Dustin Durant wins US Sailing Match Racing Qualifier
by Long Beach Yacht Club 12 Aug 2019 13:08 PDT
10-11 August 2019
Dustin Durant, LBYC, wins the US Sailing Match Racing Championship Qualifier © Long Beach Yacht Club
Dustin Durant continued his winning streak today and locked in his place at the US Match Racing Championship Finals at St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco this October 3 through October 6.
After a 3-year hiatus from match racing, Durant and crew have officially got their groove back. After the 8 and 0 record yesterday, Durant said that he was a little nervous at the start, but following a practice race and logging their first win, it felt that he and his five crewmembers got back in the groove. "The teamwork was there," the LBYC sailor said.
Given that Durant is a four-time Congressional Cup Skipper and a two-time California Dreamin' Series winner, and following yesterday's sweep, the top-placed finish today was not a surprise. But with two races scheduled for today, anything could have happened.
The 31-year-old skipper shared the win with Shane Young on main, Neil Rietdyk and Wes Bryne on trim, Jack Bazz in the pit and Ian Paice upfront on the bow.
San Diego Yacht Club's Chris Nesbitt will be one of the skippers Durant will face in October. Nesbitt also had a second strong day. Currently ranked 29th in the world and 5th in the US, Nesbitt competed here earlier this year in both the Butler Cup and Ficker Cup and has already qualified for the US Match Racing Championship. He won his first match today against Trent Turigliatto who arrived for today's races with a sprained ankle and (adding insult to injury), incurred a penalty at the start.
Nesbitt's second loss of the series came in the second race, and for a second time to Durant.
The second skipper qualified for the Championships is Cameron Feves, who won a qualifier in Chicago earlier this year and is the reigning Rose Cup winner. Feves didn't have a strong showing Saturday, but he and his crew started to get to a better feel for the complexities of the Catalina 37s by the end of racing yesterday and put up a strong fight today in an attempt to break the three-way tie for third.
The day's first flight saw all three seasoned skippers, Nesbitt, Liz Hjorth and Durant facing off against their younger rivals and schooled them handily. With the win in that flight, Hjorth, sailing for California Yacht Club, secured third place. Momentarily.
In the second flight, Feves turned up the heat, winning the race and drawing her back into the fold.
When LBYC's sailing coach, Trent Turigliatto beat Colton Gerber in the last race, both young rivals had scored a win against Hjorth, which resulted in how the third-place position finishers ranked.
Colton Gerber, a 23-year old Corpus Christi, Texas resident sailing for Ann Arbor Yacht Club finished in last place but will go home with a boatload of experience. A lengthy collegiate sailing resume garnered an invitation to this event. But the Catalina 37s, the largest boat he and the crew have sailed, challenged the team.
"Boat handling deficiencies caught up to us pretty quick," Gerber said. "Trial by fire, it's how it works in sailing." He felt good about the progress he and the crew made by the end of the day and looked to improve boat speed day. The trip to California was also an alumni reunion of sorts as his entire crew is fellow University of Michigan alumni, with one crewmember in his senior year.
Even Parker Mitchell, who handles the main for Nesbitt, said the boats really put boat skills to the test. "It's hard to win races without strong boat handling skills," he said.
This race was also the first time Feves had sailed the Catalina 37. Along with the bigger boat, he picked up a few crew members with varying degree of experience. The 18-year-old, sailing for Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, said they learned as they went; catching a couple of flags that didn't go their way, but overall, were pleased with the progress made in just 10 races.
The USMRC Finals in San Francisco will be sailed in J/22s, boats that both Nesbitt and Feves have experience with. "We want to win that one," Feves said.
This qualifier event was sailed in Long Beach Sailing Foundation's fleet of identical Catalina 37 sailboats donated by Frank Butler, the president of Catalina Yachts, for use in Long Beach Yacht Club's signature event, the Congressional Cup. They are used in many events throughout the year that test many a skipper's sailing skills and the further development of those skills.
Although this was also Turigliatto's debut as skipper on the Catalina 37, the young racer has frequently sailed as crew on the boats for other skippers. And as Durant's win today affirms, experience, teamwork, and local knowledge is a recipe for success.
Racing started before noon today, on a course off the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier. Winds of 9 - 10 knots filled in early creating elevated sailing conditions typical of late afternoons.
Results available here.