FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Cynthia Goss (East Coast) 203-430-4145
Rich Roberts (West Coast) 310-835-2526 / cell 310-766-6547
West Coast
Report / U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials - Sailing:
470 sailors McNay and Biehl First to
Clinch an
Olympic slot in West Coast Trials
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (October 13, 2007) - Stuart McNay of Lincoln, Mass.
and crew Graham Biehl, San Diego, dominating the men's 470 competition in
the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials – Sailing at Long Beach, became
the first to clinch a 2008 Olympic sailing bid in West Coast Trials
Saturday, joining Nick Scandone of Fountain Valley, Calif., who wrapped up
SKUD-18 honors sailing with Maureen McKinnon-Tucker of Marblehead, Mass. in
the Paralympic Trials at Newport, R.I.
A few others are poised to break out the chopsticks for trips to China next
summer, but the Stars remain a standoff at Marina del Rey, along with the
Tornados at San Diego. Dreadfully light winds in the backwash of overnight
rains drained all venues of brisk breeze Saturday, but the better
competitors seemed to find their way best around the courses along the
coast.
470 dinghy, Men and Women, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club/US Sailing Center,
Long Beach, Calif. / McNay/Biehl and Clark/Mergenthaler: Stuart McNay
and Graham Biehl are first among those seeking Olympic stature in eight West
Coast Trials who can declare, "We're going to China!" But after long months
stretching into years of campaigning, it hasn't sunk in. "Not quite," Biehl
said after they finished 6-1 Saturday and put themselves out of reach of
Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and David Hughes with two races to go, which they
probably won't sail. Among the first to congratulate them was class advisor
Kevin Burnham, whose famous back flip marked the gold medal victory for him
and skipper Paul Foerster at Athens in 2004. "We've got a lot of big shoes
to fill," Biehl said. McNay said, "We're looking forward to the release of a
lot of tension." Meanwhile, in the same fleet, New Yorkers Amanda
Clark and crew Sarah Mergenthaler moved within
arm's length of the women's 470 berth with a 17-point lead over Erin Maxwell
and 2004 Olympian Isabelle Kinsolving. "While not mathematically eliminated
from winning the trials, we are practically eliminated," Kinsolving wrote in
a newsletter later. "All they have to do is finish one of [Sunday's] races."
---Rick Roberts reporting
49er skiff, Southwestern Yacht Club, San Diego/Wadlow and Rast: Tim
Wadlow and crew Chris Rast went over the edge with Morgan Larson and Pete
Spaulding Saturday, but the latter veterans took the hardest fall. After
Larson/Spaulding scored 1-4 to Wadlow/Rast's 2-2 in the first two races,
both were called for being over the start line early (OCS—on course side) in
the third. That left Wadlow/Rast in a virtually unbeatable position for the
Olympic slot and Larson/Spaulding all but mathematically out of it. Wadlow/Rast
could discard the 14-point result, but Larson/Spaulding had already burned
both of their discards on previous OCSs in the 24-race series. Wadlow, who
finished fifth at Athens in 2004 with Spaulding as his crew, said, "It's not
over, but we can start to think about it." The Wadlow/Rast strategy Saturday
was to push their rivals into just such errors. "In all three races we were
the aggressors match racing them," Wadlow said, "while their thing was to
sail clean." Both suspected they were over the line but neither returned to
re-start. "We were [thinking], 'If he goes back, we go back,' " Wadlow said,
"and they were probably thinking the same thing." To officially clinch, they
need only finish eighth in one race Sunday and can blow off the other with
their second discard. Their next worst finish has been fourth. Dalton Bergan
and Zack Maxam moved up to second with a 3-1-1 day. ---Margo Hemond and
Jerelyn Biehl reporting
Star keelboat, California Yacht Club, Marina del Rey: Mendelblatt/Liljedahl:
On a clear day the hillside Hollywood sign near downtown L.A. is visible
from Santa Monica Bay, where a real-life sporting drama is reaching a
climax. George Szabo and crew Andrew Scott led a shuffle of the three boats
still in contention for the Olympic bid by finishing fourth and third
Saturday to take a one-point lead over John Dane III and Austin Sperry (3-6)
as earlier leaders Mark Mendelblatt and Magnus Liljedahl slipped to 9-5, now
five points off the pace with a single race remaining Sunday. After a 1
1/2-hour delay to resolve a five-boat protest by non-contenders against the
race committee's OCS calls the previous day (they all were awarded redress),
racing started with a shifty 10-knot breeze dropping to 4 by day's end.
