistle Nationals. Over the better part of the last week they showed excellence in all kinds of conditions and laid the ground work on the first day of the finals with three consecutive bullets. See the final results, visit their Facebook page, see the gallery and check the event site for updates.

Ryan DeVos/Ed Baird on ‘Volpe’(10) continued where they left off at the 15-boat Melges 32 Nationals, which are hosted by Little Traverse YC: In the lead. DeVos raised the bar in the process and added two bullets to build a commanding 16-point lead. Scrapping for second are John Kilroy on ‘Samba Pa Ti’ (26) and John Porter on ‘Full Throttle’ (28). The results..

A frontal passage produced a volatile Northerly on the Western Lake Erie basin for 101 competitors in the 2010 Thistle National Championship. The Championship Division got off one race in 5-12 knots and frequent shifts. Greg Griffin mastered the tricky stuff to get the gun after taking the lead on the last beat and edging out Tim Fitzgerald, Chris Pollak and Mike Gillum. The racing was extremely tight and many saw huge gains/losses throughout the day. Mike Ingham (25 pts. ) held onto his lead and Greg Griffin (36) moved ahead of Greg Fisher (42) for 2nd. Last race today with plenty of excitement programmed. The accumulated Championship results. President’s results were still being sorted at press time. Visit their Facebook page, see the gallery and check the event site for updates.

In moderate 8-12 knots of breeze and sunshine 15 teams raced three times on the first day of the 2010 Melges 32 U.S. National Championship, hosted by the Little Traverse Yacht Club. Leading the event with eight points is the youngest helmsman in the fleet, 18-year old Ryan Demos on ‘Volpe’ with his father Dick crewing and Ed Baird calling the shots. In second, two points behind is 2010 European Champion Joe Woods GBR on ‘Red’ with Paul Goodison GBR on tactics, after winning the first two heats and stumbling a bit in the third. In third, John Kilroy, Jr. with Stu Benatyne on ‘Samba Pa Ti.’ The report, the results and the official event Web site.

On the opening day of freestyle competition a handful of youngsters challenged the well-established tour regulars once the breeze gathered enough strength for the first single elimination round. In light of a favorable forecast, further racing was postponed until today. Fifteen-year old Youp Schmit AHO, eliminated Dai Nagamine, Daivis Paternina Teran VEN beat, Max Rowe GBR in a split 2-1 decision before Maarten Van Ochten NED pulled the big upset by sweeping aside the 2009 Pozo wave champion, Philip Koester GER. Andy Chambers GBR prevailed against fellow Brit Adam Sims. The event and the tour Web sites.

The 2010 U.S. Singlehanded Championship, hosted by the Pensacola Yacht Club (Fla.) gets underway this Friday, July 30 and runs through Sunday, August 1. New to the event is a women’s division that will be raced in Laser Radials while the men will sail in Laser Standards on Pensacola Bay. Twelve sailors will be on the line in each division. The U.S. Singlehanded Championships are open to male and female sailors 16 and older. A day of practice racing and a Rolex Clinic led by Kurt Taulbee was conducted yesterday. Sailors qualified through eliminations, both at the Area level and specific regattas including the Sunfish Class Nationals, the Interscholastic Singlehanded Championships and the ICSA/LaserPerformance Men’s and Women’s National Singlehanded Championships. Details on the event site.

Wednesday’s racing at the 2010 Thistles Nationals was epic on Western Lake Erie and sailors from Rochester seem to get the hang of this venue. A frontal passage kicked up some great 12-18 knot winds and the 100-boat fleet split into two fleets now was treated to two superb races. Local PRO David Shaffer ran exceptional races with Doug Kaukeinen (Rocherster, NY) with crew Diedra Santos and Brad Sweet found the conditions to their liking by winning both races in the stacked Championship Division. Mike Ingham (Rocherster, NY) maintained the top spot with a pair of 7’s over Greg Fisher. In the President’s Division, Doc Gates (Rocherster, NY) holds a slim lead over Dan Reasoner. Check the event Web site and the Facebook page for updates.

