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Published: February 09 2012

For the first time this year, the Laser Radial portion of the regatta was also open to men. That allowed several members of the LYC Laser program to participate.

Friday's first day saw some extreme conditions with winds gusting to well over 20 knots and waves reaching up to five feet. Three races were run.

On Saturday, the winds subsided some for the three races, but still gusted over 20 knots. To add to the excitement, the waves had built up over night and the breakers on the reef were pushing ten feet! Several masts were broken, but fortunately aching muscles seemed to be the extent of any injuries.

Everyone on the race committee said they were exciting races to watch, as the Finns and Lasers would catch a wave breaking on the reef, and surf it all the way to the finish line.

In the Finns, former world ranked number one, Jonas Hogh Christensen of Denmark won the regatta. Occasional LYC Laser coach Luke Lawrence finished 5th.

In the Laser radial fleet, USA Olympian Paige Railey won the regatta. She said it was one of her all-time favorite regattas because of the surfing conditions.

Erika Reineke finished a very strong second, winning three of the eight races. LYC's Olympian, Sarah Lihan returned to the Laser for this regatta and was sitting in third before breaking her mast on Sunday. She finished 14th in the 31-boat fleet. Several other members of the LYC program competed, notably Marissa Lihan and Dominique Wright traveled home from college to sail.

Successful LYC sailor participates in Rolex Miami

Thomas Barrows is a 49er skipper who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands on the international circuit, as well as at the Olympics. He was a four-time collegiate all-American while at Yale and was named the 2010 Collegiate Sailor of the Year. When his crew in the 49er was injured and ruled out for the Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta, he began a search for a replacement for that weeklong event.

Among those he auditioned was LYC's Mac Agnese, an experienced 29er sailor (Mac won a silver medal in the 29er at last year's ISAF Youth Worlds), who had little time in the bigger, more powerful 49er. After several practices, Thomas selected Mac as his injured crew's replacement.

At the Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta, they took on many of the world's top ranked 49er teams. Despite only having a few days training together, they finished a very respectable 13th out of 23 boats, posting eight top-half finishes and three in the top five, missing the medal race by only 3 points. I think it's safe to say, Mac has found his next boat!
John Payne