Sailing News - February 11, 2016

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« Back	Post Date: Thursday, February 11, 2016
Sailing News - February 11, 2016

2018 J/70 World Championships Awarded to EYC

The fastest growing one-design class in the world will contest its 2018 World Championship off of Marblehead, with the event hosted by the Eastern. Henry Brauer, President of the US J/70 Class and Vice President of the International Class, presented EYC's bid to the International Class and was met with unanimous support for a World Championship out of EYC. Doug Morgan has stepped up serve as Regatta Chairman and is already working with local Fleet 9 Chairman Daan Goodkoep to assemble a strong management team. Doug has recent experience hosting major events at Eastern, after the highly successful 2011 J/105 North Americans. The regatta is scheduled for September 22-29, 2018 and is expected to attract 100 boats from around the world.

Etchells, J/70 & Star Class Winter Series Underway in Florida

Last weekend marked the third event in the Etchells Winter Series, the Florida State Championships, sailed on Miami's Biscayne Bay. Jud Smith, tactician aboard Peter Duncan's Raging Rooster, took 2nd in the ultra competitive 59-boat fleet. Just two points back was EYC's Tomas Hornos, crewing for Luke Lawrence. Jud and the Raging Rooster team's scores in the other series' events include a 8th in December's the Louis Piana Regatta and 18th at the Sidney Doren Regatta in January.

Over on the west coast of Florida, the J/70 Class is holding its winter series as well. Jud and the team of Africa took 3rd at the Winter Series #1 in December, while Frank McNamara finished 29th in the 50-boat fleet. Franktook 28th at Winter Series #2 while Darby Smith took the helm of Africa and finished just ahead of Frank's Chinook team in 24th. Despite an OCS at Winter Series #3 this past weekend, Frank took 23rd overall while Darby and the Africa team improved to 8th overall.

Tomas Hornos finished 16th of 24 at the Star Midwinters in January. The next event in the Star Winter Series, the Schoonmaker Cup, will be sailed February 20-21. With the Star World Championships in Miami in April, this year's Winter Series is attracting top talent.

Eastern's Top Youth Talent Competes Year-Round

The adults aren't the only ones taking advantage of great sailing down south this winter! EYC's youth sailors have been competing in Florida and around the world this winter. Christina Sakellaris represented the U.S. at the ISAF Youth World Championships sailed in Malaysia this past December. Christina finished 18 of 54 against the world's best youth talent. In addition to competing at the top level of youth sailing, Christina is breaking into the Olympic and World Cup racing circuit. She qualified for this year's Miami World Cup regatta by finishing 16th at the Fort Lauderdale Olympic Classes Regatta in early January. The Miami World Cup was the first round of the US Olympic Trials in the Laser Radial and also featured the best international Radial sailors including each of the medalists from the 2012 Olympics, as well as all of the top ten World Ranked sailors. Christina finished 70th in Miami, her first World Cup regatta. Next up will be Laser Midwinter's East next week in Clearwater.

Niall Kearney finished 28th of 165 overall and 14th in Blue Fleet at the US Optimist Class Valentine's Day Regatta last weekend in St. Petersburg, FL. Niall's finish earned him a berth at the 2016 USODA Optimist Team Trials, where he'll compete for the opportunity to represent the US Optimist Class at international events. Philip Jeffries is also qualified for the Team Trials, having earned his spot at last summer's Opti New Englands where he finished 65th of 297. Next up for Niall and Philip will be the Sunshine State regatta in March, followed by the Team Trials in April in San Francsico.

Sonar Frostbiting Resumes in Marblehead

Frostbite Series 2 at Boston YC was scheduled to debut this coming Sunday, February 14th but this Sunday's racing has been cancelled due to extreme cold temps in the forecast. Racing will resume next Sunday the 21st and will continue each Sunday through March 27th. EYC has two Sonars available for charter at the BYC. The EYC boats were very competitive in Series 1, winning four of the six days along with several second place daily finishes. Chartering a Sonar for a day of racing costs just $40 and reservations can be made on the EYC web page (please log-in!) by clicking on Sonar Frostbiting on Upcoming Events.