Ingham earns second career Championship of Champions title

by Jake Fish on 13 Oct 2014

2014 Championship of Champions US Sailing http://www.ussailing.org

Championship of Champions 2014 - Cleveland, Ohio - A 16-year-old upstart and a former champion each entered Sunday's racing with a chance to win the Jack Brown Trophy at the Championship of Champions, hosted by the Edgewater Yacht Club. Recognized as US Sailing’s most unique National Championship, the 2014 edition was nothing short of this description.

Ingham earns second career Championship of Champions title - US Sailing's 2014 Championship of Champions © David Matthias

Sunday's showdown featured Mike Ingham (Rochester, N.Y.), a J/24 sailor and the 2005 champion of this event, and Jack Parkin (Riverside, Conn.), an International 420 sailor and member of US Sailing’s 2014 ISAF Youth World Championship Team. Ingham is also a six-time Thistle National Champion.

The race committee tallied two more races Sunday, pushing the race total to 11 for the regatta. With fewer than 12 races, a boat's worst race score was excluded, instead of two.

Parkin and Ingham were even atop the leaderboard to start the day, with Parkin taking the tie-breaker advantage. Ingham's throw-out score was a 21 and Parkin's was a 10. However, Ingham took control Sunday morning with a win in Race 10 and he placed 13th in Race 11. Parkin was fifth in Race 10 and 17th in Race 11, his worst score of the regatta. Ingham edged Parkin by one point to earn his second career Jack Brown Trophy.

Mike's wife, Delia Ingham (Rochester, N.Y.), and Dan Fien (Webster, N.Y.) crewed for Team Ingham this week. Parkin's crew included Florian Eenkema van Dijk (Darien, Conn.), an Youth World Team member with Parkin, and Jack's father, Barry Parkin (Riverside, Conn.).

'We had a big battle at the pin today in the last race,' said Mike Ingham. 'We started putting ourselves in a bad spot and they took advantage of that. Fortunately, we battled out of it after beating him on one tack at the end.'
'It was nice to see a young man take the lead,' added Delia on Parkin's racing this week. 'He sailed very well this week. It was great work on his part.'

'We were the underdogs coming into it and we didn't expect much,' said Jack Parkin. 'We were hoping to finish it off today and maintain the lead. On the last race, we tried to engage them on the start and push them outside the pin. We were able to slow them down, but it wasn't enough.'

All helmsmen qualified for this event by winning a 2013 or 2014 one-design class National, North American, or World Championship. Helmsmen and their crew were tested in Thistles this year.

The Championship of Champions is sponsored by Gill North America and is a Sailors for the Sea – Clean Regattas certified event.

Top Five
1. Mike Ingham [J/24], 6-[21/RET]-3-1-1-3-2-6-2-1-13- ; 38
2. Jack Parkin [Intl 420], 1-3-5-5-3-1-10-5-1-5-[17]- ; 39
3. Paul Abdullah [Y Flyer], 4-[13]-7-9-11-7-3-7-3-2-1- ; 54
4. Brent Barbehenn [Jet 14], 8-4-1-10-2-6-13-1-10-[17]-2- ; 57T
5. Greg Fisher [J/22], 15-6-2-2-10-8-1-[19]-4-3-6- ; 57T

US Sailing's 2014 Championship of Champions
Edgewater Yacht Club

Thistle (20 boats) (top)
Series Standing - 11 races scored

Information is final.
Regatta results last updated: Sunday, October 12, 2014 11:23:42 AM CDT

Pos,Sail, Skipper, Results, Total Points
1. Mike Ingham[J24], 6-[21/RET]-3-1-1-3-2-6-2-1-13- ; 38
2. Jack Parkin[Intl420], 1-3-5-5-3-1-10-5-1-5-[17]- ; 39
3. Paul Abdullah[Y Flyer], 4-[13]-7-9-11-7-3-7-3-2-1- ; 54
4. Brent Barbehenn[Jet14], 8-4-1-10-2-6-13-1-10-[17]-2- ; 57T
5. Greg Fisher[J22], 15-6-2-2-10-8-1-[19]-4-3-6- ; 57T
6. Skip Dieball[Highlander], 10-2-11-3-4.3/RDG-5-7-2-[13]-10-3- ; 57.3T
7. Doug Kaukeinen[Sunfish], 5-[10]-4-4-8-4-6-9-9-7-5- ; 61
8. Chris Raab[Mercury], 11-5-9-6-[13]-2-12-4-8-4-8- ; 69
9. Lloyd Kitchin[Thistle], 3-7-6-13-5-[17]-8-3-7-13-7- ; 72
10. Eric Voss[Sonar], 2-1-10-7-9-13-11-11-[16]-8-4- ; 76
11. Stuart Fisher[Interlake], 9-14-15-[16]-7-10.2/RDG-4-13-11-6-12- ; 101.2
12. Jim Cunningham[Etchells], 12-8-13-11-14-9-9-12-12-[15]-9- ; 109
13. Bud Brown[Ensign], 7-9-14-8-12-14-14-8-[20]-11-14- ; 111
14. Heather Gregg Earl[J70], 13-16-8-[18]-6-12-18-14-6-12-10- ; 115
15. Tim Faranetta[M Scow], [21/DNF]-11-12-14-4-10-17-17-14-16-15- ; 130
16. Thomas Heausler[Sweet16], 14-12-[19]-17-15-15-15-10-18-9-16- ; 141
17. George McCarthy[Soverell], 16-17-17-15-[18]-16-5-15-5-18-18- ; 142
18. Fred Meno[Force5], 19-15-16-12-16-11-16-16-15-14-[20]- ; 150
19. Mary Vorel[Rebel], 18-19-[21/DNS]-19-17-18-19-18-17-19-11- ; 175
20. Newton Wattis[Mariner], 17-18-18-20-19-19-20-[21/RET]-19-20-19- ; 189

Notes
- Scoring System is RRS Low Point 2013-2016
- Finishes in [brackets] denote throwouts
- Click on race number to view detailed race information.