Skill level goes UP at the 2014 US Techno Nationals!

Youth and talent were on display this weekend in the Sunshine State: nearly 30 young racers converged to Miami, Florida for the 2014 US Techno Nationals and RS:X Spring Festival. It was a great opportunity for everyone to reconnect, take stock of the competition and iron out the kinks ahead of the summer racing campaign.

Competitors were greeted with 10-14 kt southerly winds on Friday, 4-10 kt puffs with 30 degree shifts on Saturday on the back of a big overnight lightning storm, and 14-20 kt gusty north-westerlies on Sunday. Enough craziness to test everyone’s sanity! Mack Van Den Eerenbeemt, just off the podium at both the North and South American Championships this year, made up for it here and dominated the Techno Class with 7 wins out of 10 races. He summed it up for us: “the conditions were so varied, everyone got a chance to express themselves!”

Mack and Steven Max traveled from Aruba for the event to test their skills against the best racers from the US, and they were joined by a strong contingent from Mexico: among them Mateo Salles, who confirmed his 5th place at the North Americans earlier this year with a 5th place in Miami; and Mariana Aguilar who served notice that she’s the girl to beat in the Techno Class in North America right now, and will surely be a force to be reckoned with this summer at the Worlds in Brest and at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.

The US National Techno title went to local hero Maximo Nores, ahead of Steven Cramer and Maximo’s brother Geronimo Nores: the same triumvirate that ruled the North American Championships in Cancun two months ago, and will be carrying the flag for the US at the European Championships this week in Italy. Those kids do get around, don’t they?

What made the US Nationals a great event for those kids? “It was great to race with people from outside the US,” said Maximo. “The best part was meeting racers from other countries,” added Mariana. The Miami Yacht Club and the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation ought to be commended for running a great event, but more importantly for helping keep the momentum going and creating yet another occasion for kids from North, South and Latin America to get together, learn from one another and raise the bar for everyone.

Success breeds success, and the talent at the top is infectious. Noah Lyons, a 12-yr old up-and-comer from Clearwater, FL, relished the heavy air and impressed everyone on the race course, but he knows he has some catching up to do in lighter conditions. He was wide-eyed about the experience and came away with the feeling that “with enough practice, anything is possible.”

While the Techno class battled it up for national titles and bragging rights, the ‘older’ RS:X sailors used the event as a tune up. US Olympic Development Team Member Raul Lopez loved that this was a hard-thought yet no-pressure kind of event, and that relaxed attitude showed on his scorecard: he didn’t lose a single race! Diego Becerra from Mexico took advantage of the conditions to make “drastic improvements to (his) downwind technique.” Malo Ouallet “took (his) gear tuning skills to another level.” US Youth World Team Member Charlotte Samson used the event to test how her knees were holding up after a long injury timeout – “it’s been a while since I’ve sailed free of pain,” she said. “I’m really encouraged and looking forward to getting back on the water big time!”

The road is long and filled with endless hours on the water, buckets of sweat at the gym and layers of calluses on the hands, but as Raul Lopez noted with a smile, “it’s fantastic to see how the level in the US keeps going up.”

Here are the podium positions:

Techno 293 US National:
1. USA 102. Maximo Nores
2. USA 242. Steven Cramer
3. USA 108. Geronimo Nores

Overall Techno 293 – girls:
1. MEX 28. Mariana Aguilar
2. MEX 75. Paula Carmona

Overall Techno 293 – boys:
1. ARU 11. Mack Van Den Eerenbeemt
2. USA 102. Maximo Nores
3. ARU 888. Steven Max

Overall Techno 293 – silver fleet:
1. USA 519. Michael Cramer
2. USA 628. Max Castillo
3. USA 708. Benjamin Dietch

RS:X 9.5:
1. USA 529. Raul Lopez
2. USA 528. Jonathan Rudich
3. USA 142. Malo Ouallet

RS:X 8.5 Girls:
1. MEX 87. Beatriz Castillo
2. USA 797. Charlotte Samson
3. MEX 126. Renata Millet

RS:X 8.5 Boys:
1. MEX 50. Mario Flores
2. MEX 83. Diego Becerra
3. USA 105. Nicolas Bailleul

Full Results here…