Chubb U.S. Junior Championships - Action Heats up in Texas

by US Sailing on 8 Aug 2013 At the Chubb U.S. Junior Championships, all three fleets took to the waters of Galveston Bay for racing,hosted by the Houston Yacht Club (HYC) and Texas Corinthian Yacht Club (TCYC).

Sailors were greeted with quality conditions for most of the day. Top junior single-, double-, and triplehanded sailors have earned the right to compete for the Sears Cup and the Bemis and Smythe Trophies by participating in regional qualifiers. All three fleets completed four races on Wednesday.USJC13 D1 rls

Nic Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.) got off to a super start in the U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship in the Byte CII fleet to takes a nine point lead into Thursday. Baird took the lead immediately with a win in Race one. He finished second in Races two and four and fourth in Race three. Zach Hill (Annapolis, Md.) had a strong day to place him in second place. He posted a 2-6-9-1 scoring line for 18 points. Defending champion Addison Hackstaff (St. Petersburg, Fla.) has 19 points. He won Race three, but finished 11th in Race two. He was third in Race one and fourth in Race four.

A four team log jam sits at the top of the U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship in the Club 420 leaderboard. Jackson Wagner (Atherton, Calif.) and Mark Power (Woodside, Calif.) cling to a one point lead with an 11-4-2-4 scoring line. A three-way tie for second place includes Kristopher Swanson (Kentfield, Calif.) and Alexander Ron (Belvedere, Calif.), Alexander Stewart (Duxbury, Mass.) and Alex Palfrey (Duxbury), and Charlie Lomax (Annapolis, Md.) and Evan Morgan (Shady Side, Md.).

The team of Liam McCarthy (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Nevin Avila (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Emily Wright (Tampa, Fla.), and Noah Blacker maintained their one point lead from Tuesday's two races and now enjoy a four point advantage. They started and finished the day with wins and now have three bullets in six races. Skipper Jack Barton (San Anselmo, Calif.) is second and Dane Byerly (El Lago, Texas) is third.

The decision to start racing later in the day paid off. Breezes picked up significantly in the afternoon and early everning, from three to five knots to 15 to 18 with gusts reaching 20. Temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. At times, the C420s sailed without flying their kites. Wind shifts early in the day delayed the start of some races as courses needed to be re-set.

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