6:52 AM Mon 20 Jul 2009 GMT
A youngster from Chicago who shall remain unnamed was one of the happier competitors on the first day of the first US Optimist National Championships to be run on the West Coast, regardless of results.
'Chicago has always been called the 'windy city,' ' he said, 'but this is why I like sailing somewhere else.'
The westerly sea breeze that greeted contestants in the three-day Team Racing phase of the event hosted by the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club settled into a steady 10 knots through mid-afternoon and reached 14 knots late in the day, although that fell shy of the 'Hurricane Gulch' 20-knots-plus hype that early arrivals saw late last week---y'all ain't seen nothin' yet---but few were complaining.
Principal race officer Jay Booker's team was able to roll out races like a car wash at rush hour. Racing started on schedule at noon and never paused until Booker called it a day at 5:40 p.m.
Booker, who is based in St. Petersburg, Fla., had high praise for the Cabrillo Beach YC volunteers.
'I've been doing this a long time,' he said, 'and I've never had a day go better than this one. The committee work was terrific.'
Each of the 16 teams logged at least nine of its 15 scheduled round robin races---63 in all around a short trapezoid course---and with the air temperature in the mid-70s F. on the water it was a long day but a refreshing break from the area heat wave that reached into the 90s inland.
Some might not have wanted the day to end, but Booker said, 'We monitor the kids when they're sailing around the committee boat [between races], so we can see when they start to look tired. And if they get tired to where they're not having fun anymore, it's time to go in.'
As it was, sailing inside the protected outer harbor behind the breakwater also was easier on the young competitors, who had flat water rather than the open ocean conditions that will test most of them in the four-day individual open Championship starting Thursday.
At last count there was a total of 332 entries ages 7 to 15 from 18 states, plus Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and Ecuador, sailing in the three phases of the week-long event---58 in Team Racing Sunday through Tuesday, with 16 teams of four boats each sailing round robins to sort out finalists leading to the championship showdowns. Then there will be 69 girls racing in their Nationals Wednesday, also inside the breakwater, and 205 boys and girls in the Nationals through Sunday.
Racing will start daily at noon, conditions permitting. The racing may be viewed live daily at Sailgroove.com
Results:
www.cbyc.org/optiregatta.asp
www.optiworld.org/
www.usoda.org/
by Rich Roberts
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