U.S. Singlehanded Championship - All set for action

by Jake Fish on 26 Jul 2012 From this Friday, July 27th through Sunday, July 29th, the 2012 US Singlehanded Championships will take place at Sail Sheboygan, a US Sailing Center. The top male and female singlehanded sailors from around the country are set to compete on Lake Michigan.

The regatta exhibits a rich history of great sailing athletes, and this year’s competitors are in good company. Over the years, many past Olympians and US Sailing Team members have participated at this Championship, including Paul Foerster, Morgan Larson, Andrew Campbell, Anna Tunnicliffe, Sally Barkow, and Sarah Lihan.

The men’s division will race the Laser, an Olympic class in the men’s singlehanded division. The division features Clay Johnson (Point Pleasant, N.J.), who finished second overall in the 2012 Olympic Qualifier, narrowly missing out on making Team USA’s Olympic Sailing Team. A four-time college All-American, Johnson is currently ranked 30th in the ISAF Laser World Rankings. Earlier this season, he took fifth place as the top American at US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR. Johnson has two silver medals at ISAF Sailing World Cup events, including Kiel Week in 2010 and Sail Melbourne in 2009. The 2011 Laser North American Champion and 2009 Laser National Champion has raced in this event three times during his career and is looking to have his name engraved on the O’Day Trophy for the first time.

Johnson will be tested this week in Sheboygan by several highly skilled racers. Eric Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.) won the 2012 US Laser Nationals in Houston earlier this summer. Bowers was fifth at the Laser North Americans last week at the Columbia Gorge in Cascade Locks, Ore. He recently graduated from the College of Charleston where he raced on the sailing team for four years. Nick Valente (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) is a talented up and comer who competes mostly in the Laser Radial. He is one of the younger sailors in the men’s division. Last year, he won the US Junior Singlehanded Championship in Toms River, N.J.

The women will race the Byte CII provided by Zim Sailing. A 12 foot, 100 pound boat, with a manageable 58 square feet of sail area, this boat with its modern rig that provides a blend of performance and stability, adds a new element to the event, and is sure to challenge the physicality, skills and tactics of the sailors. Almost none of the competing sailors are familiar with the CII, so this will be a true test of their abilities.

Among the notable sailors in women’s division is Allie Blecher (Santa Monica, Calif.). The College of Charleston graduate was a four-time ICSA Women’s All-American and the 2010 Women’s College Sailor of the Year. She led her team to victory at the 2010 ICSA Women’s National Championship. Last year, Blecher finished seventh at US Sailing’s Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship in Rochester, N.Y.

Going up against Blecher is Hanne Weaver (Gig Harbor, Wash.), who is fresh off a victory earlier this month at the US Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship, also raced on Lake Michigan. She finished third at last year’s US Singlehanded Championship in Laser Radials at the Columbia Gorge.

Partly cloudy conditions with temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s and light to moderate winds are forecasted for racing days.

U.S. Singlehanded Championship website