Peeter Must of
Lakewood High School (Lakewood, NJ)and Spencer Weber of
Southern Regional High School(Manahawkin, NJ) each won
his division in the 2000 ISSA National High School
Singlehanded Championship for the Cressy Trophy in a
two-day regatta sailed October 30-31 in Newport, RI.
The 32-school fleet was divided into two divisions, one
in full-rig Lasers and the other in Radial-rig Lasers,
the latter having less sail area to appeal to
lighterweight sailors. The dual fleet is a new
departure for the championship which since 1986 has been
sailed in a single division. The two winners share the
championship and both names will be engraved on the
trophy. Both Weber, who sailed in the full-rig fleet, and
Must faced a wide range of conditions, from light to
moderate winds the first day to hard gusts over 25 knots
the second. Both, however, maintained remarkable
consistency. Weber had five firsts in the 15-race series
and Must had four as each increased his lead in the wind
and sloppy seas the second day.
Runner-up to Weber was Andrew Lewis of The Assets School,
Hawaii. Lewis was the 1999 Interscholastic Singlehanded
Champion and reveled in the challenging conditions the
second day but could not overcome his results in the
light and shifty conditions of the first day. By
contrast, Andrew Campbell of The Bishop's School(LaJolla,
CA) excelled in those conditions and led the fleet at
mid-point. The second day Campbell fell out of the lead
into a tie with Lewis that was broken in favor of Lewis,
who had more first places.
In the Laser Radial fleet, Anthony Hudson of Archbishop
Rummel High School(Metarie, LA) used the heavy winds to
climb from the middle of the fleet after the first day to
second place in the final standings. Hudson actually had
more first places, five, than than the winner Must but
did not share Must's consistency. Similarly Stuart McNay
of Roxbury Latin School (Boston, MA) went from first
place in his division after the first day of racing to
third when he was less successful mastering the heavier
winds.
The championship was sailed in 32 new Lasers supplied by Vanguard
Sailboats, partner in the ISSA
growth and development project, out of the Sail Newport
Sailing Center. Event Chair was Roger Rawlings and
Principal Race Officer was Rob Hurd. Both are active
coaches and officers of the New England Schools Sailing
Association(NESSA) which was host for the national event.
NESSA is one of seven districts in the Interscholastic
Sailing Association(ISSA).
ISSA is a national organization of 275 schools that also
sponsors the Interscholastic Fleet Racing Championship
for the Mallory Trophy to be sailed May 13-14, 2000, at
Long Beach, CA, and the Interscholastic Team Racing
Championship for the Baker Trophy May 20-21 at Norfolk,
VA.
For further details or information about ISSA contact
Larry White at 860-739-3253, or e-mail: lawrence_a_white@juno.com
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