2023 US Open Sailing Series begins in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami

US Open Sailing Series © US Sailing

Over 230 competitors from 22 countries will descend on South Florida this weekend for the Miami and Fort Lauderdale US Open Sailing Series. The ILCA 4, 6 and 7, and Nacra 15 will compete out of Lauderdale Yacht Club, while the Mixed 470, 29er, Formula Kite, 49er, 49erFX, and iQFOiL Men & Women will take to the water from the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove.

Several Olympians will be in attendance in Miami. Stuart McNay (Providence, R.I.), four-time Olympian, is back in the 470 with 2020 470 Olympian Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, Minn.). 2020 Nacra 17 and RS:X Olympians Anna Weis (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Pedro Pascual will take to the water in the iQFOiL class, while 2016 49erFX Olympian Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) is teaming up with 2008 Gold Medalist in the ILCA 6 Anna Tunnicliffe-Tobias (Pittsburg, Penn.) in the 49erFX class.

The Women's Formula Kite class will be one to watch, with the top two finishers at the 2022 World Championship - American Daniela Moroz (San Fransisco, Calf.) and French athlete Lauriane Nolot (Camps la Source, France) - set to compete in Miami. This weekend the Formula Kite class tops both events for most nationalities and territories represented on the course with athletes representing 11 different flags.

In the ILCA 6 fleet, local Ft. Lauderdale success story Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) will continue her return to the ILCA 6 after pursuing a campaign in the 49erFX. Reineke got back in the boat last year for the ILCA 6 World Championship in Houston, where she finished 10th and as the top American.

The top three finishers in all Olympic disciplines - Mixed 470, Formula Kite, 49er, 49erFX, iQFOiL Men & Women, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 - will be eligible for cash prizes at both events. First place takes home $1,000 cash, second place $500, and third place $250.

The series was established in 2019, building on the back of the popular Olympic Class Regatta (OCR) events as a domestic training platform for athletes racing in Olympic class boats. This year's Florida series also serves as the beginning of a qualification and selection process for select classes for the 2023 Olympic Test Event in Marseille, France, the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague, The Netherlands, and the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

Read more about the qualification and selection processes here.

US Sailing would like to thank national sponsors Gill and New England Ropes for their support of this important national training program. US Sailing would also like to thank the organizing authority, host clubs, and volunteers that help the US Open Sailing Series run smoothy: Miami Yacht Club, Lauderdale Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Center, the USMMA Sailing Foundation, and Miami Kiteboarding school, and the countless volunteers.

The Miami and Fort Lauderdale events are the first of the series, which will continue on to Clearwater in February and to three West Coast locations starting in June.