Celia Houston was invited to sail the Rose Cup Regatta, a match race competition with skipper Christophe Chaumont FWBC. It was held at the San Diego Yacht Club June 28-30. The sailors also had a clinic and debriefed with the amazing Dave Perry!
This fantastic team may have not won the regatta, but they won the hearts of their fellow competitors! They were awarded the Scandone Sportsmanship Award-which is an award their competitors vote on.
We are so proud of Lonestar Racing, skippered by Christophe Chaumont, and crewed by Peter Vaseliades, Celia Houston and Taft Buckley, for taking home the prestigious Nick Scandone Sportsmanship Award at the US Youth Match Racing Championship for the Rose Cup at San Diego Yacht Club. These four sailors worked incredibly hard over five days and never gave up. Over half the fleet of sailors at the Rose Cup voted for them due to their perseverance and positive attitudes.
Here’s a bit about the award:
“This trophy, named for the late US Paralympic Gold Medalist Nick Scandone who, in addition to winning the Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, was beating both able bodied and physically challenged competitors throughout the last year of his life as he fought ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. Nick’s persistence against seemingly insurmountable odds provides inspiration to winners of the Scandone Sportsmanship Trophy and to all sailors.”
Celia heads off to the Coast Guard Academy Scholars program in New London, CT on July 15th. She looks forward to racing on the CGA team at the academy.
Written by Maya Houston
