Area E/K Qualifier Results
It was a tails of two round robins; the first RR was dominated by Madison sailor, Phil Morley and the second witnessed a huge comeback by the Chicago Yacht Club team skipped by Michael Whitford. Whitford was winless coming into the second round robin but then started it off with 3 big wins a row. Whitford was pitted against Graham in the 4th flight and suffered his only loss of the second round robin. The loss also meant he lost the tie breaker to Graham. Whitford’s strong second round robin finish pushed him into the 4th place position winning a tie breaker over Mark Johnson of Neenah.
The Semi-Finals began Sunday Morning is a steady 10 knot northerly breeze. Lars Hansen sailing for Wayzata Yacht Club led off the start line in each of the 3 semi-final races sailed and handily disposed of Phil Morley sailing for Hoofers Sailing Club. Matt Graham, sailing for Bayview Yacht Club also had no trouble beating Whitford in 3 races. Graham and
Whitford traded leads in the second race when Whitford was able to prevent Graham from tacking around the windward mark, but the lead then went back to Graham when he was able to obtain an inside overlap at the leeward mark.
Morley beat Whitford in the single Petit-Final knockout race to secure 3rd place. In a surprisingly penalty-free Final, Hansen displayed great boat speed to win 2 consecutive races for the regatta win.
Both Lars Hansen and Matt Graham earn berths at the US Match Racing Championship being hosted by Sail Sheboygan and The Sheboygan Yacht, September 18 to 22. Congratulations to both!
Final Results:
- Lars Hansen, Wayzata Yacht Club
- Matt Graham, Bayview Yacht Club
- Phil Morley, Hoofers Sailing Club
- Michael Whitford, Chicago Yacht Club
- Mark Johnson, Neenah Nodaway Yacht Club
- David Niemann, Mendota Yacht Club
