Winners decided at U.S. Junior Sailing Championships

Osterville, Mass. (August 6, 2015) – The 2015 Chubb U.S. Junior Sailing Championships, hosted by Wianno Yacht Club, wrapped up today with one race in each of the three championship fleets.

Following another brief morning postponement, steady breezes moved in from the Southwest on Nantucket Sound later in the morning for the final race of the regatta.

U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship – Smythe Trophy – Byte CII
The battle for the Smythe Trophy came down to the wire, as leader Sam Morrell (Red Hook, USVI) tried to hold on to his one-point lead over Joseph Hou (Newport Beach, Calif.).

“I tried to match race him today to the bottom half of the fleet,” explained Morrell. “On the downwind he passed me and other boats, but he finished sixth and couldn’t place worse than fifth in order to pass me for the lead in the standings.”

Morrell went on to win the championship by just two points. He finished strong on Wednesday with three consecutive wins. Hou dashed out to an early lead in this fleet on Monday by winning the first four races of the championship.

Morrell, who placed third last year, said “I trained really hard this year. The conditions were better for me here. Everything started to break my way, especially at the end of the regatta. The first half of the regatta I was trying to re-learn the Byte. I’m really stoked to win and Joe is such a good sailor.”

Final Standings (Top 5 of 20; 10 races, 1 discard)
1. Sam Morrell, St. Thomas Yacht Club, 5-2-3-2-1-4-1-1-1-[18]- ; 20
2. Joseph Hou, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, 1-1-1-1-2-2-5-[7]-3-6- ; 22
3. Gerard Eastman, Seawanhaka Corinthian YC, 3-4-9-[10]-7-3-2-4-2-9- ; 43
4. Jack Bitney, Minnetonka Yacht Club, 6-3-2-[18]-5-1-7-5-5-10- ; 44
5. Lucas Pierce, Santa Barbara Yacht Club, 8-6-4-3-3-7-6-9-[12]-2- ; 48

U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship – Bemis Trophy – Club 420
Thursday proved to be just a formality in the standings for Jack McGraw (San Diego, Calif.) and Dot Obel (Los Angeles, Calif.), who won the Bemis Trophy by 13 points. They led by ten points over Will Martens (Corte Madera, Calif.) and Noble Reynoso (Mill Valley, Calif.) entering the final race. McGraw and Obel hadn’t placed worse than sixth through the first nine races.

“We finished strong yesterday, which put us in great position today,” said McGraw. “I sailed the last two years for the Sears Cup, which was great, but I’ve always been envious of the 420s who qualified. Personally, I think our Area has a difficult qualifier. We’ve had some great sailors come to this event.”

“I had never been here before,” added McGraw. “The venue and racing here is incredible.”

Final Standings (Top 5 of 20; 10 races, 1 discard)
1. Jack McGraw/Dot Obel, Southwestern Yacht Club, 1-6-1-2-6-2-1-2-4-[11]- ; 25
2. Will Martens/Noble Reynoso, SFYC, [21/DSQ]-2-4-3-14-1-2-1-2-9- ; 38
3. Mark Davies/Graceann Nicolosi, Chicago Yacht Club, 6-1-5-[12]-4-11-6-3-1-7- ; 44
4. Timothy Greenhouse/Jack DeNatale, Wadawanuck Club, 7-12-6-1-1-15-9-6-[19]-1- ; 58
5. Andrew Sheerin/Taylor Kirkpatrick, Sail Newport, 4-4-7-8-9-[19]-10-8-9-5- ; 64

U.S. Junior Quadruplehanded Championship – Sears Cup – Wianno Senior
Dane Byerly (El Lago, Texas), Howdy Hughes (Seabrook, Texas), Collin Scoville (Clear Lake, Texas), and Carson Shields (Clear Lake, Texas) ran away with the Sears Cup. The team from Texas took a commanding lead and never looked back. They won 6 of 11 races this week, including Thursday’s lone race.

They figured out the tricky Wianno Senior boats early in the regatta and won by a 24 point margin. The Judges Trophy, awarded to the second place team, went to Reid Shanabrook (Watertown, Mass.), William Bedford (Arlington, Mass.), Grant Adam (Marblehead, Mass.), and Benjamin Pitman (Swampscott, Mass.).

“It was a blast out there sailing with my friends this week,” said Byerly, who was racing in his third U.S. Junior Sailing Championship. “It was an interesting experience and a lot of fun in these boats. We focused a lot on playing the puffs and making sure we hit those. We couldn’t point very well in these boats, so we decided to go for speed. I was focused on our telltales and the waves. We were able to separate our jobs pretty well. We’ve developed a good system.”

Final Standings (Top 5 of 11; 11 races, 1 discard)
1. Dane Byerly/Howdy Hughes/Collin Scoville/Carson Shields, LYC, 1-[9]-1-1-2-6-2-2-1-1-1- ; 18
2. Reid Shanabrook/William Bedford/Grant Adam/Benjamin Pitman, PYC, [9]-4-4-3-8-5-1-5-3-3-6- ; 42
3. Jacob Seicshnaydre/Dawson Doucet/Grant Kalil/Mallory Edwards, GYC, 6-3-2-5-3/SCP-3-[8]-3-6-8-5- ; 44
4. Charlie Hibben/CJ McKenna/William Cannistraro/Morgan Farber, WYC, 2-1-5-2-5/SCP-2-5-7-[11]-11-7- ; 47T
5. Sammy Shea/Nolan Van Dine/Chloe Bohannon/Jackson Ritter, SFYC, 5-5-7-4-5-4-6-6-[9]-2-3- ; 47T

Event website – Complete results

Sportsmanship and Seamanship Awards
• Faye Bennet Sportsmanship Award (Singlehanded): Jack Bitney
• Bemis Sportsmanship Award (Doublehanded): Dana Haig and Zack Zeelander
• Cox Sportsmanship Award (Quadruplehanded): Grant Gridley, Dylan Brady, Alexa Ripple, and Conor Chapman
• Seamanship Trophy (Quadruplehanded): Sammy Shea, Nolan Van Dine, Chloe Bohannon, and Jackson Ritter

– See more at: http://www.ussailing.org/juniorchamps15_final/#sthash.R4Rwafcy.dpuf