RESULTS OF FIRST GROUP OF US SAILING’S OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC PRE-TRIALS SHOW FAMILIAR AND NEW NAMES

Portsmouth, R.I. (October 16, 2006) – Race organizers and athletes were put to the test over the weekend at US SAILING’s Olympic and Paralympic Pre-Trials held in Newport, R.I. and San Diego, Calif. The events are considered test events for race organizers to prepare for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Trials at the same time next year and for athletes to get accustomed to local conditions, race areas, and facilities. Taking a quick look at the weekend’s winners show some familiar as well as new faces, ranging from Athens silver medalists John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree winning the Tornado Pre-Trials, to Mark Lewis and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker winning the new Paralympic class SKUD-18 in the Pre-Trials.

The Rhode Island Sailing Foundation, supported by Sail Newport, New York Yacht Club, and Ida Lewis Yacht Club, hosted the US SAILING Pre-Trials in the Laser and Laser Radial, as well as the Paralympic classes 2.4mR, SKUD-18, and Sonar. Meanwhile, in California, San Diego Yacht Club hosted the US SAILING Pre-Trials in the Tornado class.

Final results:
Laser (Men’s Singlehanded): Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) won the event after narrowly finishing ahead of Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.).
Laser Radial (Women’s Singlehanded): a tight battle between Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) and Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) ended in Tunnicliffe taking the title when Railey got disqualified in the final race.
2.4mR (Open Singlehanded): Athens silver medalist Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, ME) dominated the fleet with five wins in the seven-race series.
SKUD-18 (Open Doublehanded): despite an attempt for a comeback by Karen Mitchell (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and Michael Grimm (Miami Beach, Fla.), Mark Lewis (Hingham, Mass.) and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) managed to hold on to their lead to win the event.
Sonar (Open Triplehanded): Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.) sailing with Timothy Angle (Somerville, Mass.) and Bill Donahue (Brick, N.J.) dominated the Sonar fleet with six wins in seven races.
Tornado (Open Multihull): Athens silver medalists John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, TX) won five races in their seven-race series.

For complete results from the events hosted by the Rhode Island Sailing Foundation, visit www.sailnewport.org. For complete results from the Tornado Pre-Trials, visit www.sdyc.org/trials. For information about US SAILING’s Pre-Trials, go to www.ussailing.org/olympics/pretrials/default.aspx.

The US SAILING Pre-Trials in the Laser and Laser Radial also served as the qualification event for the 2007 Pan American Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in July. The U.S. Pan American Games Team – Sailing will be announced on a later date when the team is finalized.

The US SAILING Pre-Trials will continue next weekend (Oct. 20-22) in California when the 49ers compete at Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego, the Finns at Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Newport Beach) and the Stars at California Yacht Club (Marina del Rey). The Pre-Trials will finish Oct. 26-29 with four days of racing for the men's and women's 470s at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach and the men's and women's Neil Pryde RS:X - the new Olympic sailboard - at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club.

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 National Championships, 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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