SEABROOK, TX. USA-(3-11-2003) From the 31st of October until the 2nd of November, the US 470 Nationals took place in front of Seabrook, near Houston TX. With 18 boats participating, the Championship was to be the final rehearsal for the US Trials for the US sailors, starting at the end of this week.
The Championship knew a strong Fleet , as within the overall top 12 ranking, most teams participated at the last ISAF World Sailing Championships in Cadiz under difficult conditions at the highest level of competition..
By most favorable weather conditions, winds of 10-12 knots, choppy waters, racing got underway at the 1st of November..
The opening in race 1 was made by USA’s Mark Ivy/Howard Cromwell, followed by brothers Killian from Ireland, Paul Foerster / Kevin Burnham from the USA and Dutch brothers Sven & Kalle Coster in 4th position.
In the second race, the brothers Coster won the race, which was the start of their further domination of the event. After day one, where three races were completed, 470 Men Sven & Kalle Coster from the Netherlands lead the overall rankings with USA 470 Men Paul Foerster / Kevin Burnham following close on their tail.
On the second day, sailors got onto the water in similar conditions as the day before. USA’s Steve Hunt/Eben Russell took over second position from Paul Foerster / Kevin Burnham, who had to skip the last three races for personal reasons. Sven & Kalle Coster managed to strengthen their lead with a strong number of points ahead of their persecuters.
USA’s 470 Women Erin Maxwell / Jen Morgan, also just returning from a “Grand Slam Tour” through Europe took 1st Lady and 3rd overall position, in front of Marcelien de Koning / Lobke Berkhout from the Netherlands, finishing the Championship as 2nd at the 470 Women on a 6th overall position.
1 NED 1 Sven Coster/Kalle Coster 4 1 1 2 1 4 - 13
3 USA 1697 Steve Hunt/Eben Russell 5 4 2 8 3 3 - 20
3 USA 1757 Erin Maxwell/Jen Morgan 6 3 5 7 2 2 - 21
4 USA 1738 Mark Ivy/Howard Cromwell 1 11 9 4 7 1 - 22
5 IRL 66 R. Killian/Gerald Killian 2 9 4 6 6 6 - 24
6 NED 11 Marcelien de Koning/Lobke Berkhout 10 5 8 5 5 8 - 31
7 USA 1713 Stuart McNayArthur Kinsolving 7 7 10 3 10 7 - 34
8 USA 1736 Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler 12 12 7 1 8 9 - 37
9 USA 1722 Paul Foerster/Kevin Burnham 3 2 3 dnf/19 dnf/19 dnf/19 - 46
10 USA 1723 David Dabney/Brock Schmidt 11 8 6 10 ocs/19 ocs/19 - 47
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