This Weekend’s US SAILING Pre-Trials Winners:
Larson/Spaulding in 49ers, Szabo/Strube in Stars, Boyd in Finns

Portsmouth, R.I. (Oct. 23, 2006) – The second group of US SAILING’s Pre-Trials took place over the weekend at three yacht clubs in Southern California. Morgan Larson (Capitola, Calif.) and crew Pete Spaulding (Lafayette, Ind.) held on to win the 49er competition at Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego; Bryan Boyd (Annapolis, Md.) rallied for the Finn title at Newport Harbor Yacht Club; and George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Mark Strube (Corona del Mar, Calif.) cruised home in the Stars at California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey as the three-day US SAILING Olympic Pre-Trials wound down on Sunday in Southern California.

49er
Dalton Bergan (Seattle, Wash.) and crew Zack Maxam (Coronado, Calif.) - currently Larson and Spaulding's hottest rivals for the 49er U.S. Olympic berth in 2008 - overtook them by winning the first two races on the final day. Then, as the breeze on Coronado Roads cranked up from 12 knots - best of the weekend - to a peak of 23, Larson and Spaulding won the last race to prevail by one point.

Larson/Spaulding and Bergan/Maxam seem destined for a shootout over the next year. Larson in 2000 and Bergan and Maxam in 2004 just missed the Olympics with second-place finishes in the Olympic Trials. Last year, Larson joined up with Spaulding, who was Tim Wadlow's crew for an Olympic fifth place at Athens.

Finn
The breeze was better on Sunday for the Finn class, with 9 knots fading to 6 at Newport Beach on Sunday, where Finn sailor Bryan Boyd came out of a three-way tie for second with a 1-2-7 score line for the day. That was good for a three-point edge over veteran Darrell Peck of Gresham, Ore., who with five races sailed was able to discard a 40-point hit for being OCS in the first race on Saturday.

First-day leader Andrew Casey of Fountain Valley, Calif. was another point back in third, one point ahead of Zach Railey of Clearwater, Fla., the nation’s highest-ranking Finn competitor.

Boyd, 30, a real estate developer, wasn't at his best the last time he sailed his Finn in California. He competed in the Olympic Classes Regatta at Long Beach last spring with a cast on one hand after driving a spike through it a week earlier.

"I just tried to stay out of trouble today," he said after completing the last race on Sunday. "There was a lot of kelp in the water and I noticed a current sheer at the windward mark that worked out for me. It felt good to be back in the boat. I'll be going back to work now but will get ramped up for a full European tour next spring and summer."

Star
In the Star class, Szabo and Strube had sailed together in a 2004 Olympic campaign and this weekend marked their reunion. The Californians' only win in seven races came in the first race Friday, but it allowed them to lead comfortably throughout for a final 10-point margin over Andy Horton (Shelburne, Vt.), and crew Brad Nichol (Miami Beach, Fla.).

"He's great to sail with," Szabo said of Strube. "Our really good first day was the difference. Now we'll go to all the events we can and see how it goes."

Next October, they'll be back for the Olympic Trials in their light-air comfort zone on Santa Monica Bay, where Szabo also won the Star North Americans last year.

Horton and Nichol will be waiting for them. They were fourth and the top Americans in this month' s Star World Championship at San Francisco but dug themselves too deep a hole with a 7-11-12 performance on the first day. They had never sailed in Southern California but plan to return next August for an intense buildup to the Olympic Trials.

The US SAILING Pre-Trials spectacle 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 RS:X---the new Olympic sailboard---just down the street at Alamitos Bay YC. 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. Next year’s Olympic Trials will select the one boat in each class that will represent the United States in the Olympic Games in China in 2008.

For complete results and more information about US SAILING’s Pre-Trials, go to www.ussailing.org/olympics/pretrials/default.aspx.  

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.  

Final class leaders

FINN (39 boats; 5 races, 1 throwout):
1. Brian Boyd, Annapolis, Md. (9)-3-1-2-7, 13 points.
2. Darrell Peck, Gresham, Ore. (40/OCS)-4-7-4-1, 16.
3. Andrew Casey, Fountain Valley, Calif., 3-5-6-(12)-3, 17.

STAR (23 boats; 7 races, 1 throwout):
1. George Szabo, San Diego, Calif./Mark Strube /Corona del Mar, Calif., 1-2-2-3-3-(12)-6, 17.
2. Andrew Horton, Shelburne, Vt./Brad Nichol, Miami Beach, Fla. 7-11-(12)-1-1-4-3, 27.
3. Andrew McDonald, Laguna Beach, Calif./Brian Fatih, Miami, Fla. 3-6-3-7-8-(11)-5, 32.

49ER (13 boats; 9 races, 1 throwout):
1. Morgan Larson, Capitola, Calif./Pete Spaulding, Lafayette, Ind., 1-1-2-2-2-1-3-(4)-1, 13.
2. Dalton Bergan, Seattle, Wash./Zack Maxam, Coronado, Calif., (3)-3-3-1-1-2-1-1-2, 14.
3. Tim Wadlow, Beverly, Mass./Christopher Rast, Wake Forest, N.C., (5)-4-4-4-3-3-2-2-3, 25.

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