2011 North American Champs Concludes
The 2011 North American Championships came to a conclusion on Wednesday. 3 races were sailed on Tuesday and 2 more on Wednesday for a total of 11 races sailed during the regatta.
Wind conditions on the last 2 days were similar with previous days, 14 – 20 knot westerlies but the current was reversed, pushing the boats towards the course side of the start resulting in a number of disqualifications (OCS) for being over the starting line early.
Bermuda suffered a total of 4 OCS penalties on the second last day which especially hurt Michael Barit’s score significantly as he bagged two of them.
Sam Stan was the top Bermuda skipper finishing in 37th place overall in the 187 boat fleet. Rory Calsin showed progress throughout the regatta finishing in 87th while Michael Barit dropped to 95th after his two OCS penalties. Chase Cooper crept up the leader board to finish in 169th place.
Coach Zizi Staniul was encouraged by the progress throughout the regatta but felt that the team dug themselves a hole early on with poor starts in the large fleets and tricky current.
The regatta was won by Alberto Lados of Uruguay while Peter Janezic of Slovenia was second and American Russell Clarida was third. Very few points seperated the three and they were all very close each day.
