Hallowell, Team USA finish fourth at Youth Match Racing Worlds

SWINOUJSCIE, Poland - Hobart College senior sailor Sam Hallowell competed with Team USA at the International Sailing Federation Youth Match Racing World Championships that concluded on Sept. 21. Team USA, skippered by Nevin Snow, reached the petite final where they were edged by Team Finland.

Team USA was represented by Hallowell, Snow, Jake LaDaow, and Luke Muller.

"It was great representing the United States at the ISAF Youth Match Racing World Championship," Hallowell said. "We worked really hard in training once we were selected to the team so we could achieve the best possible result. We wanted to show the rest of the sailing world how high the level of match racing is here in the U.S."

The ISAF Youth Match Racing World Championships were introduced in 2014. Each team in the
match racing consist of 4-5 members and all competitors must be under 23 years of age until December 31, 2015. The championships started in round robin format with races being held in the channel inside Swinoujscie and in the Baltic Sea.

"This was a fantastic opportunity for Sam," Head Coach Scott Iklé said. "It is always a great experience to represent Team USA, especially at the World Championship level."

Hallowell and his teammates competed against 12 other teams from around the globe. The Match Racing World Championships begin with a round robin stage.  In the round robins, Team USA finished second recording eight points. On Day 1, Denmark and USA each won all three of their matches. The top eight teams after the round robin advanced to the quarterfinals.

Once the quarterfinals began, matches were a best of five series. The first team to win three matches advanced to the semifinals. Hallowell and Team USA were matched up against the Netherlands for their quarterfinal match. Jelmer van Beek guided the Netherlands to a win in the first flight but Team USA secured a spot in the final four with wins in the next three races.

In the semifinals, Hallowell and Team USA matched up against Australia, skippered by Sam Gilmour. The two teams traded wins in the first two flights. Australia took race three to gain a 2-1 lead. Australia clinched the match when Gilmour slipped past the USA boat on the final leg. Australia would go on to win the World Championship.

"It was a great experience for me and I learned a lot," Hallowell added. "Later this month I will try and transfer what I learned to the collegiate level. On Oct. 24-25 we have the MAISA Match Race Championships which is our qualifier for the college match racing nationals. I aim to utilize what I learned in Poland to help HWS qualify for nationals."