USA Sailors Bring Home Two Gold, Two Bronze Medals
From the 2006 ISAF World Sailing Games

Lake Neusiedl, Austria (May 22, 2006) – USA sailors are bringing home two gold medals and two bronze medals from the 2006 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Sailing Games, which wrapped up over the weekend in Lake Neusiedl, Austria. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) solidified her world #1 ranking in the Women’s One-Person Dinghy event, sailed in Laser Radials, by winning another gold medal in a major international event. In addition, demonstrating that the USA is a worldwide leader in team racing, Danny Pletsch (New York, N.Y.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.), Caleb Silsby and Paige Hannon (Newport Beach, Calif.) won a gold medal in the Open Team Sailing event, followed by another USA team -- Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.), Ery Largay (Beverly, Mass.), Tim Fallon (North Falmouth, Mass.) and Karen Renzulli (Somerville, Mass.) -- winning the bronze medal in the same event. Annie Nelson (San Diego, Calif.) and Susan Korzeniewski (Liverpool, N.Y.) also won a bronze medal in the Women's Multihull event.

In the final Medal race in the Laser Radial, Paige Railey held the advantage over the defending World Sailing Games Champion, Sophie de Turckheim (FRA), after a tight competition. The two sailors have gone head-to-head at several regattas recently, with Railey prevailing each time.

“I had a new mindset and game plan as to how I would handle the situation,” said Railey of her new approach to the Medal race. She beat de Turckheim in the Medal Race at French Olympic Sailing Week, held a few weeks ago in Hyères In the end, Railey crossed the finish line two spots ahead of de Turckheim. “I came out victorious and with a feeling of such satisfaction that I had learned something.” Railey is the number one ranked Laser Radial sailor in the world by the International Sailing Federation and the reigning Laser Radial World Champion.

In the Open Team Sailing Finals, raced in International 420s, the USA team of Pletsch, Howe, Silsby and Hannon secured the gold medal over the team from Great Britain. In a heated, close race for the bronze medal, the team of Wadlow, Largay, Fallon and Renzulli beat the fellow American team of Pete Levesque (Annapolis, Md.), Liz Hall (Bristol, R.I.), Colin Merrick (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Amanda Callahan (Canton, Mass.). In a best of five series for each medal competition, the battles for gold and bronze came down to a final race decider.

Nelson and Korzeniewski took the bronze medal in the Women's Multihull event, raced in Hobie Cat 16s with spinnaker, finishing behind teams from Germany and France. The team came on strong from the start of the regatta and sailed a consistent event. For Korzeniewski, winning a bronze medal at the ISAF World Sailing Games isn’t new, as she won the bronze at the 2002 event skippering the Hobie 16.

The U.S. Team competed against over 700 sailors from more than 60 nations for ten World Championship titles. US Sailing Team High Performance Director and Head Coach Gary Bodie served as the team leader and coach. US Sailing Team Coach Skip Whyte joined Bodie as coach.

For complete results, daily reports, and photos from the 2006 ISAF World Sailing Games, please visit the event website: www.worldsailinggames2006.at.  

For more information about the U.S. team, please visit: www.ussailing.org/olympics/2005/isafwsgteam.htm.  

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 Team. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.  

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