ROBLE SAILS TO VICTORY AT
U.S. JUNIOR WOMEN’S SINGLEHANDED CHAMPIONSHIP

Marina Del Rey, Calif. (August 4, 2005) – In the last few years, 16-year-old Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) has quietly been making a name for herself in the sailing world, making it onto the US Sailing Team earlier this year as one of the youngest Team-members. Today, she topped off what has been a successful year thus far with a convincing win at US SAILING’s U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship, winning the ten-race event with six bullets and ten points total (two discards). With her win, Roble takes home the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy and has earned a spot on the 2006 US Youth World Team, which will represent the U.S. at the Youth World Sailing Championships next year. The U.S. National Championship, sailed in Laser Radials provided by Vanguard Sailboats, was hosted by California Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey.

Stephanie Roble was not the only competitor sailing a consistent regatta. Throughout the Championship, the top three of 57 competitors remained the same: while Roble took the lead on day one, Morgan Wilson (Arnold, Md.) and Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) were not too far behind in second and third place respectively throughout the event. But Roble had too many race victories for Wilson and Lihan to catch up with. Wilson finished with 24 points total, eight points ahead of Lihan.

“I really worked on keeping my head in the game the whole time,” said Roble. “I focused on taking it one race at a time and tried not to think about how well I had been doing. I wanted to take it race by race.”

Roble began her sailing career in the Optimist, winning the 2003 USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival – Orange Bowl and competing on the U.S. National Optimist Teams in 2003 and 2004. Roble did not start racing seriously in the Laser Radial until earlier this year when she finished an impressive seventh at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR. Inspired by her success at the event in Miami, Roble went on to finish 11th at the Laser Midwinters East Regatta. With these two results, Roble qualified for the 2005 US Sailing Team and became one of the youngest athletes on the Team. Up next for Roble is the Laser 4.7 World Championship which starts this weekend at Barrington Yacht Club in Rhode Island.

Complete results, photos, and daily reports from the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship are available on the event website at www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/usjrw/single.  

Since the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship was first held in 1986, the event has played a major role in the country’s development of junior women sailing. Held every year, the Championship starts off with a two-day clinic where coaches from across the country work with the young sailors to refine their sailing skills. This year’s clinic was led by US SAILING’s Youth Development Coach Mike Kalin. On the evening before racing started, the competitors got to meet 2000 Olympic Silver medalist Pease Glaser.

About Vanguard Sailboats
Demonstrating a continuing commitment to youth sailing, U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship is once again sponsored by Vanguard Sailboats, manufacturer of the Laser Radial boats used in the event. Vanguard Sailboats has been a dedicated sponsor of numerous U.S. National Championships for more than a decade. Vanguard supports and sponsors sailing at many levels, encouraging sailors in the U.S. to participate in and enjoy the sport, and ensuring great competition among sailors. Visit their website at www.teamvanguard.com.  

About US SAILING
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the national governing body for sailing and sailboat racing. Headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the organization’s mission is to encourage participation and promote excellence in sailing and racing in the U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including the US Sailing Teams and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.  

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Final Results
1. Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.); 2-1-1-1-1-2-(3)-1-1-(5): 10 points
2. Morgan Wilson (Arnold, Md.); 1-5-4-(28)-7-1-1-(10)-2-3: 24 points
3. Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.); 6-3-2-4-4-4-4-5-(7)-(16): 32 points
4. Ann Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.); 3-(13)-3-9-10-(12)-12-3-3-2: 45 points
5. Allie Blecher (Fullerton, Calif.); 10-10-10-5-3-8-6-(OCS)-13-(14): 65 points