Jeff Petersen, Balboa YC wins 2021 U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship

Jeffrey Petersen, Max Brennan, Reade Decker, and Samantha Hemmans at 2021 U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship © Holly Huston

An impressive collection of skilled youth match racers from around the country convened in Rochester, New York this weekend at the 2021 U.S. Youth Match Racing Championship for the Rose Cup. Sunday was the culmination of three action-packed days on Lake Ontario just beyond the breakwaters of Rochester Harbor.

The Final Series on Sunday captured the excitement of the weekend with a highly competitive duel between the two top teams. The Final Series featured Jack Egan (San Diego, Calif.) of the San Diego Yacht Club and Jeffrey Petersen (Newport Beach, Calif.) of the Balboa Yacht Club.

Egan entered the Final Series with a perfect record, including a 14-0 record in the two Round Robin stages on Friday and Saturday, and a pair of 3-0 series wins in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals. Petersen worked his way into the Finals with a 10-4 double Round Robin record, followed by 3-2 and 3-1 wins in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively.

After winning the first race to take a 1-0 lead, it looked like Egan and team would continue their undefeated ways through the Finals. However, Petersen's team made the necessary adjustments and won the next three consecutive races to win the Final Series, 3-1.

Joining Petersen as part of the 2021 Rose Cup winning team was Max Brennan (Newport Beach, Calif.), Reade Decker (Newport Beach, Calif.), and Samantha Hemmans (Costa Mesa, Calif.).

"Today was a fantastic day of racing. It was breeze-on and it was awesome out there," said Wood. "We had a really good Semifinal match against David Wood's team. They sailed a great race. We ended up taking that one to move on to the Finals. Jack came out of the blocks absolutely hammering. He took the first win, quite handedly, by about 10 lengths. We took some time after the race to re-set. The breeze started building and we felt really comfortable in that breeze. The guys (crew) in front made the difference. They kept pulling me out of the mistakes I was making, so all the credit goes to them. A huge thanks for the Rochester Yacht Club, the Race Committee, and the Umpires for a fantastic event this week."

Sailing with Egan's runner-up team this weekend was Diego Escobar (San Diego, Calif.), Jack Plavan (Park City, Utah), and Marianna Shand (Chula Vista, Calif.).

Finishing third this week was David Wood (Corona del Mar, Calif.) of the Balboa Yacht Club, and crew Marbella Marlo, Daniel Pegg (Anaheim, Calif.), and Tyler Wood.

Petersen will receive an invitation to the 2021 Governor's Cup on July 26-31, 2021 at the Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, California. Egan also receives an invitation to the Governor's Cup and gets an invitation to the 2021 Oakcliff Halloween Invitational on October 30-31, 2021 in Match 40s.

On Saturday night, competitors enjoyed a nice dinner followed by games on the beach and the evening was capped off with a special guest speaker - Paralympic sailor, Keith Burhans.

Final Results / Standings available here...