Phil McGain: hats off to him

Phil McGain is the overall 2013 US Windsurfing national champion, after dominating races at Cabrillo Beach, Los Angeles.

Forty five windsurfers from across the nation, some hailing from as far away as New England, Hawaii, Florida and Washington State, drove to California for the Slalom, Course Race and Freestyle titles.

Cabrillo Beach consistently delivers solid thermal afternoon breezes during the summer and the week of Nationals was no exception with the wind blowing between 15 and 20 knots for all of the racing.

The Long Distance Race was a part of the Course Racing series, counting as two course races. Over the other four days of the regatta, ten races were held, allowing competitors to discard their three worst results.

While the overall top two positions became obvious pretty early in the regatta between the defending national champion Phil McGain, in first place and Xavier Ferlet of Southern California, in second, the race for third was a real nail biter, with Al Mirel and Soheil Zahedi finishing only one point apart for that coveted position.

The 12 Slalom races were held over three of the five days. Tyson Poor sailed consistently well, taking an early lead in the regatta and held onto it throughout the week, in spite of pressure from McGain.

"On the last race of the day, McGain was able to get to the mark about 1 board length in front of me, but I was able to cut tight under the buoy and pump like crazy to get up on a plane before him, allowing me to come down on top of him and shut him off", explains Tyson Poor.

Pro windsurfer Phil Soltyziak took first place in the Freestyle contest with an unparalleled repertoire of airborne spins and maneuvers. Wyatt Miller was judged in second place with Casey Hauser in third.

At the awards ceremony, the overall national champion was declared based on the combined performance of both the Formula and the Slalom Races. Phil McGain was thus crowned 2013 US Windsurfing national champion, with Xavier Ferlet coming in second and Bay Area sailor, Chris RadKowski in third place.

2013 US Windsurfing National Championship | Results

Overall
1. Phil McGain
2. Xavier Ferlet
3. Chris RadKowski

Formula
1. Phil McGain
2. Xavier Ferlet
3. Al Mirel

Slalom
1. Tyson Poor
2. Phil McGain
3. Xavier Ferlet

Freestyle
1. Phil Soltyziak
2. Wyatt Miller
3. Casey Hauser

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