The Familiar and the Fantastic found at Matthews Beach

by Penny Piva Rego on 22 Aug 2001
This was the fourth year for
the USA Junior Olympic Festival - Northwest Youth Championships on Lake
Washington, so the sea of white sails and swarms of smiling junior sailors
was a familiar sight at Matthews Beach. Fantastic was the addition of the
29er class at the regatta. The 29er is the “primer boat” for the 49er: the
fast and radical skiff with asymmetrical spinnaker that made its Olympic
debut at the 2000 Games. The event was sponsored by West Marine.

Light and shifty conditions on both Saturday and Sunday truly tested the
skills of all the sailors, some from as far away as Juneau, Alaska. Colin
Orsini, 17, and Matt Kelly, 14, both of Anacortes, WA, dominated the 29er
fleet with four first place finishes. Racing between the other 29ers was
stiff competition with the second, third and fourth place finishers all
within one point of each other. When asked for the secret of their success,
both Orsini and Kelly cited practice and preparation. They also agreed that
the most enjoyable moments in the regatta were the ones when the wind was
blowing.

Tora Koch, Junior Sailing Program Director for host club Seattle Yacht Club,
was the Regatta Chair. Race Committee Chair Dick Luttens did a fantastic job
running the primary race circle, where the Optimist Championship, Laser,
Radial, Byte, Club 420 and 29er fleets combined had 82 boats on the water.
Richard Daifuku ran the Optimist Green fleet, while his son, Bryce, 16, was
busy earning a silver medal in the Radial class, which also earned Bryce the
Stimson Trophy for top male finisher from Seattle Yacht Club.

The Laser fleet had a strong showing with 20 sailors competing. Lindsay
Buchan, 19, from Medina , WA, was the gold medalist. Brendan Fahey, 18,
from Kingston, WA, who was the fourth place finisher at this year’s Smythe
Championship, earned the silver medal. Spencer Snapp, 17, from Port
Townsend, WA, captured the bronze medal. The three are friends and agreed
that the last race was the most fun of the regatta, since they were dueling
each other for first place. According to Buchan, “Getting off the line well
was what helped me win.” Sailing should be in Buchan’s blood: her
grandfather, Bill, was skipper of the gold medal Star team at the 1984
Olympics-the same year her father, Carl, won a gold medal as crew in the
Flying Dutchman class. Lindsay’s mother, Carol, was part of the winning team
in the 1987-1988 US Women’s Sailing Championship (Adam’s Cup).

Sailors in every class were treated to expert instruction thanks to
Olympians Brian Ledbetter, (Medina, WA), and Jonathan McKee (Seattle, WA),
both of whom are now part of Seattle Yacht Club’s One World Challenge for
the America’s Cup. Ledbetter, who competed in the Olympics in 1988 and won
a silver medal in the 1992, both in the Finn class, and, McKee, who was a
gold medalist in the Flying Dutchman in 1984 and a bronze medalist in the
49er class in the 2000 Games, spent an hour on shoreside pointers and an
hour coaching on the water.

When it was time for awards on Sunday, many sailors were winners. In
addition to the medalists in each class, the following special awards were
presented:
Most Improved Opti Novice: Chelsea Hougan, 10, Olympia, WA
Most Improved Sailor: Michael Schalka, 11, Shoreline, WA (Optimist)
Sportsmanship Award:
Laser: Tom Steele, 13, Seattle, WA
Radial: Nicole Glockner, 16, Medina, WA
Byte: Andrea Gray, 14, North Vancouver, BC
Optimist: Erika Vranizan, 11, Seattle, WA
Club 420: Bronson Kolde, 13, Mercer Island, WA and Christina Draper,
Woodinville, WA
29er: David Way, 18, Olympia, WA and Nick Stoner
Seamanship: Griffin Hewitt, 17, Bellingham, WA

Seattle Yacht Club Perpetual Trophies (for the top overall SYC sailor at
this event)
Joe Duthie Trophy (top female): Lindsay Buchan, 19, Medina, WA
Stimson Trophy (top male): Bryce Daifuku, 16, Mercer Island, WA

Junior Olympic medallists in each fleet are listed below. Complete results
can be found at: http://www.ussailing.org/youth/racing/jo/2001/Seattle.htm

For information on USA Junior Olympic Sailing, contact Lee Parks at US
SAILING, juniorolympics@ussailing.org or 401/683-0800, visit the web site at
http://www.ussailing.org/youth/racing/jo.

