Byte CII North American’s and Continental Qualifier day 3

by Bob Adams on 2 Mar 2014 Today was day three of racing for the Byte CII North American Championship being held out of the US Sailing Center Martin County. This event is also the continental qualifier for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games to be held this August in Nanjing, China.

28 competitors from 14 countries left the beach in a light northeasterly. Henry Marshall from the United States continued his dominance with three bullets as he clinched the championship with two races remaining tomorrow. Beaming from ear to ear onshore, Henry said, 'it feels good, it feels like a success.' Henry lives just outside of Boston, Massachusetts where the temperature has not been above freezing for months and he has only sailed about 10 days since September. He credits his dedication to strength training to help him 'on days like these' were the breeze was up.

Cristian Noe, head coach of the Argentina Olympic Team is thrilled to be coaching Henry. The pair work hard to optimize the tuning of the boat. 'We have spent a lot of time with the batten tension over the past several months to perfect sail shape based on the breeze', said Noe. He went on to say, 'we feel video of our training has really helped show the sailors how every little mistake can add up to be a big difference.'

Going into the final day and four spots are up for grabs to qualify ones country for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games tensions are high with many within reach of that goal. Since the USA and Canada boys have qualified there is a tight race between Cayman, Bahamas, St Lucia and the British Virgin Islands. Bermuda and the Dominican have qualified on the girl’s side leaving Cayman, USVI, Trinidad and Mexico in a battle.

This event will secure four countries bids for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, Click here for full Event Facebook Page