By Airwaves Writer Taylor Penwell
Photos © C A Hill Photo
New Bedford Community Boating Center, Buzzards Bay, MA–June 14-18 The Community Boating Center in New Bedford hosted the 2017 505 North American Championship from June 14-18th. 25 teams sailed out of Fort Taber 
for the event. The four days of racing held very different wind conditions. The lightest day of racing saw winds at five to seven knots while the heaviest day had twenty to twenty-five knots.
The courses were a mixture of windward-leewards, triangles and double windward-leewards with races running about 50-70 minutes. These long races allowed for plenty of time to pass and be passed, making the racing exciting.
505 Class Assocation members Drew Buttner and Craig Thompson had this to say about the racing,
“Day 1 was champagne sailing with 12-15 knots and sunny skies. Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn asserted their dominance early on the fleet with Craig Thompson and Mike Curtin putting together a solid first day to hold 2nd place going into day two. Day 2 brought 20-25 knots and enormous waves launching many 505s into the air exposing both blades as they skipped over the waves upwind. Two races were held with the wind opposing the tide, until the breeze freshened. Howie and Andy along with Ted Conrads and Jeff Nelson both set themselves apart from 
the fleet in the big breeze, with finishes of 2-1 and 1-3 respectively. Day 3 was a light 5-7 knots, with two races held after a postponement on shore. Jesse Falsone and crew Chris Behn put together a solid day with two third place finishes putting them in striking distance of the top three going into the final day. The final day of racing saw 10-15 knots with heavy fog. Two races were held in tricky conditions with large disparity between the puff and the lulls. Limited visability also made for some interesting strategy in deciding which side of the course to favor. 505 newcomer Chris Segerblom and Eric Anderson won the day with finishes of 3-1, securing ther 8th place overall and the “top young team” award of a brand new jib donated by North Sails.”
First place finisher Howard Hamlin and crew Andy Zinn dominated the racing, finishing with a total of 13 points. The closely contested 2nd place came down to the last run with Jesse Falsone beating out Edward Conrads for the second and third places respectively with 38 and 39 points. Winners Hamlin and Zinn have won 3 of the last 4 North Americans and are looking to be the strong contenders going into the Annapolis Worlds in September.
Results for the 2017 505 North American can be found here:
https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=2998
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2017 Catalina 22 Nationals Regatta Report & Results
The 2017 Catalina 22 Nationals held at the Fort Worth Sailing Club from June 11th to the 15th was a success with three different fleets inside the championship. 20 boats competed in the Genoa Gold Fleet, 12 boats in the Genoa Silver Fleet, and boats from both of those fleets made up the 12 boat Spinnaker Fleet.
Tuesday’s conditions were the windiest with winds from 19 knots to gusting over 25 knots. This prompted the race committee to put up the J Flag that requires boats to sail with genoas only. The winds settled down the next few days with an average of 14 knots to 22 knots, with the last day down to 8 to 12 knots.
The top eight boats saw some tight racing. 1st place went to skipper Justin Chambers with an impressive 9 points. 2nd place was hotly contested with a three-way tie with 40 points. It took 5 different tiebreakers to get the final standings. Craig White and crew came out on top of the tiebreaker, followed by Ty McAdens team in 3rd, and then Keith Bennett and team in 4th.
Final results for this Catalina 22 Nationals can be found here on the Catalina 22 website:
https://www.catalina22.org/index.php/national-regatta-results#2017
Catalina 22 Class Website:
https://www.catalina22.org/index.php
Thank you to regatta contact Bill Heirendt for information on the Catalina 22 Nationals.
37th Annual Cleveland Race Week One-Design Weekend
By Airwaves Writer Taylor Penwell
Edgewater Yacht Club, Cleveland, Ohio–June 15-18th
138 teams competed in the 37th Cleveland Race Week One-Design Weekend at the Edgewater Yacht Club. Four race circles, comprised of eleven fleets made up the racing. The Cleveland Race Week also included the Star Western Hemisphere Championship that started on Thursday June 15th.
Conditions were light at the start of the event but increased as the weekend went on. With three days of racing and six races scored, Arthur Anosov and crew, David Caesar, from Seneca Yacht Club won the Western Hemisphere Championship with 17 points. Second place went to John MacCausland and crew, Roger Cheer, who won a tiebreaker against George Szabo and crew Dave Martin.