From September 7 to October 13, 2010, US SAILING will hold its annual election to fill three seats on its Board of Directors. Members are called upon to directly elect the Board members, who will serve a three-year term. All current US SAILING adult and family members are entitled to vote. The two nominees that receive the most number of votes will fill those positions. Nominated are are: Ed Adams, Mitch Brindley, Scott Ikle, Maureen McKinnon-Tucker. In addition Susan Epstein was nominated by the House of Delegates, and is running unopposed. Each active US SAILING member is entitled to one vote which also can be cast online, by mail or fax (401-683-0840) from September 3 to October 13, 2010. More on the election Web site.

After a mixed bag of conditions on all points of sail, a full moon and a sunset in the Manitous, the 102nd Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac finished yesterday with most boats home in time for the drink fest aka and Mount Gay Rum Party. The top boats were the ones with the best all-round performance: Chicago-Mackinac Trophy: ‘Lady K’ (J/110, Mike Stewart); Mackinac Cup: ‘Flying Jenny VI’ (J/122, David Askew); Cruising Division: ‘Intangible’ (Tartan 3700, Tom Falck); Multihull: ‘Gamera’ (F-25C, Matt Scharl); Doublehanded: ‘Skye’ (J/122, Bill Zeiler/ Rich Stearns). The event Web site and the overall results with a few protests pending.

Showing a flair for the dramatic, New England’s Bill Brangiforte (45 pts. Master) won the 2010 Sunfish North American Championship at Mattituck, NY July 23-25 by finishing second in final race of the regatta. Sailing with bad tendonitis in his left elbow – an injury that forced him to withdraw from several recent regattas, including the Worlds in June – Brangiforte modified his steering, tacking and sheeting styles to minimize the pain. Brangiforte was the most consistent sailor in the 87-boat fleet. He never won a race, threw out a 20th and otherwise never scored worse than 12th. In second Mark May (50, Master) followed by Jose Gutierrez VEN (53, Junior). Top lady skipper was Kamilla Sabogal ECU (65, Junior). The report and the final results (PDF).

Last weekend, flooding caused by heavy storms destroyed a dam in Iowa, causing much of the nine-mile-long Lake Delhi (prounonced DEL-hi) to disappear in just a few hours. Rushing through the gap in the dam, the water took numerous boats with it, as the video graphically demonstrates. No serious injuries were reported, but boaters and homeowners are now faced with a starkly different scene. “We are sitting, looking out over the river,” eyewitness Jim Kouba told NPR. “We had a nice little sandy beach right on the lake. Now, it's probably 75, 80 yards to water. And the water level is probably 30 feet below us.” Read the full report in the New York Times.

Mike Ingham (3 pts.) sailing with his son Sam and wife Delia won all their divisional races at the Nationals yesterday and lead class veteran Greg Fisher with his wife JoAnne and Jeff Eiber by 5 points. The 100-boat fleet is now split for the balance of the event and racing will continue with four more races scheduled Wednesday-Friday.
Important Post Scriptum: The results of the Women’s Nationals were revised by the jury after the redresses in the third race were sorted out. As we reported in our Monday edition, Nicole Shedden’s team won the championship but the other podium positions changed. New in second (previously third) are Judy Gesner/Deirdre Santos/Caroline Gates. Listed as third overall now are Joanne Fisher/Laurie Dieball/Kristen Medwid, while (previously second) Kirsten Barton/Meg Pollak/Jocelyn Pollak dropped to fourth.
It's a family-friendly class and also care about sailors who still are on the steep part of the learning curve. From last night’s e-mail blast: “For those that are having a tough go and want to learn more about Thistle Sailing come to the Round Table. We will try to fit it in after racing and after the General Meeting (which will be after racing). Mike (Ingham) will moderate & contribute to the discussion and we know that there is a great tradition of roundtables that have enhanced people’s events.“ The event Web site and the Facebook page.

Twenty-six years after the LA Olympics in 1984, Jay Glaser still has the touch and the passion for the sport, as he showed this weekend at the ABYC Multihull Regatta while crewing not for Randy Smyth but for his wife Pease as they won the 11-boat Formula 18 class in Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's annual Multihull Regatta. Sunday wasn't as windy, causing a 45-minute delay for the first of three races on the course inside the breakwater, but the tricky and shifty seven-knot breeze brought the Glasers' cunning to the forefront. At the end they counted three firsts, two seconds and a third for 10 points after discard. In second Dennis Key/John Williams (15) followed by Ian Sammis/Bobby Bob Kleinschmit (19) James Melvin, 15, helming for his famous dad Pete, finished 6th. Jeff Newsome and crew Michelle Eatough dominated the six-boat Hobie 16 class. Next up for the Formula 18 is the national Championship in Racine, Wis. The regatta served as a tuneup for some F18 teams that will now pack up their boats for their North American championships at Racine, Wis., next month. The results and the events page.

