US Sailing Descends Upon San Diego
West Marine US Open Sailing Series
The San Diego edition of the West Marine US Open Sailing Series wrapped on Sunday, June 19, after three days of beautiful racing in the Pacific, with 8-10 knots of breeze and 3- to 5-ft sea swell.
The first stop on the West Coast swing, the San Diego event included the ILCA 4, ILCA 6, ILCA 7, 470, 29er, Snipe and Finn classes. The event served as the 29er National Championship and the US Singlehanded Championship for the O’Day and Hanley trophies.
29er Skiff
US Sailing’s representatives for the Youth Worlds had a banner weekend in the 13-boat 29er fleet. Brothers Ian and Noah Nyenhuis, who will sail in the Men’s 29er, took first place. Sammie Gardner and Alice Schmid, who will represent the US in the Women’s 29er, took second. Both teams sail for San Diego Yacht Club.
“It’s nice to have the whole 29er fleet in our hometown,” said Sammie Gardner and Alice Schmid. “We don’t usually race against fleets this big, so that experience has been super-beneficial before Youth Worlds.”
ILCA Dinghy Classes
In the ILCA 7 (Laser standard rig), San Francisco YC’s Nick Sessions took second behind Leo Boucher. In the massive 45-boat ILCA 6 fleet, the top West Coast finisher was California YC’s Katharine Doble in third. Robby Meek won that championship. Only three sailors competed in the smallest rig of the Laser range, the ILCA 4. Max Brameld of SFYC came in second after France’s Gilda Dondona.
Finn and 470
Southern Californians dominated the dozen Finns, with Erik Lidecis, Anatolii Nosar and Rob Coutts going 1-2-3. Sailing for St. Francis YC, Kyra Phelan and Dylan Murphy dominated the tiny three-boat 470 class, winning all 10 races.
The US Open Sailing Series will continue in Long Beach on July 15-17, and on San Francisco Bay on August 12-14.
US Youth Championships
San Diego followed up the next weekend by hosting the US Sailing Youth Championships on June 24-26. More than 100 sailors competed across four classes in the regatta, open to youth 19 and younger.
29er Skiff
Tyler and Andrew Lamm took first over US Youth Worlds representatives Ian and Noah Nyenhuis for the Manton D. Scott Trophy. Seven different teams took at least one race win in the 18-boat class.
i420
Robert Ulmer and Henry Allgeier finished in first, one point in front of second-place finishers Sophia Devling and Carmen Berg. Kyra Phelan, this time sailing with Brooke Schmelz, took third.
ILCA Dinghy
US Youth Worlds Women’s ILCA 6 representative Katharine Doble secured the win with 12 points after eight races, winning the Robert and Anne Connor Trophy. Doble is the second-ever female to win the Conner Trophy in the ILCA 6, following Erika Reineke in 2011.
Dave M. Perry Sportsmanship Award
One Sportsmanship Award recipient was chosen in each class. Sailors were nominated by their fellow competitors, then chosen by the event coaches. Winners displayed acts of sportsmanship, kindness, and the Corinthian spirit throughout the event. Congratulations to:
- Sage Andrews & Noelani Velasco, 29er
- Jack Baldwin, ILCA 7
- Efe Derman, ILCA 6
- Christopher Tang & AJ McKeon, i420
Youth World Championships
More than 450 young sailors from 69 countries plan to compete in the Allianz Youth World Sailing Championships. The regatta will take place off the coast of Scheveningen in The Hague, The Netherlands, on July 8-15. Representing the US are:
- Male Windsurfer – Youth iQFOiL: Makani Andrews (Kaneohe, HI)
- Female Windsurfer – Youth iQFOiL: Danicka Sailer (Honolulu, HI)
- Male One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6: Peter Barnard (Chicago, IL)
- Female One Person Dinghy: Katharine Doble (Pacific Palisades, CA)
- Male Skiff – 29er: Ian & Noah Nyenhuis (San Diego, CA)
- Female Skiff – 29er: Sammie Gardner & Alice Schmid (San Diego, CA)
- Male/Mixed Two Person Dinghy – i420: Freddie Parkin (Riverside, CT) & Asher Beck (Cos Cob, CT)
- Female Two Person Dinghy – i420: Samara Walshe (New York, NY) & Lillie Foster (Darien, CT)
- Mixed Two Person Multihull – Nacra 15: Dorothy Mendelblatt (St. Petersburg, FL) & Ian Iles-Lee (Tampa, FL)
- Male Kiteboarding – Formula Kite: Ryan Satterberg (Santa Barbara, CA)
Good luck to them all!