Full Report - Day 2
Wednesday, September 13, 2007- 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.
The three San Diego teams (Area J), retained their position with three of the top four spots in both the men's and women's with one small change. However, in the Women’s Championship, Betsy Altman of Chicago Yacht Club came on strong to post three consecutive bullets in today's racing. Colleen Cooke of SWYC in San Diego dropped to second place, after being OCS in Race 4, restarting and coming back to finish 7th. Natalie Coleman- Fuller of Chatham Yacht Club moved up into third with a 2, 4, 2; while Kaitlyn Storck of MITNA dropped back to fourth place overall.
In the Men’s Championship, Camet moved up to first with a first and two seconds. Chris Busch of SDYC dropped back to 2nd after posting finishes of 4, 3, 6. Scott Young of Austin Yacht Club, after a strong first day, moved back to fourth place but while still posting three top five finishes. Paul Wilson of Vineyard Haven YC moved to fifth place, with one bullet and a 7, 8 in the other races of the day.