FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marlieke de Lange Eaton
401-683-0800
Sailing's
Best of the Best to Compete in
U.S. Championship of Champions
Portsmouth, R.I. (September 22, 2008) - Twenty of the country's top
one-design sailors will be at Sayville Yacht Club (N.Y.) later on this week
to compete in the U.S. Championship of Champions for US SAILING's Jack Brown
Trophy. The regatta, sponsored by Rolex Watch, U.S.A. and Dry Creek
Vineyard, is known as one of the toughest one-design competitions in the
United States and this year’s event will be no exception.
All of the competitors have qualified after winning a National and/or North
American Championship in a one-design class and were nominated by their
respective class associations. The competitors have a wide range of sailing
backgrounds, from 71-year-old Dick Tillman who competed in the 1976 Olympic
Games to 13-year-old Chris Williford. The Championship will be raced in
Sunfish on Long Island Sound from September 24 through 27.
The 2008 competitors, along with their hometowns and events through which
they qualified are:
Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.) - 2.4 mR National Championship
Stephen Smeulders (Pittsford, N.Y.) - Force 5 North American Championship
Peter Shope (Stratham, N.H.) - Frosty North American Championship
John Bauer (New Philadelphia, Ohio) - Highlander Class National Championship
Ian Schillebeeckx (Labadie, Mo.) - Inland 20 National Championship
William Nightingale (Rowayton, Conn.) - JY15 North American Championship
Cameron Hall (St. Petersburg, Fla.) - Laser 4.7 National & North American
Championships
Newt Wattis (Surf City, N.J.) - Mariner Class National Championship
Ward Brooks (Blue Point, N.Y.) - Narrasketuck Class National Championship
Anne Edwards Baton (Rouge, La.) - Sunfish Women's North American
Championship
Doug Kaukeinen (Rochester, N.Y.) - Sunfish North American Championship
Bobby Boger (Southold, N.Y.) - Sunfish Junior North American Championship
Dick Tillman (Syracuse, Ind.) - International Sunfish Masters Championship
Christopher Williford (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) - Optimist National
Championship
John Baxter (Greenwich, Conn.) - Interclub National Championship
William Lynn (Marblehead, Mass.) - Sonar World Championship
Peter Sladovich (New Orleans, La.) - Rhodes 19 National Championship
Mike Ingham (Rochester, N.Y.) - Thistle National Championship
Christopher Banholzer (Hartland, Wis.) - X-Boat Inland Championship
Robert Rowland (Dayton, Ohio) - Y-Flyer National Championship
Complete results, daily reports, and photos from the event will be posted on
the event website at
www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/CofC. The U.S. Championship of
Champions for the Jack Brown Trophy is part of US SAILING’s National
Championships series. For more information about these events, visit
www.ussailing.org/championships.
About the Event Sponsors
As with all US SAILING Adult National Championships, the U.S. Championship
of Champions is sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. Dry Creek Vineyard sponsors
several U.S. Championships, including the U.S. Championship of Champions.
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.
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