Last Set of US SAILING Pre-Trials Wraps Up in Southern California

Portsmouth, R.I. (October 30, 2006) – After a busy month for regatta organizers on the East and West Coasts, the US SAILING Olympic and Paralympic Pre-Trials wrapped up on Sunday with the completion of the last set of Pre-Trials: the men’s and women’s 470 events and the men’s and women’s RS:X events in Southern California. Stuart McNay (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) and crew Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) in the men's 470, Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and crew Sarah Mergenthaler (Harvey Cedars, N.J.) in the women's 470 and Ben Barger (Tampa, Fla.) and Nancy Rios (Cocoa, Fla.) in the men's and women's RS:X windsurfer, respectively, were winners in Southern California's final set of US SAILING Pre-Trials. Barger and Rios also qualified to represent the U.S. at the 2007 Pan American Games next July in Brazil.

The weekend’s Pre-Trials were preceded by Pre-Trials for all other Olympic and Paralympic classes in previous weeks in Southern California and Newport, R.I. A year from now, the same venues will host the formal Olympic and Paralympic Trials to select the one boat in each class that will represent the United States in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Qingdao, China in 2008.

“This was the first time US SAILING organized Olympic and Paralympic Pre-Trials on such a large scale and we consider it a great success,” said Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman Dean Brenner. “US SAILING and local regatta organizers got to prepare for next year’s Trials, as did the athletes, who also got the opportunity to get accustomed to the local weather conditions, race areas, and facilities.”

The 470 men’s winners McNay and Biehl have a temporary leg up on their strongest rivals, Mikee Anderson-Mitterling (Coronado, Calif.) and crew David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.), who missed the first day because Anderson had an economics exam at the University of Southern California. The latter team won two of seven races, but McNay and Biehl finished ahead of them in four. Anderson-Mitterling and Hughes wound up as the third men's team behind Justin Law (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Michael Miller (Charleston, S.C.) and in seventh place overall.

"It made for some competitive racing," McNay said, but the best part was winning the last race.

Biehl said, "We were talking about that on the final leg—how it's always nice to finish a regatta with a first."

Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler finished in second place overall in the 470 fleet and were the highest finishing female team. Clark and Mergenthaler have been ranked No. 1 on the US Sailing Team in the past two years but were the second women's team behind Erin Maxwell (Norwalk, Conn.) and crew Isabelle Kinsolving (New York, N.Y.) starting the fourth and final day Sunday.

"We were under pressure to get our [number one] slot back," Clark said.

Worse, a starting violation on the first day put them in a hole they dug their way out of through six consecutive races with no finish worse than fifth climaxed by first place in the second of three races Sunday. They finished three points up on Maxwell/Kinsolving as four women's teams placed second through fifth in the combined scoring with the men.

Meanwhile, the RS:X boardsailors raced out of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, down the street from the US Sailing Center where the 470s were based. Ben Barger won all nine of the men's RS:X races, while Nancy Rios posted her fifth and sixth wins in eight women's races. Although the time limit had not passed for starting another race, the 10th race was cancelled because the wind was lighter than the minimum required to protect the board sailors from overextending themselves with the physical exertion required to pump their sails.

Complete results from the Pre-Trials held in Southern California are available at www.sdyc.org/trials. For complete results and more information about all of 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 leaders
470 (men and women combined; 12 boats, 10 races; 1 throwout):
1. Stuart McNay, Chestnut Hill, Mass./Graham Biehl, San Diego, Calif., 2-1-1-1-2-1-3-(5)-3-1, 15 points.
2. Amanda Clark, Shelter Island, N.Y./Sarah Mergenthaler, Harvey Cedars, N.J., 4-(13/OCS)-6-3-1-2-5-4-1-8, 34.
3. Erin Maxwell, Norwalk, Conn./Isabelle Kinsolving, New York, N.Y., 3-3-4-2-5-4-2-7-7-(9), 37, 18.

Complete results: www.ussclb.org  

MEN'S RS:X (5 boats, after 9 races; 1 throwout):
1. Ben Barger, Tampa, Fla., (1)-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1, 8 points.
2. Seth Besse, Guilford, Conn., (4)-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-3, 18.
3. Mark Powell, Miami, Fla., 2-2-3-(4)-3-3-3-3.5-2, 21.5.

WOMEN'S RS:X (5 boats, after 8 races, 1 throwout):
1. Nancy Rios, Cocoa, Fla., 2-1-1-1-1-(3)-1-1, 8 points.
2. Farrah Hall, Annapolis, Md., 1-2-2-2-2-1-2-(5/OCS), 12.
3. Karen Marriott, Lakewood, Colo., 3-3-3-(4)-4-2-3-2, 20.

Complete results, photos and more information: www.abyc.org and www.sdyc.org/trials.  

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