I am the new Area L (Alaska, Oregon and Washington) committee member on the US offshore championships to be held in Annapolis in late September 2015. You may think it’s too early to plan, however if any team wants to be considered, they need to build a resume using 2014 races!

In 2011 and 2013, seven of the Flash crew and I had the opportunity to represent Area L at the US Offshore Championships held in Annapolis at the US Naval Academy. The event brings together nine teams from various parts of the country to race in their 44-foot boats.

One of the key selection criteria other than finishes is how often the team sails together. In this case we are looking for a minimum of five man teams – thus obviously probably the smallest boats considered would be J24’s. (The team selected will be comprised of seven competitors however five must have sailed qualifying races)

It’s not a professional event. You can only have one on the boat and it has to be sailed with you and also meet the crew qualifications outlined on the US Sailing web site. So it’s a lot of fun, in a great area to sail, obviously with lots of history. I would encourage anyone interested to ask any of my crew who went the last two times, or myself at any time about it! John Hoag and his crew also went several years ago representing the Northwest – although fortunately for us the boats are now newer than the ones he raced!!

Typically the resume form asks for best results over the last 18 months. Since forms are typically submitted in the spring of the year, results from 2014 will be key – certainly at least the second half of the year?

I would encourage you to let people know about the event. It’s a great event, held at a great place. Having gone the last two times, I and my crew can highly recommend it and the Northwest should be represented!!!

Resumes are the typical procedure used by the U.S. Offshore Championship Selection Committee to select participants in the U.S. Offshore Championship.

Final selection will be made by the members of the US Offshore Championship Committee by ranking all nominations in order using the following method:

Each team’s resume will be scored using the criteria below. The maximum total score is 100.

• Overall team sailing experience together (30)
• Skipper Race Experience (10)
• Most competitive regattas (25)
• Best Final Positions (15)
• Number of regattas out of local area (15)
• Recommendation by Area Director (5)

Look at the website, think about going, meet the crew qualifications and go out and win some races now as you need to apply early next year and the results of this year will be used!!! The US sailing web site answers most questions questions at http://championships.ussailing.org/Adult/USOffshoreChampionship.htm.

If you have any questions the site doesn’t answer, please e mail me at STravis998@aol.com.

Steve Travis
Area L Director
Offshore Championships