Karl Kwok's Farr 80 ‘Beau Geste’ (Hong Kong, China) took line honors in the 102nd edition of the 330-mile Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, finishing Sunday evening after an elapsed time of 31:13:10, followed by Windquest, some 36 minutes later. Corrected-time standings (without protests) were headed by Dave Askew’s ‘Flying Jenny IV’, a J/109 from Annapolis, Md. See the updated list.

It’s been a windy summer in the Columbia River Gorge, as the Moth and Laser sailors can attest. Last weekend the Laser Masters Pacific Coast Championship was run after a little tune-up called the ‘Laser Gorge Blowout, an aptly named 18-mile downwind hara-kiri from Cascade Locks to Hood River. This year they were blown out for real and pulled the plug at the mandatory halfway stop at Viento Park as winds started to gust above 30 knots. At that point Michael Schalka was ahead of John-Bernard Duler and Drake Jensen.
On Saturday and Sunday, 20 Masters in Laser Standards and 19 in Laser Radials gathered in Cascade Locks to race their guts out in the Westerly that’s howling up the Gorge, against the steady current of the Columbia. In the end of a hard-fought 10-race series, age and treachery beat youth and power. Vilhelm Roberts (31pts., Master) got the better of Nicholas Pullen (39, Apprentice) because of the age handicap. Both sailed a marvelous series with three firsts and three seconds and were tied at 15 net points. In third Tracy Usher (42, Master), ahead of Chief Bill Symes (45 Grand Master). A tight finish order was also posted in the Radial division, with Grand Master Mark Halman (40) edging Apprentice John Sturman (42) for the title. In third, another Grand Master with Bruce Braly (42). See all the results (PDF) and the events page.

Thirty-eight Lightnings congregated on Chesapeake Bay last weekend to contest the 2010 Lightning Atlantic coast Championship in hot and humid conditions, as one could expect at this time of the year in this area. To make matters more challenging, the winds were light and fickle and only three races were scored. Some of the top sailors like Allan Terhune, Geoff Becker and former Lightning boat grantee Justin Coplan sunk their chances in this no-throw-out series with BFDs. In the end, Dave Starck (9 pts.) edged Brian Taboda (10) and Tim Scanlon (18). See all the results.

The Windsurfing National & Formula North American Championships that were raced last week on San Francisco Bay were a long and exhausting affair in the typical Bay blow with cold, often-choppy waters and the ubiquitous fog. And the guests from Brazil didn't seem to mind. Paolo dos Reis BRA (12) did a number on the 48-board fleet, never finishing lower than second in 11 races and wrapped up the title with one heat to spare. In second Phil McGain AUS (13) followed by Wilhelm Schurmann BRA (22) who won the slalom. Ben Grodner topped the juniors while McGain, who also won the Grand Masters Subdivision finished second in the slalom and first overall. See all results and read up on the minutiae on Waterhound.

In 1993, at Bodega Bay, Russell Long took his last ride on ‘Longshot', his custom Ketterman built trifoiler, which had just been outfitted with new foil wings. She bolted out of the gate a blasted up to near 50 knots when the back stay parted and she "blew up" scattering pieces about the harbor. Long emerged shaken but unscathed to follow another passion, in protecting the environment and has spent the past 15 years working with projects such a his Blue Water Network and Friends of the Earth, which among other things ended the use of 2 stroke engines on Lake Tahoe and forced the fuel efficiency issues in Washington and Detroit.
‘Longshot’ was recently towed back to Watsonville, had a few tweaks and adjustments made and readied for another go at the record books. She still holds the class A 500 Meter Course record set in 1992 in Tarifa Spain of 43.55 knots. Russell has his sites set a bit higher, that being the overall 500 Meter speed record set by ‘Hydroptere’ of 51.36 knots set in Hyeres France in 2009. See the full report.

