Pictured above are, from L to R: Back row: Owen Kohut, Grady Strothman, Keegan Chatburn, John Lieber, Coach Marek Valasek, Nissa Berman, Grace Renz, Front Row: Nathan Finkelstein, Tilly Niemann, Sophie Niemann.
Nine ILYA sailors made the trek to Lakewood Yacht Club, just outside of Houston, TX, to compete in Opti Team Trials. This is the pinnacle event of the national Opti circuit and an event these sailors had to qualify for. They will be competing against over 200 of the best Opti sailors from around the country. At stake are spots on the National Team, as well as the opportunity to represent the US at several international Opti regattas this summer and fall. These sailors have trained all winter for this event with the Buddy Melges Race Team and coach Marek Valasek. The regatta begins on Thursday, April 22nd and concludes on Sunday, April 25th. They began practicing at Lakewood this past weekend and will put in many hours of hard work this week leading up to the regatta.
Day - 4 (Final Results) The team got to experience every range of conditions this week, from cold and windy to hot and light. The consistent theme was the chop, chop, chop of the bay. The team fought hard throughout the event and all are fairly worn out after 4 days of practice followed by 4 days of racing. They got to experience competing at the highest Opti level the US has to offer. For 12 races they got to battle for position on the starting line with the best Opti sailors around. These kids are definitely leaving Houston as better sailors than when they showed up. Final Silver Fleet results for our ILYA/Midwest kids are as follows:
John Lieber 18th
Owen Kohut 23rd
Nissa Berman 65th
Sophie Niemann 71st
Keegan Chatburn 78th
Grady Strothman 88th
Nathan Finkelstein 95th
Grace Renz 97th
Tilly Niemann 98th
Now we wait (sometimes weeks) to see if any of our sailors receive invites for an international team!
Day - 3 What a difference 48 hrs can make. This place feels like a completely different venue. The wind today was 180 degrees different from the past two days and much lighter. The breeze was offshore at about 8-12mph. The sun was out and the kids finally got to enjoy some warm weather sailing. It was a new regatta today as the fleet was divided into Gold and Silver. While scores do carry over, the two fleets are now scored separately moving forward. John Lieber moved up to 9th place, followed by Owen Kohut in 19th, Nissa Berman in 58th, Sophie Nieman in 76th, Keegan Chatburn in 80th, Grady Strothman in 83rd, Grace Renz in 95th, Tilly Nieman in 107th, and Nathan Finkelstein in 108th. The regatta finishes up tomorrow with just two races on the docket. Sunny, warm weather is sure to bring out the Sunday power boaters and provide plenty of slop (yes, it even happens on the ocean) for the fleet to deal with in light breeze.
Day - 2 The weather and wind behaved for day 2 of team trials. The race committee got in three races with breeze of 12-15mph. There was still plenty of chop on the bay, but not the larger swells that the kids experienced yesterday. The top three ILYA sailors are currently Owen Kohut in 74th, followed by John Lieber in 82nd, and Nissa Berman in 98th. Tonight the sailors will be split into silver and gold fleets with the division coming somewhere around 67th place. While our sailors did not make gold, they have persevered through some challenging conditions and are competing against teams that train 5 days a week most of the year. Our ILYA sailors are still competing to qualify for an international event.
Below is Grady Strothman sailing in yesterday after the races, right in front of the Kemah Boardwalk Amusement Park.
Day - 1 The team spent time Tuesday prepping their boats by cleaning and polishing them. This was followed by another day of on the water practice. Wednesday was a day off and the team went to visit the Johnson Space Center, where, not only did they get to see an actual Saturn V rocket, but also got a private tour of the Texas Longhorn Project.
Race day 1 of 4 began Thursday with winds around 15 that built quickly to a steady 21 with gusts to 25. Sailors were divided into 3 flights of approximately 68 boats per flight. Four sets of races were completed. With the long fetch of water and the shallow bay, it made for very wavy conditions with swell that proved challenging to our Midwest sailors. Owen Kohut is currently our top ILYA sailor in 61st, followed by Nissa Berman in 86th and John Lieber in 103rd. A throughout will come into play after one more race is sailed. Friday's forecast looks windier with a chance for storms. The race committee will try their best to get racing in despite the rain and wind that is expected so that the fleet can be divided into Gold (top third) and Silver for days 3 and 4 of racing.
- Bill Lieber
Results can be followed here: https://usoda.org/regatta/mWPZQXlGKi/results