6/6/07

This week's Spotlight features:
-- Team 7-Plus-Anna Win 2007 BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup
-- USST Reports from European Championships
-- Rick Doerr Secures Second Place at 2007 Tappan Zee Challenge

US Sailing Team's Sally Barkow and Crew Win 2007 BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup
Team 7-plus-Anna Tunnicliffe compiled a perfect six-race undefeated record Sunday to win the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup US Women's Match Race Championship in Annapolis, Md. Anna joined US Sailing Teammates Sally Barkow, Debbie Capozzi and Carrie Howe in the J/22. Team 7 also won this event in 2004.

A recap of the final results of the round robin, semi finals and the finals, plus photos and commentary can be found on the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup Web site at www.SantaMariaCup.org

Anna reports: 
"In the Round Robins, sailed on Chesapeake Bay off the mouth of the Severn River, we came within one race of an unblemished record, finishing 17-1. There were ten invited international crews competing and we lost only race, to French skipper Claire Leroy, who with her "Team Ideactor" has dominated women's match racing, leading the ISAF rankings since May 2005?
Team 7 has their fleet racing routines down pretty solid as a team of three but match racing in J/22s calls for four, so there was room for me to help and hopefully to assist with a fresh perspective?
With the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Qingdao, China, just over a year away, winning this event was a big boost for all of us. Match racing is inevitably a big part of the Medal Race in Olympic competition and the experience and performance over the last four days has been invaluable."
Anna Tunnicliffe: www.annatunnicliffe.com
Team 7: www.team7sailing.com

Fresh from their win and on their way to catch flights to Portugal, SailWorld caught up with Anna, Sally, Debbie and Carrie. Read the article at www.sail-world.com

USST Members Compete at Finn, 470, RS:X and Laser European Championships
The summer's European Championships are heating up, as US Sailing Team members flex their skills and techniques before the ISAF Combined Worlds in Cascais, Portugal at the end of the month. For the latest results, please visit the event web sites. The following is color from the events, reported by athletes:

470 European Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece
Racing has been stalled due to lack of wind. Molly Carapiet and Molly O'Bryan ("Team Molly") writes:
"Thessaloniki, located in the northeast part of Greece, is the second largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. Its population has grown past one million inhabitants. Not only is it a very important economic center for Greece it also hosts the largest student population in Greece. The wind in Thessaloniki is generally a light sea breeze that fills in around 1 or 2 pm. The sea breeze is usually about 5-7 knots and pretty unstable.  The weather here is also very warm, so we are working hard to stay hydrated and out of the sun as much as possible. Over the past five days we have been training with the Austrian men's and women's teams with our coaches Elizabeth Kratzig and Arthur Thuringer.  We worked on our technique, both up and downwind, as well as some boat handling to prepare for the regatta."

Event web site: http://www.ncth.gr/470/
Team Molly: www.teammolly.org

Finn European Championship in Balatonfoldvar, Hungary
Zach Railey reports:
"The conditions have been as expected LIGHT AND LIGHTER, which I think is fantastic.  This is one event that I have been looking forward to this year, because I can really use this venue to work on some things for the trials in October of this year. We have over 100 boats sailing from over 32 different countries so the event is huge and very well attended by the top sailors in the world. We also have brought a very large United States contingent to the event which is great to see." 

Event web site: http://www.spartacus.hu/eng/fooldal.htm
Zach Railey: www.zachrailey.com

Laser European Championships in Hyeres, France
Elite Youth Development Team member Fred Strammer is competing at the Laser Youth European Championship in Hyeres. He writes about his racing (and eating) challenges:

