California Youth Represent Team USA at European 420 Championships

A group of young California sailors is in Europe this week, representing the United States at the European Championships for the 420 class. Eighteen-year-old Marco Puertas is among the 12 Bay Area youth in the 15-strong contingency from California. His father, Lorenzo Puertas, sent us the following news and photos.

“The six-day regatta in Portoroz, Slovenia, includes 243 sailors from 22 nations from around Europe and the world. European sailing powerhouses Spain, Italy, France, and Great Britain are here, along with small teams from Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, and Australia.

“Team USA sent 23 boats to this year’s European Championship, including a dozen teens who have grown up sailing on the San Francisco Bay. These sailors, from the High Performance Center (HPC) at Tiburon Yacht Club, are a sort of Bay Area ‘All Star Team.’ The Bay Area group includes kids who started in Optis and have been sailing for years at yacht clubs around the Bay.

“HPC Coach Udi Gal is a four-time Olympic athlete and coach, and a former world and European champion. He is one of five Team USA coaches in Slovenia this week, along with Head Coach Steven Keen, Ian “Bunny” Warren, Ilan Tashtash, and David Bargehr — all former Olympians.

“So far conditions on the Adriatic have been sunny and warm, with light breezes of 5-10 kts.”

Marco Puertas has been sailing on S.F. Bay since he was 6, and racing at Encinal Yacht Club since he was 8. He’s currently a sailing instructor at Encinal YC, and trains with coach Udi Gal at High Performance Sailing at the Tiburon Yacht Club.

Congratulations and good luck to the sailors competing for Team USA this week. *Note, all members of HPC are members of the Tiburon Yacht Club, in addition to their home clubs on the Bay.
Bay Area HPC:
1. Sawyer Bastian, 19, StFYC
2. Naomi Lowenthal, 18, TYC
3. Oscar Melet, 15, StFYC / SFYC
4. Gavin Murphy, 16, StFYC
5. Blake Oberhauer, 17, StFYC / SFYC
6. Marco Puertas, 18, Encinal YC
7. Leo Robillard, 17, SFYC
8. Beckett Shin, 17, StFYC
9. Camille Stang, 17, StFYC
10. Ryan Tonkovich, 16, StFYC / SFYC
11. Jack Wicker, 15, StFYC / SFYC
12. Aaron Ziegler, 17, Encinal YC
Southern California:
1. Katlia Sherman, 16, California YC
2. Helena Salas, 16, California YC
3. Jackson Rushing, 16, California YC

“Marco’s worked really hard to qualify for the US team, with the support of so many people in the Bay Area youth sailing community,” Lorenzo writes, adding that Marco and his family are “grateful for all the S.F. Bay yacht clubs and their countless volunteers that support youth sailing — teaching, hauling boats, organizing regattas, and funding youth sailing on the Bay.”

If you’d like to get your young person into sailing, take a look at some of the opportunities mentioned on our website: Youth Sailing