Marshall continues dominance at Byte CII North American Championship

Stuart, FL (February 28, 2014) – Today was the second day of racing for the Byte CII North American Championship being held out of the US Sailing Center Martin County. This event is also the continental qualifier for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games to be held this August in Nanjing, China.

Twenty-eight competitors from 14 countries left the beach in a light northeasterly. Henry Marshall from the United States continued his dominance with three 3rd place finishes and after 5 races holds a 5 point lead over Scott McKenzie from the British Virgin Islands. Scott posted 2 bullets and a 4th today in the tricky conditions.

After race one was abandoned in a dying breeze the fleet managed to get off 3 great races in 5-10 knots. Scott Gittens from Barbados had a brilliant day with two second places. After a rough start to the regatta Scott settled down stating, “I was able to feel more comfortable in the breeze today. I was consistently able to keep the boat flat which lead to better boat speed.” He added, “my starts were much improved and led to me staying in phase throughout the race.” Scott sits in a 3 way tie for 6th and within sticking distance of the pack ahead.

While the results might not show it, Florence Allan from the Cayman Island Sailing Club came off the water today all smiles. She was thrilled with her tactical decisions in the second race. After rounding the first mark in last I was able to weave my way through the pinwheel at the leeward mark and sail a solid last half of the race to wind up 2nd female.” Her coach, Raphael Harvey, Cayman Islands National Coach, was “thrilled that Flo was able to not get down on herself and keep her head in the game and make a great comeback.” At the halfway point, Florence is looking forward to “staying more focused for the remainder of the regatta.”

At the midpoint of the regatta the top 5 boys are 1st Henry Marshall USA, 2nd Scott McKenzie ISV, 3rd Justin Vittecoq CAN, 4th Benn Smith BER and 5th Pablo Bertran CAY. The top 5 women are 13h Celeste Lugtmeijer DOM, 14th Ceci Wollmann BER, 17th Abigail Affoo TRI, Nicole Arrie VEN 20th and Paige Clarke ISV 21st

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Click here for information about the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China

Report by Bob Adam