Talia Toland Wins U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehandeds

A fleet of 28 Laser Radials competed at the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship, held July 29-31 on Lake Washington in Seattle, WA. In the end, it was Washington native, Talia Toland (Kirkland, Wash.), who ran away with the title in her home state.

Toland enjoyed a three point lead over Kiera O’Reardon (Houston, Texas) through eight races entering Sunday’s final two races. With the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy on the line and two 50-minute races to go, Toland won her third race of the Championship in Race 9 and gained two more points on O’Reardon, who placed third.

In the 10th and final race, Toland ensured O’Reardon did not catch her in the standings by finishing three places ahead of her (14th to 17th) to win the Leiter Trophy.

“This is my third year sailing at the Leiter Trophy and it’s great to finally put it all together in my home venue,” said Toland. “It was kind of cool that we had different wind direction every day of the regatta. I stayed in the pressure and stayed pointing towards the mark and kept a cool head in the shifty conditions, which helped a lot when you patience. I had a chance to work with all the coaches, which is really great. It’s cool to see how I’ve developed from year to year at this event.”

Toland placed third at this Championship last year and sixth in 2014.

The top six boats qualified for early acceptance to the 2017 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships – a qualifier for the 2017 ISAF Youth World Championships in Israel.

Final Standings (Top 6 of 28; 10 races, 1 discard)
1. Talia Toland, Seattle Yacht Club/Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, 1-5-5-4-2-2-1-4-1-[14]- ; 25
2. Kiera O’Reardon, Houston Yacht Club, 3-2-4-1-9-6-3-3-3-[17]- ; 34
3. Abbie Carlson, Seattle Yacht Club, 9-1-2-2-1-[14]-8-9-11-5- ; 48
4. Lillian Myers, Sarasota Youth Sailing, 16-3-17-[23]-3-1-2-6-8-1- ; 57
5. Julia Sheaffer, Lakewood Yacht Club, 14-6-[21]-7-11-3-5-2-13-4- ; 65
6. Maggie Toombs, Orcas Island Yacht Club/ Sail Orcas, 5-7-6-14-6-4-4-14-9-[19]- ; 69

This Championship was preceded by two days of clinics featuring a collection the country’s top coaches. The clinics were led by Richard Feeny, US Sailing Junior National Coach.

Event details – Scoreboard – Photos

Source: US Sailing