JUNIOR SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS : Elting Wins Etchells 22 Class; Twist Takes Fourth

Scott Elting and his three-man team from the Houston Yacht Club held on to the lead by one-quarter point Friday to win the Etchells 22 class of the U.S. Yacht Racing Union Junior Sailing Championships in waters off Newport Beach.

Finishing first in the two-person Flying Junior class was Bill Hardesty, Mission Bay Yacht Club (San Diego), with David Houser, Coronado Yacht Club (San Diego), taking first in the single-handed Laser class.

Orange County’s only entry, Jory Twist, who was competing in the Etchells 22 class, came in fifth in the final race to earn a fourth overall. Twist fell out of first place Thursday when he was penalized 10 points for a premature start.

Meg Gaillard, one of two female skippers in the Etchells 22 class, won the final race, finishing second overall and coming to within one-quarter point of tying Elting for first.

“Meg deserved to win the race today,” said Elting, whose team come in fourth in Friday’s race. “She was fast.”

As skipper, Elting gave credit to his crew for the victory, saying: “I pretty much just drive the boat. It was mostly them. They deserve the credit. It is a definite team effort. Carter (Perrin) pretty much called the tactics.”

“I woke up at 5 this morning and sailed the race 40 times in my head,” said Perrin, who was hit by a spinnaker pole in Friday’s race and chipped his front tooth. Perrin, 16, and Elting, 17, have been sailing together for two years. The other two crew members, Sam Pyne and David Thomas, have sailed with Elting and Perrin all summer.

Elting said any boat could have won the series, in which the top three sailors on Thursday were separated by only four points.

Friday’s final race to determine the winners in the five-day series, hosted by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, was sailed in light winds, resulting in a long race that frustrated some of the young sailors, ages 13 to 17.

“The course seemed longer because the winds were light,” said Hardesty, Flying Junior winner. “Winds were light and shifty. It was one of the lightest days of the series.”

Hardesty and crew Paul Ware credited their victory to good starts. “We got off the starting line fast and had real good boat speed and we could hold it,” Hardesty said.