Long Beach Yacht Clubs hosts U.S. Match Race Qualifier

LONG BEACH—U.S. Sailing and Long Beach Yacht Club will host the U.S. Match Race Championship Qualifier in Long Beach, Aug. 10-11. The organizations have applied for the event to be classified as World Sailing Grade 3.

The highest placing eligible skipper will earn a spot in the 2019 U.S. Match Racing Championship – assuming they haven’t already qualified; the championship will be held in San Francisco, Oct. 3-6, and hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club.

Eight skippers will compete against each other in Catalina 37s. Each boat will be provided with the following sails: Mainsail, Genoa, Jib and Spinnaker. Racing will take place in the Congressional Cup Stadium Course; the course, according to the Notice of Race, “will be windward/leeward with starboard rounding, finishing downwind.” The maximum allowable total weight of each crew is 1,157 pounds.

The qualifying regatta will start off as a Round Robin before transitioning into a Knockout Series. Winners of the Knockout Series will face off against each other in the Finals.

Six skippers have already committed to the qualifying regatta: Dustin Durant; Colton Gerber; Cameron Feves; Greg Dair; Liz Hjorth; and, Trent Turigliatto. The final two slots were still pending as of press time. Invited skippers must pay an entry fee of $500.

Registration and practice sailing both take place on Aug. 9. The first briefing is set for Aug. 10 at 9 a.m., followed by a meeting with umpires. Racing begins at 11 a.m. on Aug. 10 and 11. The latest attention signal on Aug. 11 will be at 4 p.m. A debriefing will be held about 30 minutes after the last boat reaches dock (both days).

Prizes will be awarded after the Aug. 11 debriefing.

Contact Event Chairs David Stotler (dstotler1@outlook.com) or David Murray (david@dgmurray.com) for more information about the qualifying regatta. Bill Simon of U.S. Match Racing Championship can also be reached for more information; his email is BSimon@OakcliffSailing.org.