Wednesday, September 12

Today marked the first day of the 2007 U.S. Men's and Women's Championships, hosted by Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego.  The conditions seen were not normal for September- a southerly breeze blew 8-10 with gusts of up to 15 knots all day, starting at 8:00am and continuing into the late afternoon/ early evening. Seas were lumpy and surfable, yet this converted to choppy conditions during the competitors' boat rotations between races.

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Thursday, September 13

Racers competed in the second day of the U.S. Men's and Women's Championships.  The conditions differed from the first day, with the breeze lightening to 6-8 knots with gusts of 10 in the first two races, still with relatively choppy seas. In the third race, the wind increased to a steady ten knots. The direction ranged from 250 degrees in the morning, and shifting to 290-300 degrees in the later parts of the day.  These conditions are relatively normal for September in San Diego, and this variance allowed for much tactical opportunity for lead changes and passing boats.

Competition remained tight amongst the racers.  No general recalls were seen today, and boats OCS at the start were kept to a minimum. The men’s mark roundings were completed buy every boat in the fleet within 90 seconds, demonstrating how close the racing was between teams. Comparatively, the women’s mark roundings were completed in  between two and three minutes.

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Friday, September 14

The wind gods were fickle today during the third day of racing for the U.S. Women's Championship For the Adams Cup and Men's Championship for the Mallory Cup. While the direction was consistent, velocity was minimal and inconsistent all morning and into the early afternoon. PRO Wayne Coulon made the difficult decision to postpone Race 7 for over two hours to wait for the highly anticipated afternoon breeze to fill in.  However, it did not. Wind velocity of 1-3 knots with puffs up to 4 knots is what the sailors made due with during a very tight Race 7 for both the men and women. With the he long delay and light winds, only one was was complete today. This leaves the men with three more races an the women with four in order to complete the full boat rotation by end of racing on Saturday.

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After four days of racing, winners were crowned at US SAILING’s U.S. Men's Sailing Championship for the Clifford D. Mallory Cup and U.S. Women's Sailing Championship for the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Cup, hosted September 11-15 by the Southwestern Yacht Club (San Diego, Calif.). Competitors from throughout the U.S. raced Etchells at both events, which were sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. and Dry Creek Vineyard.

For Mallory Cup winner Brian Camet, racing with his father and brother as crew, consistency paid, as well as a family ethos to simply, "have fun," said Camet after racing's end. The Camet family, sailing for San Diego Yacht Club, never finished worse than a fourth place in this no-discard series to log a large 15-point edge over the second-place boat in the final standings.

For 50 years, since Lake Michigan sailor Jane Pegel won this national title in 1957, no Lake Michigan sailor had since followed in her footsteps—until Elizabeth Altman (Chicago, Ill)  and her crew Nancy Heffernan (St. Louis, Mo.), Vickie Matthews (Chicago, Ill.), and Marie Hansson (Chicago, Ill.) logged their victory yesterday. Altman skippered a series that included wins in seven individual races for a 10-point lead in the final standings.

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