Intercollegiate Sailing Championships decided at Belmont Pier
by Rich Roberts on 6 Nov 2012
The women’s fleet sails upwind with speed in front the Long Beach city front during the ICSA/LaserPerformance Singlehanded National Championship 2012. GTS Photos
http://gtsphotos.com/
Sunday, the third day of racing in the 2012 LaserPerformance/ICSA Singlehanded Nationals saw the top eighteen men and eighteen women singlehanded college sailors from around the country return to the US Sailing Center off of the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in Long Beach, CA.
After a delay waiting for wind, racing got under way in a nice westerly sea breeze ranging from four to ten knots and Juan Maegli sailing for the College of Charleston went into the day with a plan. 'It was my goal to stay away from the fleet and protect my lead,' he said. 'Fortunately, my plan worked and I got a big lead during the first race of the day.'
Maegli clinched the regatta after the first race of the day and enjoyed a stress-free afternoon. Meanwhile, Erika Reineke of Boston College continued to sail with speed and broke away from the fleet over the course of the day. She won the regatta Saturday but continued to show her skill Sunday.
Everyone in attendance enjoyed the event, especially the native Southern Californians. Nevin Snow of San Diego, sailing for Georgetown, said, 'It’s great to be back in Southern California. The weather is way better here and I’ve been sailing well.'
He finished his first collegiate national championship regatta tied for seventh with another freshman San Diegan, Olin Paine of Fordham.
'The breeze was much better than predicted for today,' regatta chairperson Mike Segerblom said. 'The offshore breeze provided some challenges and as a result we decided to move the course further out to sea for the last race of the regatta.'
Maegli and Reineke will be invited to compete for the US Sailing O’Day Trophy which is the National Singlehanded Championship for all sailors in the United States.
The event is hosted and organized by the United States Sailing Center-Long Beach and the University of Southern California Varsity Sailing Team.
For complete scores and information,
click College Sailing website
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