U.S. Youth Sailing Championship Day Two Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jake Fish
US SAILING Communications Manager
401.683.0800 x614
jakefish@ussailing.org

NEWPORT, R.I. (August 16, 2011) – Racing picked up on Tuesday for all four fleets at the 2011 U.S. Youth Sailing Championship. On Monday, rain showers and limited breeze held racing to a minimum. Despite light winds early on Tuesday the conditions improved throughout the afternoon.
The Club 420 fleet finished four more races and five total for the regatta. The Laser and Laser Radial fleets each completed three more races and four for the Championship. The 29ers finished three races for a total of six. The first and second place boats in three of the four fleets are separated by two points or less.

The team of Korbin Kirk (Long Beach, Calif.) and Ryan Davidson (Costa Mesa, Calif.) have a two point lead over Alex Jacob (Alexandria, Va.) and Doyle Calhoun (Cohasset, Mass). After finishing 23rd in yesterday’s race, Kirk and Davidson recorded a third place finish in the first race on Tuesday, followed by three consecutive bullets. A total of 27 of the 36 teams did not finish race three due to insufficient winds. The top three teams are separated by seven points.

Avery Fanning (Isle of Palms, S.C.) leads the 23-boat Laser Radial fleet by two points over US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member Erika Reineke (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.). Fanning finished first, second and sixth today. Reineke, the 2011 Laser Radial Youth World Champion in the girl’s division, notched a pair of fifth places and a third to start the day. Ian Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) is three points behind. Eight points separate the top four skippers.

William Bailey (St. Thomas, USVI) leads the Olin Paine (San Diego, Calif.) by six points in the 18-boat Laser fleet. He finished sixth, first and fifth today. Paine won the final race of the day, which was preceded by seventh and 12th place results. Lucas Adams (Middletown, R.I.) is 10 points back.

The top of the leaderboard remains cluttered in the 10-team 29er fleet. The 2010 U.S. Junior Doublehanded Champion Jack Jorgenson (Pasadena, Calif.) and crew A. Tucker Atterbury (Santa Barbara, Calif.) have a one point lead over Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Conner Kelter (Newport Beach, Calif.). Henken and Kelter are US Sailing Development Team members. Christopher Williford (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Kai Friesecke (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), and Andrew and Matthew Mollerus of Larchmont, N.Y. are only two points behind. Williford and Friesecke posted the day’s top scoring line of 3-2-3. Williford and Molleruses are members of the US Sailing Development Team as well. Christopher Ford (Millbrae, Calif.) and Esteban Forrer (Coronado, Calif.) are in fourth place and four points back after winning the final two races.

Breezes were estimated at 4 to 6 knots early in the day and improved to 6 to 10 by late afternoon. Racing starts at 10:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The four day Championship concludes on Thursday, August 18.

The U.S. Youth Sailing Championship is hosted by Sail Newport, Ida Lewis Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club. Visit the event website at http://championships.ussailing.org/Youth/US_Youth_Champs.htm for daily recaps, standings, results, videos, photo galleries and more. To get up-to-the-minute updates from the championship, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

US SAILING’s U.S. Youth Sailing Championships is sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider, LaserPerformance, Gill North America and SWITLIK Survival Products. The Championship is a Sailors for the Sea - Clean Regattas certification event. 

Championship Notes
• Fifteen of the competing sailors at this week’s Championship are members of the 2011 US Sailing Development Team.
• Three races are required to be completed to constitute a series. When fewer than six races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores. When six or more races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.
• The top placing male in the Laser and the top placing female in the Laser Radial fleet qualify for the U.S. Singlehanded Sailing Championships for the Men’s and Women’s divisions, respectively.
• US SAILING Championship medals will be awarded to competitors who finish first through fifth in the Laser Radial and C420 fleets. Medals for competitors who finish first through third will be awarded in the 29er and Laser Full Rig fleets.
• The David M. Perry Perpetual Sportsmanship Trophy will be awarded, as well as sportsmanship keepers, in each discipline.
• The National Youth Championships Committee Chair is Shannon Bush. The Event Chair is Wendy Lotz.