Lake Forest Crowned MISSA
Mallory Champions
NOR | RESULTS
April 26, 2008
Twelve teams representing high schools from Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota arrived in Chicago to compete in MISSA's 2008 Mallory Double Handed Championship. Chicago Yacht Club's Belmont Station hosted the competition for two Midwest qualifying berths at the ISSA National Championship Mallory Cup Regatta. The national championships will be hosted in mid-May by the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
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Out on Lake Michigan, the CYC race committee established a windward leeward course with a leeward gate and downwind finish as it prepared for the 10:15 am first race. Under sunny skies, the wind conditions were 10 to 15 knots from the southwest, but were forecasted to increase over the course of the day.

Based on their past performances over course of the season, six of the twelve teams appeared to have legitimate shots to qualify for the nationals. New Trier (NT) raced out to an early lead with strong finishes in A Division by Stephanie Hudson / Gardner Yost and B Division Drew Shea / Mac Sparks. Close on their sterns were the crews of Lake Forest (LFHS), A Division Will Haeger / Ian Schappe and B Division Will and Ben Howard. Loyola's Clifford Porter / Davis Porter and Alex Post / Tommy Holmberg were third. Sailors from New Trier A, Minnetonka A (Mike Hanson / Maddy Kennedy), Lake Forest Academy B (Mike Simms / Nick Putnam), and Grosse Pointe North B (Chris Bill / Erik Pomber) won individual races during the set.

During the second set, winds increased to a steady 18 knots with gusts to 25. NT sailed another strong set to maintain the overall lead. The Grosse Pointe North (GPN) B crew sailed to a second and first, carrying GPN up to second place. Loyola sailed consistently, retaining its position in third. LFHS swamped in one race, finishing 11th, which dropped them into a tie with Loyola. NT, Loyola, GPN, and Wayzata (Eric Sauter / Sierra Sands) won races during the set.

About one pm in the afternoon, winds grew to a steady 20 knots with gusts to 28 as the A Division started its third set. LFHS sailed a strong A division rotation with a win and a third. Lake Forest Academy's Ryan Pesch / Jory Hanselman won the final race of the rotation.

Observing wind gusts over 35 knots and steep waves, the race committee stopped the action, choosing to postpone the B Division's third set until Sunday morning. This gave the sailors an opportunity to visit the city of Chicago and enjoy dinner with friends and family, 40 of whom found their way to the Hudson home for pasta, s'mores, and ice cream.

Entering the second day, New Trier held slight lead over Lake Forest HS and Loyola. Grosse Pointe North and Lake Forest Academy held fourth and fifth places, respectively.

On Sunday, the sailors were pleased to be greeted by westerly five to ten knot winds and flat seas. With the change in wind conditions, several teams chose to shift their combinations to lighter weight crews. LFHS substituted Anne Haeger / Lindsey Taylor for Will and Ben Howard to start the third B division rotation. This crew sailed very well, winning both races in the set. With new crew, Karinne Marcolini, GPN's Chris Bill continued his strong performances of Saturday with two thirds.

During the fourth set, ISM's Erik Bowers/Gen Kerr and Chris Loew-Blosser / Sydney Morical sailed well, finishing with two race wins and a second during the set and moving ISM into fourth place overall. Loyola's Alex Post / Ciara McHugh also sailed a strong rotation with a second and a third, but their A team mates struggled, dropping the team into a fourth place tie with ISM. Grosse Pointe North moved into third based on a good rotation by both A/B crews, Brady Savage / Katie Bill and Bill / Marcolini while NT and LFHS well enough to hold on to first and second overall. Race wins during the set went to NT (Hudson / Kelly Foreman), ISM, and Grosse Pointe South's Brooke Lyon / Christian Gavin-Davis.

With National qualifying spots within their grasp, several of the teams became much more aggressive on the starting line during the fifth set. New Trier A was OCS in both starts, causing them to restart and trail the fleet up the short course. In the first race, they were unable to catch up, resulting in an 11th place finish. Grosse Pointe South's Ian Hollerbach / Sarah Somes won the first race while ISM's Bowers / Kerr team won the second race in A Division.

Meanwhile, Lake Forest's Haeger / Taylor won a race and closed their rotation with a third place in B Division. New Trier's Drew Shea / Mac Sparks won the second race of the rotation, giving them a one point lead over Lake Forest with one set remaining. Third place Loyola trailed by 21 points while ISM was just one point back in fourth.

In the final set, LFHS's Will Haeger / Ian Schappe took advantage of strong starts to win the final two A Division races. New Trier finished with a close third and a second, but lost its lead to LFHS entering the final B Division rotation.

Facing a two point deficit with just two races remaining, NT's Shea beat out LFHS's Haeger in the first race, but was only able to reduce the gap to one point. At the start of the final race, Shea successfully pushed Haeger over the line early, but a miscalculation caused him to also cross the line before the starting horn. Shea was able to restart before Haeger, giving him a lead which he held until the final leeward mark. Lake Forest retook the lead at the pin and held on, winning the MISSA Mallory title. New Trier finished second, followed by Loyola, ISM, Grosse Pointe South, and Grosse Pointe North.

By finishing first and second, Lake Forest and New Trier have qualified to compete in the upcoming ISSA National Championships.