Hawkins repeats at US Junior Womens

Maddie Hawkins (Edgewater, MD) and Yumi Yoshiyasu (Houston, TX) topped the 40-boat field to claim the Ida Lewis Trophy at the 2018 U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship, with racing held July 27-29 in Club 420s at Mentor, OH. It was the second consecutive win at this US Sailing National Championship for Hawkins who won this title last year in Annapolis, MD.

Featuring young women sailors, age 13-18, the schedule on Lake Erie included three days of racing preceded by two day of clinics with a strong cast of coaches from around the country, and a series of social events and experiences throughout the week in the greater Cleveland area.

Hawkins and Yoshiyasu were incredibly consistent all week. They won four of the ten races and placed no worse than fourth, despite a 10th place finish in Race 10, which was their throwout score.

The team of Colleen O’Brien (Fair Haven, NJ.) and Michaela O’Brien (Fair Haven, NJ) stayed close all week with Hawkins and Yoshiyasu and sailed at a high level throughout. They won Race 9 and 10 to close out the series in second place, just five points back. Vanessa Lahrkamp (Rye, NY.) and Katherine McNamara (Darien, CT) took home third place honors.

“We have been greatly improving our starts and just having a fast boat helped us look up for pressure which was a big key for this regatta,” said Hawkins. “We had a lot of fun at the scheduled activities this week, including the Yoga session and the Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame. Overall it was a really good experience.”

Next up for this dynamic duo is the I-420 World Championships this week in Newport, R.I. and back to high school sailing in the Fall.

Top 5 – Final Standings
1. Maddie Hawkins/Yumi Yoshiyasu, Annapolis YC/Houston YC, – 1 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 1 – 1 – 2 – 4 – 2 – (10) ; 16
2. Colleen O’Brien/Michaela O’Brien, Bay Head YC, – (4) – 4 – 2 – 1 – 4 – 3 – 3 – 2 – 1 – 1 ; 21
3. Vanessa Lahrkamp/Katherine McNamara, American YC, – 6 – 3 – 7 – 3 – 5 – (8) – 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 ; 40
4. Cordelia Burn/Sarah Moeder, Bay Head YC, – 11 – 5 – 5 – 7 – 7 – 7 – (13) – 7 – 4 – 4 ; 57
5. J.J. (Jessica) Smith/Laurel Tyson, Sarasota Youth Sailing/CRYC, – 2 – 6 – 3 – (OCS-41) – 15 – 11 – 4 – 6 – 3 – 11 ; 61

Event history – Event details – Results – Photos

US Sailing Championship head coach Richard Feeny led a stellar cast of coaches for the training:

• Scott Ikle (Head Coach, Hobart and William Smith Colleges)
• Beka Schiff (2016 Hobbs Trophy Winner – Sportsman of the Year)
• Amanda Callahan (Head Coach, Roger Williams University)
• Alana O’Reilly Marks (2006 Quantum ICSA Women’s Sailor of the Year)
• Dillon Paiva (Assistant Coach, US Naval Academy)
• Brian Clancy (Head Coach, Cornell University)
• Arielle Darrow (2020 Olympic Campaigner)

Source: US Sailing