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In a great day of
racing on the Pacific Ocean, Jeff Gordon and his race committee team were
able to run the semi-finals and finals, and crown a new champion.
The semi-finals
saw Katy Lovell paired up against Sandy Hayes, and Liz Baylis against Deb
Capozzi. All the teams put on a great display of match racing, Lovell and
Hayes went all 3 matches, with Katy Lovell beating Sandy Hayes two straight,
after dropping the first match. In some great racing, Deb Capozzi was able
to knock off match racing veteran Liz Baylis and her San Francisco Women’s
Match Race team.
This set up
Capozzi vs Lovell and Baylis vs. Hayes. The Finals were set for first to 3
points, while the petit-finals were first to two. There was a short wind
delay, but the breeze filled in at about 10kts, and the racing was off. In
the petit-finals, Baylis took the first match, then Hayes took the second,
setting up an all or nothing showdown. The second match was quite exciting,
with Baylis forcing Hayes into a mistake and a penalty, but Hayes showed the
same great speed she had all week, and was able to get and the extend her
lead – taking her penalty on the second upwind, and still holding a
comfortable lead at the finish. In the third match, Hayes led Baylis for 3
legs, but had to do two tacks at the weather mark, allowing Baylis to get
within striking distance. As Hayes went around the mark with much speed,
Baylis whipped around the mark, and was able to catch a puff, and slingshot
past Hayes. They battled all the way down the race course to the finish,
with Baylis just sneaking past Hayes for the win, and 3rd place
over all.
The finals became
Deb Capozzi (Bayport, NY) and her team: Lindsay Bartel
(Bayport, NY), Kelly Hand (Vancouver, BC) and Chantal Legler (Montreal,
Quebec) versus the team led by Katie Pilley-Lovell (New Orleans, La), which
included Chafee Emory (Newport, RI), Deb Willits (La Porte, TX) and Tara
Thomas (Severna Park, Md).In
the finals, the Capozzi vs. Lovell match-up was just as exciting. Capozzi
won the first race, but Lovell dug back in the second race to tie the
series. Race 3 saw a see saw battle between the two, with Capozzi just
taking the win. After changing boats, the two teams went back at it, in a
very exciting pre-start. Capozzi was able to control off the line, then
used some of the great boat speed to stay out in front, even with Lovell and
her team finding some great pressure and advantageous lifts. Capozzi
cruised across the line in the lead, to take the fourth match and win the
title. Capozzi, who was on the winning
boat last year, took home US SAILING's Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy as the
2006 U.S. Women's Match Racing Champions. For the second year in a row,
Pilley-Lovell won the Mrs. Charles Adams Trophy.
In the Petit Finals, Liz Baylis (San Rafael, Calif.) and
her team: Melinda Erkelens (Piedmont, Calif.), Pease Glaser (Long Beach,
Calif.) and Jo Ann Jones (Arnold, Md) defeated Sandy Hayes (Scituate, Mass.)
and her team:Kelly
Dale (Long Beach, Calif,) and Lee Icyda (Stuart, Fla.)
and Amanda Callahan (Canton, MA).
None of the
skippers could have done it without their crews. Newport Harbor Yacht
Club put on a great display for the winners, popping champagne as they hit
the dock, and firing the ceremonial cannon.
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