The 2008 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta was hosted during the last week of December by the Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coral Gables, Florida.  Lake Beulah scored 3rd place in Laser Radials (Smith) and 4th place in Club 420 (Hudson).  Winds ranged from 15 - 20 knots over the first two days, followed by 5 - 8 knot breezes over the final two days.  Temperatures ranged from 70's to 80's.

Click here for results.

According to US SAILING, "Over 700 junior sailors from 24 countries, as well as 26 U.S. states and territories will convene for the 32nd annual Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta based at the Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, Fla. on December 27-30, 2008. The Orange Bowl Regatta is the culminating event of the USA Junior Olympic Sailing season. This regatta is the largest youth sailing regatta in the country."

The Club 420 class consisted of 113 boats, completing twelve races.  Beulah's Steph Hudson, competing for the first time with her new crew Rebecca King of Santa Monica, CA, sailed a very consistent regatta.  While winning three of twelve races, the pair was never out of the top four at the end of each day.  Two difficult starts in races nine and eleven cost them a chance at the title, but the pair was pleased by their fourth place overall finish given their short time together as a team.  The girls were coached during the event by Taylor Canfield of Chicago YC.  The Club 420 class was won by Ian Liberty of Toms River, NJ with his crew Alex Whipple.

In the Laser Radial class, 110 boats competed on one long starting line.  Colin Smith of Ft Lauderdale (and an LBSS instructor) started off well with a 2 and a 3 before learning he was OCS in race three.  With a high likelihood of just one throw out, Smith started more conservatively, but still attained four top ten finishes in the next seven races including one race win with 109 boats trailing him to the finish.  Based on his consistently strong finishes, Colin won a bronze medal for third place overall.  Also competing from Beulah were Will Haeger (18th) and George Kutschenreuter (60th).  The Radial division was won by Christopher Stocke of Sarasota, FL.

In the Laser Full Rigs, Will Howard of Lake Forest finished 13th out of 33 boats.  Luke Lawrence of West Palm Beach, FL took the title.

Finally, the Optimist class consisted of 219 sailors.  While no one from LBSS participated, past competitors in the Beulah Optimist Dinghy Regatta competing at the Orange Bowl included Malcolm Lamphere (6), Alex Curtiss, Alex Vasiliou, Ben & Tom Garber, and Hunter & Ford Johnstone.

Trophies were presented by Olympic medalists Kevin Burnham (470-Gold & Silver), Zach Railey (Finn-Silver), & Anna Tunnicliffe (Laser Radial-Gold).  Also participating, 2004 Olympic gold medalist Magnus Liljedahl presented the Orange Bowl Regatta sportsmanship trophy to a sailor who exemplifies sportsmanship at the event.

For results, go to: http://www.coralreefyachtclub.org/index.cfm?menu=7560 .