2021 West Marine US Open Sailing - Miami Day 2

Farrah Hall (USA) in front at 2021 West Marine US Open Sailing – Miami © Allison Chenard

Sailors were greeted with warm, sunny conditions and temperatures in the low 70s for most of Friday. Light wind prevailed again for most of the day, similar to Thursday's breeze on Biscayne Bay. Wind speeds peaked at around 6 knots in the afternoon.

On Thursday, the late afternoon breeze allowed the Nacra 17, 49er, 49erFX, and Mixed 470 fleets to complete two races each. Meanwhile, the iQFoil and Open Windsurf Foil fleets did not have ample wind on Thursday and looked ahead to Friday to start the racing in those fleets. The Friday weather forecast looked improved in comparison to Friday, so there was optimism in the air for the windsurfers. Despite minimal breeze the two iQFoil fleets completed one race each. Mateus Isaac (BRA) earned the bullet in the Men's fleet (9-meter sail) and Garrett January (Pinellas, Fla.) won the 8-meter sail race. Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) placed third overall in the 8-meter race and the top women's sailor.

Farrah Hall had a lot to say about the iQFoil and how this Windsurfing class equipment could change the sport. "I've had over 15 years of RS:X experience, so it's been a long time. The iQ is a new opportunity and breath of fresh air for the Olympic Windsurfing class. We really need to stay current with all the foiling boats we see out there. I really think that we are attracting new people from all backgrounds, including windsurfing and other sailing classes. We are excited to have something that is really fun to sail."

Hall raced at the 2012 London Olympic Games for Team USA. More recently, she represented Team USA at the 2019 Pan American Games and is Team USA's selected athlete in Women's RS:X for Tokyo 2020.

Hall still loves every element of windsurfing. "I think windsurfing is the purest form of sailing. You are connected to your equipment. It's in your hands. It's very athletic and physical. And it's also extremely fun and it's going to be the biggest Olympic class."

The iQFoil is the 2024 Olympic Games Windsurfing class replacing the RS:X equipment. The concept around this class was to create exciting windsurfing equipment more sustainable for future generations by making the equipment appealing to not only the professionals, but for the weekend windsurfer, and to create a foil racing platform at the local level.

The 49erFX has been highly competitive through two days of racing and six races total. After posting mid-fleet results on Thursday, the new team of Lucy Wilmot (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) surged up the leaderboard on Friday and took a one point lead over Stephen Baker (Miami, Fla.) and Nicholas Hardy (Newton, Mass.). Wilmot and Reineke posted a 2-1-2-1 scoring line. Baker and Hardy won both races on Thursday to take an early lead.

Nevin Snow (San Diego, Calif.) and Dane Wilson (Ojai, Calif.) have won five consecutive races on Friday in the 49er fleet after placing second in Race 1 on Thursday. They have a four point lead over Ian Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) and Hans Henken (Coronado, Calif.), who Race 1 and have placed runner-up to Snow and Wilson in each of the last five races.

The 470 event has been paced by Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Ithaca, N.Y.) who have won five of six races through two days and are racing this week in recognition of the Trevor Moore Foundation. The fleet completed four races on Friday. Louisa Nordstrom (Osprey, Fla.) and Trevor Bornarth (Stuart, Fla.).

In the Nacra 17 fleet, the Brazilian team comprised of Samuel Albrecht and Gabriela Nicolino (BRA) have had an impressive regatta through five races, including three races on Friday. They have won four of the five races and lead by six points over Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

Full results and standing available here.