Southport Sailing Foundation - A Resource For Racing Sailors

A new division for women 16 or older has been added to the fold for the U.S. Singlehanded Championships (USSC). This US SAILING National Championship event, hosted by the Pensacola Yacht Club (Fla.), gets underway this Friday, July 30 and runs through Sunday, August 1. Women will race in Radials and the men will sail in Lasers on Pensacola Bay.

A talented fleet of 12 will compete for the inaugural U.S. Women’s Singlehanded Championship. Mallory Buechler (Pensacola, Fla.) looks forward to competing for this championship in her hometown. Just over a week ago, Buechler finished seventh out of 46 at the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship. In that same event, Annie Rossi (Oxnard, Calif.) finished sixth and hopes to contend again in Pensacola this week. Also, three-time Sunfish North American Champion, Anne Edwards (Baton Rouge, La.), will try her hand in the Radial class this week.

In the men’s division, four prior US SAILING National Champions are competing for this year’s title. Last year’s runner-up, Zeke Horowitz (Siesta Key, Fla.), will return to take another shot. The College of Charleston sailor finished second last year and four points behind winner Kyle Rogachenko through nine races in Lasers. Horowitz was the 2009 U.S. Youth Sailing Championship in the Laser Division and crewed for fellow competitor Fred Strammer when the team won the U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship in 2006. Former two-time U.S. Junior Triplehanded Champion, Fred Stammer (Nokomis, Fla.), a member of the Brown University sailing team, was a 2010 ICSA Honorable Mention All-American Coed Skipper. He helped lead Brown to a third place finish at the 2010 ICSA/Gill Coed National Championship.

Kevin Laube (San Diego, Calif.) won US SAILING’s 2009 Chubb Junior Singlehanded Championship convincingly by a 15 point margin. The men’s division will also feature a fellow two-time winner of US SAILING’s Chubb Junior Triplehanded Championship (2009, 2007), Evan Hoffman (Escondido, Calif.).

Competing this year for the first time in the championship is John Wallace (St. Petersburg, Fla.), a 2010 US Sailing Development Team member. He won the Laser competition at the 2009 International Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, Fla. He was eighth out of 73 at the 2010 Laser North American Championship. Also competing this week is Buzzy Heausler (Tampa, Fla.), who is making his eighth run at the USSC.

The U.S. Singlehanded Championships are open to male and female sailors 16 and older. A day of practice racing and a Rolex Clinic led by Kurt Taulbee will be held prior to racing on Thursday, July 29.

Sailors qualified through eliminations, both at the Area level and specific regattas including the Sunfish Class Nationals, the Interscholastic Singlehanded Championships and the ICSA / LaserPerformance Men’s and Women’s National Singlehanded Championships. Qualifying events for this prestigious championship ran through June, 2010.

Please visit the event website for more details on the event, including daily recaps, results, photos, and more. The U.S. Singlehanded Championships is sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. LaserPerformance, and Hobie Performance Sunglasses.

Small jibs and loose boom vangs were the order of the day as the RC 44 Valencia Cup got underway here in a pumping sea breeze that topped out at 20 knots.

Despite the strong wind off Malvarrosa Beach, the professional crews threw the light-displacement boats around with seeming ease.

In a day that saw seven flights and 28 match races completed, three crews made it through the first five flights undefeated. But only Torbjörn Törnqvist (SWE) Artemis escaped unscathed.

"We started well enough today and the boat was going well through the water," said Artemis skipper Terry Hutchinson, who finished the day at 6-0. "We had our best day boathandling, and we needed it today."

Three other teams finished the day with 4-1 records including Russell Coutts (NZL) and the BMW ORACLE Racing team, Cameron Appleton (NZL) Team Aqua and James Spithill (AUS) 17. Rounding out the top five is Igor Lah (SLO) Ceeref at 3-1 with Rod Davis (NZL) as skipper.

"We had a good day considering we weren't able to practice yesterday," said Davis, who suffered a slight injury when the mainsheet grazed his head. "We went in loose and are quite happy. The boys have been on the boat a long time and that was helpful today."

The day started mild with an east/southeasterly wind around 12 knots. But with the temperature inland topping out at 90 degrees, it quickly turned wild when the wind shifted to the southeast and built to 16 to 18 knots, with gusts up to 20 knots.

The race committee ordered the small jibs for the fourth flight of races, and VIP spectators were no longer allowed aboard to avoid the risk of injury during transfer from chase boat to race boat.

Corresponding with the increase in wind strength was an increase of incidents. Upwards of eight penalties were issued, three spinnakers ripped, one jib battered and one steering system damaged.

A couple of crews were forced to retire from races due to the damage, but for those who finished you would think the day was a walk in the park.

"This was one of the windiest days we've had match racing, but they're spectacular boats. They come alive downwind," Hutchinson said.

"My guys did a great job getting me out of trouble today," said Appleton. "I was the one causing the trouble."

The match racing portion of the RC 44 Valencia Cup continues Wednesday with another seven flights planned. Thursday is a scheduled practice day for the fleet racing portion of the regatta, which runs Friday through Sunday.

RC 44 Valencia Cup match racing after seven of fourteen flights:

1. Artemis / Terry Hutchinson (SWE) 6-0
2. BMW ORACLE Racing / Russell Coutts (USA) 4-1
2. Team Aqua / Cameron Appleton (UAE) 4-1
2. 17 / James Spithill (USA) 4-1
5. Ceeref / Rod Davis (SLO) 3-1
6. No Way Back / Pieter Heerema and Ray Davies (NED) 3-3
7. Team Sea Dubai / Markus Weiser (UAE) 2-4
8. Katusha / Paul Cayard (RUS) 1-3
9. Mascalzone Latino Audi Team / Tommaso Chieffi (ITA) 1-4
10. AEZ RC44 Sailing Team / Christian Binder (AUT) 0-5
10. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero / José Maria Ponce (ESP) 0-5