http://championships.ussailing.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=14452

13 knts in race 9A

World Class helms like Carolijn Brewer can sail light and minimize the disadvantage as the wind builds (see last years Euro results).

You also see this effect when single handers are sailing in that 6 to 10 knot range. They are just fast.

Should it make it through the ISAF trials... I predict the Olympic fleet will settle on light ... (set the boat up for the lulls)

Can't tell if Newberry got a 7 or 9 in that race.

9 . . . . and FLUSHED.

OOOOMMMFFFF. That hurts.

Nothing from today? The top three spots are very close!

Make that top four...

On the beach in Long Beach. Already seeing about 9 knots, getting set for a noon start. Gonna' try to get 4 heats off today, that will make an 11 race series. Only 3 teams have yet to be flushed; Pitt/Pitt, Guiliano/Guiliano, and Struble/Lacasella.

Mark, It doesn't matter who the sailor is. All the Olympic tornado teams were extremely close in terms of boat speed and maneuvers. Interestingly, even on the Tornado the crew weight differences we're obvious from light to heavy weather conditions. On the F16 that weight sensitivity is magnified.

Sailing at 260lbs in 12kts is a definite disadvantage against a team at 310lbs and a huge advantage in 6-8kts. But if all teams are around 260-280 then it really doesn't matter.

Problem arises when teams try to optimize their weight for the anticipated wind conditions (look at the things teams did for China). The racing becomes more about guessing the correct weight instead of the sailing.

Thanks Kevin. Good job!

Wow. What a last day for the championship. Looks like 3 teams have the best chance to win it, one a co-ed team, and another a youth team. Newberry will have an (at best) 11 in race 10. So . . .
after 9 races Struble has a 3 point lead over Reiss, 4 point lead over Pitt. Getting that 4th race in today could mean everything. And I expect Newberry mixing it up in Race 11,12,13? and could provide the total points separation between the first and second overall leaders in a spoiler. Damn exciting!

No updates? Should be over by now.

Final Results here.
If this is correct, Congratulations to the Champion Matt Struble/ Damon Lacasella with a one point lead over Taylor Reiss/ Matthew Whitehead. A HUGE congratulations to Taylor and Matthew for an outstanding finish. Looking forward to hearing the details.

Struble Wins Record Breaking Fourth U.S. Multihull Championship

I'm confused as to the record breaking statement. Didn't Smyth win 4 championships? Although he competed in more than 4, but still . . .

Congratulations to Matt & Damon for their win. Well done to all the crews.

Also, well done to Jill & Robbie from Red Gear Racing for the amazing effort they have put into this championships - Not just this year, but the previous 3 years.

And well done to all their "Pitt Crew" for keeping the Vipers on the water and in A1 condition. If it wasn't for guys like this there would be no championship.

It is interesting to note that in the top 5 places there were 3 all guys teams, 1 all girls, and 1 mixed team. Really shows the versatility of the Viper

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!!! Dave Ingram called this one. Wish you coulda' been here Dave, this place rocks!

Right on Helen,




And another proof is in that racing the Viper / F16's is fair to a wide range of crew weights.

So much for gut-feelings that such a boat will enormously favour featherweights. It simply doesn't. Are you paying attention Mark ?

Wouter

Congrats to the winners and many thanks to the organisors and boatsuppliers !

Wouter

Are you kidding me... Strubble has a world championship on his resume.... The ladies don't.

Struble commented about the weight issue and how problematic it was for them.

OJX put it well about the unique nature of the F16 designs..

One more minor point on the issue, the F16's are weight sensitive in a very very different way then say a Hobie 16 or a Dart 18.

IF ISAF picks an F16 flavor, the Olympic fleet will land on the weight range that gets them qualified and to the games. The range will be similar to previous Olympic fleets +/- 10 to 15 pounds and the mean will be on the low end relative to Men's or Open classes. The boat should drop out of the equation. If it doesn't... it would be a terrible Olympic choice.

I don't suppose any weights were taken.

It seems to me weight was NOT an issue and would only become an issue if the wind was constant throughout the series.

My take away is: at this level, champions don't make mistakes.

You couldn't be more wrong on this one.