Leiter Cup Wraps Up

July 3, 2011

Picture if you will a gaggle of giggling, gossiping, screeching teenage girls like you might see hanging out at the mall. Their voices are either too loud, too high-pitched or they are whispering (also loudly) and pointing (maybe at you). Now erase that stereotype from your mind completely, because the 56 girls who occupied Richmond Yacht Club last week were nothing like that.

Ranging in age from 13 to 18, the young ladies came from all over the country to compete in the U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship for the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy (the regatta formerly known as the Leiter Cup), an open event sailed in Laser Radials, many of which were provided by major sponsor Laser Performance. The Clagett Trust covers salaries and travel expenses for professional coaches.

The girls arrived and registered on Saturday and had clinics on Sunday and Monday. (See our previous report on the event, written after Sunday's clinic.)

On Monday's second clinic day it was blowy then moderated, then after everyone was off the water a froth blew up again. The top group looked fit and in control and didn’t have any problems in 12-15 knot winds.

Monday evening, Simeon Tienpont and Shannon Falcone of the Oracle Racing team, making a dramatic entrance on a RIB, came to RYC and showed a crash and a wipe-out video. They even helped in handing out the Mudworthiness Medals (of which there were 10 that day) with an appropriate continental honor of a peck on both cheeks. The first recipient, Olivia McAndrew of Lakewood YC in Texas, gave a real sitcom-ish “Whooooo." (Admittedly, some giggling did ensue.) They were big studly dudes, one from Antigua, and the other Dutch, and both had started in Radials. The visit was captured on video; see www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuI6vVLGC28&feature=youtu.be. Oracle Racing's report is at http://media.oracleracing.com/pressreleases/?id=175.

Tuesday, the first day of racing, was troubled by an unseasonable and heavy rain, which made it a short day ending after noon. PRO Del Olsen did manage to get in one race, two miles, 45 minutes, in 3-7 knots of wind on flat water with significant flood and no race destroying shifts. Susannah Spoto of the Lauderdale and Davis Island YCs in Florida won the first race. After a so-so committee boat start – with clear air - Susannah said she went “left a little bit then stayed right and watched the two groups” behind her. In this stuff she’s pretty fast. On the generally square-to-the wind course she found a few shifts and enjoyed a significant lead – maybe half a minute – at the weather mark. For the single sausage course it was enough. Hannah Hughes of Lakewood YC passed another Floridian, Christina Frost, on the downwind leg for second with Christina taking third, and all the competitors finished.

Susannah Spoto won the rainy first race. ©2011 John Liebenberg

The front pretty much parked itself over the Bay, and everyone waited in the pouring rain for an hour to see if another race was possible. Del took pity and sent them in. Cheers were heard, and the group was back at the club by 1:30. The coaches put together some indoor instruction and encouraged the girls to get on a sailing team when they go to college.

On Wednesday, the race committee got in four races. They started the day at Southampton Shoals, but found that the wind there was too light, so they moved over to the Olympic Circle. Thursday started with a postponement due to lack of wind. The support boats towed the Radials out to the Circle, which was lumpy. Head coach Frank Ustach of Stanford said later that, "Today we got a good taste of what the Bay has to offer."

All courses in the regatta were windward/leewards. Start lines featured clumps and holes, and going in the middle-right of the line seemed fastest.

The start of the third race on Thursday, the last of the regatta. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Back at the packed clubhouse on Thursday evening, the awards ceremony got underway. Commodore Bob Branstad opened the announcements, commenting that RYC had hosted this event ten years ago, and that it was a good fit for the club, with their emphasis on small boats, juniors and women's sailing. Six alumni of the event were in charge, including event chair Mallory McCollum Bozina and Meghan Castruccio, a professional chef who fed the crowd. PRO Del Olsen described the racers as, "Athletic, Competitive, Courageous, Determined and Tough." He said he saw some pretty amazing sailing, not just at the top of the fleet but among the last girls to finish.

The Bay is pretty shallow outside of the shipping channels, and RC volunteer John Dukat handed out Certificates of Mudworthiness to more than a dozen racers, saying, "This is a frequent occurance here." Some of the girls dragged their masts through the mud a second and even third time.

Gabrielle Kitchens of Lake Lanier Sailing Club (Georgia) dislays her Mudworthiness medal and certificate. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Samantha Jaykus received the award for Most Improved. The Sportmanship Award, chosen by ballots cast by the girls themselves, was a close call, but Kaylee Schwitzer of Annapolis YC won it. Frank Ustach described her as "a great sailor, not having the best regatta, she cares about being a leader, befriending all the girls."

Then awards were given for first through fifth place, to:

5. Madison Gates of St. Petersburg YC
4. Alexis Aird of Seattle YC and (Seattle's) Corinthian YC
3. Kaitlin Baab, of St. Francis and Richmond YCs
2. Christina Frost, St. Petersburg YC and Team Sailfit
1. Kelly McGlynn of Little Egg Harbor YC in Beach Haven, NJ

Left to right: Event Chair Mallory McCollum Bozina, winner Kelly McGlynn, the Leiter Cup, and RYC Commodore Bob Branstad. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Kelly took the mic for a moment. "Thanks to Sarah and Kaitlin for cheering me on in the last race, especially since Sarah flipped as she was doing it." Kelly finished fifth last year, and sixth the year before.

Leiter Cup champion Kelly McGlynn on the water. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

On Friday this mature and serious group of adolescents departed and each returned to whatever teenage lives they are pursuing. Full results of the regatta and more photos can be seen at http://championships.ussailing.org/Youth/USJrWomensSinglehanded.htm. See also http://media.ussailing.org/Latest_News/2011/USJWSC_2011_Final.htm and Vince Casalaina's video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuLKyr7Gbkg. Be sure to visit our photo gallery and slideshow.