The US Midwinter National Championship is held annually. Individuals seeking information regarding hosting this championship should contect the USSCA Florida Peninsula Region Representative and the USSCA Regatta Coordinator.
The Sarasota Sailing Squadron will host the 2010 Sunfish Midwinter Championship in March. The dates have yet to be determined, but will probably precede the International Masters Championship. More information will be made available as it is known.
Sarasota Sailing Squadron website
The final day of racing in Clearwater was a battle between Eduardo Cordero and David Mendelblatt for the title.
It has been said that champions rise to the top when faced with adversity. Both Eduardo and David did this. Despite finding themselves deep in the fleet at times, both competitors kept their cool. They both used heads up sailing in puffy conditions to come back in the races. However, Eduardo was not to be denied and bested his talented rival in each of the first three races to secure the title. Donnie Martinborough continued his ways of the weekend prior at the International Masters and was awarded the Top Master. Kathleen Remmer of Sayville, NY was the top “Opposite Gender” and finished 9th overall. Finally, Puerto Rico’s Fernando Monllor was the top junior and served notice that he will be a force to be reckon with in the future!
Our hosts the Clearwater YC and Clearwater Community Sailing Center did a fantastic job running this event. They are supported by a dedicated group of volunteers who provided top notch onshore support, race management and sailing conditions. I truly hope they have us back in the future!
On the second day of the 2009 Midwinter Championship turned the regatta turned into a two man show. While many of their competitors found themselves deep in the fleet or were plagued mistakes, Eduardo Cordero and David Mendelblatt remain the only sailors with all top 5 finishes. They are separated by 5 points and have further increased distanced themselves from the chase group.
The day started with a east-northeast breeze at around 10-12 kts. Many of the top competitors favored the right side of the course as the puffs seemed to be stronger near the shore. As the day progressed, the breeze dropped and by the end of the third race there was very little to be found. The fleet stayed on the water and waited for the northwest breeze to fill in. After an hour and a half delay, the final race of the day started in a 12 knot northwest breeze with good wave action.
The regatta will conclude on Sunday. Follow the races live.
Beautiful, sunny weather and temperatures in the mid 80s welcomed sailors for the first day of racing at the 2009 Midwinter Championship in Clearwater, FL. The light breeze from the north and a strong incoming current made for a long, slow sail through Clearwater Pass. As the fifty-six boat fleet left Clearwater Pass and arrived in the Gulf of Mexico, the wind began shifting towards the northwest and building.
Eight time World Champion Eduardo Cordero flexed his muscles with a dominating performance to post scores of 1-1-2-1. He was closely challenged in every race by David Mendelblatt, who had consistent scores of 2-3-3-2 and sits in second place. Former World Champion Paul-Jon Patin sits in third. Paul-Jon passed Eduardo on the final downwind leg of race three to become the only person to beat Eduardo today.
Results
Clearwater YC event website
Clearwater YC
Clearwater, FL - Traditionally, the day before the Midwinters, the Sunfish Class holds its Team Race Championship regatta. In 2009 the Clearwater YC PRO Fairlie Brinkley and the other race officials put on a great show for the team race competitors. The seasoned RC set starboard digital N courses which created many interesting tactical situations at each turn.
The teams went through 3 rounds in shifty, puffy conditions and strong current in the bay behind Clearwater Community Sailing Center. Each race was highly contested and tactical, with many place changes and even an occasional capsize or breakdown. At the end of the day, Captain Joe Blouin led his White team to victory. The members of the team represented 4 separate regions of the country. Joe Blouin from FL, Derek Jackson from NY, Ron McHenry from Ohio and Drew Stanier from Massachusetts.
Overall Results:
1st Place “Melting Pot” (White)
6-0 Record
Joe Blouin
Derek Jackson
Ron McHenry
Drew Stanier
2nd Place “Team HSC” (Red)
2-4 Record
Don Esch
George Jackson
Luis Nunez
Courtney Young
3rd Place “The Guppies” (Orange)
1-5 Record
Gail Heausler
Lee Parks
Kathleen Remmer
Nick Valente
Race Results:
Round 1
Orange - 14 vs Red - 23
White - 17 vs Orange - 19
White - 13 vs Red - 23
Round 2
Red - 15 vs Orange - 21
White - 15 vs Orange - 21
White - 16 vs Red - 20
Round 3
Red - 14 vs Orange - 22
White - 13 vs Orange - 23
White - 12 vs Red - 24
Clearwater, FL - The 2008 Midwinter Champion, Hank Saurage, will defend his title against a seasoned fleet of sailors. Among the top competitors challenging Saurage in his quest to repeat as champion will be former World Champions Eduardo Cordero (VEN) and Paul-Jon Patin (USA). The battle between these seasoned champions will commence on Friday morning. The list of pre-registered sailors can be found here.
On Thursday, the Clearwater YC and Clearwater Community Sailing Center will host the Sunfish Team Racing Championship. There are currently 16 competitors registered to compete for the title.
