U.S. YOUTH MULTIHULL CHAMPIONSHIP STARTS THIS THURSDAY

Portsmouth, R.I. (June 22, 2004); Competitors are arriving at Sea Cliff
Yacht Club in Sea Cliff, NY, for the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship,
which starts this Thursday. The event will run through Sunday, June 27, and
will be sailed in brand-new Hobie 16s supplied by the Hobie Cat Company.
Competitors will vie for a spot to represent the USA at the 2005 ISAF Youth
World Championship to be held in South Korea.

This year's list of competitors includes Tom Tullo (Staten Island, NY) who
finished second in the event in 2002, as well as Marie Appel (Marcellus, NY)
who was the sixth place finisher in last year's event.

The U.S. Youth Multihull Championship is US SAILING's newest National
Championship. The winner of the event will receive the US SAILING
Arthur J. Stevens Cup.

For more information on the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship, please visit
the event's website at http://www.ussailing.org/multihull/youth.htm .

I did not realize this cup had been renamed after Mr. Stevens until I read this post. Kudos to whoever thought of that idea, this event would never have started if it wasn't for him. It was just one of the many great things he did for youth multihull sailing. I first met him in Spray Beach at the 2001 Youth Nationals and talked to him over the next couple of years as well as at the 2002 Youth Nationals in Port Clinton, Ohio.
I wish I wasn't too old for this event because it is a great event and I encourage anyone who is within the age category to attend it will be an event you will never forget. I guarantee you if you gave Bret Sullivan, Marc Kennedy, myself or, etc., a chance to attend this event again we definitely would.
If it is too late for you to go this year I encourage you to go next year and the year after until you age out.
T.J. Tullo got 2nd in 2001 and I would not be suprised to see him win this year, he is very quick on a 16. He is only 16 years old and would be a great U.S. representative in South Korea.

All the boats were moved from Rowayton where the Alter Cup was sailed, across Long Island Sound to Sea Cliff YC. See the attached GPS track. It was a long day but was a great deal easier than breaking down the boats and making several trips to trailer them...

How were they "moved," John? Sailed or towed? Who did the sailing / towing?

Hey Matt -

Towed. As expected, we had great breeze as soon as we got the sailors out of the club, but it was on the nose for the trip to Sea Cliff. We also lost some of the volunteers we had lined up to sail them across. As a result, we used three power boats to tow, and one to chase in case there were problems. All the rudders came off and the jibs were up to help vane. At Sea Cliff, each tow boat held position while a skiff and the chase boat peeled the 16s off one at a time for the trip in through the harbor. No mishaps - went really smooth.

Big thanks to Mike Smith and Ron Borge from Roton Point, and John Dawson and Doug Weffer of Sea Cliff for helping me and Dan Mangus get the job done.

Looks like TJ and Jerry Tullo win the regatta and a spot at The Youth World Sailing Championships.

Preliminary Results

TULLO BROTHERS WIN U.S. YOUTH MULTIHULL CHAMPIONSHIP

Portsmouth, R.I. (June 29, 2004) – For the first time in the history of US
SAILING’s U.S. Youth Multihull Championship, a pair of siblings won the
event. TJ and Jerry Tullo, from Staten Island, NY, and representing Toms
River Yacht Club in NJ, were presented with the US SAILING Arthur J. Stevens
Trophy during the closing ceremonies on Sunday. By winning the event, the
brothers have qualified to represent the USA at the 2005 ISAF Youth World
Championship to be held in South Korea. The event was hosted by Sea Cliff
Yacht Club, NY, and sailed in brand-new Hobie 16s supplied by the Hobie Cat
Company.

The Tullo brothers took the lead on the first day of racing and never gave
up their lead. For skipper TJ, who is two-and-a-half years older than his
brother Jerry, this wasn’t his first appearance at the U.S. Youth Multihull
Championship. He competed in the 2001 event and finished second. Unable to
compete in the 2002 and 2003 events, TJ came back this year and was prepared
to win. He bought a multihull several months ago and used it for practice
throughout the spring. At the Championship, the Tullo’s were the team to
beat, they had four bullets in a total of eight races and finished with a
total of 14 points. In second place, with a total of 21 points, were Jack
Field and Tyler Burd representing Ram Island Yacht Club in West Mystic, CT.

A sportsmanship award was presented to Tim Wallace of Eastpoint, FL, for his
positive sportsmanship behavior. A few minutes before going out on the water
for the second day of racing, Wallace received a call from home and got the
news that his grandmother had passed away. Wallace took a few minutes to
compose himself and then continued with what he had been doing throughout
the Championship: helping event organizers by setting up the boats and
fine-tuning them, and being exceptionally gracious to anyone at the event,
including his fellow competitors. Wallace finished fourth in the event
before rushing home to be with his family.

For complete results and daily reports from the U.S. Youth Multihull
Championship, please visit the event’s website at
www.ussailing.org/multihull/youth.htm .