Who wouldn’t want to be 17, care free and on top of the world? Erika Reineke the freshly-minted Laser Radial US World Champion might have raised some eyebrows by announcing after winning Bronze at the Youth Worlds in Turkey two weeks ago, that she came to Scotland to get Gold. But in a true champion’s fashion she backed her words with results and stood on the uppermost step of the podium when all scores were tallied. Expect to hear more from this young lady, who claims two famous US Laser sailors as role models and in a delicious twist, is trained by the husband of one of her idols. “It feels amazing because I’ve never won a world championship. I think it’s a good start. I won the bronze at the ISAF Worlds, I finished second at the Youth Europeans in Copenhagen. I started sailing in Optimists from Lauderdale YC. Actually, I was hoping to win in Turkey but got the bronze so I came here all fired up to win. I knew I had to fight even harder to do well because I really wanted the gold.”
“When I return home I’ll take a couple of weeks off but then I’ll start training again with an aim of doing the US Olympic trials. Paige Railey is an amazing sailor and I aspire to be like her, and Anna Tunnicliffe of course, so I hope to give them both a good trials. My ultimate aim is to race the Olympics.
“I have a great coach back home – Brad Funk [Ed note: Anna Tunnicliffe’s husband] – he has been working and training with me and he has really brought me a long way. As far as day-to-day training goes, I go to the gym three or four times a week, Saturdays and Sundays I sail Lasers, and Wednesdays after school. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I sail for High School. So, basically I sail every day except Friday when I’m usually traveling to regattas.”

The Club 420s gathered 109 boats for their 2010 North American Champioship in Brants Beach, on Little Egg Harbor Bay NJ. In light to fresh breezes 14 races and two discards Pearson Potts/Caitlin Connerney (41 pts.) took the title ahead of Graham Landy/Colin Murphy (45) and Connor Brady/Dillon Paiva (51). Ally Donahue/Maddie Widmeier (75) as the best all-female team took 6th in the final results.

You know it was an intense day when a Facebook post starts like this: “29er Nationals, the most carnage I have seen in one day. Broken top sections, collisions left and right and some pretty intense wipeouts. Haa can't wait for tomorrow….” This note by CC Childers came across the ticker Friday evening after she and Chanel Miller got done battling the elements. "We woke up to clear blue skies which only meant one thing, BREEZE ON! There were kelp beds left and right and avoiding them could cost you a boat but hitting them stops you dead in your tracks and could cost you the race, it definitely made things challenging," CC reported.
30 boats in the divisions Youth, Women and Combined sailed 11 races in 15-22 knots of breeze, dodging kelp beds and mostly staring at the stern of Max Fraser/David Liebenberg (17 pts.), who did a masterful job in the breeze taking four bullets, five seconds and a third. In second overall, and also winning the Youth Championship were Sterling and Hans Henken (30), followed by Oliver Tolle/Craig Schiffens (38). Kristen Lane sailing with Charlie McKee (65) in fifth was top lady skipper while Katy Cenname/Helene Scutt (97) in ninth were the top women's team followed by Miller/Childers (140), who finished 14th overall. See the complete results. Final word from CC: "Thank you to Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club and the Race Committee for putting on such an amazing event.."

Is it harsh to drive ladies and gentlemen who are getting on in their years to sail 10 races in three days. Not if you are a competitor at the 2010 Laser Masters Canadian Championship on Sturgeon Lake, ON. The stars of then showed that they still got it now. And they had a good time, too. After all was tallied, including the discard and the age handicap, the destinction of Canadian Masters Champion 2010 was bestowed on Al Clark (50 pts., Master age group) from Royal Vancouver YC. In second Ray Davies (52, Apprentice), followed by Laser and Finn Maestro Terry Neilson (70, Master). Top Grand Master was Rob Koci --(88) in fifth. Top lady, as so often, Susie Pegel (149, Master) in 12th. Best Great Grand Master was Lindsay Hewitt (185) in 16th. All results and the gallery. More will be published later today on the event Web site. Thanks to James Wisener for staying up into the wee hours to git’er done!

