2016 LBYC Junior Match Race Invitational - Jack Reiter in action

by Rick Roberts on 5 Jun 2016 San Diego Yacht Club’s Jack Reiter became a back-to-back winner Saturday in Long Beach Yacht Club’s 2016 Junior Match Race Invitational, hosted by LBYC, sponsored by Kaenon and sailed in LBYC’s fleet of Collegiate FJs.

Eight Southern California skippers were invited with the requirement of a minimum age of 10 years and a maximum age of 18. One skipper withdrew at the last minute, leaving seven to race the single round-robin match racing format which took place inside Long Beach’s Alamitos Bay Marina.

While most of the western states are enduring a searing hot spell, east Long Beach benefited from a morning overcast that kept the temperatures in the low 70s with breezes of six - ten knots, even after the sun came out mid-afternoon.

Reiter impressed this writer as a humble yet confident individual who quickly gives credit to his crew, Jack Egan, when receiving praise for his win.

“We definitely tried to go as fast as we could and tried to have better tactics,” said Reiter. “Our tactics changed from the beginning of the day. We knew which boats we had to beat and worked closely together when we tacked and when we rolled, knowing we had to get more comfortable.”

Egan is a good friend and skilled sailor in his own right who made the chemistry work for the team.

“This is my first time ever as crew with Jack,” said Egan. “We’ve know each other for a long time and I know what a skipper looks out for.”

Taking second place on a tiebreaker with Reiter was Santa Barbara Yacht Club’s, David Eastwood and Christopher Kayda.

Principal Race Officer for the regatta was LBYC Sailing Director, Jess Gerry, who talked about an on-the-water conversation he had with Reiter after a critical race with Eastwood and Kayda that, as it turned out, gave Reiter and Egan the win for the regatta.

“In a race that turned out to be his most important race of the day,” said Gerry, he (Reiter) was over the (start) line early… way over, and it took him quite a while to dip back down and head up the course. He ended up catching up to the other boat and passing to take the win.

“He came up to me after the race and asked me how much over the line he was. I told him and then asked where his biggest comeback was during that race. He smiled and said, ‘I got a couple of shifts, and a little lucky and had great crew work.’”

The inspiration for the regatta came from LBYC’s past Junior Commodore Jack Berg who raced in the inaugural regatta in 2013.

“My dad (Eric Berg) and I were looking at the America’s Cup AC45s on TV and I said, ‘it would be really cool to have a match race for juniors.’

“The next day my dad was at the club’s board of directors meeting and mentioned my idea. Then it just kept growing.”

Final Results

1. Jack Reiter/Jack Egan, San Diego YC, 6 wins – 1 loss on tiebreaker
2. David Eastwood/Christopher Kayda, Santa Barbara YC, 6 – 1
3. Jack Joslin/Peter Joslin, SDYC, 5 – 2
4. David Wood/Catherine Reynolds, Balboa YC, 4 – 3 on tiebreaker
5. Gavin McJones/Maia Dastur, California YC, 4 - 3
6. Trent Turigliatto/Christina Van Dyke, LBYC, 2 - 5
7. Ansgar Jordan/Audrey Mahowald, Cabrillo Beach YC, 1 – 6
8. Sawyer Gibbs/Roxy Snyder, Alamitos Bay YC, 0 – 7