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6/13/07 This week's Spotlight
features:
USST Score Top Results at European Championships At the 470 European Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece, Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler jumped to an overall sixth place finish in the 48-boat women's fleet, after winning the Medal Race on the final day of the regatta. They were also the only USA team, men or women, to reach the medal race. Their strengths? "Overall, we made huge strides in our upwind tactics and strategy," they said. "Our light to mid velocity boat speed in choppy seas was finally back after struggling a bit through some of the early Spring events." Amanda's and Sarah's web site: www.TeamGoSail.org In the Men's fleet, Stu McNay and Graham Biehl finished 20th in a 92-boat fleet, after getting three bullets throughout the week. For complete results and photos, please visit: www.ncth.gr/470/ Zach Railey came in sixth place at the Finn European Championship in Balatonfoldvar, Hungary, after a week of light air conditions with shifty and unpredictable wind. After four days of racing, Zach was in 14th place and, as he put it, "needed a good solid day to put me into the top ten for the finals." Day five brought a steadier breeze and he posted two great results, sixth and first, which pushed him into the Medal Race in 8th place overall. Zach described the final race as "extremely exciting with only 10 points separating third from 10th. The final finishing spots came down to the last 100 yards of the downwind." Zach gained enough points to move up to a final finishing position of sixth overall. Zach's web site: www.zachrailey.com
Fellow US Sailing Team member Geoff Ewenson finished
12th overall, which he said is "by far the best [ISAF] Grade
One event of my career, so I am pleased with my progress." He finished
15th in the last race, which he said was "long, hot, and very
light." He wrote: "I once again had very good speed downwind in the
light air but was just very slightly off the pace upwind. I was able to
get a good start and play the right side of the course to be a top
player in the race. One small shift in pressure dropped me five boats up
the beat, but given the random conditions it could have been far worse." Geoff's web site:
www.ewensonsailing.org At the Laser European Championship in Hyeres, France, US Sailing Team members saw more excellent results: Brad Funk came in eighth place and Andrew Campbell followed in 11th place overall in a 51-boat Gold Fleet and 153 boats overall. Brad Funk wrote: "On the first race of the last day, I held the lead at the first two marks but (Great Britain's Paul Goodison) picked a more favorable shift on the second beat to pass and ultimately win the race. I was looking pretty good until the start of the final race when I was judged over early. That effort pulled me down to overall eighth place for the week. However, this was my fourth top-ten result this year in five internationally-ranked regattas." Brad's web site: www.funksailing.com
Andrew
wrote: "I finished the event with a couple of decent scores, taking a 7th
and 11th in the last two Gold fleet races. I was in a
position to be close or winning the first race and hitched too early
before a substantial righty on the first beat. Then the second race was
a result of a nice race all around, catching a couple of boats on each
leg of the course, so I am happy with how the speed has been improving.
I finished 11th overall in the regatta, only a few points out
of the top ten, but my first time in the top 20 in my fifth European
Championships."
Andrew's web site:
www.campbellsailing.com The European Championships aren't over yet! USA's RS:X board sailors are currently competing at the RS:X European Championship in Limassol, Cyprus (June 5-15). www.cya.org.cy
"Olympic campaigns center around logistics and here is a great example of the complications that are a normal occurrence and can happen while moving from here to there. I rented a car from a friend of the Polish youth team coach, to drive nine hours to Zator, Poland where I have family (another story!). I tried to take good care of the car, and in Zator it stayed locked in a garage. I flew from Warsaw, so I drove there (5 hours) and parked the car at the airport while I was arranging logistics for the equipment on the flight, which left at 6:30 a.m. During the 45 minutes I was gone, some dirty thief stole the Toyota logo off the front of the car!
Shortly afterwards, the coach delivered my equipment
and took the car back... Also, the board is not ready for the flight, so
we had to speed over to the hardware store to find some pipe insulation
to pack it with. We pack the board back at the airport, and I curled up
on a bench to wait for the flight, 12 hours away (at that point it was
too complicated for a hotel). At 1:00 a.m. the security
guard told me in Polish to please go outside and wait with all my
gear. So for 2 hours I curled up next to my gear with my jacket on top
of me to fight against the cold. At 3:30 a.m. I opened an eye and
noticed that the other tired, cold people have ventured back into the
airport, so back inside I went with the windsurfer. At 4:00 a.m.
I brushed my teeth, washed my face and prepared for the flight. The
airport is full of tired British kids. After an hour of standing in line
to check in, I was confronted by an irate security guard who wondered
why I haven't dragged my equipment with me through a crowded line to the
counter (impossible feat). At 6:00 I have checked in the gear, watched
the luggage handler bounce it on the ground, and was in the security
line to the gate. I don't remember most of the flight as I was passed
out. Second leg of the flight I found an abandoned book. "We departed the USA on May 23, flying to Toulon, France. We picked up the US Team "Euro Diesel Van" and trailer and drove to Ancona, Italy where we caught an overnight ferry to Igoumanitsa, Greece. Once on the Greek side of the Adriatic, we enjoyed a 5 hour white-knuckle drive through the mountains to Thessaloniki. Complete with 10% grade inclines, 180 degree hairpin turns on a road barely wide enough for a cattle cart, we were just praying for our manual van to drag our heavy load in first gear without stalling out!?
2007 Upcoming Events
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:
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: |
