Haley and Korbin Kirk win 2008 Bemis Trophy

by Rick Roberts on 14 Aug 2008 Long Beach Yacht Club's Haley and Korbin Kirk sailed their Club 420 into history during the 2008 U.S. Junior Championships in Chicago, July 27-Aug. 1, when they became the first doublehanded team of siblings to win the coveted Bemis Trophy.

LBYC teams have won the award two times before since the trophy was first awarded in 1975 (1978, John Shadden/Peter Frazier and 1979, John Shadden/Steve Rosenberg) but this is a first for a brother-sister act.

'It's a good open relationship,' Haley said. 'We talk to each other during a race and listen to each other's suggestions.'

'I've sailed with other kids,' Korbin said, 'but Haley tells me what she thinks. Sometimes other kids won't talk very much.'

Haley jokingly adds, 'Yeah, sometimes I'll say 'I'll hit you now if you don't tack'.' ..... Korbin laughs.

Having had won numerous junior Sabot events over the last few years, Haley and Korbin showed they were no strangers to getting things right the first time, when in Sept. 2007 they took their first step into a Collegiate FJ. Four months later in January they finished second place in 'B' class at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's Rose Bowl Regatta.

From there they entered the USA Junior Olympic Festival at Cal Yacht Club, July 10-13, where they sailed their first Club 420, using a spinnaker for the first time. The winner of the event is invited to the U.S. Junior Sailing Championships.

They finished fifth in the event, but first, second and fourth-place were traveling on to the Worlds and third place was not able to attend because the skipper and crew were not from the same yacht club. So… Haley and Korbin were given the opportunity to compete for the Bemis Trophy in Chicago.

Wanting to become better at sailing the 420, their parents, Kevin and Susannah, enrolled them in Stanford University's Advanced Racing Clinic for 420s, July 15-18, culminating with the Club 420 National Championship, July 18-20.

'It blew 20-25 [knots] the whole time,' Kevin said. 'But they did great and finished 11th. The one thing they did that no one else did was they flew their chute every single time they rounded the mark. Many boats didn't because of the wind… but they did. The Stanford coach was so impressed he stood up and clapped when they crossed the finish line.'

'I think we were in tenth in the last race,' Korbin said, 'and the wind was really blowing hard. First Haley flies off the boat, then I fly off… watching the boat sailing without us. Finally it capsizes and we climb back on to finish.

'That regatta helped us learn how to lose. If we didn't go to Stanford, we wouldn't have won the Bemis.'

'We had no idea of what the Bemis Trophy was,' Haley said, 'but now it's beginning to sink in as to what we've done.'

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