Media Contacts:
Cynthia Goss (East Coast) 203-430-4145
Rich Roberts (West Coast) 310-835-2526 / cell 310-766-6547
East Coast Report / U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team
Trials – Sailing:
LIGHT- TO MEDIUM AIR AND FOG MARK FIRST DAY OF RACING FOR FIVE CLASSES
Newport/Middletown,
R.I. (October 6, 2007) — If you could bottle the adrenaline as the 70-boat
fleet racing the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials – Sailing traveled
to starting lines today off Aquidneck Island, you might make a dent in the
nation's energy reserves. After years of training and testing and competing,
racers in five classes are banking their hopes for Olympic and Paralympic
medals on this winner-takes-all contest that will determine who will
represent the United States at the 2008 Games, and the mood of anticipation
was fittingly thick—as thick as the fog that rolled in toward the finish of
the first race in the Laser and Laser Radial classes.
"You try and tell yourself that this is like any other regatta," said Sonar
skipper Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), who won the opening race in this
triplehanded Paralympic class. "You sail out, go through your pre-race
maneuvers … But then, this thought creeps into your head: This is for
everything! Today was definitely nerve-racking."
Nerves aside, Doerr and his crew of Bill Donohue (Brick, N.J.) and Tim Angle
(Marblehead, Mass.), fresh off a win in the Sonar class at the 2007 IFDS
Disabled Sailing World Championship, had a
gameplan. Seeing better wind pressure on the right side of the course, they
picked their starting-line position and, as Doerr
said, "We owned the right." Playing current and their prediction for better
pressure on the right-hand side worked to their favor for the first race win
in the Sonar class in this nine-day series. Doerr and skipper Jennifer
French (St. Petersburg, Fla.), racing with Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and
Michael Hersey (Hyannis, Mass.), are tied in points after two races.
Three Paralympic classes completed two races each on Narragansett Bay, on a
course located between Rose and Goat islands, in breeze that ranged 7 to 11
knots with haze and fog.
John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.) leads the 2.4mR class. The doublehanded SKUD-18
class also completed two races, but the second race was shortened as heavy
fog rolled over the course; the teams of Nick Scandone/Maureen
McKinnon-Tucker (Fountain Valley, Calif./Marblehead, Mass.) and Scott
Whitman/Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J./West Chester, Penn.) are tied with 4
points each.
Four-time collegiate All-American Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.) is leading
the 33-boat Laser class after winning today's opening race. The Laser and
Laser Radial classes are sailing from Middletown's Third Beach and racing at
the mouth of the Sakonnet River. Both classes got one race in today, in
breeze that ranged 10 to 14 knots with a good chop, before thick fog rolled
over the course, cancelling the second scheduled race.
After training in Rhode Island for nearly a month, along with many of his
classmates in the Laser and Laser Radial classes, Johnson sailed to the
starting line 45 minutes early today to survey the course. His key to
winning was taking time to form a solid gameplan—and then being able to
execute it in this crowded, competitive fleet.
But as pleased as Johnson sounded with his opening-day performance, his
enthusiasm was clearly tempered by the knowledge that he and his peers face
a long road ahead at an event that has attracted the nation's best.
"It's very easy to get amped up [at this regatta]," said Johnson, at day's
end. "It's a big regatta, and it's a long regatta. I have to take it one
race at a time. I'm psyched to be leading after today. But I'll be more
psyched if I'm leading after day eight…"
Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.)—number one in the Laser Radial ISAF
(International Sailing Federation) World Rankings—is leading in the 22-boat
Laser Radial class after winning today's opener.
Results (provisional at press time) in the five classes racing in Rhode
Island, all hosted by the Rhode Island Sailing Foundation, are below. Six
additional classes are racing for Olympic berths concurrently, in West Coast
locales.
For complete information on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials -
Sailing, please visit
www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials.
Video from the event with commentary by Gary Jobson will be available daily
on the website of the NBC network at
www.NBCOlympics.com.
About the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials - Sailing
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials - Sailing are managed by US
SAILING and hosted by several sailing organizations. Racing takes place
October 6 through October 14 with a rest day scheduled at each venue. The
highest eligible finisher in each class will be nominated by US SAILING to
the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) to the 2008 U.S. Olympic or Paralympic
Team - Sailing. The events on the West Coast are hosted by Alamitos Bay
Yacht Club (470 Men & Women, RS:X Men & Women), California Yacht Club
(Star), Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Finn), San Diego Yacht Club (Tornado),
and Southwestern Yacht Club (49er). On the East Coast, the Rhode Island
Sailing Foundation in Newport (R.I.) is host to the Laser, Laser Radial,
2.4mR, SKUD-18, and Sonar events.
About US SAILING
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the national governing
body for sailing. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the
United States. US SAILING offers training and education programs for
instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing
organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and
provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the
country, including National Championships and the U.S. Olympic and
Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit
www.ussailing.org.
PROVISIONAL RESULTS (Top 3 in class)
2.4mR (4 boats/after 2 races)
1. John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.); 3, 1: 4 points
2. Charles Rosenfield (Woodstock, Conn.); 1, 4: 5 points
3. Mark Bryant, (Estero, Fla.); 2, 3: 5 points
Laser (33 boats/after 2 races)
1. Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.); 1: 1 point
2. Trevor Moore (N. Pomfret, Vt.); 2: 2 points
3. Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.); 3; 3 points
Laser Radial (22 boats/after 1 race)
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.); 1: 1 point
2. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.); 2: 2 points
3. Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.); 3: 3 points
SKUD-18 (5 boats/after 2 races)
1. Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Fountain Valley,
Calif./Marblehead, Mass.); 3, 1: 4 points
2. Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J./West Chester, Penn.); 2, 2: 4
points
3. Karen Mitchell/JP Creignou (Deerfield Beach, Fla./St. Petersburg, Fla.);
1, 4: 5 points
Sonar (6 boats/after 2 races)
1. Rick Doerr/Tim Angle/Bill Donohue (Clifton, N.J./Marblehead, Mass./Brick,
N.J.); 1, 3: 4 points
2. Jennifer French/Brad Kendell/Michael Hersey (St. Petersburg, Fla./Tampa,
Fla./Hyannis, Mass.); 2, 2: 4 points
3. Albert Foster/David Burdette/Jim Thweatt (Wayzata, Minn./Lutherville,
Md./W. Sacramento, Calif.); 5, 1: 6 points
-ends-