Balboa Yacht Club Team wins 2017 U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship

by US Sailing on 19 Jun 2017

Rose Cup 2017 at the Fort Worth Boat Club, Fort Worth, TX US Sailing http://www.ussailing.org

Sunday marked the conclusion of a successful and fun five day event at the Fort Worth Boat Club, host to the 2017 U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship for the Rose Cup. This US Sailing Championship was exceptionally special for David Wood (Corona del Mar, Calif.) and his Southern California based team comprised of Max Brennan (Newport Beach, Calif.), Catherine Reynolds (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Jeffery Petersen (Santa Ana, Calif.).

Despite placing in the middle of the standings following stage one’s round robin, Wood and crew picked up momentum through the Knock-out rounds to win the championship. Wood was ranked fifth out of 10 teams following the round robin and defeated fourth ranked Jack Reiter (San Diego, Calif.), three - zero, on Saturday. They went on to up-end number one ranked Porter Killan (Newport Beach, Calif.) Sunday morning in the semifinals, three - one, after dropping the first race of the series. Wood blanked Jack Parkin (Riverside, Conn.), three - zero, in Sunday’s final series. Parkin’s second place team includes crewmates Robbie Nicholls (Houston, Texas), Christina Sakellaris (Milton, Mass.) and Wiley Rogers (Houston, Texas).

Wood receives an invitation to the 2017 Governor’s Cup on July 17-22 at the Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, Calif. and qualifies for the 2017 Oakcliff Halloween Invitational on October 28-29 at Oakcliff Sailing in Oyster Bay, N.Y. The Nick Scandone Sportsmanship Award was awarded to the team of Porter Killian, John Horton (Newport Beach, Calif.), Robert Garrett (Newport Coast, Calif.) and Victoria Thompson (Newport Beach, Calif.), after receiving votes from their fellow competitors.

In the round robin, each team raced six or seven matches on Friday and completed the stage on Saturday. Killian took control of the number one ranking with eight points through nine races. The top eight teams advanced to the quarterfinals.

Teams raced in 10 mph winds from the South/Southwest for most of Friday, with diminishing breeze in the afternoon on Eagle Mountain Lake. On Saturday, winds were in the 10-12 mph range with gusts exceeding 15.

Conditions on Sunday morning were in the 6-8 mph range with gusts reaching 15 early in the afternoon.

In its brief, yet impactful history on the match racing circuit this invitational event for 16 to 20 year olds has served as an outstanding training ground for young sailors who are passionate about match racing and focused on competing at the next level.

Ten teams of four, consisting of at least one female crew per boat, raced in the J/22 this week. Coaching and instruction played a major role in these sailors’ experience this week in Fort Worth. Five-time U.S. Match Racing Champion, Dave Perry, along with Mike Pinckney and two-time Rose Cup winner Christophe Killian conducted a North U Advanced Match Racing Clinic on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. The Clinic included long days of training on the water, presentations on all aspects of match racing with video debriefs.

“This was by far one of the best youth match racing events I’ve ever seen,” said Perry. “The Fort Worth Boat Club did its usual amazing job, the race management was perfect, and the 40 competitors, including 11 girls, competed at a high level.”

Originally known as the Rose Cup, this event was founded by members of the Balboa Yacht Club and the Newport-Balboa Sailing and Seamanship Association (NBSSA), and was started as an invitational youth match race event in 2010. The mission is to promote youth match racing in the U.S. and improve the skills of racers from around the country in national and international competition. In 2015, US Sailing elevated the Rose Cup to an official US Sailing National Championship.

This regatta was the first of two US Sailing National Championships in the match racing discipline this year. Oakcliff Sailing will host the U.S. Match Racing Championship in October.