USA Junior Olympic Sailing is a grass-roots youth development program that
defines a path for youngsters to become involved in sailing and develop
their skills though events nationwide, with a goal of making sailing a
life-long sport. The United States Olympic Committee Junior Olympic Program
involves more than 3,500,000 participants in over 20 sports annually.
The USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival program is sponsored by West Marine,
the nation’s largest specialty retailer of recreational boating supplies and
apparel. It offers its broad assortment to boaters worldwide through its 232
retail stores, an international catalog mail order division, a wholesale
division and an Internet site, www.westmarine.com. West Marine is proud to
be the presenting sponsor of the US SAILING Junior Olympic Sailing
Festivals, as part of a continuing commitment to encourage youth to enjoy
boating as a positive recreational activity.
The United States Sailing Association is the national governing body for the
sport of sailing, the mission of which is to encourage participation and
excellence in sailing and racing in the United States. The organization
achieves its goals through member organizations and volunteers, located
throughout the United States, who are supported by an administrative staff
located at the organization’s headquarters in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. For
more information about US SAILING, visit the website at www.ussailing.org.
Race 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Optimist Green
(novice, up to age 15/4 boats)
Gold: Joshua Larsen 1 1 2 (3) 1 1 1 3 2 1
Lakewood, WA
Silver: James Tyson 2 2 3 1 2 3 (4) 1 3 2
Seattle, WA
Bronze: Mattheew Fry (3) 3 1 2 3 2 2 2 1 3
Mercer Island, WA
Optimist Championship
(19 boats)
Gold: Mark Pataky 1 1 1 1 (2) 2
West Vancouver, BC
Silver: Zack Montes 2 2 (3) 2 1 3
Seattle, WA
Bronze: Michael Schalka 3 3 5 (12) 5 4
Shoreline, WA
Club 420 (11 boats)
Gold: Derek Vranizan/Jeff Lyle 4 1 1 1 1 1
Seattle, WA/Seattle, WA
Silver: Sean Edmond/Dan Edmond 2 (7) 3 3 3 2
W. Vancouver, BC/W. Vancouver, BC
Bronze: John Bryce, Jr./Sterling Kolde 3 5 2 4 6 (8)
Bellevue, WA/Mercer Island, WA
Laser (20 boats)
Gold: Lindsay Buchan 1 4 1 1 1 4 (12) 1
Medina, WA
Silver: Brendon Fahey 2 2 2 2 3 (8) 2 2
Kingston, WA
Bronze: Spencer Snapp 3 (9) 6 4 2 2 5 3
Port Townsend, WA
Laser Radial (6 Boats)
Gold: Bryce Parson 1 3 3 4 1 2
Mercer Island, WA
Silver: Sean Edmond 2 (7) 3 3 3 2
W. Vancouver, BC
Bronze: Kelly Garneski 6 4 (8) 1 3 1
Knemore, WA
Byte (18 boats)
Gold: Griffin Hewitt 1 1 1 1 (2) 2
Bellingham, WA
Silver: Geoff Huggett 2 2 (6) 3 3 3
Vancouver, BC

Bronze: Allison Davis 6 (12) 2 5 5 2
Seattle, WA
29er (4 Boats)
Gold: Colin Orsini/Matt Kelly 2 4 1 1 DSQ 1 1
Anacortes, WA/Anacortes, WA
Silver: Nick Leede/Emily Ching 1 2 2 4 DSQ 2 4
Seattle, WA/Seattle, WA