A light first day

Top junior sailors from across the nation battled light wind

conditions Wednesday, the first racing day of the 2005 U.S. Junior

Championships hosted by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

Twenty sailors began competition in the Singlehanded

championships, racing 14-foot Laser boats, while 20 pairs raced

420-centimeter boats in the Doublehanded championships [two sailors

per team].

The 420 class, or Doublehanded competitors, are in search of the

Bemis Trophy, named after F. Gregg Bemis, a former chairman of

Appeals Committee who was well known for his work on racing rules.

The Laser Class sailors are in a fight for the Smythe Trophy,

based on D. Verner Smythe, former chairman of the Sears Trophy

Committee.

At the Balboa Yacht Club, 10 teams of three competed in the

Triplehanded championships, or Sears Cup. Winners receive the Sears

Trophy, the oldest national junior trophy in the U.S. Sailing

Association, dating back to 1930.

In the first day of competition, the Newport Harbor Doublehanded

duo, Cole Hatton and Blair Belling, who have raced together less than

two months, finished in third with three third-place finishes, but

with two days of sailing left, they still have their eyes on the

prize.

That prize hasn’t been won by a NHYC team since 1998, so Hatton

and Belling seem to have their work cut out for them.

“We got the local knowledge, our boat handling is pretty good and

downwind we’re really good,” said Hatton. “My goal is to win.”

John Kempton and Molly Lucas of Island Heights Yacht Club in New

Jersey are in the lead with two first-place finishes. The team, which

has had two years of sailing experience together, said because all

sailors have identical boats and equipment, the race is just a matter

of skill, and no one is at a disadvantage.

“It’s really different from normal races,” said Kempton. “But it’s

really helpful.”

In the Singlehanded races, Thomas Barrows of Pleon Yacht Club in

Marblehead, Mass., leads with a score of 13.

“It felt pretty competitive out there,” said Barrows, who has been

sailing for nine years, and is competing in the event a second time.

“Everyone who’s sailing is the best at their club, but today I got

good starts and I stayed consistent.”

Derick Vranizan from the Seattle Yacht Club, who also competed in

the 2005 Governor’s Cup, finished the day in 10th place.

“This is a great event and it’s very well run,” Vranizan said. “It

was a long day, and it [wind] was a lot lighter than the last time I

was here, but I’m excited because I think I have a chance to get back

up there.”

In the Triplehanded races, Christian Emsiek, Perry Emsiek and Wade

Buxton finished in sixth for host Balboa Yacht Club.

Despite an hour delay and having to deal with patchy wind

conditions, competitiveness was still in the air, knowing only the

elite remain.

“Several thousand sailors begin,” said U.S. Junior Sailing

Championship Chairman John Strassman. “But after getting weeded out,

only 90 sailors remain.”