FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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:
WINNERS IN FIVE CLASSES NAMED TO U.S. OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC TEAMS
Newport/Middletown, R.I. (October 14, 2007) — After a 16-race series off
Aquidneck Island, in shifty winds that ranged from light and fluky to
sustained 18 knots and surfable seas, winners in five classes have been
named to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams and are slated to represent
the United States at the 2008 Games in China. Hosted by the Rhode Island
Sailing Foundation, working with Sail Newport, New York Yacht Club, and Ida
Lewis Yacht Club, the nine-day regatta drew 87 competitors from throughout
the country.
Winners of the largest classes racing at the East Coast Trials were Andrew
Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) in the 33-boat Laser class and Anna Tunnicliffe
(Plantation, Fla.) in the 22-boat Laser Radial fleet.
Competition in the Laser class kept race-watchers on the edge of their
seats. Four-time collegiate All-American Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.),
who finished third, captured an early lead in the regatta. But Brad Funk
(Plantation, Fla.) rose to that position on the second day of racing, soon
to be joined by Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.). But as Funk and
Campbell sailed further from the fleet in the point standings, the
competition between the two of them only intensified as they flip-flopped as
class leaders.
Campbell sailed into the final day with a five-point edge, which was only
erased when Funk won Race 15 to once again reverse the leading order.
Campbell's second in the last race and Funk's third put these two rivals
into a points tie that was taken into the protest room over an altercation
at the weather mark.
The protest was disallowed, and Campbell won the Laser berth on a
tie-breaker. But the long round of applause that Campbell got at the awards
ceremony and the standing ovation that Funk received were telling signs of
what this contest had become. These Laser peers were clearly honoring two
Herculean talents who had given it everything they had—and essentially ended
up even.
The Laser Radial class was decided before the start of the final race. Anna
Tunnicliffe—ranked number one in her class in the ISAF World Rankings—won
the opening race of the regatta and then proceeded to build a points edge
over her closest opponent, Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), which she never
relinquished. Heading to the starting line today, both sailors were carrying
a third place as their worst race. With a four-point lead going into the
final day, Tunnicliffe only needed to finish third or better to seal the
class win.
After an altercation at the start in Race 15, Tunnicliffe did penalty turns
for insurance and ducked the fleet on port tack after the start. But the
move put her in good position in relation to the wind patterns to work back
to the top of the class; she won the race by a strong margin, with Railey
second. With the class win decided, Tunnicliffe and Railey sailed off the
course and did not compete in the last race.
The competition for the Laser Radial berth had escalated into a two-boat
battle, and after regatta's end, Tunnicliffe commended the talented opponent
she has faced in many Laser Radial events: "If Paige wasn’t as good a sailor
as she is, I would not be where I am now … She is a great sailor, and it was
a tough battle." Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) captured third.
The Sonar team of Rick Doerr, Tim Angle, and Bill Donohue (Clifton,
N.J./Marblehead, Mass./Brick, N.J.) captured this triplehanded Paralympic
class by four points. Victory aside, as Doerr surveyed the past nine days at
regatta's end, he depicted a long and sometimes rugged road to first place.
After taking three bullets in the first four races, Doerr and his crew were
shaping up to be the odds-on favorite—but that trend did not continue.
Back-of-the-fleet finishes and tough competition from second-place Paul
Callahan (Newport, R.I./Cape Coral, Fla.), racing with Roger Cleworth and
Tom Brown (Lithia, Fla./Northeast Harbor, Maine), and Albert Foster
(Wayzata, Minn.), racing with David Burdette and Jim Thweatt (Lutherville,
Md./W. Sacramento, Calif.), ensued. The long, high-stakes regatta was also
developing into a strategic mindgame for Doerr and his crew: "It's a long
regatta—and it was easy to get torn between protecting your lead, and
sailing your own race."
Doerr found the tough battle to be good preparation for the international
arena of the Paralympic Games: "The strong competition here in the U.S. has
only pushed us to another level."
Competition for the 2.4mR berth developed into the closest points situation
of the East Coast classes. John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.) and Mark LeBlanc (New
Orleans, La.) came off the water tied in points today, with Ruf capturing
the berth in this singlehanded Paralympic class on a tie-breaker. He sailed
strong in the second half of the regatta, winning Race 10 and proceeding to
take all bullets in the next three races. Finishes of 2-2 for Ruf on the
final day moved him from second overall and into the lead.
2.4mR sailor Mark Bryant (Estero, Fla.) finished third, only one point
behind the winner. These three Paralympic sailors raced a lethally close
contest: at different times during the regatta, each of them held the class
lead and only one point separated the top three boats in the final tally.
The SKUD-18 class was also decided before the final race. Nick Scandone
(Fountain Valley, Calif.) and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.)
had mathematically sewn up a victory before the last day of competition.
Scandone, the 2005 US SAILING Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, and
McKinnon-Tucker are a new pairing in this doublehanded class making its
Paralympic debut in 2008—and one to be watched. They were also silver
medalists at last month's IFDS Disabled World Sailing Championships. SKUD
sailors Scott Whitman and Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J./West Chester, Penn.)
won the final two races to move into second place, with Karen Mitchell and
JP Creignou (Deerfield Beach, Fla./St. Petersburg, Fla.) taking third.
Six additional classes are vying for Olympic berths concurrently, in West
Coast venues. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will take place August 8–24;
the Paralympic Games take place September 6–17, 2008. Both the Olympic and
Paralympic regattas will be held in Qingdao, China, a coastal city located
430 miles east of Beijing.
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.
FINAL RESULTS (Top 3 in class)
2.4mR (4 boats/after 16 races)
1. John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.); [3], 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1,
3, 2, 2: 30 points
2. Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.); [4], 2, 1, 1, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2, 2,
1, 3, 3: 30 points
3. Mark Bryant (Estero, Fla.); 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 4, 2, [5/OCS], 4, 3,
2, 1, 1: 31 points
Laser (33 boats/after 16 races)
1. Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.); 4, 4, 1, [20], 1, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2,
5, 1, 3, 5, 7, 2: 44 points
2. Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.); 3, 2, 2, [9], 4, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 9, 5, 6,
1, 3: 44 points
3. Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.); 1, 1, 4, 15, 2, 8, 7, 25, [34/OCS], 3,
3, 3, 4, 1, 8, 1: 86 points
Laser Radial (22 boats/after 16 races)
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.); 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 2,
2, 1, 3, 1, [23/DNC]: 24 points
2. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.); 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1, 3, 1, 1, 3,
2, 2, [23/DNC]: 29 points
3. Sarah Lihan (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.); 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 1, [11], 2, 2, 3,
9, 11, 1, 9, 1: 62 points
SKUD-18 (5 boats/after 16 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, [6/DNC],
6/DNC: 25 points
2. Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J./West Chester, Penn.); 2, 2, 3,
3, 3, 3, 4, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, [6/DSQ], 1, 1: 34 points
3. Karen Mitchell/JP Creignou (Deerfield Beach, Fla./St. Petersburg, Fla.);
1, 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 1, [6/DSQ], 2, 4: 36 points
Sonar (6 boats/after 16 races)
1. 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, 3, 1: 37
points
2. 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, 7/DSQ, 2: 41 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, 4,
4: 43 points
For complete results, visit
www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials/race_results.html.
NOTE: [ ] indicates discard
(ends)