"The trip has been wonderful and a great learning experience. I have learned a great deal on how to travel to Europe for sailing, since I now have an idea of what to expect. Life over here is much different than I would have imagined especially when trying to find food to nourish an endless appetite. Now that I have been here for a couple of days I have figured out a daily routine. I wake up for a 7:30 breakfast of an assortment of breads, cereal and juices then walk down to the local grocery store for a mid-morning sandwich en route to the sailing venue. I sail from 9:30-4 then walk over to one of the local venders selling hot Paninis (the Italiene is the way to go). Sometime before our debrief at 6:30 I might grab another, then after our meeting its dinner. Dinner will last till almost nine and by that time I'm ready for bed.
On the water, sailing has been challenging. These sailors are veterans of racing in this area and know the waters well. The first day I struggled with my upwind boat speed in the heavier breeze posting a couple mid twenty finishes. The mile long beats only caused further insult to injury, but I was able to make up considerable ground off the wind. Relief came the second day with a light Southeasterly and I was able to finish with a 7th and a 5th for the day. Light winds prevailed again on Tuesday and the fleet was postponed onshore for a few hours waiting for the breeze to solidify. Postponement was finally lifted around noon and the youth fleet got one race off, although the course was shortened after four legs. Disappointingly, I was OCS. As of now we have five races and with a drop I am sitting in 25th place.
The weather report for Wednesday forecasts squalls and wind, which won't help that we are already one race behind in the schedule."

Event site: http://coych.nikopo.com/?page=affnews&id=34 

USDST Member Rick Doerr Secures Second at 2007 Tappan Zee Challenge;
Boat-a-Thon Raises Record Amount
In shifty and tricky West-Northwest winds, Sonar Skipper Rick Doerr and his crew finished second place at the 2007 Tappan Zee Challenge, which was held May 19-20 at the Nyack Boat Club in Nyack, N.Y.

This year marked the 2nd Annual ?Boat-A-Thon,? a fundraising event for adaptive sailing programs. The Boat-A-Thon on Saturday night raised a record $5,000 to be split between Shake-A-Leg Foundation and New England Competitive Sailing Center. The generous contributions of all the contributors and sponsors are greatly appreciated. The fundraising efforts were preceded on Friday by an Adaptive Sailing Clinic was hosted by Sonar Fleet 23 in conjunction with Helen Hayes Hospital.
Event web site: www.necsc.org

2007 Upcoming Events

June 1-10 : 470 European Championship, Thessaloniki, Greece

June 1-9: Finn European Championship, Balatonfoldvar, Hungary

June 2-9: Laser European Championship and Laser Youth European Championship, Hyeres, France

June 5-15: RS:X European Championship, Limassol, Cyprus

June 14-17: Laser North American Championship, Hyannis, Mass., USA

June 16-30: Kiel Week, Kiel, Germany

June 28-July 13: ISAF Combined Olympic Class World Championship in Cascais, Portugal (first Olympic Qualifier for all classes)

About the Teams
The 2007 USST consists of the top three-ranked sailors in each of the nine classes (11 events) selected for the 2008 Olympic Games: Finn (men); 470 (men and women); Laser (men); Laser Radial (women); Neil Pryde RS:X (men and women); 49er, Star, Tornado (all open); and Yngling (women). For a complete list of the 2007 USST and their hometowns, please visit:
www.ussailing.org/olympics/2007/team.asp

The 2007 USDST also consists of the top three ranked sailors in each of the three classes chosen for the 2008 Paralympic Games: the 2.4mR, the Sonar, and SKUD-18. For a complete list of the 2007 USDST and their hometowns, please visit:
www.ussailing.org/olympics/paralympic/2007/team.asp

Newly launched in 2007, the Elite Youth Development Team represents the country's top youth sailors in the Laser and Laser Radial. To help the athletes gain more sailing experience at the highest levels, members of the Team will travel to major international regattas worldwide and be supported by elite-level coaches. To meet the members of the 2007 EYDT and read their bios, please visit:
www.ussailing.org/olympics/EYDT/2007/team.asp

Sponsors of the 2007 US Sailing Teams are: Rolex Watch U.S.A., Vanguard Sailboats, Nautica, Gill, Sperry Top-Sider, RIBCRAFT, Harken, New England Ropes, Extrasport, Nikon and Team McLube.  

Contact:
Marni Lane
Press Officer, US Sailing Teams
US SAILING
617.671.8332
401.683.0800 x671
MarniLane@ussailing.org