2021 Star North American Championship in Newport Beach, California - Day 1
by Star Class 20 Aug 2021 00:47 PDT
18-21 August 2021
A light breeze day kicked off the 2021 Star North American Championship in Newport Beach, California. 7-9 knots from the south made it possible for the 30-boat fleet to finish the two races scheduled for the day, with two different winners, but an undisputed leader of the day.
Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise, close the first day of the North Americans in the top spot of the ranking with a second place and a bullet. The first win of the day went to George Szabo and Guy Avellon, in second overall after a fifth in the second race. In third we see Jim Buckingham and Phil Toth, making the best out of their extensive local knowledge, but at this very early stage there are two other teams tied for third: Danny and Paul Cayard - with the world-renowned skipper crewing for his son - and John MacCausland with Brian Terhaar.
The winners of the warm-up regatta, one of the four family team racing this week, constituted by Star World Champion Carl Buchan and son Jamie, had an mild start with a seventh and a thirteen and will approach day two in seventh position. The other 'golden star team', made of both Worlds winners, is tenth, a 12 and a nine for Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada, so far, the lowest among the seven Star World Champions competing in Newport Beach.
18-year-old Marleigh Henehan, sailing with junior crew Kole Kammerer are the best Under 30 team - 20th overall - just ahead of Chas Beek, with his father Chuck crewing - and Roberto Ayala with Hendrik Reidel. Best Exalted Grand Master of the day is Andy McDonald with Brad Nichol in 11th position.
Day two, August 19th, will start with a warning at 12:30 and two more races are planned, hopefully with a little more wind for the 30 teams - some of whom are using this event as a training for the 2021 Star World Championship in Kiel, Germany, where the conditions are usually much less gentle.
Quick Links:
Event website: 2021na.starchampionships.org
Entries: 2021na.starchampionships.org/entry/entry-list
Results: yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=14337