The U.S. Team Race Championship started Friday August 19th at Sheboygan Yacht Club in Wisconsin. Eleven of the best Team Racing teams in the country were selected by resume to compete in the prestigious event. This year, I teamed up with a group of All Americans from Boston College to try and defend our title at the event.
The first day of racing saw a wide range of conditions. Winds ranged from 0-20 knots throughout the day and the sea state ranged from flat water to four-foot chop. In tough conditions we were able to finish the first round robin in 3rd place.
On the third day we were split up into gold and silver flights. We sailed a full round robin in the gold fleet then we were sent ashore due to thunderstorms and too much breeze. We ended the gold round robin 2-3, putting us in 4th place overall heading into the knockout round on Sunday.
On Sunday the knockout round was sailed. We were paired against the 5th ranked team heading into a first to two point knockout series. Unfortunately we could not find our rhythm in the knockout round and lost 0-2 to the eventual silver medalists at the 2016 Hinman Championship.
As always, the U.S. Team race championship for the Hinman trophy was an amazing experience for both me, and all of the sailors that competed. I was extremely fortunate to have such great support from SDYC and I look forward to coming back to this event.