2013 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships Preview

The stakes are high this week in Corpus Christi, Texas at the 2013 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships, hosted by the Corpus Christi Yacht Club. The premier US Sailing Youth National Championship regatta has expanded to include more sailors utilizing high-performance boats.

One-hundred sixty-four sailors are expected to compete representing seven classes: 29er, Club 420, Formula 16, International 420, Laser, Laser Radial and RS:X. This championship will serve as a mandatory qualification event for the 2014 U.S. Youth Worlds Team in all fleets with the exception of the Club 420 and Laser fleets. The male winner of the Laser fleet and the female winner of the Radial fleet will qualify for the 2013 U.S. Singlehanded Championships to be sailed September 13-15 at Manasquan River Yacht Club in Brielle, N.J.

Racing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13 through Friday, August 16.

The regatta’s largest fleet this week will be the Club 420 with 32 teams. Jack Barton (San Anselmo, Calif.) has won the last two Chubb U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championships, including last week in Houston with Alex Moody (Tiburon, Calif.). Barton and Moody will make a bid at the Club 420 event this week in Corpus Christi. The team of Esteban Forrer (Tucson, Ariz.) and Daniel Ron (Houston, Texas) will make another attempt at winning the C420 event after finishing a strong second last year in Cascade Locks. Club 420 National Champion Will La Dow (San Diego, Calif.) will team up with Trevor Hecht this week. Charlie Lomax (Annapolis, Md.) and Evan Morgan (Shady Side, Md.) placed third last week in Houston at the Chubb U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship. Elena VandenBerg (Annapolis, Md.) and Lilla Salvesen (Edgewater, Md.) placed fifth at the Club 420 North American Championship and earlier this summer they finished third at the U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship.

Mitchell Kiss (Holland, Mich.) has returned to defend his Laser title from last year’s U.S. Youth Championships in Cascade Locks, Ore. He was dominant in a triumphant performance by scoring 8 points over 7 races. He also finished third at the 2012 Laser Radial Youth World Championship and won the Laser National Championship. Kiss will be challenged by a fleet of 11 Lasers.

A talented Laser Radial fleet of 30 young men and women will take to the waters of Corpus Christi Bay. Addison Hackstaff (St. Petersburg, Fla.) finished sixth at this event last year. He recently represented the U.S. at the ISAF Youth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus, by winning US Sailing’s ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier. The current Sunfish Junior World Champion won the 2012 Chubb U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship.

Malcolm Lamphere (Lake Forest, Ill.) finished third at last year’s championship. His successful year was capped by a fourth place finish at the 2012 Laser North American Championship and fourth at the 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier. He recently finished fifth at the 2013 Laser North American Championship.

Nic Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.) has been at the top of his game lately after winning last week in Houston at the Chubb U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship for the Smythe Trophy. He also finished second at the 2012 Sunfish Youth World Championship.

In women’s action, Dana Rhode (Richmond Hill, Ga.) won the 2013 U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship in July. In 2012, Hanne Weaver (Gig Harbor, Wash.) won the 2012 U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship and placed third at the ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier. Lola Bushnell (San Francisco, Calif.) was the third top female finisher at this event last year and was third at the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship. Haddon Hughes (Houston, Texas) won the 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier.

A fleet of up-and-coming windsurfers will look to make their mark in the RS:X event. Maximo Nores (Miami, Fla.) has had a breakthrough 2013 after finishing first at the 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier. Also competing is Jonathan Rudich (Clearwater, Fla.), who was second at the ISAF Youth World Qualifier, and Raul Lopez (Miami, Fla.), who finished 19th at World Cup Miami. Last year’s Youth World Qualifier Champion Lucas Gonzalez (Miami Beach, Fla.) will also be on hand. On the women’s side, Charlotte Samson (Belleair, Fla.) should be a strong contenders for the RS:X title.

In doublehanded skiff action, Quinn Wilson (Ojai, Calif.) recently placed first at the ISAF Youth World Qualifier and went on to finish fifth at the 2013 ISAF Youth World Championship in the 29er. He will be sailing this event with crew Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.). Nic Muller (Fort Pierce, Fla.), who placed second at the 2013 ISAF Youth World Qualifier will be sailing with regular crew Kai Friesecke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Campbell D’Eliscu (Newport Beach, Calif.) is returning to this event with new crew Connor Kelter (Newport Beach, Calif.) after placing ninth last year. D’Eliscu placed third at the ISAF Youth World Qualifier. They also had a strong overall performance at the 29er Youth World Championship placing tenth overall and the third top U.S. team.

