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Conditions: Temperatures in the 70’s with a marine cover which
lifted in the afternoon to southerly 6- 10 knots.
Triplehanded
In the long history of the US Junior
Triplehanded Championship for the Sears Cup there has rarely been a
finish like this one! At the end of 9 races in a scheduled 10 race
regatta, the team of Ted Hale, skipper, Evan Aras, middle, and Joe
Morris, foredeck, from Annapolis Yacht Club trailed Bay Waveland Yacht
Club of Mississippi by a single point. In race 9 Annapolis had sailed a
very heady race to earn 2nd place behind race 9 first place
winner Balboa Yacht Club skippered by Christian Emsiek, Wade Buxton
middle, and Perry Emsiek foredeck
The Bay Waveland, Mississippi team of
Jackson Benvenutti, skipper, Gary Taylor, middle, and Davis Bolyard,
foredeck, had been having a terrific regatta with 5 first place
finishes, 2 seconds, a 6th and a 7th in their
first 9 races and they were clearly a boat speed burner on the race
course. Their 7th place finish had occurred in race one when
they tangled with the starting pin anchor rode and it became their
discard race.
At the start of the deciding race 10
with sharply oscillating winds of 8 to 9 knots, Annapolis skipper Ted
Hale got off to a great start and then expertly picked off every wind
shift the course offered to round the windward mark in first place. Bay
Waveland meantime was partially blanketed at the start and as skipper
Benvenutti maneuvered to get out of the wind trap their boat picked up
some kelp and their boat speed dived. By the time they cleared the weed
they found themselves in 8th place in a very competitive
fleet with 3 legs to go in the 5 leg course.
Hale, Aras, and Morris of Annapolis
were relentless on every remaining leg of race 10 and expertly covered
the fleet with superb sail handling and by taking advantage of every
wind shift. The kept their first place position wire to wire throughout
the race and weren’t to be denied their first place finish in both race
10 and in the overall regatta. Joy!
Benvenutti, Taylor, and Bolyard of Bay
Waveland had clearly not given up racing despite their early race 10
problems, and climbed from 8th position to 5th
place before running out of race course at the finish. Mallets Bay Boat
Club of Vermont finished race 10 in 2nd, Balboa Yacht Club of
Southern California 3rd, Richmond Yacht Club of Northern
California 4th, all successfully fighting off the charging
Bay Wavelands.
When all was tallied up and counted,
Annapolis Yacht Club was crowned the 2005 U.S. Junior Triplehanded
Champions and the crew was awarded US SAILING Gold Medals and received
the venerable Sears Cup which was first won in 1921. Bay Waveland Yacht
Club was in 2nd position and the crew was awarded US SAILING
Silver Medals and received the Judges Trophy which was first won in
1937. The 3rd place finish went to Balboa Yacht Club and the
crew was awarded US SAILING Bronze Medals for a great comeback effort
despite two disastrous OCS races on day one racing.
Other prestigious Triplehanded
Championship trophies were awarded to: Texas Corinthian Yacht Club,
Texas, Peter Bujosa skipper, William Turner middle, Elliot Womack,
foredeck, for outstanding Sportsmanship throughout the event and;
Wayzata Yacht Club, Minnesota, Bill Siemers skipper, Matt Thompson
middle, Jacob Rugland foredeck, were awarded the Shipshape Trophy for
the best team taking care of their assigned boats.
For
photos, go to the Championship Site:
Triplehanded |
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Singlehanded and Doublehanded
The marine layer was particularly tenacious today and the starts were
delayed until almost 2:00. Finally a 6-9 knot southerly filled in.
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2005 Winner, Cameron Cullman |
2005 Winners, Cole Hatton and Blair Belling |
In the Singlehanded series, Cameron Cullman from American YC did what
he had to do by winning the first race of the day and pushing last
night’s leader, Thomas Barrows from Pleon YC, deep into the fleet in the
last race to win the Smythe Trophy. Michael Easton from Portland (ME) YC
came in third.
In the Doublehanded Championship for the Bemis Trophy, Cole Hatton
and Blair Belling from the host Newport Harbor YC sailed a great day
with second and third place finishes to win the series while the former
leaders faltered. Also moving up significantly, Taylor Canfield and
Nathan Rosenberg from St. Thomas (VI) YC came in second for the series
and Joshua Leighton and Aaron Dombrand-Lo from San Francisco YC came in
third.
For photos go to the
Championship site:
Singlehanded
or Doublehanded
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