From San Francisco to Marblehead, Mass, Russ Silvestri takes to the Sonar and wins the overall title at the Sperry Top-Sider Marblehead NOOD. Silvestri and his crew John Collins, Julie Papanek, and Holt Conbon started off with a 17th in the first race on Friday but ended with a runaway win in the final race of the series, while fending off top local sailors Larry Ehrhardt and Sam Altreuter in a three-way tie by points. Sonars and other classes on the Tinker Line course got one race in yesterday, the classes on the Outside Line course were not so lucky and had to live with Saturday’s results, which became final. ‘Steelaway’ was the class winner. in the J/105. On the Halfway Rock Line course, closer to shore, Saturday’s leaders in the big Rhodes 19 class, Charlie Pendleton and Jim Raisides, kept tabs on Kim and Christina Pandapas to defend their NOOD title. Find all results the report and other stuff.

At the 2010 Thistle National Championships that are being held this week at North Cape Yacht Club on Lake Erie the crew of Andy Gunkler/Ryan Kyle/Kate Gladieux (8) topped the 13-boat junior’s fleet. In second Graef/Dolbar/McHoun(11) followed by Yinmgling/Bransch/Burns (12). The seven-boat women’s fleet was easy pickings for Nicole Shedden/Joy Martin/Sarah Paisley (5) who took the women’s Championship ahead of Barton/Pollack/Pollack (9) and Gesner/Santos/Gates(11) who won the finals race where five boats were scored RDG. See the event’s Web site and Facebook page.

Balboa Yacht Club’s 44th annual Governor’s Cup International Junior Match Racing Championship attracted 13 international teams who fought it out for four days. The title remained in New Zealand as the defending champions of Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (William Tiller, Harry Thurston and Shaun Mason) won the best-of-three finals against local favorites Newport Harbor Yacht Club team (Chris Segerblom, Connor Bathen and Kieran Chung) in the finals. More on the Web site.

Team Disaster Area, skippered by Bruce Golison (Long Beach, CA) and crewed by Andrew Kerr (Olympia, WA) and Willem van Waay (San Diego, CA) won the 2010 Santana 20 Class Championships. Going into the 7th and final race, Team Disaster Area led Team Giddy Up (skippered by Ron Fish of Eugene, OR) by 13 points, however with no throw out provided, simply being OCS could easily alter the outcome of the regatta. Team Disaster Area won the race, securing their victory with a splash of authority. This victory is Golison’s 4th title, Kerr’s 6th, and Van Waay’s 2nd. Golison recently also won the Etchells North Americans in San Diego. The event Web site and a rather original way to post the results..

For a week 315 of the best Opti sailors in the US have competed for the title in the Team Race Nationals, Girls Nationals, and Open Fleet Nationals at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club in Deltaville VA. Yesterday the final races of the Open Fleet Nationals were run before Nic Muller (21 pts.) of US Sailing Center of Martin Co. was crowned the champion in the Gold fleet. In second, Richard Schuurmans (27) of Houston Yacht Club with Friday’s leader Harry Koeppel (46) of Larchmont Yacht Club in 3rd place. Top girl was Eliot Caple (47) of Naples Sailing Center followed by Haddon Hughes from Houston Yacht Club and Alexandra DelBello of American Yacht Club. In Silver, Alie Toppa of Lauderdale Yacht Club finished in first, while Jed Londrey of Fishing Bay Yacht Club won Bronze and Gantt Shiflet of Davis Island Yacht Club won the Pearl fleet. View results, photos, video and more now on the Web site with more images on Dave Hein’s gallery.

Light winds threatened to cancel the last day of racing at the New York Yacht Club’s seventh biennial Race Week at Newport, but by 2pm the southerly sea breeze filled in and all classes raced on a four-leg windward/leeward course. At the end, the Southern Cross 52 ‘Vela Veloce’ was determined the best performing boat and was named the 2010 Rolex US-IRC National Champion and owner/skipper, Richard Oland received the engraved Rolex Yacht-Master watch. The calculation compared all entries based on a formula of average seconds per nautical mile, which put' ‘Vela Veloce’ 13/100s of a second ahead. Steve Benjamin and his team onboard his Tripp 41 ‘Robotic Oncology,’ which won IRC Class 3 (five bullets in six races) finished second overall. Dan Meyers’s J/V66 ‘Numbers’ took a second in the last race and held onto the lead in IRC Class 1, beating out the 90-foot ‘Rambler’ finished in second, while the STP65 ‘Evolution Racing’ took third. IRC Class 5 winner was ‘Storm,’ a J/109 that moved up to win the overall class by placing third in the final race. ‘Christopher Dragon’ won the IRC Class 4 by taking second yesterday. On-demand video results and images are available on the club’s Web site.

