2015 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships – Final report

by Jake Fish on 11 Jul 2015 Several sailors were in position to contend for qualification spots on the US Sailing Youth Worlds Team as they entered Friday’s final set of races at the 2015 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships. Excitement was in the air and the breeze on Mount Hope Bay and Narragansett Bay cooperated, which made for some great racing.

There were several contenders making their way up the leaderboard and challenging the leaders, which made for a climactic finish to the premiere youth sailing regatta in the country. Sailors raced in four to eight knots with light chop, under mostly sunny skies.

Laser Radial

It was a fascinating conclusion to the 39-boat Laser Radial fleet. Henry Marshall’s (Auburndale, Mass.) 14-point lead proved to be deceptive. Marshall’s high throw-out score was a 20, while Nic Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.), who was in second place, had a 10th place finish as his throw-out score. Baird needed to make up significant ground by forcing Marshall to count his 20 against his score.

He succeeded by forcing a match racing situation in the first race of the day. Marshall finished 25th to Baird’s 26th. Baird completed the comeback with a bullet in the final race, while Marshall placed seventh. Baird was sixth in this event last year. Despite dropping to second, Marshall won four races this week, more than any other Radial competitor.

Top Five:

1. Nic Baird, St. Petersburg YC, 7-1-2-6-5-3-10-[26]-1- ; 35
2. Henry Marshall, 3-3-1-1-1-1-20-[25]-7- ; 37
3. Scott Rasmussen, Lauderdale YC, 1-4-7-18-6-2-14-1-[25]- ; 53
4. Leo Boucher, Severn Sailing Association, [22]-10-8-3-11-9-6-7-13- ; 67
5. Carrson Pearce, Surf City YC, 13-13-17-[33]-4-5-27-4-5- ; 88



International 420

The International 420 fleet, comprised of 35 teams, came down to the wire in both the boys and girls divisions. Will Logue (Cos Cob, Conn.) and Bram Brakman (Darien, Conn.) held on for a one-point win over Wiley Rogers (Houston, Texas) and Jack Parkin (Riverside, Conn.). Rogers and Parkin won the ninth and final race, but Logue and Brakman were fourth, which was good enough to seal the win. Logue placed sixth in 2014. Christina Klingler (Darien, Conn.) and Victoria Thompson (Newport Beach, Calif.) moved up from fourth to fifth today overall, capping a strong showing this week. They placed fourth last year as well.

I-420 – Top Five:

1. Will Logue/Bram Brakman, Riverside YC, Coral Reef YC LISOT, 1-3-2-1-1-1-3-[6]-4- ; 16
2. Wiley Rogers/Jack Parkin, Texas Corinthian YC, 2-1-1-2-[28]-3-2-5-1- ; 17
3. Ivan Shestopalov/Pierce Ornstein, Coral Reef YC, 14-6-9-5-3-12-1-1-[23]- ; 51
4. Christine Klingler/Victoria Thompson, Larchmont YC/LISOT, 11-5-7/RDG-8/RDG-[30]-6-8-7-11- ; 63
5. Matthew Logue/Cameron Giblin, LISOT/ Coral Reef YC/ Riverside YC, 3-8-5-3-19-[23]-11-3-13- ; 65



29er

The 29er fleet was also decided by just one point. Romain Screve (Kentfield, Calif.) and Quinn Wilson (Ojai, Calif.) edged Max and Ian Brill (San Diego, Calif.). Both teams’s posted a seventh place throw-out. Screve finished sixth in the final race of the regatta. Last year, Screve finished in fifth place Alexandra and Liz Toppa (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) finished as the top girls team, and fourth overall.

29er – Top Five:

1. Romain Screve/Quinn Wilson, St. Francis YC-San Francisco YC, 4-6-[7]-6-1-2-4-1-2-3-6- ; 35
2. Max Brill/Ian Brill, Mission Bay YC, 2-[7]-5-5-3-5-2-4-5-2-3- ; 36
3. Neil Marcellini/Robbie Englehart, Richmond YC, 8-2-2-1-5-3-6-5-4-5-[9]- ; 41
4. Alexandra Toppa/Liza Toppa, Lauderdale YC, 9-[10]-9-9-2-1-1-2-3-4-4- ; 44
5. Jacob Rosenberg/Evan Heffernan, Alamitos Bay YC, 3-3-3-3-[11]-6-5-3-11-1-10- ; 48

Laser

Richie Gordon (Ridgefield, Conn.) ran away with the championship in the Laser fleet and won the 23-boat division by 26 points. He won the first three races of the regatta and never looked back. He was fifth in last year’s championship in Michigan. In the women’s division, Lindsey Baab (Saratoga, Calif.) stepped up on the final day to win in her last U.S. Youth Championship event. She was sixth overall after placing 10th last year. Christina Sakellaris (Milton, Mass.) qualified for the Youth Worlds Team as the top eligible sailor in the junior women’s division.

Laser – Top Five:

1. Richie Gordon, Cedar Point YC, 1-1-1-2-5-2-2-[24/RET]-4- ; 18
2. Ford McCann, Texas Corinthian YC/ GCYSA, 7-3-2-9-7-[14]-3-5-8- ; 44
3. Colin Brego, St Thomas YC, 2-[24/OCS]-7-13-4-6-5-2-9- ; 48
4. Marshall McCann, Texas Corinthian YC/ C-Vane, 4-2-4-1-17-[21]-10-10-6- ; 54
5. James Pulsford, Lauderdale YC, 17-8-[19]-10-2-1-1-15-3- ; 57



Formula 16

The Brunsvold brothers, Mark and Anderson (Sarasota, Fla.), turned in a consistently strong effort this week to win the Forumula 16 fleet by nine points.

F16 – Top Five:

1. Mark Brunsvold/Anderson Brunsvold, Sarasota Youth Sailing, 1-2-2-2-1-[4]-1-2-1-2-1- ; 15
2. Palmer Galt Oliver/James Tucker McElwaney, Red Gear Racing, 3-3-[4]-1-2-2-4-3-2-1-3- ; 24
3. Jackson Wagner/Jackson Ritter, San Francisco YC, 2-1-1-3-4-[5]-5-4-4-3-2- ; 29
4. Geronimo Nores/Manuel Nores, Miami YC, 5-[6/DNF]-6/DNF-6/DNS-3-1-2-1-3-4-4- ; 35
5. Taylor Brunsvold/Lillian Myers, Sarasota Youth Sailing, 4-[6/DNF]-3-4-5-3-3-5-5-5-5- ; 42



The 2015 edition of the U.S. Youth Sailing Championships was hosted by Roger Williams University at the newly constructed Richard L. Bready Mount Hope Bay Sailing and Education Center, and supported by the Bristol Yacht Club.