| MILWAUKEE, WI, USA-(26-6-2003) After a week of educational clinics and
exciting racing on Lake Michigan at US SAILING’s U.S. Youth Championship,
the winners of the prestigious event have been determined today: Emery Wager
(Seattle, Washington) won the Laser class while Zachary Brown and Melanie
Roberts (both from San Diego, CA) were victorious in the Club 420 class. The
winners of the event have been named to the 2003 U.S. Youth Sailing Team.
The competition was fierce throughout the six-day regatta with 143 sailors
who were selected by sailing resume from a list of more than 200 applicants.
Hosted by the Milwaukee Yacht Club with co-hosts South Shore Yacht Club and
the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center, the event was sponsored by The Walt
Disney Company, West Marine, and Vanguard Sailboats. Gill is an official
supplier to the event.
In his fourth time to the US Youth Championship, Emery Wager of Seattle, WA,
dominated the Laser fleet from the first day. Emery scored eight bullets a
fourth and a fifth for 17 total points. He was so far ahead that he didn’t
have to sail in the final race. Wager credits his win to good practice. “In
Seattle, we can sail year round. I can practice in a variety of conditions
on Puget Sound as well as Lake Washington.” Former U.S. Youth Champion and
Olympic medalist Carl Buchan is one of Wager’s role models. Wager says that
Buchan advised him, “If you want to win, it’s not enough to just sail fast,
you have to be tough.”
By winning the event, Wager has received the Robert L. Johnstone III Trophy
and qualified to sail in the U.S. Singlehanded Championship for the O’Day
Trophy to be sailed in Oklahoma City, OK, on August 6-10, 2003. In second
place in the Laser fleet, also with a significant enough lead to sit out
today’s final race, was Mike Wilde of Rochester, NY, with 32 points.
The real battle today was in the Laser fleet for third place between Reed
Johnson (Toms River, NJ), Kyle Kovacs (Pennington, NJ) and Matt Barry
(Riverside, CT) who were separated by just six points going into the final
race. Barry had the lead at the first mark with Johnson and Kovacs back in
11th and 12th. The 18-knot westerly wind came in from the left on the second
weather leg and Johnson rounded first. Barry passed Johnson on the reach and
took the win, but Johnson was second and took third place overall with 32
total points. Barry finished second and Kovacs was seventh which left them
tied with 47 points. Kovacs won the tiebreaker by virtue of having more
second place finishes placing him in fourth overall with Barry in fifth.
In the Club 420 fleet, last year’s runners up, Zachary Brown with crew
Melanie Roberts (both from San Diego, CA) hung on to their lead to win the
championship with finishes of 1-1-3-5-4-4-4-1-2-(11)-8 for 33 total points.
It was not an easy win. According to Brown, “We were way back in the fleet
and banged the left corner to come back to eighth.” With their win, Brown
and Roberts take home the Manton Scott Perpetual Trophy.
The battle for second place overall in the Club 420 fleet was won by two
brothers who overtook their sisters on the final day to place second
overall. Erik Storck (Huntington, NY) and John Kempton with 39 total point
beat Leigh Kempton and Kaitlin Storck with 48 total points. Rounding out the
top five were Charles Modica (Hobe Sound, FL) and Patrick Bordner (Fort
Pierce, FL) in fourth with 72 total points and Ben Sampson (Plymouth, MA)
and Michael Komar (Plymouth, MA) in fifth with 85 points.
US SAILING medals were awarded to competitors placing first through fifth in
the Laser and Club 420 fleets. For complete results, please go to
www.ussailing.org/youthchamp/2003/RaceZone.asp.
The David M. Perry Perpetual Sportsmanship Trophies were awarded to the
sailors voted by their peers as demonstrating true sportsmanship behavior in
each fleet. The awards went to the winner of the Laser class Emery Wager, to
Club 420 skipper Zack Kavanaugh (South Dartmouth, MA) and Club 420 crew
Gardiner Bowen (Wayland, MA).
