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Report / U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials – Sailing:
RACING CONCLUDES SUNDAY BUT
MANY CLASSES ARE TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Newport/Middletown, R.I. (October 13, 2007) — Gamblers would be
forewarned before placing bets on winners at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic
Team Trials – Sailing. The final day of racing is tomorrow, and odds for
victory have gelled in only two classes.
In the doublehanded SKUD-18 class, Nick Scandone (Fountain Valley, Calif.)
and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) can already start making
their travel plans to China, as they have mathematically sewn up a victory
before the last day of racing. Racing in this new Paralympic class, Scandone
and McKinnon-Tucker proved to be untouchable on the racecourse, winning 11
individual races and never finishing worse than third place.
Laser Radial leader Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) has found a worthy
opponent in Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.). But all Tunnicliffe needs to do
tomorrow is keep sailing the way she has been. She has not finished below
third place—despite instances where she took penalty turns, and one race
where she thought she was over early at the start and returned to re-cross
the line. She has proven that she can stumble, but has the ability to regain
lost ground.
The Laser, Sonar, and 2.4mR classes are a completely different story: lead
changes have been volatile and the competition has been so close that
Olympic and Paralympic hopes will ride on a single day of racing tomorrow.
Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) took the lead in the 33-boat Laser class
today from Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.) on a challenging three-race day for
Laser and Laser Radial sailors—where a postponement was signaled while the
wind swung in 30-degree arcs; where light, shifty winds and velocity changes
challenged racers with random patterns of breeze; and where sailors had to
switch gears from the morning's tricky light air to firmer breeze that built
to 18 knots for the last race.
Campbell's strong 1-3-5 day puts him five points ahead of Funk, and the race
committee could get two more races in tomorrow. In a class where
frontrunners are already carrying discards in the back of the fleet
(Campbell's is a 20th, but Funk's is a 9th) and no single sailor can
consistently finish in the top 5, banking on Campbell or Funk at this point
is a throw of the dice.
Paul Callahan (Cape Coral, Fla. and Newport, R.I.), sailing with Roger
Cleworth and Tom Brown (Lithia, Fla./Northeast Harbor, Maine), has taken
over the lead in the Sonar class with a 1-1 performance today and some
intense match-racing with Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), who held the class
lead going into today's racing.
Callahan holds a four-point lead over Doerr, but results at presstime are
provisional.
2.4mR sailor Marc LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.) has a two-point edge over John
Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.) heading into the final day.
All classes have completed 14 races, except the Sonars, which have completed
15. Stay tuned for final results on Sunday.
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 host 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 14 races)
1. Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.); [4], 2, 1, 1, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3, 2,
2, 2, 1: 24 points
2. John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.); [3], 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3:
26 points
3. Mark Bryant (Estero, Fla.); 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 4, 2, [5/OCS], 4, 3,
2: 29 points
Laser (33 boats/after 14 races)
1. Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.); 4, 4, 1, [20], 1, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2,
5, 1, 3, 5: 35 points
2. Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.); 3, 2, 2, [9], 4, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 9, 5, 6:
40 points
3. Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.); 1, 1, 4, 15, 2, 8, 7, 25, [34/OCS], 3,
3, 3, 4, 1: 77 points
Laser Radial (22 boats/after 14 races)
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.); 1, 1, 1, [3], 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1,
2, 2, 1, 3: 20 points
2. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.); 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, [3], 2, 1, 3, 1, 1, 3,
2: 24 points
3. Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.); 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 1, [11], 2, 2, 3,
9, 11, 1: 52 points
SKUD-18 (5 boats/after 14 races)
1. Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Fountain Valley,
Calif./Marblehead, Mass.); [3], 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1: 16
points
2. Karen Mitchell/JP Creignou (Deerfield Beach, Fla./St. Petersburg, Fla.);
1, [4], 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 1, 3: 29 points
3. Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J./West Chester, Penn.); 2, 2, 3,
3, 3, 3, [4], 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2: 30 points
Sonar (6 boats/after 15 races)
1. Paul Callahan/Roger Cleworth/Tom Brown (Newport, R.I. and Cape Coral,
Fla./Lithia, Fla./Northeast Harbor, Maine); 4, [7/DSQ], 2, 3, 1, 1, 4, 3, 3,
1, 3, 5, 1, 1, 1: 33 points
2. Rick Doerr/Tim Angle/Bill Donohue (Clifton,
N.J./Marblehead, Mass./Brick, N.J.); 1, 3, 1, 1, [7/DSQ], 3, 2, 4, 4, 2, 1,
3, 4, 4, 4: 37 points
3. Albert Foster/David Burdette/Jim Thweatt (Wayzata, Minn./Lutherville,
Md./W. Sacramento, Calif.); [5], 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 2, 2, 3, 5:
40 points
For complete results, visit
www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials/race_results.html.
NOTE: [ ] indicates discard
(ends)