December 8, 2002 - New Orleans, LA
The first U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship was held from Dec. 5 -
8 at Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, LA. 5 teams from around the
country came together to compete for the chance to be the top US female
match race team. The event was held in borrowed J/22s with Boat U.S.
generously loaning their sails to make them as equal as possible.
Thursday was to be the first day of racing, but with winds of 20-25,
with gusts well over 30, the Race committee decided that discretion was
the better part of valor, and cancelled racing for the day. A number of
teams, as well as the umpire crew led by Deb Schoenherr went down to the
famous Bourbon Street to sample the hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's. Friday
dawned cold, and rather blustery, but with the winds down in the 15-20
range, the race committee led by Bill Brundige, ran off 9 flights of
races. Had a boat break down not occurred, he and his team would have
gotten through a double round robin. This kept the teams (skippered by
Betsey Alison, Sandy Hayes, Sally Barkow, Charlie Arms, and Tammy Oullette)
and umpires (Chief Umpire Deb Schoenherr, Tom Robers, Don Makowiecki, Egil
Wold (NOR), Steve Wrigley, Kim Kymlicka, Dwight LeBlanc, and Jeff Borland)
very busy. The day started out with the first flight being run without
Spinnakers, but from the second flight on, spinnakers were used, and the
teams were worked to their max. Friday evening, the teams were treated to
an incredible seafood buffet by the host club, Southern Yacht Club.
Saturday, the day dawned sunny, but still cold by New Orleans
standards. With a dying breeze, the Race Committee was able to get in 6
more flights to get through the third round robin. Racing was much closer
with the moderating breeze, and newcomer Sally Barkow was able to take a
race from Betsey Alison, keeping her form running the table. This ended at
about two o'clock, but with the breeze looking rather spotty, the RC and
umpires got together and decided to end the round robins at this point. As
the competitors got ashore, and Lake Pontchartrain went flat, that
decision became the perfect one.
Final standings (after three round robins):
Betsy Alison 11 - 1
Sandy Hayes 7 - 5
Sally Barkow 8 - 4
Charlie Arms 4 - 8
Tammy Ouellette 0 -12
Saturday night, the competitors and umpires went down and really 'did'
Bourbon Street - 'nuff said (if you want details, you'll have to get them
from someone who was there...)
The finals consisted of Alison versus Barkow, and the petit-finals
Hayes versus Arms in a best 3 of 5 series. Sunday dawned clear and cold,
with less breeze than began Saturday. The RC did a great job in trying
conditions, getting off 4 flights. Alison won out 3 -1 over Barkow and
the Petit Finals were won by Hayes 3 -1 over Arms. On the water, the
event was ended with the umpires circling the RC with green flags flying
and whistles blowing in the traditional thanks to the RC. Off the water,
event chairman Susan Epstein and event organizer Karen Reisch treated the
teams to a nice prize-giving back at SYC.
Many thanks go to Susan, Karen and Deb, for their efforts on behalf of
women's match racing. We are looking forward to having many more
competitors next year, and a long and illustrious life for the U.S.
Women's Match Race Championship.
Jeff Borland
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