Youth Worlds: USA takes two gold, one silver at Sanya 2017
by US Sailing 17 Dec 2017 14:04 GMT
9-16 December 2017
Charlotte Rose (Houston, Texas), Laser Radial © Tomas Moya
The 2017 Youth World Sailing Championship in Sanya, China (December 11-16) concluded on Friday, closing the books on a successful week by the U.S. Youth Worlds Team. American sailors won three medals in nine classes, nearly added a fourth, and finished third in the Nation's Trophy standings, the highest finish by the United States in many years. The week of racing also highlighted the progress of US Sailing's Olympic Development Program (ODP), which includes among its core missions an annual effort to prepare the U.S. team to compete at the world's premier youth sailing event.
"What a week it was, with some super challenging conditions," said a tired-but-happy Leandro Spina, US Sailing's Olympic Development Director and U.S. Team Leader in Sanya. "I'm extremely proud of the kids and coaches. They remained focused all the way to the end. They stuck to our performance plan, and they came out really strong."
"It's really encoring for America to see the future of high performance sailing embodied in the form of these kids," said Spina. "Thanks to some amazing support from the AmericaOne Foundation, Quantum Racing, and many others, The ODP is helping us create opportunities to develop our talented sailors and our coaches. Clearly the results are encouraging and show that we're on a really good track."
Charlotte Rose (Houston, Texas) led the Laser Radial regatta wire to wire, but despite the Texan winning five of the nine races, the end of the event saw high drama unfold in the women's singlehanded class. After an extensive match race on the first leg between Rose and her rival for gold, Uruguay's Rio 2016 Olympian Dolores "Lola" Fraschini, Rose found herself nearly in the back of the 40-boat fleet. To hang onto gold, Rose needed to finish 17th or better. Showing impressive fortitude, the American battled back through the fleet and managed to clinch gold with a 17th place finish.
"After a tough match race with Lola that put her in a tough spot, Charlotte proved that she was a true World Champion," said US Sailing Laser Radial coach Rosie Chapman (Houston, Texas). "She fought her way all the way back to 17th, which is exactly what she needed to do to get the job done. It was an inspiring performance, and I could not be more proud of her."
Carmen Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) led the Girls 420 event since the second day, and while they had a clear lead in points going into the final race, their overall position was precarious due to a Race 1 disqualification. While many athletes would have cautiously proceeded around the course, the Cowles finished their regatta in style, taking their third race win of the Youth Worlds to clinch gold.
Thomas Rice (Garden City, N.Y.) and Trevor Bornath (Stuart, Fla.) entered the final race wearing gold leader jerseys in the Boys I420, but got caught on the unfavored left side of the first beat, and could only watch as the Australian team cruised to a third place finish third while the American finished 11th and in silver position. Nevertheless, the ninth and final race was only the second double0-digit score of the week for the U.S. boys team, which steadily rose in the standings as the week progressed. 2017 also represents the third consecutive year that U.S. boys 420 teams have medaled at the Youth Worlds.
In the Nacra 15 multihull, Mark Brunsvold (Sarasota, Fla.) and Dylan Heinz (Sarasota, Fla.) entered the day in fourth overall, with a chance to claim a medal, but a 10th in the final race kept them in the same position in the standings. Neil Marcellini (Lafayette, Calif.) and Ian Brill (San Diego, Calif.) finished 12th in their final race to finish in seventh overall. Joseph Hou (Newport Beach, Calif.) finished eighth overall in the Boys Laser Radial.
In the Girls's 29er, Berta Puig (Key Biscayne, Fla.) and Charlotte Mack (Stuart, Fla.) finished a strong third in the final race, and ended the event in 16th overall. In the Boys RS:X, Steven Cramer (Miami Beach, Fla.) finished 10th in the final race, which saw more of the breezy condition he favors. Cramer finished in 17th overall. Dominique Stater (who currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina) finished 17th overall, and while she had a strong final race around the course, was scored UFD.
The coaching staff for the team is comprised of Leandro Spina, Steve Keen (Stamford, Conn.) and Rosie Chapman.