LYC Juniors Have Successful Start
to Winter Circuit
January 10, 2010
Miami, FL and Adelaide, Australia
For LYC’s top junior sailors, the competition continues even though the summer is over. Cold weekends practicing up north paid off at the first of the major junior winter regattas, with Optimist national team member Ty Ingram placing a career best 11th at the Florida Orange Bowl regatta out of 222 (and the sixth highest American), while Opti sailor Drew Gallagher traveled to Adelaide, Australia, placing fifth overall in the International Optimist Dinghy Association Oceania Championship.
Ty Ingram works the chop upwind at the Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl, held December 27-30 at Coral Reef Yacht Club features a 700-boat international fleet of Optimists, Club and International 420s, Lasers and Laser Radials, including many of the country’s top junior sailors. Ingram won two races and his strong finish with a flurry of top tens put him on the podium. Other LYC sailors competing in Optimists were Harry Koeppel (25th), Reiner Eenkema van Dijk (43rd) and Matt Kaplan (78th). Andrew Mollerus and Charlie Peck finished 13th in the extremely competitive International 420 class, with Amanda Taselaar 19th and Markus Edegran and Teddy Mark in 21st. Matt Mollerus rounded out the LYC tally by coming 25th out of 135 in the Laser Radial class. Results
A week later, LYC Opti sailors Drew Gallagher and Casey Klingler traveled down under to race at the IODA Oceania Championship (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands), which doubled as the Australian Optimist National Championship hosted at Adelaide Sailing Club. Despite large wind and waves for a clinic and training regatta, the championships were plagued by temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, which prevented racing until late in the day in light breezes. Gallagher won four of the nine races to place fifth overall, while Klingler finished 31st in the 94-boat fleet with sailors from a dozen countries. Results.
Andrew Mollerus and Charlie Peck were one of seven boys teams to qualify to compete in the U.S. Youth World Championship Qualifier in Clearwater, Florida January 15-18. LYC junior Nick Gallagher will crew for Nick Price from Centerport YC in the International 420 class and Matthew Mollerus will be one of 34 Laser Radials vying for the title. Several Optimist sailors will travel a few miles south to St. Petersburg YC the same weekend for a team race qualifier to compete for slots at a regatta in Venice, Italy in May, followed by the final Opti Team Trials qualifier of the year at the St. Petersburg Valentine’s Day Regatta, the Club 420 Midwinters to qualify for International 420 Europeans and Worlds, and the Laser Midwinters East Championship.
