U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship day 2

by Jake Fish on 29 Jun 2012 Thirty-eight teams set out on Lake Minnetonka late this morning for the second day of the U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship.

Racing was particularly challenging. Two teams emerged from the pack to set the stage for tomorrow’s final day.

Allyson Donahue (Brigantine, N.J.) and Maddie Widmeier (Pipersville, Penn.) maintained a narrow one point lead over Carolyn Smith (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Bayley Davidson (Costa Mesa, Calif.), as the two teams distance themselves from the rest of the fleet.

After several general recalls and postponements due to light, variable winds, and aggressive starting behavior from the competitors, the first race eventually got underway at approximately 11:30 am CT. The day started with a Northwestern breeze, ranging from 5 to 10 knots and temperatures in the mid 70’s. The first two races were completed in mostly light breeze, with winds increasing slightly for the day’s final race.

Donahue and Widmeier came out of the gates hot winning the opening race of the day, and extending their overall lead. They followed up in the fifth race with a 19th place finish. Smith and Davidson remained consistent for the first two races of the day, allowing them to briefly take the overall lead. The roles were reversed in today’s final race with the California team posting a 23rd place finish, and allowing Donahue and Widmeier to retake the lead.

One of the more consistent teams today was the pair of twin sisters, Holly Tullo (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Cally Tullo (Staten Island, N.Y.), who put together a string of top 10 finishes to move into third place overall, and 12 points out of second place. This pairing was one of two boats in the field to put together all top 10 finishes for the day. The Tullo sisters finished seventh overall at last year’s U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship.
Tomorrow’s final day of racing is set to start at 9:30 CT, and an awards dinner will follow at 7:00 CT, where the winning team will be crowned, and have their names placed on the prestigious Ida Lewis Trophy.

For more details on the U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship, including a list of competitors, results and standings, recaps, photos, and more please the Event website

This year’s Championship is hosted by the Lake Minnetonka Sailing School.

* Recap content provided by Conner Blouin, US Sailing Communications Assistant

US Sailing website