The U.S. Youth Sailing Championship is considered one of the premiere youth
sailing events in the country for sailors under age 20. The event started in
1973 as an open championship and grew quickly in popularity and size. This
required then-U.S. Yacht Racing Union (now US SAILING) to limit the number
of entries. Currently, applications are submitted and participants are
selected based on their sailing resumes by the U.S. Youth Championship
Committee. Next year’s event will be held in Charleston, South Carolina, in
June. Classes will be Laser and Club 420. Online registration will open in
February 2004 and the entry deadline will be April 1, 2004. For more
information about the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship,
www.ussailing.org/youthchamp/.
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the national governing
body for sailing and sailboat racing. Headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, the organization's mission is to encourage participation and promote
excellence in sailing and racing in the U.S. US SAILING offers training and
education programs, develops and supports a wide range of sailing
organizations, associations and communities, and provides administration and
oversight of competitive sailing across the country. For more information,
visit www.ussailing.org.
About U.S. Youth Sailing Championship Sponsors
Vanguard Sailboats continues to demonstrate its strong commitment to youth
sailing by supplying boats to the U.S. Youth Championship, as well as the
support and maintenance required for the charter fleet. Vanguard Sailboats
is the leading world manufacturer and largest US supplier of recreational
and high performance small sailboats. Vanguard products include the Sunfish
and Laser, two of the most recognized brands in the sailing world. Visit
their website at www.teamvanguard.com.
The U.S. Youth Sailing Championship is one of many youth sailing events West
Marine sponsors. West Marine, Official Marine Retailer of US SAILING, offers
a broad assortment of boating equipment and apparel worldwide through its
more than 260 retail stores, an international catalog mail order division,
and a wholesale division. More information on West Marine can be found at
www.westmarine.com.
This is the second consecutive year The Walt Disney Company sponsored the
U.S. Youth Championship. As part of its sponsorship, Disney provided
financial support for costs associated with running the six-day regatta,
including maintenance of a web site dedicated specifically to youth and US
SAILING. The website includes daily reports and results, competitor
interviews, photos, sailor and coach bios, as well as a host of other
information.
Gill is continuing its support of the prestigious event as official supplier
of technical apparel. Gill clothing systems are designed for competitive
sailing. Gill gear is available through hundreds of dealers nationally,
including West Marine Products, and its products range from a performance
base and mid-layer garments and deck jackets to full on offshore and ocean
suits. More information on Gill can be found at www.gillna.com.
FINAL RESULTS
Laser
1. Emery Wager (Seattle, WA) 5-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-4-(DNC) 17 points
2. Mike Wilde (Rochester, NY) 2-2-2-2-3-2-8-7-2-2-(DNC) 32 points
3. Reed Johnson (Toms River, NJ) (15)-13-3-6-2-3-9-2-3-1-2 44 points
4. Kyle Kovacs (Pennington, NJ) 1-3-(9)-8-5-6-2-5-5-5-7 47 points
5. Matthew Barry (Riverside, CT) 3-5-(10)-9-4-4-5-3-4-9-1 47 points
Club 420
1. Zachary Brown and Melanie Roberts (both from San Diego, CA)
1-1-3-5-4-4-4-4-1-2-(11)-8 33 points
2. Erik Storck (Huntington, NY) and John Kempton (Island Heights, NJ)
5-13-(19)-2-8-2-2-2-1-1-3 39 points
3. Leigh Kempton (Island Heights, NJ) and Kaitlin Storck (Huntington, NY)
(38)-2-14-1-1-1-1-3-7-2-16 48 points
4. Charles Modica (Hobe Sound, FL) and Patrick Bordner (Fort Pierce, FL)
3-8-9-3-15-6-8-4-3-13-(33) 72 points
5. Ben Sampson and Michael Komar (both from Plymouth, MA)
13-3-(26)-6-5-3-14-10-11-7-13 85 points
For complete results, go to www.ussailing.org/youthchamp/2003/RaceZone.asp.
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