This year’s US Youth Worlds Qualifiers took place in Clearwater, Florida from January 16^th to the 18^th. The competitive group of Laser Radials, RS-X windsurfers, I420s, and 29ers saw every condition from heavy wind and high waves to light and shifty breeze. The racing location, though good for racing was unfortunately a 20 to 30 minute high-speed tow from the launch site. Despite this complication, sailors seemed content with the race committee and pleased with the regatta in general.

            Day 1: The regatta started off with heavy breeze; about 15 to 25 knots out of the southeast. One young racer, Patrick Floyd, commented that weight seemed important throughout the day as “many light boats flipped”. Ian Storck and Declan Whitmyer finished first in all three races of the day in the I420 class as did John Wallace in the Laser Radial class and Antoine Screve and his crew, James Moody in the 29er class.

            Day 2: Lighter breeze and hot, sunny weather on the second day of racing frustrated many sailors who had done well the day before. Wind was about 5-12 knots from the southwest but, despite the lack of breeze, swells were starting to form from the Gulf. Scott Houck in the Laser fleet noted that wind shifts did not play an important role in the racing, as “leaders were coming from both sides of the course”. He also saw current affecting the course as water ebbed and flowed from the inlet, a phenomenon which continued throughout the regatta as sailors neared the inlet.

            Day 3: The last day’s conditions seemed to be a mix of both the previous days. With more breeze than Day 2 (about 10 to 15 knots from the northwest), huge swells built up to about 3 to 4 feet and came across the course. This provided for very tricky downwind beats. The regatta ended with the following appointed to represent the US this July at the Youth Worlds in Turkey:

            I420 class: Ian Liberty and Colin Murphy

Ian and Colin’s performance at this regatta was very consistent. Though they finished first only twice, their worst race was a fourth place. Ian has had an impressive sailing career so far, winning both the Buzzard’s Bay and Hyannis regattas in 2008 and becoming a member of the 2009 US Sailing Team.

            Laser Radial: Mateo Vargas

Mateo won the Laser Radial class with 22 points over the second place finisher. Winning major regattas has been a habit for Mateo lately (he finished first in the Orange Bowl too) and hopefully he’ll keep up the roll!

            29er: Antoine Screve and James Moody

Antoine and James finished first in 6 out of 10 races in the competitive 29er class beating the second place finisher by only two points. Antoine also competed recently in the Orange Bowl (finishing 4^th in the C420 class) and has been named to the U18 US Sailing Team.

            RS-X: Cullen Ahearn

Though there were only three competitors in this class, Cullen sailed very well with first place finishes in half of the races and no penalties. To see his journal of the regatta, visit Windsurfing Tour at http://www.windsurfingtour.com/?p=1351.

To see final results and pictures, see Clearwater Yacht Club: http://www.regattaprocessing.com/CLWYC/YWQ10/index.php

 Special thanks to Patrick Floyd, Scott Houck, and Jack Ortel for the information that went into this article.

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