Racing on the third and final day of the U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship was cancelled today due to insufficient winds.
However, the team of Chanel Miller (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Yuri Namikaw (Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif.) was the clear cut winner through seven races at this year’s championship. Miller and Namikawa claim bragging rights to the prestigious Ida Lewis Trophy.
Consistency was the key to success for the new champions. Their worst finish was fifth in race one on Thursday. They won two races, finished second once, and added three third places to round out the championship with 13 points.
They won by a 10 point margin over Deirdre Lambert (Cumberland, Maine) and Tracy Doherty (Sea Cliff, N.Y.), who exploded into second place by winning the final three races of the day on Friday. However, a 13th place finish forced them to keep one of their ninth place finishes from Thursday.
Thursday’s leaders, Georgie Ryan (San Diego, Calif.) and Haley Kirk (Long Beach, Calif.) dropped to third on Friday. They had finishes of sixth, 12th, second, and 10th. The 12th place finish was their worst score of the event. Ryan and Kirk finished the championship 12 points off the lead.
Miller and Namikawa have both sailed in the championship before as a helm; however, this was their first regatta together. They sailed like a veteran team with great chemistry. ‘We tried to play it safe on our starts due to the shifty conditions,’ said Miller. ‘We raced conservatively and didn’t take any unnecessary risks.’ Miller went on to mention the level of focus they had. ‘Yuri and I tried not to focus on any other specific teams. We just played the fleet,’ she said. Namikawa explained, ‘We had really good communication on the boat throughout.’
The 37 teams, competing in Club 420s, were called in after attempting to start race 8 this afternoon when the wind failed to fill in. Today’s breeze stood less than five knots on the southern waters of Chesapeake Bay. The field of competitors range in age from 13 to 18 years old in this three-day open event sponsored by LaserPerfermance and hosted by the Hampton Yacht Club.
For complete results, and photos, please visit the event website at by clicking here.
Top Five Results from the U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship
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