(San Francisco, CA)- On a partly cloudy day that started with 8-12 knots
of breeze the St Francis Yacht Club held the first round robin of the
U.S. Match Racing Championship Qualifier in their matched fleet of
one-design J/22s.Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club’s Steve Natvig and his team of Roger O’Connor, Wes Byrne and Brian McMartin were on a roll! Fresh from winning the California Dreamin’ Series, they came back to the Bay Area this past weekend (May 21-22, 2016) and won another hotly contested match racing event—the US Match Racing Qualifier hosted by the St. Francis YC.
Competitors
arrived Friday to a blustery day. With winds in the high teens and low
20s and gusts into the upper 20s, only half of the eight teams were able
to go out to practice. On Saturday and Sunday, the winds came down a
bit but still favored both the heavier teams and those with
extraordinary sailing skills due to the challenging flood tide, which
later switched to a mild ebb. In tight racing over two days, St. Francis
Yacht Club member Nicole Breault’s team of Molly Carapiet, Dana Riley
and Hannah Burroughs tied with Natvig and lost in the tie-breaker.In winning the regatta, Natvig will receive an invitation to compete in the US Match Racing Championship this October at San Diego Yacht Club to be raced in their matched fleet of one-design J/22s. As the top female skipper, Breault will receive an invitation to the US Women’s Match Racing Championship being held this September at Annapolis Yacht Club.
Regatta Chair Bruce Stone, who also chairs the US Match Racing Championships Committee, commented that, “This USMRC Qualifier was one of eight around the country to select skippers to go to the finals. St. Francis attracted both highly experienced skippers as well as a few newcomers who managed to grab some wins from the leaders. Several newbies said they are now stoked to continue with match racing. This fits into our mantra of these events serving a dual purpose, both to select the top skippers to go to the finals, but also as developmental regattas, and in fact 65 teams around the country are competing in Qualifiers.” Sailing Photo credits- by Chris Ray
Loads more pix here of the regatta. For more San Francisco Match Race sailing information
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