A-CLASS NORTH AMERICANS – Days 2 and 3

Five races were sailed over the last two days at the A-Class North American Championships in Traverse City, MI. On Wednesday, only one race was sailed in a 20-22 knot southwesterly with gusts to 27 knots. Today, four races were sailed in a 10-20 knot westerly (with some higher gusts).

Pete Melvin has taken charge of this event winning every race today. He is followed by Phil Kinder in second and Peter Johnstone in third. Ben Hall is in fourth followed by Eric Marshack in fifth.

Onshore, a class meeting was held with a decision to hold the 2005 North American Championship on the Columbia River Gorge near Portland, OR. The class also elected it’s 2005 officers. Bob Hodges is the new class president and Carla Schieffer was elected the class measurement “czarina”. Jeremy Laundergan remains the class information officer and Ben Hall will continue as the secretary/treasurer.

For you gearheads, here are the top five sailor’s equipment selections:

Pete Melvin – A2 platform, Hall mast, Ullman sail
Phil Kinder – Auscat Flyer, Australian mast, Ashby sail
Peter Johnstone – Bimare XJ platform, Bimare mast, Ashby sail
Ben Hall – Flyer platform, Hall mast, Ullman sail
Eric Marsack – Auscat Flyer platform, Australian mast, Goodall sail

The forecast for tomorrow is for 5-8 knots from the northeast and east. It is hoped to have three races to get a total of ten races so there will be two dropouts for some of the sailors who had bad luck in the heavy conditions over the last three days.