Szabo/Scott saved their day by charging back from 14th at the first leeward
gate rounding to third place at the end---just enough to gain a shaky first
place overall. ---Tom O'Conor reporting
Tornado multihull, San Diego Yacht Club; Daniel and Stunzi: Going
into Saturday, Charlie Ogletree's daily newsletter report said, "We must now
win all four remaining races [against leaders Robbie Daniel and Hunter
Stunzi] over the weekend to go to China." Two down and two to go---with a
joker in the deck. After winning both races comfortably Saturday by 2:28 and
3:28 in wickedly wimpy winds topping out at 5 1/2 knots, Ogletree and
skipper John Lovell filed a double protest against Daniel/Stunzi and Norman
and Gary Chu for team racing against them. If that failed to fly in a
hearing under way as this went to press, they will still have to win both of
Sunday's final races to win the right to race in their fourth Olympics and
improve on the silver medals they won in 2004. They trail by one point, but
Daniel/Stunzi hold the tiebreaker card with more second-place finishes. Both
teams have won seven races. ---Mike Foster reporting
RS:X sailboard, Men, ABYC/Ben Barger: Although pleased that "it
couldn't have been better today," Ben Barger got at least one of his two
wins the hard way to widen his lead to four points over veteran Mike
Gebhardt with two races remaining. On shore after racing Barger faced a late
protest filed by Gebhardt's coach, Zach Plavsic of Canada, that he had
failed to do his penalty turns after Friday's collision with Gebhardt. The
jury dismissed the protest. In Saturday's racing Barger jumped the gun in
the first race and had to run down Gebhardt after re-starting properly. "I
just kept digging in and closing the gap," he said. In the second race when
his rivals ganged up at the committee boat end of the line, Barger went to
the pin end, and "the wind came to me," he said. Gebhardt, 2-2 on a day with
wind of only 5-8 knots that forced the sailors to work their boards like gym
equipment, said, "It was tough racing. I felt I had it in the bag, but I
burned a lot of energy and just didn't have it." He'll need a major comeback
Sunday to reach his fifth consecutive Olympics. To prevent that, Barger
said, "All I have to do is win." ---Rick Roberts reporting
RS:X sailboard, Women, ABYC/Nancy Rios: It's only a three-point lead
with two races to go, but the way Nancy Rios is going with six consecutive
wins it's going to be difficult to derail her drive to the Olympics. "I feel
very good about going into [Sunday]," the diminutive Floridian said, "as
long as it doesn't blow hard." On the other hand, as little wind as there
was Saturday---5-8 knots---means working harder to make the boards go. "On
the last downwind leg today the wind went away almost completely," Rios
said. "I had to pump all the way." ---Rick Roberts reporting
Finn dinghy, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Balboa / Zach Railey: Geoff
Ewenson knows he doesn't have much chance of catching Zach Railey, but he's
going to make the younger sailor earn his Olympic slot. The 38-year-old
veteran from Annapolis---sixth in the 2000 Trials and second in
2004---tightened his grip on second with two races to go by winning
Saturday's only race, with Railey, 23, second. Ewenson, who trails Railey by
13 points, said, "Zach would have to make a catastrophic error to lose. I'd
rather be in his place, but at least I'm pushing Zach and maybe making him
better." Ewenson said this would probably be his last Olympic campaign. "I
really like the competitive racing, but when you have to spend a quarter of
your time visiting a chiropractor your days are numbered." ---Jeff Johnson
reporting
The leaders:
470 COMBINED FLEET/Official scoring* (13 boats; 14 of 16 races; 1
discard):
1. Stuart McNay (Lincoln, Mass.)/Graham Biehl (San Diego),
2-2-2-2-1-2-4-1-(6)-4-2-1-6-1, 30 points**;
2. Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.)/Sarah Mergenthaler (New York, N.Y.),
4-3-1-(6)-3-3-2-4-1-5-1-6-3-4, 40;
3. Mikee Anderson-Mitterling (Coronado, Calif.)/David Hughes (San Diego),
5-1-6-3-4-4-1-5-5-(7)-5-4-5-3, 51;
*--For purpose of selecting Olympic representatives.
