Please select your home edition
Edition
Pantaenius Sail 2025 AUS Leaderboard

2021 West Marine US Open Sailing Series: Fort Lauderdale - Day 2

by US Sailing 17 Jan 2021 16:52 AEDT January 15-18, 2021
2021 West Marine US Open Sailing Series – Fort Lauderdale © Ellinor Walters

The Lauderdale Yacht Club was bustling with energy this morning for the start of racing at the 2021 West Marine US Open Sailing Series - Fort Lauderdale. Sailors were especially eager to race after Friday's lack of consistent wind and eventual postponement.

The conditions on a cool, cloudy Saturday in Fort Lauderdale were much improved with a pressure system to the west creating a nice northwesterly breeze. The breeze started at about 10 knots early in the day and continued to build throughout the afternoon with gusts exceeding 20 knots. The wind was coming from the offshore creating tricky conditions.

All three Laser fleets, including the Full Rig, Radial, and 4.7, completed three races on Saturday. Juan Maegli (GUA) takes an early lead in the Laser Full Rig fleet of 42 entries. He won Race 1 and 3, and posted a sixth place finish in Race 2 to take a three point lead.

The 70 Radial sailors were split into two blue and yellow fleets. Chapman Petersen (USA) led the way in the blue fleet with a 2-1-2 scoring line and Kaitlyn Hamilton (USA) had a strong day to pace the yellow fleet with scores, 2-2-5.

Umi Noritake (USA) won the first two races in the 4.7 fleet of 23 boats and added a fourth place finish in Race 3 to take a four point lead.

US Sailing's Olympic Development Program athletes were up for the challenge today.

"The highlight of my day was during the first race," said Conner Nelson (Tampa, Fla.). "I was up there in the top five for a while and competing with these top guys and seeing that I can keep up with their speed. Once I'm able to eliminate a few more mistakes I can be right there at the top consistently."

Another young Laser sailor, Nick Sessions (San Francisco, Calif), expressed his highlight of the day. "It was great being at the top of the fleet. I felt pretty comfortable in my decision to go right and stuck with my plan, but eventually tacked out a little too early about halfway up the beat and lost a couple of boats. But I still had a good race and it was a great learning experience."

Radial sailor Christina Sakellaris (Milton, Mass.) said, "We had a really good first day of racing here. It was really up and down today with huge shifts. We had everything from 8 to 18 knots. I had three really good races. I was just focusing on trying to be really consistent, getting off the line well, and sailing shifts. It was a really fun day."

Steve Mitchell, US Sailing Team Laser Radial Coach, has been looking forward to the US Open Sailing Series events here in Florida after training with Laser Radial athletes in Miami, Clearwater, and Fort Lauderdale over the past three months.

"This is an opportunity to look at the young talent coming through," said Mitchell. "The ODP (Olympic Development) pathway that started after the 2012 Games has been producing some amazing talent over the past few years. For us to be training with the ODP athletes, seeing the yacht club programs that are here, and watching how their programs are advancing is great." See the full interview below on Facebook.

Full Results available here.

Related Articles

US Sailing and Zhik announce strategic partnership
Zhik will provide cutting-edge gear designed to enhance athlete performance on the water US Sailing, the national governing body for the sport of sailing in the United States, is proud to announce a new multi-year partnership with Zhik, global leader in high-performance water wear. Posted on 13 May
US Sailing Team set for the Paris 2024 Olympics
13 American athletes in nine classes will take to the Bay of Marseille Over the course of 12 days, 13 American athletes in nine classes will take to the Bay of Marseille for competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics, following a shortened runway of three years due to the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games. Posted on 27 Jul 2024
Some thoughts on U.S. Olympic sailing
If you're a fan of US Sailing you're best advised to stop reading this editorial Caveat Emptor: If you're a fan of US Sailing, and specifically how the organization runs the U.S. Olympic sailing program, you're best advised to stop reading this editorial. Posted on 13 Mar 2023
Open letter from Paul Cayard
The Executive Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing writes from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing venue I am departing Japan today after absorbing the Olympic environment, observing our team in action and getting pointers from old friends who have been running teams in this game for decades. Posted on 5 Aug 2021
Fun is the key
We can create growth in sailing by helping people have more fun playing with sailboats The lessons of the past are still relevant today! This article excerpt was originally published in the July/August 1996 edition of the American Sailor. Posted on 29 Jul 2020
US Finn sailors set for 2019 Finn Gold Cup at RBYC
Three of the total 63 competitors will be representing the United States. On Monday, December 16, the last event of the 2019 Olympic class World Championships will begin with the 2019 Finn Gold Cup at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club, in Melbourne, Australia. Posted on 15 Dec 2019
Hempel Worlds: New Doublehanded Offshore event
Mixed two-person offshore keelboat event will be on the program at the Paris 2024 Olympics For the first time in Olympic history, a Mixed Two-Person Offshore Keelboat event will be on the program at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition. Posted on 7 Dec 2019
US Sailing team leadership statement
A statement from US Sailing regarding the U.S. Olympic Sailing Program US Sailing and Malcolm Page, Chief of Olympic Sailing, announced that they have agreed to part ways. Page will be leaving US Sailing and returning to his home in Australia. Posted on 20 Sep 2019
2019 Hempel World Cup Series Miami preview
30th anniversary of elite-level Olympic class sailing on Biscayne Bay Racing will soon begin at the 2019 Hempel World Cup Series Miami (HWCSM). This year marks the 30th anniversary of elite-level Olympic class sailing on Biscayne Bay. Posted on 25 Jan 2019
US Sailing team takes on Olympic Qualifier
At World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark The official start of the 2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships is Thursday, (August 2) in beautiful Aarhus, Denmark. Over the course of 11 days of racing, 10 Olympic classes and kites will coexist on the waters outside of Denmark's second largest city. Posted on 1 Aug 2018
Selden 2020 - FOOTERZhik 2024 DecemberTrofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca 2025