“I was going to launch a protest against 717, but then I found out he had a stash of cold beer and he offered me one, so I’m withdrawing the protest” … Welcome to Masters sailing: intense competition mixed with great sportsmanship and nothing that can’t be worked out over a cold beer. Mark roundings preceded by friendly debates about buoy room, competitors reminding each other where the next mark was to be found… masters of the sport reliving their youth, but with banter instead of temper, friendship instead of ego. Day 2 of the Canadian brought 5 races in moderate winds from the west for the first three, sailed on a trapezoid course, and dropping to light winds sailed on a windward-leeward for the last two. Race winners were John Rae, Al Clark (2x), Greg Tawaststjerna and Rob Koci who later was slapped with a ZFP. The top of the leader board is a bunched group led by Clark (31 pts. after handicap), Davies (36) and Andy Roy (38). Today, the Race Committee will try to complete four races to give racers two drops, weather and time permitting. The report, the results and the gallery.

Despite torrential rains, a fleet of 353 boats started to the 102nd Running of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. Sailors still scrambled to make their boat calls amidst flooded streets. Many boats had to register last minute crew changes with race officials, as sailors were trapped due to the havoc of the weather. Several boats had crew due to arrive from Michigan via train this morning. Due to flooding on the tracks, trains were shut down and they were unable to make the race, which means many boats will be sailing lighter which could make the 290 nm course up Lake Michigan challenging. Judging by the Facebook posts, the tracking system is a crapshoot at best. Try your luck at the club’s Web site.

No more races on the final day of racing was canceled at the U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship (USJWSC) on Friday with Tropical Storm Bonnie approaching Miami. Despite not having the opportunity to finish the final two races scheduled, this year's championship did not come up short of excitement from the field of 46. Following Thursday's impressive performance, Miami's Arielle deLisser (13) won her second USJWSC in three years with a come from behind win. In second, Molly McKinney, the defending champion, who posted three wins on Day 1, but fell behind deLisser on Thursday and never got a chance to answer. In third, Sky Adams (25). The report, the event Web site and the final standings.

Two more races were added on a hot and muggy day in the fleet championship at the Opti Nationals in Deltaville VA with big changes in the results. New leader in the Gold fleet is Harry Koeppel, who added two fourths (14), followed by Richard Schuurmans and girl’s national champion Haddon Hughes. Shawn Harvey (23) leads the Silver fleet, while Sophia Sole (13) leads Bronze and Jillian Ticatch leads the Pearl standings. More on the event Web site and some nice images in Dave Hein’s gallery.

Masters sailors aged 35 to 76 came from across Canada, from the US and one from Northern Ireland, former Olympians and club sailors, some having sailed all their lives, others more recent converts to the sport. They had to wait until 4 pm on Friday when the NW breeze finally filled in up to 15 knots. Race 1 was a battle between Ray Davies, Al Clark, Mike Schmidt (from the US) and Andy Roy, with Clark passing Davies on the last reach to take the gun. Race 2 was a renewal of the rivalry between Terry Neilson and Andy Roy, Canada’s two greatest all-time Laser sailors, the gold and silver finishers in the 1982 World Laser Championships doing battle almost 30 years later and finishing in the same order, a first for Terry and a second for Roy. They were followed by John Rae and CYA President, Gerry Giffin. Overall Roy (6 pts.) leads Schmidt (10) and Neilson (13), followed by former North American Champion Susie Pegel (13), the top lady. The full report, the overall standings and the gallery.
Thanks to James Wisener for going out of his way to keep us posted.

