Sixty-one youth teams, their families and coaches from throughout Southern California converged on Santa Barbara for the annual National Championship of the Club Flying Junior ("CFJ") National Championship. The event was hosted by the Santa Barbara Yacht Club beginning Friday, July 25 and ending Sunday, July 27. Seven races were completed over the three-day period in a variety of conditions.

The Flying Junior is a 13 ft. dinghy sailed by two junior sailors, carries a sail area of about 100 square feet plus a spinnaker of approximately 80 square feet. CFJ's are the boat of choice for the majority of high school and collegiate sailing on the West Coast of the United States. The FJ was originally developed as a trainer for the Flying Dutchman, an Olympic class at the time. The Club FJ was developed as a more durable alternative to the standard FJ and is designed to withstand the wear and tear of daily use in junior programs.

The 2008 National Championship was won in convincing fashion by Santa Barbara sailors Oliver Toole and crew Travis Benton. With "bullets" (first-place finishes) in four of the seven races, Toole and Benton coupled good starts with clear air, exceptional boat-speed and great tactics to sail a near perfect regatta. They didn't need to sail the last race to win the event, but elected to switch helmsmen and sail the race for fun. The structure of the event allowed for each team to discard their worst score of the seven races completed.

Other top finishers included:

Conditions for the three-day event varied considerably. Friday opened with a light southerly of about six knots (nautical miles per hour) before a nice 8-11 knot southwesterly sea breeze filled in for the remaining three races. Greg Dair and Cooper Weitz of California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey found the lighter conditions to their liking finish third in the first race of the regatta--their best finish in the event on their way to an 8th place finish overall.

Saturday's conditions weren't nearly as favorable. Racing was postponed prior the competitors leaving the beach as race organizers waited for wind. As a light 2-4 knot south easterly built, sailors were taken out to the racing area by their coaches and event support boats. A race was started, but ultimately abandoned as what little wind there was died off. The decision to abandon the race was met with loud cheers by the majority of the competitors. After about an hour of swimming, wake boarding and socializing, there was again enough wind to get another race started. With a 3-5 knot southeasterly oscillating through about 25 degrees, the participants completed the only race of the day: a 1.4 mile windward-leeward.

Sunday proved to be a challenge for sailors and race officials alike. The southwesterly sea breeze took its time getting established and races were postponed for over 1 1/2 hours. With a very strong current pushing the sailors up the course and over the starting line, competitors were finding it virtually impossible to stay behind the line and start correctly. After more general recalls (re-starts) than anyone would care to endure, a race was finally started in a beautiful building sea breeze. With an impending time limit for starting another race, and after one more general recall, the final race of the regatta got underway despite a large number of premature starters, many of whom successfully returned to the starting area to exonerate themselves.

Santa Barbara Yacht Club will be co-hosting the US Sabot National Championships on the weekend of August 9-10, 2008.

Results
Photos

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