The J70 Great Lakes Championship started on Friday with 16 boats in the fleet. The three days of racing held seven races and Bruce Golison and his crew from Alamitos Bay Yacht Club on Midlife Crisis took home the first place spot with 17 points. Second place went to Trey Sheehan and his crew on Hooligan: Flat Stanley Racing finished second with 24 points. The third place finisher was Dave Koski on Soul with 33 points.
The Tartan 10 class had 19 boats competing in the Lake Erie Championship that started on Friday morning. Some close racing was held over the seven races. Heidi Backus and her team on Nuts from Vermillion Boat Club finished first with 21 points. Second place went to Teddy Pinkerton and his crew on Perfect with 28 points. Close behind in third place was Scott Irwins team on Iball with 29 points.
The J/Boat 105, 24 and 22 classes saw some competitive racing as well. The J105 Fall Line skippered by Chip Schaffner and team finished first with 12 points after seven races. Ryan Lashaway on the J24 Escape Plan won his class after six races and 14 points. In the J22 class Victor Synder and Kevin Doyle of Youngstown Yacht Club on Mo’ Money took first with 11 points after 6 races.
Terry McSweeney’s Flat Stanley took first place in the Melges 32 class with 13 points after six races. Skip Dieball and Matt Fisher took home first place with four first places in the Interlake class. Dave Michos on Na Pame took home first place in the 11 boat Jet 14 fleet. The Dragon and Ensign classes each had six races and the first place class finishers were Mark DeYoung on the 
Dragon Lola and Jim Collins on the Ensign JAGER.
Fleet Winners:
Star: USA 8000, Arthur Anosov, Seneca Yacht Club
Tartan 10: Nuts, Heidi Backus, Vermillion Boat Club
J/70: Midlife Crisis, Bruce Golison, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club
Melges 32: Flat Stanley, Terry McSweeney, Edgewater Yacht Club
J/105: Fall Line, Chip Schaffner, Cleveland Yacht Club
J22: Mo’ Money, Victor Snyder/Devin Doyle, Youngstown Yacht Club
J24: Escape Plan, Ryan Lashaway, Toledo Ice Yacht Club
Dragon: Lola, Mark DeYoung, Edgewater Yacht Club
Ensign: JAGER, Jim Collins, Ensign Class Association
Interlake: 1174, Skip Dieball, GIYC/NCYC
Jet 14: Na Pame, Dave Michos, Edgewater Yacht Club
For complete information, visit www.clevelandraceweek.com. Photos are available on the Cleveland Race Week Facebook Page.
St. Thomas International Optimist Regatta and Tote Clinic Results and Report
By Airwaves Writer Taylor Penwell
© Matías Capizzano Photos
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands–June 12-18th This past week the St. Thomas Yacht Club hosted its 25th Annual International Optimist Regatta, (IOR), presented by EMS (Electronic Merchant Systems) Virgin Islands along with the TOTE Maritime Clinic and Team Race Championship. 111 optimist sailors competed in the regatta and 92 in the clinic. The regatta is one of the first and largest regattas in the Caribbean to promote youth sailing.
The three day TOTE Maritime clinic had some of the best Optimist coaches in the world conducting on-the-water training with instructive on-land debriefs for both championship fleet and green fleet sailors. The coaches included Gonzalo Pollitzer (currently coaching the Norwegian Optimist Team), Manny Resano (California Yacht Club, USA), Eric Bardes (Team LIMA (Long Island Mid Atlantic), USA), Omari Scott (Coral Reef Yacht Club, USA), Santiago Galan (St. Croix Yacht Club, USVI), Esteban Rocha (Sequoia Yacht Club, USA), and Agustin Resano (St Thomas Yacht Club USVI). This talented team boasts amazing resumes, including coaching sailors, both boys and girls, to first place and podium finishes in the Optimist Worlds, South Americans, North Americans and Asians in fleet and team racing.
© Matías Capizzano Photos
Agustin Resano said, “The clinic was focused on starts, strategy, and tactics. The advantage of having a clinic to practice followed immediately afterwards by a regatta is the chance for sailors to ‘put everything together’. It’s the best type of training and with coaches that are among the best in the U.S. and World.
