The semi final round of the U.S. Open Match Race Championship is taking place this weekend at St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, CA. Using J/22s loaned to the event by Cal Maritime and local owners, sailors completed a round robin in typical San Francisco conditions - windy and challenging.

Local sailor Shawn Bennett delivered a great performance today winning every match(7 wins total) in the round robin. Sitting in 2nd place is World Match Racing Tour veteran Brian Angel with 6 wins. Currently in 3rd place is John Horsch with 4 wins, followed by Chris Nesbitt who also has 4 wins and is in 4th place. The SI’s call for a second round robin to take place before advancing to a semi and final round. It looks like the racing is going to get tighter and the St. Francis race deck is providing spectators a birds-eye view of the action as the boats race to within a few feet of the rocky shore.

Molly Carapiet, who won the local quarter final regatta to gain a place to compete in the semi’s, checked in with us after sailing. She summed up today’s racing on the city front by saying: " It was difficult racing, with the start being an especially critical part of the day. it was pretty breezy for most of the day...definitely some fun racing and great race committee and umpire work."

Check out the St. Francis web site where you can see promptly posted results as well as a web cam where you can watch the racing live on Sunday.
Event site: http://www.stfyc.com/default.aspx?p=v35EvtView&type=0&ID=2357447
Live Race Deck Web Cam: Click here