ISSA High School Single Handed Championship
for the
2012 Cressy Trophy
Chicago Yacht Club
Belmont Station
Chicago, IL
October 28-30, 2011
MISSA’s Mitchell Kiss and SAISA’s Eric Lawrence are 2011-2012 ISSA Singlehanded National Champions
All eighteen scheduled races were completed for each division this weekend out of the Chicago Yacht Club Belmont Station, hosts of the 2012 ISSA Singlehanded Championship. Thirty-six competitors traveled to Chicago from all over the country to compete in the Radial and Full Rig divisions of the event. The sailors arrived on Friday afternoon for registration, to receive their boats from Laser Performance, and to go out for some practice time.
Saturday’s weather was beautiful, and though the wind started out a bit shifty blowing off the land from the west, by early afternoon it had shifted a little more north and settled in at a solid ten knots. Eight races in the Full Rig and seven in the Radial divisions were completed by the end of the day. Sailors were then treated to a dinner at the club, and sent home to rest up for a much windier Sunday.
Though the sun occasionally broke through on Sunday, most of the day was overcast, chilly, and saw plenty of breeze. The waves that had kicked up from the south overnight made the beginning of the day especially challenging for the sailors to maneuver. By mid-day, the wind had shifted a little further west, calming the waves down a bit, though the wind continued to build to the mid-twenties, testing the sailors’ endurance throughout the long, cold day. Eleven more races were sailed by the radials and ten by the full rigs to finish the eighteen race regatta, during the last of which the breeze picked up even more, gusting in the upper twenties, pushing many of the Radial sailors to their limit before reaching the finish line.
Congratulations to Mitchell Kiss of Black River High School in Holland, Michigan for winning the Radial Division and Eric Lawrence of Martin County High School in Palm City, FL for winning the Full Rig division at this year’s championship. Kiss outlasted Ian Barrows of the Antilles School in the US Virgin Islands in the last race to pull ahead with the victory. Barrows finished second in the radials with Avery Fanning of Bishop England High School in Isle of Palms, South Carolina in third. Lawrence led the full rigs from the beginning of the regatta and slowly extended throughout, finishing in the top three in half of the races and the only full rig sailor to not post a score out of the top seven. Daniel DelBello of Fox Lane High School in Bedford, NY finished second and Nevin Snow of Cathedral Catholic in San Diego, CA finished third.
I want to extend a huge thank you on behalf of the Chicago Yacht Club to our chief judge Bruce Martinson, PRO Erik Schneider, APRO Dick Schweers, RC’s Frank Ustach, Bob Johnson, Chris Mitchell, Lloyd Karzan, Rick Lillie, Markset Mike Leslie, Chairman Kevin Teborek, and the many volunteers who ventured out onto the lake over the weekend to help with safety and judge boats. Laser Performance personnel and the Northwestern University Sailing Team volunteers did a great job coordinating the boats on land before and during the event as well. Thank you to all else who were involved in making this event such a success!
Martha Pitt
Director of Sailing
Chicago Yacht Club
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