ARAPAHOE, N.C. (October 10, 2021) —With two of three full days of racing under their belts, the 156 young sailors competing at the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship are making their positions known within their respective fleets. Hosted at YMCA Camp Sea Gull and Camp Seafarer, the regatta saw its second day of strong breeze and bumpy conditions on the water. The regatta is not only a chance for these sailors to test their skills against some of the best young talent in the country, but is also a development and educational opportunity, with world-class coaches supporting the athletes. “Today was a super challenging; a double black diamond kind of day,” says John Pearce, US Sailing Director of Sport Development. “Winds 15 to 25 knots and cross waves made it a very tough racecourse. The sailors really stepped up to the challenge. There were toe to toe battles at the front of each fleet, and everyone pushed themselves and learned a lot. “
Nacra 15
The catamarans made up for a slow start yesterday, with three races today in the seven-boat fleet. Kay Brunsvold and Cooper Delbridge (Sarasota Youth Sailing) kept the lead, starting the day with a second and finishing with two bullets. Winning the first race were Tanner DeMarzo and Luke King (Sarasota Youth Sailing), who now sit in second overall. Dorothy Medelblatt and Ian Ilse-Lee (St. Petersburg YC/Red Gear Sailing) round out the top three heading into the final day of competition tomorrow. “We played our controls well and looked at the wind coming at us,” says Brunsvold of their efforts today. She and Delbridge have been sailing together for just two months, and Delbridge is a recent 29er transplant into the class.
29er
Ian and Noah Nyenhuis (San Diego YC) lead the 29er class with a remarkably consistent performance after seven races, with six bullets and a single second. Clark Morris and Noah Zittrer (2NINER Inc.), and Anton Schmid and Peter Joslin (San Diego YC) are second and third, respectively. “Today was a pretty exciting day out on the water,” says Noah. “The day started with waves and 20-25 knots, but it was really fun. Really shifty, really funky with all the storm cells moving through, but fun and exciting racing.
ILCA 7 (Standard)
Atlanta YC/Lauderdale YC’s Daniel Escudero continues to lead the 11-boat fleet, with a perfect scorecard after six races. Guthrie Braun (St. Petersburg YC) follows with all second-place finishes, save one third place, and the top spots in the fleet are rounded out by Humberto Porrata (Key Biscayne YC).
ILCA 6 (Radial)
In the largest class in the regatta, with 68 boats, the leaderboard remains unchanged from day one for the Radials. Chapman Petersen (Lake Geneva YC/Lauderdale YC) remains on top, with a total of 11 points, followed by Robby Meek (Severn SA/Lauderdale YC) with 18 points, and Benjamin Smith (Lauderdale YC/Carolina YC) with 27 points
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The 20-boat fleet saw a shake up in the top of the fleet today, with Thomas Sitzman and Luke Woodworth (Sail1Design), taking the lead thanks to three bullets and making up for their withdrawal from race two yesterday. Vanessa Lahrkamp and Katherine McNamara (LISOT Sailing Foundation, Inc.) sit in second, followed by Peter Foley and Liam O’Keefe (OUTFIT).
The event is hosted by YMCA Camp Sea Gull and Camp Seafarer and sponsored by MarkSetBot. Racing will culminate on Monday. For more information, and to follow along, visit https://www.ussailing.org/competition/championships/2021-u-s-youth-championship/.
About US Sailing
The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and advancement for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Bristol, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the US Sailing Team. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.