You can follow the action with live updates from the Clearwater YC race officers and volunteers here. Nightly summaries will be posted on the class’s event website.
Visit the Sunfish Class event website
Visit the Clearwater YC event website
Visit the Clearwater YC
Tips By Brian McGinnis
Last year, I competed at the Laser Midwinters East at Clearwater Yacht Club and took some notes from the event which I shared in a blog posting here. There was no camping available at the regatta I went to, so I share my hotel/airport experiences, and a little knowledge of the community. If I recall correctly, the closest budget hotel was the Red Roof Inn. If you have a little more money to spend, Shephard’s Beach Resort and the Holiday Inn were definitely more upscale places to stay.
It is a very fun town with beautiful beaches, a good social scene, and many restaurant/bar options to choose from.
I also recall having an effective off-season training regime leading up to last year’s Laser and Sunfish Midwinters. Here are some workout ideas:
Congratulations to Hank Saurage on winning the Midwinter US National Championship, great sailing. Hank Saurage, Greg Gust (4th place overall), Chip Clifton (5th place overall), and Karl Kleinschrodt (6th place overall) all earned USSCA qualification to the 2009 Sunfish Worlds to be hosted at the Nassau Yacht Club in the Bahamas. Also at the top of the fleet were David Loring (World Champion 1995, 2006) in 2nd place overall and Todd Edwards (ISCA Measurer) in 3rd place overall. Thanks to St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club for hosting the event. Good times!
Full Results Here | Photo Gallery | Webmaster’s Blog Report
Day 2 was considerably more windy, I believe it was blowing around 14-18mph.
Place Skipper’s Name Sail # TOTAL Race #1 Race #2 Race #3 Race #4 Race #5 Race #6 Race #7 Race #8 Race #9 Race #10
1 Saurage, Hank 75200 22 14 2 1 1 9 1 4 4
2 Edwards, Todd 76453 26 2 7 6 6 1 3 13 1
3 Clifton, Chip 59116 31 1 1 4 4 3 7 11 41
4 Loring, David 77338 32 5 8 2 7 5 2 3 15
5 Gust, Greg 31486 35 8 4 3 2 4 5 9 13
6 Whitehurst, Tom 8689 41 4 5 7 11 8 8 7 2
7 Brennan, Don 28 45 6 6 21 3 10 4 2 14
8 Kleinschrodt, Karl 80161 47 16 3 10 9 2 9 8 6
9 Yoder, Zane 37 51 9 12 14 5 11 6 5 3
10 Blouin, Joe 71 82 3 19 5 13 13 12 17 41
11 Wuescher, Peter 87460 83 7 11 11 17 15 14 18 8
12 Edwards, Anne 77518 89 18 22 8 8 14 21 9 11
13 McGinnis, Brian 3481 90 11 15 13 20 7 19 12 13
14 Hartman, David 79323 93 10 9 41 12 12 10 16 24
15 Eberle, Rob 79086 101 12 41 12 23 6 13 26 9
16 McInnis, Bill 80092 103 13 17 17 14 19 18 14 10
17 Beatty, Ash 42563 106 15 13 26 10 18 11 19 20
18 McHenry, Ronald 76356 118 22 14 19 16 17 15 32 15
19 Collins, Tony 79321 131 20 16 22 22 21 24 6 27
20 Evans, Brent 80243 137 29 29 9 29 22 26 10 12
21 Bergman, Jean 7 146 17 10 16 31 34 31 20 21
22 Gates, Chris 49333 154 26 20 28 24 28 22 15 19
23 Esch, Don 59010 160 25 27 24 15 31 16 27 26
24 Patterson, Bob 80561 161 24 18 41 19 23 23 30 24
25 Bergman, Don 181 161 33 41 18 21 16 27 24 22
26 Montes, Lee 82734 162 28 26 20 25 20 17 29 26
27 Greenwood, Gil 77981 177 27 24 30 27 26 20 28 25
28 Colie, Dayton 80392 180 19 31 25 26 25 25 31 29
29 Valente, Nicholas 3617 186 40 41 15 28 29 30 21 23
30 Nash, Peter Can 002 189 34 33 23 36 32 28 22 17
31 Jones, Malcolm 3238 208 21 25 33 32 27 29 41 41
32 Reiss, Taylor 8 218 31 30 34 37 36 34 23 30
33 Lament, Richard 22527 224 39 41 29 34 37 32 25 28
34 Snider, Steve 89928 230 37 28 31 30 30 33 41 41
35 Young, Courtney 26407 231 23 41 41 18 26 41 41 41
36 Menzel, Gerhart 34183 237 38 32 36 35 35 35 33 31
37 Buchanan, Ray 11 238 30 23 37 33 33 41 41 41
38 Whitehurst, Richard 12942 247 35 21 27 41 41 41 41 41
39 Katterheinrich, Tom L. 75417 262 32 34 32 41 41 41 41 41
40 Blake, David 77870 276 36 35 41 41 41 41 41 41
Morning postponement, looks like we will be getting out there for an 11:30ish start. More updates later.