In the F16 multihull fleet, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider member Sarah Streater (Flagler Beach, Fla.) and Haley Fox (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) hope to take another step forward this week after a strong performance at World Cup Miami, where Streater finished second in the Nacra 17 event. This is the first time that multihulls have participated in the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship and they will be competing for the Arthur Stevens Trophy. Ben Brown (Los Altos, Calif.) could be a factor this week after finishing third at the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier.

He also won the 2011 Hobie 16 Youth North American Championship. Brown will be sailing with crew Andrew Wilkinson (Woodside, Calif.). David Hein (Rocky River, Ohio) was fourth at the 2012 U.S. Youth Multihull Championship and fifth at the 2012 F16 U.S. National Championship. He recently placed second at the US Sailing Qualifier for ISAF Youth Worlds. He will be sailing with crew Max Hudson (Shreveport, La.). Ravi Parent (Bradenton, Fla.) is also a strong contender after winning the 2013 U.S. Youth World Qualifier in the F16. He is sailing with experienced multihull crew Nico Schultz (Sarasota, Fla.).

Casey Klinger (Darien, Conn.) and Wade Waddell (Palm Beach, Fla.) represented USA at the ISAF Youth Worlds in the I420. Klinger was third at the I420 North American Championship. She will be sailing with new crew Meg Gerli (Greenwich, Conn.). Waddell and crew Henry Fernberger (New York, NY) finished seventh at the Youth Worlds and sixth at World Cup Miami. Kristopher Swanson (Kentfield, Calif.) finished fifth at the ISAF Youth Worlds Qualifier and won the Chubb U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship last week in LaPorte, Texas. He also placed sixth at the I420 North Americans and will be sailing with crew Alexander Ron (Houston, Texas).

While expanding the base of youth sailors engaged in high performance boats, the regatta is open to private coaches and US Sailing’s national coaches are provided in each fleet, led by Richard Feeny, US Sailng’s Junior National Coach

The Olympic Sailing Night Series will make a stop in Corpus Christi on Tuesday night, August 13. Speakers include U.S. Olympic Sailing Managing Director Josh Adams, 2008 Olympian and Youth Development Advisor Andrew Campbell, a past winner of this event (2000, ’01, ’02), and Olympic Coach and Youth Development Director Leandro Spina.

The U.S. Youth Championships were founded in 1973 and the list of winners includes many familiar names such as Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Bill Hardesty (1992, ’93, ’94) and two-time Olympic bronze medalist Charlie McKee (1981), now US Sailing’s High Performance Director.

Visit the U.S. Youth Championship event website throughout the event for daily recaps, video highlights, real-time Twitter updates from Corpus Christi, full rosters and standings, photos, and more. Parents and spectators will be able to watch a live feed of the racing and race replays beginning Tuesday, courtesy of live tracking by Kattack. Check the event website during racing days for more details.

The U.S. Youth Championships is a US Sailing National Championship regatta and sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider, Gill North America, Hobie Polarized and Zim Sailing. The championship is a Sailors for the Sea – Clean Regattas certification event.

Championship Notes

• Competitors must be U.S. citizens who have not reached their 20th birthday by December 31, 2013.
• All competitors are selected through a resume based application process prior to the event.
• Two competitors are members of the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider.
• Eighteen competitors are members of the US Sailing Development Team.
• The event begins Tuesday, August 13 with first warning at 12:00 pm CST. Racing will begin at 10:30 am on August 14-16.
• The Low Point System of Appendix A will apply and three races are required to constitute a series. When five or more races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.
• Spectator boats will be available upon request for at least one day of racing. Sign-ups for spectator boats will be located at the CCYC Regatta Office and requests will be taken a day in advance.
• Depending on fleet size, US Sailing Championship medals may be awarded to competitors who finish first through fifth overall in the Radial division and first through third overall in all other divisions.
• The Manton D. Scott Memorial Trophy will be awarded to the winning Open Doublehanded Dinghy (C420) team… The Robert L. Johnstone III Trophy will be awarded to the winning Singlehanded Laser Standard competitor… The Robert and Ann Conner Trophy will be awarded to the winning Singlehanded Laser Radial competitor… The Arthur J. Stevens Trophy will be awarded to the winning Multihull team… The David M. Perry Perpetual Sportsmanship Trophy will be awarded in each discipline.
• Malinda Crain is the National Youth Championships Committee Chair and the event chair is Sandi Carl.

Source: http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2013/USYC13_Pre.htm