Will Haeger Places 9th at ISAF Youth Qualifier

LBSS instructor Will Haeger finished ninth at the USA qualifier for the 2009 ISAF Youth World Championships from January 17-19, 2009. Haeger was competing to represent the United States at the 39th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Buzios, Brazil. Website

Another tough day on the water with light and variable winds, but three races were completed in each fleet.  In Laser Radials, Chris Barnard held on to take the boys title over Oliver Toole, both of California.  Beulah's William Haeger fell to ninth after a tough day.  In the girls Club 420 division, Morgan Kiss and Laura McKenna held off the fast charging Eliza Richartz.  Corbin Kirk and Daniel Segerblom won the multi hull division.

Elsewhere, all of the other day two leaders fell from the top.  In girls Laser Radials, Emily Billing and Claire Dennis started the day tied for the lead.  While they semi-match raced each other, Marissa Lihan of Ft Lauderdale moved up and took the overall lead entering the final race. Despite a strong final race, Emily's second place was better than Marissa's fifth, but resulted in a series points tie.  The first tie breaker was race wins, which gave Marissa the title over Emily, three wins to two.  Both girls once sailed Optimists on Lake Beulah while competing at the USODA Midwest Championships.  Ian Liberty and Alex Whipple of NJ won the I-420 division when it was learned that Judge Ryan and Chris Segerblom were OCS in the first race of the day.  Mac Mace and Jeff Archeiris of CA also had a strong finishing last day, moving up to second place, just one point out of first.  Congratulations to each of the five winning crews who will be representing the USA in Brazil at the ISAF Youth World Championships in July of 2009.

Day 2:

Winds today were nonexistent to very light.  William won the first race of the day in "Beulah-like" conditions.  A seventh and a seventeenth in races three and four however dropped him back to fourth place overall.  Chris Barnard, Oliver Toole and Ryan Hoeven are ahead of Will in boys Radials.  Barnard has three race wins and an 11th giving him a four point lead.  In Club 420 girls, Morgan Kiss and Laura McKenna have a comfortable lead over Marlena Fauer and Christina Lewis in second place.  Kiss of Macatawa and McKenna of Lake Forest/Palo Alto, have both spent time in past years competing and practicing on Lake Beulah.  Additionally, Laura has crewed previously for Stephanie Hudson and Will Haeger in the Club 420.

Elsewhere, Judge Ryan and Chris Segerblom continue to lead the boys I-420.  Finally, Emily Billings and Claire Dennis are tied at the top of the girls Radials.  Emily holds the tie breaker with two race wins.  Claire has three seconds and a fourth.  Corbin Kirk and Daniel Segerblom lead the multi-hull division.  Racing will be completed on Monday.  Light winds are forecasted for the final day.

Day 1:

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club of Long Beach, Calif. is hosting the event. William is competing in the boys Laser Radial division against 35 other sailors from across the USA.  Chris Barnard of Newport, CA and Mateo Vargas of St Petersburg, FL, both members of the U-18 Olympic Development team, are among the favorites.  Only sailors born after 1990 are eligible for the Youth Worlds.  Light air wind conditions are forecast for the three day event.

Other leaders after day one include Morgan Kiss (MI)/Laura McKenna (CA) in Club 420; Judge Ryan (CA)/Chris Segerblom (CA) in I-420; Emily Billing (FL) in girl Laser Radials, and Taylor Palmer (FL)/Elizabeth Newberry (FL) in Multihull - Hobie 16's.