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East Coast Report / U.S. Olympic &
Paralympic Team Trials – Sailing:
TUNNICLIFFE, FUNK LEAD LASER RADIAL AND LASER CLASSES
Newport, R.I. (October 7, 2007) — The singlehanded Laser and Laser Radial
share a lot: the same hull design and the same race course at the mouth of
the Sakonnet River during the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials –
Sailing. But one thing these two Olympic classes may not share at this
nine-day regatta is their story line—with the combination of wind, boats,
and sailing talents in each class developing a definite pattern of its own.
After today's three races in breeze that ranged 9 to 16 knots, the top-3
order in the 33-boat Laser class has been completely shuffled, with Brad
Funk (Plantation, Fla.)—the United States' top-ranked Laser sailor in the
ISAF (International Sailing Federation) World Rankings—now in the lead. Funk
has solidified a five-point edge over Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.), who
captured an early class lead by winning the opening race, and Trevor Moore
(North Pomfret, Vt.). Johnson and Moore are tied in points after today's
racing.
Funk sailed a day of 2-2-9 finishes, generally coming into the first mark of
the course in the lead pack of boats and moving deeper into the leading edge
of the fleet as the Lasers sailed the trapezoid courses. The last race of
the day was sailed in breeze that lightened to 9 knots, after a period of
postponement while the Race Committee waited for the shifting breeze to
settle in. The sailor who championed the fleet in the final race was Fred
Strammer (Nokomis, Fla.), a member of US SAILING's Elite Youth Development
team studying at Brown University.
In the Laser Radial class, the top-3 order in this 22-boat class remains
unchanged from last night's standings. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.)
still holds the lead after finishing 1-1-3 in today's three races, and Paige
Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) is again, as yesterday, in second place and one
point behind.
The smooth pattern of Tunnicliffe's bullets in the opening three races looks
immutable on the scoreboard, but results could have been different after
dramatic tussling between Tunnicliffe and Railey in a close opening race
today. On a single run on the trapezoid course, the two women changed leads
four times as they battled for the lead, with Tunnicliffe winning that race.
Railey won the final race of the day, and Ft. Lauderdale sailor Sarah Lihan
remains in third overall.
On the race course for the Paralympic classes, sailors saw wind that ranged
from approximately 8 knots to gusts in the high teens/low-20-knot range,
with the breeze lightening during the latter part of the day. Sonar skipper
Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.) and his crew of Bill Donohue (Brick, N.J.) and
Tim Angle (Marblehead, Mass.) are still leading this six-boat class after
today's races.
SKUD-18 sailor Nick Scandone (Fountain Valley, Calif.) and crew Maureen
McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) came to this series fresh off a
silver-medal performance at the 2007 IFDS Disabled Sailing World
Championship. But Scandone, the 2005 US SAILING Rolex Yachtsman of the Year,
and McKinnon-Tucker turned windier conditions into gold today, by taking two
bullets for the class lead.
"We had good boat speed … The windier conditions are the ones we tend to
like," said Scandone. The SKUDs had wind shifts that were sizeable enough to
effect course changes.
Singlehanded 2.4mR sailors have been trading race wins, and no one sailor is
easily dominating this singlehanded Paralympic class. Mark Bryant (Estero,
Fla.) now leads the class with a 2-1-2 record to date.
After protest hearings on Saturday night, Saturday's second race for the
2.4mR and Sonar classes was abandoned. Going into tomorrow's racing, all
classes, except the 2.4mR class, have completed four races and are on
schedule in this two-race-a-day series. Results are provisional at presstime.
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 3 races)
1. Mark Bryant (Estero, Fla.); 2, 1, 2: 5 points
2. Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.); 4, 2, 1: 7 points
3. Charles Rosenfield (Woodstock, Conn.); 1, 4, 4: 9 points
Laser (33 boats/after 4 races)
1. Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.); 3, 2, 2, 9: 16 points
2. Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.); 1, 1, 4, 15: 21 points
3. Trevor Moore (N. Pomfret, Vt.); 2, 9, 7, 3: 21 points
Laser Radial (22 boats/after 4 races)
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.); 1, 1, 1, 3: 6 points
2. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.); 2, 2, 2, 1: 7 points
3. Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.); 3, 3, 3, 4: 13 points
SKUD-18 (5 boats/after 4 races)
1. Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Fountain Valley,
Calif./Marblehead, Mass.); 3, 1, 1, 1: 6 points
2. Karen Mitchell/JP Creignou (Deerfield Beach, Fla./St. Petersburg, Fla.);
1, 4, 2, 2: 9 points
3. Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J./West Chester, Penn.); 2, 2, 3,
3: 10 points
Sonar (6 boats/after 4 races)
1. Rick Doerr/Tim Angle/Bill Donohue (Clifton, N.J./Marblehead,
Mass./Brick, N.J.); 1, 1, 1, 1: 4 points
2. Paul Callahan/Roger Cleworth/Tom Brown (Newport, R.I. and Cape Coral,
Fla./Lithia, Fla./Northeast Harbor, Maine); 4, 2, 3, 2: 11 points
3. David Schroeder/Keith Burhans/John Pucillo (Miami, Fla./Rochester,
N.Y./Waldorf, Md.); 3, 4, 2, 4: 13 points
-ends-