US Match Racing Championships, Day 3: Racing Limited by Lack of Wind

by Jake Fish

For the second consecutive day, racing was limited at US SAILING's 2009 U.S. Match Racing Championship (USMRC), due to insufficient winds. The ten elite teams representing the skippers' home yacht clubs started the second round robin and finished just three flights. Racing starts at 9:30 am on Sunday as the championship moves into the semifinal and petit rounds.

The top four teams have qualified for the semifinals. The first place team led by Bill Hardesty (Chicago Match Race Ctr.), takes on Russ Silvestri's team (St. Francis YC), who finished fourth. Taylor Canfield's team (St. Thomas YC) finished Saturday in second place, and will race against Dave Perry (Pequot YC), a three-time winner of the USMRC. Team Perry finished Saturday in third. Teams finishing 5-10 following Saturday's racing will compete in the petit round.

This year's USMRC is hosted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club (Fla.). Teams are racing this year in Sonars on the waters of Tampa Bay. Showers and isolated thunderstorms with winds at approximately 10-12 mph are forecasted for Sunday.

Standings
Hardesty: 7.5
Canfield: 6.5
Perry: 6
Silvestri: 5
Nesbitt: 4.5
Dellenbaugh: 4.5
Angel: 4
Tunnicliffe: 3.5
Ruhlman: 1.5
Johnson: 1

US Match Racing Championships