Chubb U.S. Junior Championships - Triplehanded racing commences

by Jake Fish on 8 Aug 2013 The eleven teams competing for the Sears Cup in the Triplehanded division began racing Tuesday on Galveston Bay at the Chubb U.S. Junior Championships, hosted by the Houston Yacht Club (HYC) and Texas Corinthian Yacht Club (TCYC). The U.S. Junior Singlehanded and Doublehanded Championships will get underway on Wednesday.

The team of Liam McCarthy (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Nevin Avila (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Emily Wright (Tampa, Fla.), and Noah Blacker got off to nice start by winning Race 1 and placing third in Race 2. They took a one point lead over Dane Byerly (El Lago, Texas), Collin Scoville (Clear Lake Shores, Texas), Howdy Hughes (Seabrook, Texas) and Carson Shields (Clear Lake Shores, Texas), and Jack Barton (San Anselmo, Calif.), Sammy Shea (Kentfield, Calif.), Sam Barton (San Anselmo, Calif.) and Alex Moody (Tiburon, Calif.). Byerly won Race 2 and finished fourth in Race 1. Barton finished third and second.

The teams and their Sonars were greeted with great conditions today including breezes at 12 to 15 knots. To keep sailors out of the Texas heat as much as possible, racing started later in the afternoon and wrapped up at around 6:30 pm CST. Temperatures were in the upper 90s. Crews may consist of either three or four sailors with a minimum weight of 500 pounds and a maximum weight of 600 pounds.

There has been plenty of action already in Southeastern Texas this week for the participating sailors. A one day racing clinic led by US Sailing’s Junior National Coach Rich Feeny was held at HYC and TCYC on Tuesday. The clinics included U.S. Senior Olympic Coach Luther Carpenter and College of Charleston’s Ward Cromwell. As part of the 2013 Olympic Sailing Night Series on Monday, Carpenter educated the participating young sailors about the many pathways to Olympic sailing success. A Gill College Night seminar will take place on Thursday night for the participating Event website