Draheim wins VX One North Americans

The 2017 VX One North American Championship was held October 19-21 at Rush Creek YC in Heath, TX. A competitive fleet of 26 teams travelled from all over the US, Canada, and Europe to challenge for the annual title, enjoy some real Texas hospitality, and top flight racing.

Three days of great racing ran by the Race Committee team of the Rush Creek Yacht Club lead by Mark Foster. The event had nine races in perfect technical conditions and breeze from 5 to 19 knots. Teams sailing 3 and 2 up were equally competitive amid a field with families, kids, men, women spanning several generations, sailing legends, and a few unpaid pros enjoying some Corinthian competition.

Race by race breakdown:
The first race was won by Paul Currie and Jim Pearson on #222 from Canada, hitting the right hard the first beat and never looking back. The second race went to local, Greg Gust with Jack Marsh and Cheryl Gondran, which brought the day to a close due to light air. The Padnos twins (Josh and Sam) performed extremely well winning the third and sixth races. The fourth race was won by Boo Hausler and Jackson Benvenutti, from Lousiana, then the fifth race was won by Beat Steffan who came all the way from Switzerland, sailing with designer Brian Bennett. The seventh was won by Scott Holmgren, Justin Howard from Oklahoma and the last two races were a solid performance by Frank Beling and team, also from Oklahoma winning by a good chunk and closing like a champ.

And the winner is:
The championship was won by Bill Draheim, Mary Ann Hopper and Rod Favela. This team worked hard to get it done, especially considering that this was the first regatta they have sailed together as a team with Bill new to the class, yet a world class sailor. The boat, Rod’s #168, was set up with Gus Sails from Bill’s loft. While they did not win a race, they proved once again the value of consistency.
A little over a year ago Rod thought his boat was totaled when it was lifted oFf its trailer in a 60 knot microburst, breaking the rig, and depositing the boat and trailer separately into the water. With no major and lasting damage, she was brought back to perfect shape.

Complete results… click here.

Source: VX One class