West Marine US Open Sailing Series Begins Summer Tour in San Diego

Top Young Sailors to Compete in San Diego 

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (June 10, 2021) – The West Marine US Open Sailing Series launched in January 2021 with a big splash in Florida over three events at major sailing venues in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Clearwater. This exciting new US Sailing racing series resumes this weekend in sunny San Diego, a historically popular sailing location with Olympic sailing roots.  

West Marine US Open Sailing – San Diego is hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club and Southwestern Yacht Club on Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13. The San Diego event is the first of three stops in California as part of the series. Following the stop in San Diego, the series heads North with events in Long Beach in July and San Francisco in August.  

“We are excited to continue the series as the summer tour in California gets underway this weekend in San Diego,” said Leandro Spina, Olympic Development Director at US Sailing. “It’s great to be working closely with local sailing community here in San Diego who are committed to Olympic sailing. There is a collection of good, young athletes from the Olympic Development Program and also from the local community who are competing in the series.” 

Racing Details: 

  • Racing Days: Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13 
  • Sailing Venue: San Diego South Bay and the Pacific Ocean course off Point Loma in San Diego. 
  • Racing Classes: ILCA 7 (Laser Standard); ILCA 6 (Laser Radial); ILCA (Laser 4.7); Finn; 29er 

Follow the Racing: 

“We have been running Olympic-class regattas like this for years, and we welcome the collaboration with US Sailing,” said Susi Graf, Regatta Chair at the San Diego Yacht Club. “As part of the West Marine US Open Sailing Series we are benefiting from the overall organization of the series in many ways: sponsorships, marketing, technical expertise, equipment and more. Going forward, our event will just get bigger and better as we all work together towards the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.” 

MarkSetBot, a revolutionary new race committee tool that increases the accuracy and efficiency of mark setting, is a supporting sponsor for the three West Marine US Open Sailing Series events in California. They are providing MarkSetBot devices for all three of these events. 

 2021 West Marine US Open Sailing Series events in California:  

  • June 12-13: San Diego, California
    San Diego Yacht Club / Southwestern Yacht Club  
  • July 9-11: Long Beach, California
    Alamitos Bay Yacht Club / Long Beach Yacht Club / US Sailing Center Long Beach  
  • August 13-15: San Francisco, California – Registration Coming Soon!
    St. Francis Yacht Club / Treasure Island Sailing Center / San Francisco Yacht Club  

Registration is open for sailors interested in competing at West Marine US Open Sailing Series events in San Diego and Long Beach. Click here to register 

  • San Diego: Registration period closes Thursday, June 10.  
  • Long Beach: Registration period closes Saturday, July 10.  
  • Registration for West Marine US Open Sailing – San Francisco will likely open in June. 

Join us for a Panel Discussion with Sailing Olympians and Olympic Hopefuls: 

As we kick off the West Marine US Open Sailing Series in California, we invite you to join us in a panel discussion with sailing Olympians and Olympic hopefuls.  

Join San Diego’s JJ Fetter and athletes at West Marine US Open Sailing – San Diego where they will share their stories and answer questions from the attending audience. 

Fetter is a two-time Olympic medalist and four-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award winner. Samantha Gardner and Alice Schmid are competing at West Marine US Open Sailing – San Diego and Diego Escobar is coming off the pre-US Open Olympic Development Camp. 

Meet the Panelists: 

  • JJ Fetter (San Diego, Calif.) – Two-time Olympic Medalist 
  • Samantha Gardner & Alice Schmid (San Diego Yacht Club) – 29er Team 
  • Diego Escobar (Mission Bay Yacht Club) – ILCA (Laser) Sailor 

Event Details: 

  • Friday, June 11, 2021 at 5:30 pm PDT / 8:30 pm EDT 
  • Location:
    West Marine San Diego
    1250 Rosecrans
    San Diego, CA 92106 

About the West Marine US Open Sailing Series: 

The West Marine US Open Sailing Series offers an increase in high-quality Olympic-class and one design racing for U.S. athletes with a long-term goal of attracting top-level national and international competitors to race in these regattas for years to come.  

US Sailing and the larger community of sailors in the U.S. identified a demand for a racing and training platform based in the United States that serves to provide a runway to the Olympic Games for prospective athletes. With the 2028 LA Olympics on the distant horizon, it was essential for US Sailing to establish a consistent and predictable cycle for athletes to plan for on an annual basis.  

This series of regattas allows US Sailing to provide more support for sailors at these events through advanced and in-person coaching, training, and data collection. The series is an important part of the training plans for young sailors participating as part of the Olympic Development Program (ODP), a US Sailing initiative supported by the AmericaOne Foundation that provides world-class coaching support to promising American youth sailors competing in high-performance classes. 

To learn more about the West Marine US Open Sailing Series and to follow all the action in 2021, visit the series website at usopen.ussailing.org.   

Event Media Contacts:
Jake Fish, US Sailing Communications
jakefish@ussailing.org    

Casey Coffin, SDYC Communications
casey@sdyc.org  

 

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