2014 RS:X Nationals
The RS:X US Nationals took place in Miami on Jan 18-20, 2014, on beautiful Biscayne Bay and in mild temperatures while the rest of the country was battling nothing less than a ‘polar vortex!’
A number of international sailors, in Miami for winter training, took part in the open regatta as a tune-up to the ISAF Miami World Cup. Altogether, a fleet of 27 RS:X racers took to the waters right off of Coconut Grove Sailing Club for three days of intense competition in moderate to light winds, alongside 150 other boats across a number of other Olympic classes competing for their North American Championships.
Farrah Hall took the Women’s US National title in style, while Pedro Pascual won the Youth division and US Sailing Sperry Topsider team member Carson Crain won the Men’s division. Here’s what Farrah had to say about her performance:
I had a successful event in quite difficult conditions. The wind was from the west for most of the event, which on Biscayne Bay means light, shifty, and gusty conditions. I sailed a conservative event, which meant not taking any major tactical risks, and staying observant of the oscillating wind shifts.
The days were extremely long, because we shared a course with the 470s and 420s. On their course, the races were 50-60 minutes, and given the unsettled wind, we spent about 5 hours per day on the water. This made it a tough event, but it was also great training and confidence building in advance of the OCR.
There was a very big fleet of American youth, which was great to see!
Speaking of which, the 2014 RS:X Nationals were of particular importance for US Youth sailors not just because of the prestige of the national title at stake, but also because those championships were the 2nd and final leg of their qualifying series to make the US Youth Worlds team, and represent the US at the ISAF Youth Worlds this summer in Portugal.
Pedro Pascual for the Boys, and Charlotte Samson for the Girls will have that honor!
In the Open 8.5 division, Izzy Hamilton (GBR) led the event wire to wire, as did Marco Baglione (ITA) in the Open 9.5 division, but with Farrah, Demi Vega (MEX), and David Mier y Terán (MEX) each winning their share of races, they really had to earn it.
A big thank you to Ron Rostorfer and all our friends at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club for running a great event!
Full results are here
