LIGHTNING PANAM TRIALS

Jody Starck, Iain Jones and Skip Dieball to Represent the USA in Lima

Congratulations to Jody Starck, Ian Jones and Skip Dieball on securing the US Lightning berth for the 2019 PanAm Games in Lima, Peru. Held at the Buffalo Canoe Club the weekend of September 7-9, the event had six of the eight races contested in “Peru-like” conditions with 15-25 mph winds.

The winning team scored six race wins along with a 2nd and a 6th to dominate the series and best the team of Allan Terhune, JoAnn Fisher and Jody Lutz by 12 points. 2015 PanAm Silver medalist Justin Coplan finished 3rd followed by current North American Champion Ched Proctor in 4th and current North American Masters Champion Tom Allen in 5th.

Dave Sprague as PRO did an excellent job of running races with courses featuring four windward leeward legs with no offset mark. This made the jibe-set timing crucial to positions in the race.

North Notes:

• 15 of the 45 sailors competing had either won a North American Championship or World Championship (or both) as a skipper or crew.
• 15 boats competed with the top 14 using full North inventories.