Stephan Baker got the party started in muggy Pensacola on July 18th when he closed out the U.S. Opti Fleet Race National Championship with a come from behind bullet in the final race. The four day event was contested by 256 sailors in Champ Fleet. With tricky current, different breezes and numerous weather related postponements it was a challenging regatta. The 23 foreign entries in the top 150 also added to the competition. Baker prevailed over Malthe Ebdrup of Denmark, who sailed a great regatta but was over the line - scored BFD on the final race - and put his name in the class's history as a 3 time National Champion (2 with LYC).
Here's a video the regatta made with Stephan and comments from Coach Pilo Rocha at the end!:
Other notable LYC finishers were Lulu Hamilton, Tommy Sitzman and Sara Schumann who finished 6th,7th and 8th overall - 4 LYC sailors in the top 10. Throughout the Gold Fleet LYC was represented by Cody Roe 16th, Lucas Tenrreiro 21st, Truman Rodgers 38th, KJ Hill 43rd, Nico Garcia-Castrillon 44th and Lauren Caron 80th. The regatta was a Team Trials Quallifier and 16 of the 18 sailors racing with the LYC program made the cut. Simone Moss represented LYC in perhaps the most important way, winning the Sportsmanship and Friendship Trophy after numerous nominations from her peers.
Simone and Coach Arthur
The Opti National Championship is a marathon, not a sprint - after 4 days of Fleet Racing, the ladies were sent out the next day for the "Girls Nationals," while the guys got in some team race practice. 3 Days of team racing loomed, making it an 8 day regatta + practice days!
At the Girls Nationals, LYC's Sara Schumann narrowly missed a win to her LOOT (Lake Ontario Optimist Team) Summer Team teammate Samara Walsh. The result came after a late-night redress hearing that resulted in Race 3 being stricken from the record! (See results here). Lulu Hamilton was 4th, Lucy Meagher 15th and Lauren Caron 16th. Friends of LYC (training partners in the last year) Annie Samies and Kaherine Doble placed 3rd and 5th overall!
The Optimist Team Race Nationals is undoubtedly the biggest US hosted team race of the year. In addition to being a National Championship, only the winner traditionally qualifies to represent the US in the Opti Team Cup, Berlin (the Midwinters TR by comparison give 2 berths to the Marco Rizzotti Team Race). But the last 2 Nationals, LYC's prior victories in Berlin have created an additional US berth, with LYC already quallified for the 2018 edition. So the pressure of qualification was off this year for the LYC 1 team and the sailors were sailing only for pride - trying to rebound from a tough Marco Rizzotti and secure a 3rd straight National Championship for the home club.
Optimist Team Racing is one of the most thrilling sports imaginable. 4 individual boats on 1 team against 4 individual boats on another. While Connor Boland described it succinctly as "I try to cover the boats on the other team to put my teammates ahead," it requires a full mix of sailing speed, tactics, strategy, teamwork and psychology to excel at.
Connor and Lucy rip on the reaching leg.
The team of Connor Boland, Lulu Hamilton, Lucy Meagher, Jack Redmond and Sara Schumann got off to a good start, winning 9 of 9 races on the first day. The fleet of 24 teams was split into 2 fleets of 12 by a ranking committee, and I think we may have had a tad easier initial grouping. We finished out the qualifying round perfect, with Southern Yacht Club Blue the only team to challenge us when we had 2 boats over the start line that had to go back. Lucy and Lulu waited until the first turning Mark to slow the race down and bring their teammates back into the mix, and they executed and team raced well.
LYC 1's Lulu Hamilton leads LYC 2's Kevin Gosselin in Gold Round action.
Then came the Gold round with the top 12 teams overall, and we continued to improve and remain undefeated. Each team member grew in their role. Against weaker opponents Connor had been finding 2 boats to luff up together, now against opponents with better fundamentals he was able to use his boathandeling and the space created by the RC Flag being on the bow of a large yacht, to get off the start line in a great position to control the race. Co-Captian Sara Schumann communicated a lot with Jack and Lulu while still being fast and making good decisions. It was windy - gusting 20kts, and Jack Redmond's work on speed payed off as he was always getting into the top 3 at the first mark. Lucy, as LYC 1's newest member brought a strong presence on the start line, stymieing Chicago's Peter Barnard in one start, and team racing effectively in wins against LISOT Black and Coral Reef YC's top team. Lulu brought speed, improved team race confidence, and great mental toughness and positivity that helped us though tough times on the last day! When it got to the Finals, there was very little coaching allowed and all the credit goes to my sailors!
