US Sailing Championship of Champions at Gulfport Yacht Club

by US Sailing 13 Oct 2015 05:11 NZDT 8-11 October 2015

The top 49er team in the country showed their diversity on the race course this weekend and captured one of US Sailing's most intriguing championships. Brad Funk (Largo, Fla.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.) successfully acclimated to VX One to win the Championship of Champions, hosted by Gulfport Yacht Club.

US Sailing's Championship of Champions is recognized as one of the more unique adult racing events in the country. All helmsmen qualified for this event by winning a one-design class National, North American, or World Championship in the qualifying year (2014 - 2015). Twenty teams were tested in the VX One this year on the waters of Mississippi Sound.

Funk and Burd got off to an outstanding start on Friday by notching three consecutive bullets. However, Kenny Wolfe and Virginia Hannan of the MC Scow class were the most consistent team through Friday's five races and took a six point lead into Saturday. They won the final two races Friday to take the lead. All five races were conducted in the afternoon in moderate to light breeze.

Despite back-to-back 10th (Friday) and 11th (Saturday) place finishes, Funk and Burd took command on Saturday en route to a 24-point lead through another six races in moderate to heavy winds.

On Sunday, the breeze was heavy in morning with chopping conditions. Wind speed reached 15 knots in the morning and dropped to 6-8 knots later in the day.

Funk and Burd placed third, sixth and second in Sunday's three races to seal the win. Christopher Alexander (Ocean Springs, Miss.) and John F. Dane (Pass Christian, Miss.) of the VX One class won two of three races Sunday to finish second. Mike Holt (Soquel, Calif.) and Edward Conrads (Sausalito, Calif.) of the International 505 placed third overall.

"I was able to apply my skill sets from sailing the Laser, Vanguard 15, and the 49er, to this boat," said Funk. "I sailed the VX One a couple times before as crew and I was able to give some intel to Trevor. We were able to get good starts and when we hit the pressure we were strong on the downwinds.

"There was a really relaxing and fun group of people here from different niches of sailing. I had heard about several of these talented sailors, but never raced against some of them. I think we all started to figure out the boat, and when we did, the racing got tighter and tighter."

Funk and Burd will compete at the 49er World Championships in November for a chance to qualify Team USA for the 2016 Olympic Games in the 49er (Skiff) competition.

Three days of racing was preceded by a special VX One boat clinic and technical briefing on Thursday led by Brian Bennett, designer of the VX One.

The championship is named in honour of Jack Brown who was noted for his service as a judge, regatta organizer and member of US Sailing Committees.

The 2015 Championship of Champions is a US Sailing National Championship, sponsored by Gill North America and Switlik Survival Products.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	Pts
1	Brad Funk	Trevor Burd	1	1	1	2	[10]	[11]	2	5	4	2	7	3	6	2	36
2	Christopher Alexander	John F Dane	6	12	5	8	2	8	[14]	2	3	5	[15]	1	11	1	64
3	Mike Holt	Edward Conrads	12	3	2	[14]	[17]	6	1	3	8	1	14	2	7	6	65
4	Chris Raab	Donovan Brennan	8	4	8	6	9	[12]	[15]	4	7	4	5	5	3	4	67
5	Kenny Wolfe	Virginia Hannan	2	2	3	1	1	13	[16]	10	12	3	12	4	[15]	5	68
6	Paul Abdullah	Jeff Eiber	[13]	9	4	3	6	5	9	6	10	[16]	2	9	5	13	81
7	Val Smith	Markell Pool & Adelheid Rittmeyer	11	7	13	7	13	1	6	1	1	9	3	[15]	10	[14]	82
8	Max Brill	Andrew Person & Ian MacDiarmid	[16]	11	12	12	14	2	7	[19]	2	11	1	8	2	11	93
9	Brian Keane	Evan Aras & Julian Sudofsky	4	6	14	4	11	4	5	[17]	[15]	6	10	10	8	12	94
10	Andrew Eagan	Hayden Bennett	10	5	9	10	12	3	12	11	6	[14]	9	7	[16]	7	101
11	Jesse Andrews	Marc Barra & Lauren Easley	[15]	14	[18]	11	4	7	4	7	9	15	8	12	1	15	107
12	John Dane III	Schaeffer Dane	5	[16]	15	5	15	9	3	14	13	8	11	[16]	4	10	112
13	Sam Padnos	Joshua Padnos	7	13	6	9	7	15	8	8	[17]	10	13	[19]	13	9	118
14	Scott Rasmussen	Hallie Schiffman & Sam Tobio	9	10	17	[19]	5	10	17	13	[18]	7	6	11	12	3	120
15	George Gamble	Kenneth Nixon	3	[17]	7	17	8	14	[19]	9	11	13	4	6	17	16	125
16	Steve Goodson	Alan Diercks	18	15	10	16	3	19	18	16	5	17	16	[20]	[20]	8	161
17	James Cummiskey	Adrian Owles	14	8	11	13	16	[18]	13	[18]	14	12	18	14	14	17	164
18	Jonathan Foot	Ted Dickson & Emily Dickson	17	18	[19]	15	18	17	11	12	16	19	[20]	17	9	19	188
19	Shelley Caplan	Martha Heausler & Mallory Edwards	[19]	[19]	16	18	19	16	10	15	19	18	19	18	19	18	205
20	Tanner Shultz	Caroline Shultz & Wyatt Shultz	[20]	[20]	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	17	13	18	20	228