**--Clinched Olympic berth.
49ER (13 boats; 22 of 24 races; 2 discards):
1. Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.)/Chris Rast (San Diego),
1-2-1-1-3-1-(4)-3-3-1-1-1-1-1-3-3-3-2-3-2-2-(14/OCS), 38 points;
2. Dalton Bergan (Seattle, Wash.)/Zack Maxam (Costa Mesa, Calif.),
2-4-3-4-1-2-2-2-(14/OCS)-3-4-3-(4)-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-1-1, 49;
3. Morgan Larson (Capitola, Calif.)/Pete Spaulding (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.),
(14/OCS)-1-2-2-9-(14/OCS)-1-1-1-2-2-2-5-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-4-14/OCS, 54.
*TORNADO ( 6 boats; 14 of 16 races; 1 discard):
1. Robbie Daniel (Clearwater, Fla.)/Hunter Stunzi (Charleston, S.C.),
1-(2)-2-1-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-1-2-2, 19 points;
2. John Lovell (New Orleans, La.)/Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Tex.),
2-1-1-2-2-1-1-2-(4)-3-1-2-1-1, 20;
3. Colin Merrick (Portsmouth, R.I.)/John Sampson (Rumson, N.J.),
4-3-5-3-4-4-3-4-3-4-(6)-4-4-5, 50.
*---Pending protest.
STAR (19 boats; 15 of 16 races; 1 discard):
1. George Szabo (San Diego)/Andrew Scott (Annapolis),
2-1-(1)-1-7-3-4-9-6-2-1-1-8-6-4-3, 57;
2. John Dane III/Austin Sperry (Gulfport, Miss.),
1-10-6-2-8-1-5-4-(12)-2-3-4-3-3-6, 58;
3. Mark Mendelblatt (St. Petersburg, Fla.)/Magnus Liljedahl (Miami, Fla.),
3-3-1-8-1-3-6-2-5-10-4-(12)-2-9-5, 62.
FINN (42 boats; 14 of 16 races; 1 discard):
1. Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), 1-2-(12)-1-1-1-1-13-8-3-1-2, 26
points;
2. Geoffrey Ewenson (Annapolis), 2-3-(10)-4-3-2-2-4-3-1-3-7-4-1, 39;
3. Darrell Peck (Gresham, Ore.), 4-4-1-3-2-3-4-3-4-(6)-5-5-1-5-6, 45.
RS:X MEN (6 boats; 14 of 16 races; 1 discard):
1. Ben Barger (Tampa, Fla.), (8/RAF)-1-2-1-2-1-3-2-2-1-2-2-1-1, 21
points;
2. Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), 2-(3)-1-2-1-2-1-3-1-2-3-3-2-2, 25;
3. Robert Willis (Chicago, Ill.), 1-2-5-3-(6)-3-2-1-4-4-1-1-6-3, 36.
RS:X WOMEN (7 boats; 14 of 16 races; 1 discard):
1. Nancy Rios (Miami, Fla.), 2-(4)-1-3-2-2-4-4-1-1-1-1-1-1, 24 points;
2. Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.), (4)-1-4-1-3-3-1-1-2-3-2-2-3-2, 27;
3. Monica Wilson (Newport, R.I.), 3-3-3-2-1-(4)-3-3-3-4-4-4-2-3, 37.
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.