Sixteen teams of participated in the TOTE Martime Team Racing Championship. USA Worlds Team made up of Mitchell Callahan, Justin Callahan, Charlie Leigh, Liam O’Keeffe and Stephan Baker beat out ISV 4’s Rayne Duff, Mia Nicolosi, Julian van den Driessche and Mathiew Dale to win the team race event 2:1. This is the second year in a row team USA has won the Team Race Championship. Team PUR took 3rd place behind ISV in the Team Racing Championship.
TOTE Team Racing Champions, USA Worlds Team © Matías Capizzano Photos
The three-day regatta kicked off on Friday June 16th. Heavy Winds and big swell categorized the conditions over the three days of racing. Winds speeds were between 15 knots and 25 knots and swells from 2-6 feet. The left side was consistently paying off for those who went that way all weekend. Ten races were scored in the championship fleet and 21 races scored in the green fleet.
On the championship fleet course the racing was extremely tight between USA Worlds Team members and Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club sailors Mitchell Callahan, Justin Callahan and Stephan Baker. Stephan Baker led the field after the first day of racing but with better scores on Saturday and Sunday, brothers Mitchell Callahan and Justin Callahan pushed ahead to the first and second spots respectively. Full results HERE
1st Mitchell Callahan – Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club- 14 pts
2nd Justin Callahan- Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club- 21 pts
3rd Stephan Baker- Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club- 33 pts
4th Mia Nicolosi- St. Thomas Yacht Club- 40 pts
5th Rayne Duff- St. Thomas Yacht Club- 42 pts
Championship Top 5 Overall © Matías Capizzano Photos
The Green Fleet finished 21 races over the three days of racing. Sailors from Puerto Rico, USA and ISV finished well in the top 10.
1st Roger Casellas- Club Nautico San Juan
2nd Sebastian Medina – Club Nautico San Juan
3rd Jake Julien- Coral Reef Yacht Club
4th Gian Marco Piovanetti – Club Nautico San Juan
5th Owen Grainger – Coral Reef Yacht Club
Regatta Directors Ann Nicolosi and Holly Jenkins said “We had another great year with close to record number participants, our clinic was the biggest number we ever had. We were blessed with perfect sailing conditions everyday along with a great fleet of competitive sailors and top coaches from all around the world, it was great.”
IOR Regatta Results – http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/13851#_newsroom
St. Thomas Yacht Club – http://www.styc.club/
S1D Welcomes New Team Member: Reliable Racing
Sail1Design is pleased to welcome a new team member and sponsor, Reliable Racing. RR has been around since 1965, supplying racing sports with great gear. For sailing, Reliable Racing specializes in and up-and-coming new product for dinghy sailing: sailing helmets. 
They also have great helmet covers (think your team’s logo) and sublimated stretch bibs as well. Helmets are an added safety factor and a growing part of our sport. Maybe we’ll look back someday and be amazed that kids ever went out sailing dinghies without helmets!
Check them out!!!
http://www.reliableracing.com/watersports.cfm
2017 Comet North American Championship Results & Report
By Airwaves writer Taylor Penwell
June 10-11 –Susquehanna Yacht Club
The 2017 Comet North American Championship was held on June 10 & 11 at the Susquehanna Yacht Club. It was a big success with fourteen Comets coming from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The conditions were challenging with the winds fluctuating between five and fifteen knots, with substantial wind shifts over the six races scored.
Needless to say the lead boats were never in a safe position until crossing the finish line. Those who missed the first shift or had a poor start always had a fighting chance to catch up. It made for exciting racing with the final scores always in doubt.
The winning team was Elliott Oldak and Barbara Best from Severn Sailing Association. Second place went to the young couple Kevin and Ashley Buruchian from Massapoag Yacht Club in Massachusetts. Third place was taken with the consistent sailing of Dick and Judy Harmon from Leatherlips Yacht Club in Columbus, Ohio.
Credit for a successful regatta goes to Joe and Tina Lauver, who arranged all the meals, the race committee and the handcrafted trophies. Many thanks go to the PRO Scott Kulp and the Race Committee, who superbly managed all aspects of the racing.
Another great Comet regatta!
Click here for the Comet North American Results –
www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=14728
www.CometClass.com
