Locals beat odds and competitors

The amount of things that needed to fall into place in order for Cole

Hatton and Blair Belling to win the Doublehanded title at the U.S.

junior sailing championships, hosted by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club

Friday, seemed insurmountable.

The duo racing out for the Newport Harbor Yacht Club entered

Friday in third place, trailing Jeff Knowles and Caila Johnson from

Rhode Island by five points and Jonathn Bernbaum and Scot Szawlowski

from Chicago by seven points.

In order to win the regatta, Hatton and Belling needed to place in

the top five in Friday’s two races while the other two teams finished

out of the top 10. Also, Hatton and Belling needed to finish in front

of Taylor Canfield and Nathan Rosenberg from St. Thomas Yacht Club in

the Virgin Islands as well as Joshua Leighton and Aaron Dornbrand-Lo

from the San Francisco Yacht Clb.

That, indeed, is what happened as Hatton and Belling finished

second and third in the two races to finish with 40 points over nine

races (the worst score is eliminated for each team during the 10-race

regatta) making the Newport Harbor duo the first locals to win the

Doublehanded title since 1998.

Canfield and Rosenberg finished second with 45 points and Leighton

and Dornbrand-Lo were third with 50 points.

“We weren’t looking too good,” Hatton said. “There were four boats

we had to beat, but we did it. We were fast. I mean, we were blazing

fast out there.”

The locals said their hometown knowledge of the conditions didn’t

play a factor in their strong showing.

“It really was more about keeping an eye on the other boats,”

Belling said. “The winds were shifty, so we had to see what the other

boats were doing so we could stay in front.”

The hometown win was appreciated by those at the Newport Harbor

Yacht Club.

“Our own yacht club won,” said Jenn Lancaster, NHYC yacht racing

director. “Everyone here is very excited. It’s a big honor.”

Locals also had a strong showing in the Triplehanded class as Wade

Buxton, Christian Emsiek and Perry Emsiek, representing the Balboa

Yacht Club, finished third with 34 points.

The trio finished first and third in its two races Friday, but the

final race of the day was disputed by the crew representing Port

Madison Yacht Club out of Seattle, which waged a protested involving

the BYC boat.

Port Madison contested a close start in the final race of the day

where BYC did not move out of its way. Christian Emsiek, the BYC

skipper, had to defend his action before a panel of judges, but it

was ruled that Christian Emsiek acted within the rules.

“It was like a court case,” Christian Emsiek said of the hearing

that took nearly 90 minutes. “[Port Madison] brought in witnesses,

but that actually went in our favor because [the witness] told it

like it was.”

Port Madison suggested that BYC had enough room to move forward

and allow its boat to pass by. The witness said there was about four

feet for the BYC crew to maneuver, which Christian Emsiek said was

“nowhere near the room you need to move these boats around.”

The Annapolis Yacht Club from Maryland won the Triplehanded title

with 17 points, followed by the Bay Waveland Yacht Club from

Mississippi (20) and BYC (34).

In the Singlehanded class, Cameron Cullman beat out Thomas

Barrows, 24 to 31, for the championship.