U.S. Junior Championships - USJC Preview

by Jake Fish on 11 Aug 2009 US Sailing’s Chubb U.S. Junior Championships is a nationwide elimination series that is being held in Marblehead, Mass. on August 11-13. Sponsored by Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, LaserPerformance and Gill North America, and hosted by the Pleon, Eastern, Corinthian, and Boston Yacht Clubs, this unique regatta is among the oldest of US SAILING’s National Championships.

The events will feature competition in single -, double -, and triplehanded classes sailing Lasers, Club 420s, and Rhodes 19s respectively. Teams representing their home sailing organizations qualified for the championship by their performances at elimination events held within the 11 US SAILING Areas around the country. The top teams from each Area semifinal have advanced to compete for the Sears, Bemis and Smythe Trophies.

The Laser fleet will race for the Smythe Trophy. Established in 1974, this award is named for D. Verner Smythe, who was dedicated to organizing US SAILING Championships. Seven of the 20 competitors from last year’s singlehanded event, including the top three finishers in the 2008 regatta, have returned to sail for this year’s championship. Defending champion, E.J. O’Mara (Burton, Mich.) of Bayview Yacht Club, returns to the fold after winning the title on Lake Michigan a year ago. He finished 13th at the 2009 U.S. Singlehanded Championship and ninth at the 2009 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships. O’Mara will be challenged by last year’s runner-up, Timothy Zacher (Vermillion, Ohio) of the Vermillion Yacht Club, and last year’s third place finisher, Drew Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) of the Chicago Yacht Club. Dan Nickerson (Noank, Conn.) of Ram Island Yacht Club, could also be a factor in this year’s event. He finished fifth at the 2009 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships.


The Bemis Trophy, established in 1975, will be awarded to the winning duo in the 420 fleet and is named for F. Gregg Bemis who was known for his work on the Racing Rules of Sailing and his leadership role in judging at junior and intercollegiate regattas. Nick Johnstone (Jamestown, R.I.) of the Fast Sailing Foundation with crew, Katia DaSilva (East Greenwich, R.I.), figure to be big players in this year’s championship that features 20 teams. They won the 2009 420 Nationals held late last month.


The Rhodes 19 class will be competing for the coveted Sears Cup, US SAILING’s oldest trophy, named for Commodore Herbert M. Sears of Eastern Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.) who founded the competition in 1921. Eleven triplehanded teams have registered for this year’s championship, with four returning from last year. Returning this year is the 2007 Championship team made up of twins, Scott Hoffman (Escondido, Calif.) and Evan Hoffman (Escondido, Calif.). This time they are sailing with Colleen Hackett (El Cajon, Calif.). Scott also took second place at the 2009 U.S. Youth Multihull Championship. This is the third time the Hoffman brothers have competed for the championship. Last year’s U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship third place finisher, Lucas Adams (Middletown, R.I.) with crew Dylan Vogel (Jamestown, R.I.) and Sam Hallowell (Middletown, R.I.) will vie for this year’s title. Last year’s fourth place skipper, Nathan Fast (Groton, Conn.) with crew Ben Wilkinson (Groton, Conn.) and O.J. O’Connell (Niantic, Conn.) will also contend for the Sears Cup.


Competition is just a part of the experience associated with this great series. In conjunction with the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), US SAILING featured a new seminar for young sailors competing at the Chubb U.S. Junior Championships on August 10. US SAILING’s College Sailing Seminars, sponsored by Gill, provide a forum for young sailors to learn about opportunities in college sailing.

For live Twitter updates, race results, daily reports, photos, and video highlights by Sailgroove please visit the event website at http://championships.ussailing.org/Youth/ChubbJrChampionships.htm.