For this summer one of my target events was the Rose Cup, which is the US Sailing Youth Match Race Championship. This year it was held in Sonars in Marblehead at
Corinthian Yacht Club. I had raced twice in Marblehead so I was somewhat familiar with the venue. However, I had just spent eight months roll tacking FJ’’s, so my match racing skills were a little rusty. Right before the Rose Cup I decided to do a Prince of Wales qualifier as a practice event at San Diego YC. Not only was the event great practice, but it qualified me for the Prince of Wales, US Adult Match Race Championship, at St. Francis YC in October.
Feeling a little sharper, my team of Samantha Hemans (bow), Kelly Holthus (trim), and Peter Barnard (main) arrived for our practice day in Marblehead. It was Kelly’s first day trimming the kite and he did exceptionally well. Our boat handling and boat speed were onpoint and we were feeling really good.
The next morning was the first day of racing. The wind was weird and shifty. The first race we missed the first shift resulting in a loss. We had a team meeting and quickly rebounded. We decided to focus more on what was going on outside the boat given that the conditions were so variable. With that small adjustment we ended up going undefeated for the rest of the day and the next day. This put us as the number one seed in the round robin series. We managed to knock out the eighth seed in the quarters and the fourth seed in the semis.
Now it was time for the racing that matters. Even though we had been sailing well, three mistakes and our regatta could be over. Also, the breeze had picked up to a solid 15. In the first race we owned the right on the prestart and had a narrow lead at the weather mark over Hamilton Barclay’s team. We managed to hold them off and take the first win. The next race we had the same scenario, but on the last downwind Barclay managed to get off a better gybe and roll us on the final layline. Now the series was tied up at 1-1.
I decided to start taking more risk in the prestarts. The next start was a kill start and we extended our lead to win the third race and get ahead in the series. The fourth race we had another kill start, but Barclay had a brilliant downwind and caught up for the final beat and downwind. He took the lead at the last weather mark. We fake gybed him around the mark to secure starboard advantage. Then we managed to gybe at him and luff him head to wind. This gave us enough of a lead to win the last race of the finals. It felt great to win my second Rose Cup, but it took the support of many other people. I would like to thank my amazing crew for keeping the boat going. Also a huge thanks to CYC, Dave Perry, and my host family Bill and Sarah Lynne for making this event possible. Also a huge thanks to the BYCMSSF for helping fund the team’s entry. Finally thank you to my parents for always supporting my sailing.