Gearing up for 75th Lightning North American Championship

Up to 80 Lightnings from as far south as Sao Paulo, Brazil will descend on Cedar Point Yacht Club (CPYC) in Westport, CT for the 75th Lighting North American Championships (NAs) on August 17-23. The list of planned participants includes World Champions, America’s Cup skippers, Olympians, and Yachtsmen/Yachtswomen of the Year winners.

With over 15,470 built since 1938, the Lightning remains one of the most popular and competitive one-design classes in the world. It is a 19 foot, centerboard boat, designed by Sparkman & Stephens. The hull features a hard chine that combines the stability for sail-carrying power with flat bottom sections that promote planing. The boat is competitively raced with 3 people and, at 700 pounds, is light enough to trailer.

CPYC previously hosted the Lightning NAs in 1981 and 2003. The club boasts 115 years of proud sailboat racing history on Long Island Sound and has hosted many regional, national, and international one design championship regattas; the most recent including the 2011 Flying Scot North Americans, 2011 Vanguard 15 New England Championships, 2010 Atlantic Nationals, 2009 Thistle Nationals, and 2009 Star North Americans. U.S. Sailing awarded Cedar Point the One Design Club of the Year Award for 2007 and 2002 and the St. Petersburg YC Trophy for excellence in race management in 1998.

The Lightning NAs were held in Houston, Texas in 2012 and North Cape, Michigan in 2011 (won by CPYC’s own 4-time North American Champion, Ched Proctor). Nyack Boat Club in Nyack, NY will hold the Women’s, Junior’s, and Master’s (WJM’s) portion of the event on August 14-17.

Follow the regatta latest at www.2013LightningNAs.com.

Media Contact: Eric Heller, ebheller@yahoo.com, (203) 816-1705
Regatta Chair: David Lutian, David.Lutian@gmail.com, (203) 260-7292