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Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

US Sailing Championship of Champions at Gulfport Yacht Club

by US Sailing 13 Oct 2015 03:11 AEDT 8-11 October 2015

The top 49er team in the country showed their diversity on the race course this weekend and captured one of US Sailing's most intriguing championships. Brad Funk (Largo, Fla.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.) successfully acclimated to VX One to win the Championship of Champions, hosted by Gulfport Yacht Club.

US Sailing's Championship of Champions is recognized as one of the more unique adult racing events in the country. All helmsmen qualified for this event by winning a one-design class National, North American, or World Championship in the qualifying year (2014 - 2015). Twenty teams were tested in the VX One this year on the waters of Mississippi Sound.

Funk and Burd got off to an outstanding start on Friday by notching three consecutive bullets. However, Kenny Wolfe and Virginia Hannan of the MC Scow class were the most consistent team through Friday's five races and took a six point lead into Saturday. They won the final two races Friday to take the lead. All five races were conducted in the afternoon in moderate to light breeze.

Despite back-to-back 10th (Friday) and 11th (Saturday) place finishes, Funk and Burd took command on Saturday en route to a 24-point lead through another six races in moderate to heavy winds.

On Sunday, the breeze was heavy in morning with chopping conditions. Wind speed reached 15 knots in the morning and dropped to 6-8 knots later in the day.

Funk and Burd placed third, sixth and second in Sunday's three races to seal the win. Christopher Alexander (Ocean Springs, Miss.) and John F. Dane (Pass Christian, Miss.) of the VX One class won two of three races Sunday to finish second. Mike Holt (Soquel, Calif.) and Edward Conrads (Sausalito, Calif.) of the International 505 placed third overall.

"I was able to apply my skill sets from sailing the Laser, Vanguard 15, and the 49er, to this boat," said Funk. "I sailed the VX One a couple times before as crew and I was able to give some intel to Trevor. We were able to get good starts and when we hit the pressure we were strong on the downwinds.

"There was a really relaxing and fun group of people here from different niches of sailing. I had heard about several of these talented sailors, but never raced against some of them. I think we all started to figure out the boat, and when we did, the racing got tighter and tighter."

Funk and Burd will compete at the 49er World Championships in November for a chance to qualify Team USA for the 2016 Olympic Games in the 49er (Skiff) competition.

Three days of racing was preceded by a special VX One boat clinic and technical briefing on Thursday led by Brian Bennett, designer of the VX One.

The championship is named in honour of Jack Brown who was noted for his service as a judge, regatta organizer and member of US Sailing Committees.

The 2015 Championship of Champions is a US Sailing National Championship, sponsored by Gill North America and Switlik Survival Products.

Overall Results:

PosHelmCrewR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14Pts
1  Brad FunkTrevor Burd  1112[10][11]2542736236
2  Christopher AlexanderJohn F Dane  6125828[14]235[15]111164
3  Mike HoltEdward Conrads  1232[14][17]613811427665
4  Chris RaabDonovan Brennan  84869[12][15]474553467
5  Kenny WolfeVirginia Hannan  2231113[16]10123124[15]568
6  Paul AbdullahJeff Eiber  [13]943659610[16]2951381
7  Val SmithMarkell Pool & Adelheid Rittmeyer  11713713161193[15]10[14]82
8  Max BrillAndrew Person & Ian MacDiarmid  [16]1112121427[19]2111821193
9  Brian KeaneEvan Aras & Julian Sudofsky 461441145[17][15]6101081294
10  Andrew EaganHayden Bennett  10591012312116[14]97[16]7101
11  Jesse AndrewsMarc Barra & Lauren Easley  [15]14[18]114747915812115107
12  John Dane IIISchaeffer Dane  5[16]15515931413811[16]410112
13  Sam PadnosJoshua Padnos  7136971588[17]1013[19]139118
14  Scott RasmussenHallie Schiffman & Sam Tobio  91017[19]5101713[18]7611123120
15  George GambleKenneth Nixon  3[17]717814[19]91113461716125
16  Steve GoodsonAlan Diercks  18151016319181651716[20][20]8161
17  James CummiskeyAdrian Owles  148111316[18]13[18]141218141417164
18  Jonathan FootTed Dickson & Emily Dickson1718[19]15181711121619[20]17919188
19  Shelley CaplanMartha Heausler & Mallory Edwards[19][19]161819161015191819181918205
20  Tanner ShultzCaroline Shultz & Wyatt Shultz[20][20]202020202020202017131820228

www.ussailing.org/racing/championships/adult/cofc

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