Chapman Petersen ’22 cruised to a dominating win over a field of the best sailors in the country at the inaugural event in the 2021 West Marine U.S. Open Sailing Series.

Competing in the Laser Radial class, Petersen pitched nearly a perfect game, finishing first or second in six of seven races, and fourth in the other race, which was dropped as his low score of the event. He finished with just eight points overall, less than half the total of the runner-up.

The regatta was held at the Lauderdale Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from January 15-18, and is the first event in the series. U.S. Sailing describes the purpose of the series as “an increase in high-quality Olympic-class racing for U.S. athletes with a long-term goal of attracting top-level international competitors to race in these regattas for years to come,” according to the association’s website.

Other upcoming events in the series include regattas in Miami (Jan. 21-24) and Clearwater, Fla. (Feb. 4-7), as well as three events this summer.

Petersen will begin his third year as a varsity sailor this spring.