After a brief postponement, it was back to the ocean track for the 35 boats competing in New York Yacht Club Race Week presented by Rolex. Two windward/leeward races were held on Rhode Island Sound under less-than-perfect conditions; however the light rain and 4-6 knots of wind challenged tacticians and prompted a shake-up in a few of the standings.
By taking two wins in two races today, the J/V66 ‘Numbers’ also took over the IRC Class 1 lead from ‘ Rambler.’ which dropped to second position ahead of the STP65 ‘Evolution Racing’
In IRC Class 3, ‘ Robotic Oncology’ held onto its lead by winning both races. In second is ‘Arethusa’, a NYYC Swan 42. ‘Robotic Oncology’, Benjamin explained is in tribute to Dr. Samadi of Mt. Sinai Hospital. “I made him a promise that if he could cure me, then I would take him sailing.” The biggest shake-up of the day happened in IRC Class 5 with the J/109 ‘Rush’ winning the first race to take the overall lead from ‘Carina,’ which fell to fifth with 6- and 7-place finishes. The Southern Cross 52 ‘Vela Veloce’ held onto first in IRC 2. Racing concludes Sunday. More, including on-demand video and results on the club’s Web site.

On Day 2 of the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship and with eight races done, 2008 champion Arielle deLisser (13 pts.) posted three bullets out of the four races conducted on Biscayne Bay to take a one point advantage over yesterday’s leader and 2009 champion, Molly McKinney (14) who had three race wins of her own on Wednesday. These two were matchracing each other at times, but also had their issues. In race five, deLisser capsized on her first downwind leg, but came back to finish seventh. In race six, McKinney thought she was over early, restarted and finished third, which is the worst score she's had in two days. Sky Adams (25) remains in third, 12 points behind deLisser. The report, the event Web site and the complete standings.

Sunshine and vigorous winds replaced the rainy gray of Wednesday, a nice change for the sailors onboard 35 IRC boats in New York Yacht Club's (NYYC) Race Week at Newport. With a steady 10-12 knots of breeze and a sea much more settled conditions were right for the distance race that started in Newport, went out toward Block Island and finished on Narragansett Bay near Quonset Point
Fresh off a class win in June’s 635-mile Newport Bermuda Race, the 48-foot sloop ‘Carina’ took line honors in IRC Class 5’s by a little more than 12 minutes and leads overall in class. George David’s ‘Rambler’ was the fastest in IRC 1, finishing the long 53-nautical mile course 23 minutes ahead of Daniel Meyers’s ‘Numbers’ which corrected, on time, ahead of Rambler, but remains in second overall with ‘Evolution Racing’ in third. In IRC 3 Steve Benjamin’s Tripp 41 ‘Robotic Oncology’ leads the seven-boat class, just as ‘Christopher Dragon’ remained undefeated in IRC 4, while Richard Oland’s ‘Vela Veloce’ moved into first in IRC 2. On-demand video and complete results are available at the Club Web Site.

Racing on Day 2 of the 2010 USODA Fleet National Championship has been abandoned. See the impressions in the day's gallery. The sea breeze never managed to come in and never had more than 6 knots of wind all day. The green fleet has been out on the course for most of the day and got in at least half a dozen races. They were able to race in a small area nearer land that did have just enough wind for them to sail. Ian MacDermaid, Nic Muller and Duncan Williford lead the overall standings. For updates, see the event site.

Friday is the first day of competition at the 2010 Laser Masters Canadian Championship on Sturgeon Lake ON. The 55 participants will be scored in four age groups: Apprentices (35-44), Masters (45-54), Grand Masters (55-64), Great Grand Masters (65+) and include Olympic Finn medalist and four-time Canadian Laser Champion Terry Neilson, Joe Van Rossem, Greg Tawaststjerna, Rob Koci, Nigel Heath, Andy Roy, Ray Davies and Canadian Yachting Association President Gerry Giffin, plus top US sailors, including Sally Sharp, Susie Pegel and Henry Amthor, a past Fireball North American and US National Champion. The event Web site, the Facebook page and the Twitter feed.

The 2010 Optimist Nationals in Deltaville are nearing their high-water mark with the fleet racing championship on the line. Yestereday, 260 racers fought it out in three groups, which had three races each. As the shutters witnessed, it was quite lively out there. The overall standings show some of the usual suspects in prominent position: Ian MacDermaid, Nic Muller and Duncan Williford all managed to score three bullets to head the leader board with 3 points apiece. Best girl is Ceci Wollmann BER (9) in fourth, getting a measure of redemption after yesterday’s 11th in the Girl’s Championship. More stuff on the event site. Make sure you click through Dave Hein’s gallery and watch some of Sailgroove’s videos.