Newport Beach/Marina Del Rey, Calif. - After three days of exciting races and hard-fought competition, US SAILING has crowned the nation’s junior sailing champions in single-, double- and triplehanded events of 2005. The winners have been named to US SAILING’s U.S. Youth Sailing Team. This year’s National Junior Champions are:

* U.S. Junior Singlehanded Champion: Cameron Cullman (Rye, N.Y.), representing American Yacht Club
* U.S. Junior Doublehanded Champions: Cole Hatton/Blair Belling (both from Newport Harbor, Calif.), representing Newport Harbor Yacht Club
* U.S. Junior Triplehanded Champions: Ted Hale, Evan Aras, and Joe Morris from Annapolis Yacht Club, Md.

U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship for US SAILING’s Smythe Trophy
Cameron Cullman saved the best for last to win the U.S. Junior Singlehanded Championship. Up until the last day of the Championship, he had been in second place, trailing just a few points behind Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI), who won the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship earlier this summer. On the last day, Cullman came prepared to win, getting a bullet on the first race of the final day, while Barrows finished 11th. In the second race of the final day, the two match-raced against each other, with Cullman finishing 17th and Barrows taking 18th. Using their last race as their discards, Cullman finished with 24 points total and Barrows with 31, thus Cullman took home US SAILING’s Smythe Trophy.

U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship for US SAILING’s Bemis Trophy
In the U.S. Junior Doublehanded Championship, Cole Hatton and Blair Belling representing Newport Harbor Yacht Club, the host club, had the home-court advantage on the last day of the event. The Championship had been up for grabs throughout the regatta with the lead changing every day. Hatton and Blair finished the event with a total of 40 points in ten races, five points ahead of Taylor Canfield and Nathan Rosenberg (both from St. Thomas, USVI) representing St. Thomas Yacht Club. This is the second time in the 31-year history in the Championship that a team from Newport Harbor Yacht Club brings home US SAILING’s Bemis Trophy (Scott Hogan and Amy Halvorsen won the trophy in 1998).

U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championship for US SAILING’s Sears Cup
The U.S. Junior Triplehanded Championships was the real nail-biter for the Junior Championships with the lead changing hands several times throughout the regatta. In the end, the team from Annapolis Yacht Club won with sailors Ted Hale, Evan Aras, and Joe Morris. Bay Waveland Yacht Club (Jackson Benvenutti, Gary Taylor and David Bolyard) of Bay St. Louis, Miss., took second while host club Balboa Yacht Club took third.

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