The biggest drama in the Gold round was a hearing following the CRYC race to determine if an opposing sailor's capsize on the finish line had (a) been LYC's foul (fault), and (b) had it allowed LYC to "gain an advantage" that effected the outcome of the race? I let you judge in these excellent photographs courtesy of Tom Barnard:
Sara (21758) displays protest flag.
CRYC boat that hit the pin Tacks.
...and Capsize! Sara's red flag still out...
The protest was dismissed after an on-the-water hearing, and so at 22-0 we entered the knockout stage. We overmatched CERT and Worlds Team Sailor Thommie Grit in the semifinals 2-0, and then awaited the winner of the LISOT vs CRYC semifinal. In a heated series, LISOT prevailed 2-1 to secure qualifying for Germany. While this team was incorporating 2 new members, we had a lot of experience against them and knew that Samara Walshe, Griffin Gigliotti & Co. would be formidable opponents.
We finally solved LISOT on the start line, pushing 3 boats over in the first race, but then disaster! In a complete meltdown LYC botched the 1,2,3,5 and rounded with LISOT winning in 2,3,4. A failed mark trap resulted in a Connor capsize! He asked for a 'professional foul' Black Flag, but in both this and the Gold round protest I agree with the Umpires that there was no "advantage gained." This is not summer learn to sail where sailors are grabbing each others masts and capsizing other boats! In both cases the team that capsized was already losing - so the self inflicted dip was not the reason they/we lost the race!
Down 1-0 in the best of 5, we won the next race...but lost the 3rd. LISOT team raced really well on all 5 legs of the race, and as had happened at the Midwinters, we were in danger of letting the regatta slip away. The RC was giving the sailors no breaks between races, so the coach could only say 1 or 2 things, and the sailors were battling fatigue as well as the psychological pressure. I think this was where the LYC sailors athleticism really came into play - Sara and Lulu had been 'sailing themselves into shape', training and racing for 3 weeks straight with LOOT. Jack had been doing 1.5 hour distance sails in Newport, and Connor was a high schooler (he drove himself by car to day 2 of the Opti regatta, which I find hilarious) competing against kids - he could handle it. My only input was a couple tweaks on mark traps and coverages (coverage is easier if you "simo-tack" with your pair - tack to cover as they are tacking) and the knowledge that if we won race 4 all the pressure would shift back to the other team! LYC won a tight 4th race using the new play "12 Gap" that we had been evolving over the last couple regattas. Then in race 5 they again took the start, and out-sped LISOT into a 1,2,3,5 combo at mark 1. While Walshe pestered the 1,2,3 until the end of the race we were able to maintain the winning combination and took the regatta.
The team jumped in the water to celebrate, but then it was back to life as usual - de-rigging and packing up our boats and hanging out with our friends from all over the Opti class. After the awards we (as a team) gave one of the most boring interviews ever to a television camera! While the total run is pretty crazy, winning the event is a goal you set each year, so achieving it really isn't that crazy or surprising - you always believed you had the power to do it.
Team Race Nationals Historical prospectus:
The teams of the current LYC 3-peat:
2016 From Left: Connor Boland, Joey Meagher, Justin Callahan, Bella Cassaretto, Justin Callahan, Coach Arthur Blodgett
2017 From Left: Sara Schumann, Stephan Baker, Mitchell Callahan, Justin Callahan, Connor Boland, Coach Arthur Blodgett
2018 From Left: Lucy Meagher, Connor Boland, Sara Schumann, Lulu Hamilton (not pictured: Jack Redmond, who had to catch a flight and missed the party, and coach Arthur).
The longest winning streak in TR Nationals history belongs to Coconut Grove Sailing Club, which won 5 straight from 1979 to 1983, twice with a kid named Bobby Meagher.
Here's the winningest clubs since the Trophy's 1977 Inception, along with years won:
St. Petersburg Yacht Club (9): '78, '84, '85, '86, '87, '89, '91, '96, '97.
Coconut Grove Sailing Club (8): '77, '79, '80, '81, '82, '83, '88
Lauderdale Yacht Club (5): '10,'11,'16, '17, '18
Southern Yacht Club (5): '95, '99, '00, '01, '02
LISOT (5): '03, '06, '07, '13, '15
Team FOR (3): '04, '05, '12
Coral Reef Yacht Club (1): '90
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