Paul Wilson leads the way.
Paul Wilson of the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and Debbie Probst of the Wawasee Yacht Club won the U.S. Men's and Women's Championships, respectively, on Lake Michigan on Sept. 26. Wilson lead the men’s Sonar fleet for the Mallory Trophy and Probst championed the women’s Lightning fleet for the Adams Cup.
These annual US SAILING Adult National Championships were hosted by the US Sailing Center of Sheboygan.
Wilson sealed the win by finishing third in the first of two races on the final day of competition. Team Wilson had an eight point advantage at the start, and the finish put them up by 10 points over Ken Kleinschrodt (Buccaneer YC).
Wilson finished with 21 points through nine races. His team won three races, and didn’t finish worse than fifth in any race. Wilson sailed with Drew Plominski (Narragansett Bay Yachting Assoc.) and Will Stevens (Vineyard Haven YC) this week.
Wilson was sailing in his sixth U.S. Men’s Championships and in search of his first win.
“I’m ecstatic about this win. It’s hard to put into words what this means to my crew as well. I’ve been sailing with Will for a while, and Drew for the first time and he was an enormous asset.”
Wilson, who grew up sailing Solings and learned to sail at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, Martha's Vineyard, was no stranger to the Sonar. “We were focused on wind strategy and boat-to-boat tactics. With no throw-outs, we played it conservatively.”
Wilson is a regular racer on Martha's Vineyard and is a member of the Holmes Hole Sailing Association there.
