Five champs at US Youth Sailing Champs

Arapahoe, NC (October 11, 2021) – The 2021 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships offered three days of racing on the Neuse River for more than 150 athletes, 19-years-old and younger, who competed in the ILCA 7, ILCA 6, 29er, I420, and Nacra 15.

“The event was really fun,” said 29er sailor Samantha Gardner (San Diego YC). “I thought it was interesting how we had some weird, stormy weather coming through with pretty funky conditions.”

Daniel Escudero (Atlanta YC/Lauderdale YC) topped the 11-boat ICLA 7 fleet with all bullets. A member of the US Sailing Olympic Development Team, Escudero has been sailing the Laser for six years. “I think the conditions suited me well,” says Escudero. “I definitely had a boat speed edge over the rest of the fleet. But, it was also very important to stay on top of the shifts and watch out for any course bias which was very prevalent here.”

Guthrie Braun (St. Petersburg YC) finished second overall, with Humberto Porrata (Key Biscayne YC) completing the class podium.

Chapman Peterson repeated his U.S. Youth Sailing Championship title in the ILCA 6, winning half of the weekend’s eight races, and never falling below fourth overall. The top of the fleet remained unchanged across all three days of racing, with Robby Meek (Severn SA/Lauderdale YC) five points behind Peterson, and Benjamin Smith (Lauderdale YC/Carolina YC) rounding out the podium of the largest fleet in the regatta, with 66 boats.

In the 29er, brothers Ian and Noah Nyenhuis (San Diego YC) had a very consistent weekend, topping the fleet in most races. Anton Schmid and Peter Joslin (San Diego YC) and Clark Morris and Noah Zittrer (2NINER Inc.), finished second and third, respectively, in the 11-boat fleet.

Kay Brunsvold and Cooper Delbridge (Sarasota Youth Sailing) kept a commanding lead in the Nacra 15, finishing with bullets across the board. In second are Tanner DeMarzo and Luke King (Sarasota Youth Sailing), with Dorothy Medelblatt and Ian Ilse-Lee (St. Petersburg YC/Red Gear Sailing) rounding out the podium for the seven-boat fleet.

In the i420, Thomas Sitzman and Luke Woodworth (Sail1Design) covered the leaderboard with first-place finishes, securing them the overall title in the 20-boat fleet. Vanessa Lahrkamp and Katherine McNamara (LISOT Sailing Foundation, Inc.) wrapped up in second, followed by Peter Foley and Liam O’Keefe (OUTFIT) in third. Sitzman and Woodworth’s title in Arapahoe joins a list of accolades for the pair from this year, who also won the 420 World Championships in July.

Racing was held at YMCA Camp Sea Gull and Camp Seafarer on October 9-11.

Event information – Race details – Results

Source: US Sailing