FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kristin Jautz, American Yacht Club, KristinJautz@verizon.net, 914-772-5844, or
Marlieke Eaton, US SAILING, Marliekeeaton@ussailing.org, 401-683-0800

Tie-Breakers and Heartbreakers on Final Day of
U.S. Disabled Championship

Rye, N.Y. (June 9, 2008) - Going into the last day of racing today at the U.S. Disabled Sailing Championship, it was not a sealed deal for Paralympic Team members Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), Tim Angle (Marblehead, Mass.), and Bill Donohue (Brick, N.J.) in the Sonar. While they had been in the lead since the regatta started on Saturday, their fellow US Disabled Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members Paul Callahan (Newport, R.I.), Roger Cleworth (Lithia, Fla.), and Mike Hersey (Hyannis, Mass.) were hovering nearby, anxious to take over the lead. And when the athletes got off the water today, Doerr and his team won only after coming out ahead in the tie-breaker. In the 2.4mR and Ideal 18 classes, Canadians Bruce Millar (Richmond, BC, CAN) and John McRoberts/Stacey Louttit (both from Victoria, BC, CAN) took home the top honors respectively.

After beating rival Paul Callahan in the hotly contested regatta, an exhausted but elated Rick Doerr said “We pushed all week long and fought hard right to the end. We knew we had to win the last race to win the Championship... It feels great to know that we are the top U.S. team.”

The Sonar fleet wasn't the only one with tight racing: the Ideal 18 fleet was filled with talented athletes. And, as in the Sonar, it all came down to the final day to determine the new champion. Sarah Everhart Skeels (Tiverton, R.I.), sailing with new crew Jim Donahue (Danvers, MA), was in first place overall going into the final day, but not even her two first-place finishes today were enough to stay ahead of McRoberts. She finished just two points behind the Canadian.

In the 2.4mR, Bruce Millar held a comfortable lead throughout the regatta to secure his win, 13 points ahead of fellow Canadian Paul Tingley (Halifax, NS, CAN). US Disabled Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.) finished third, just one point behind Tingley.

The racing today, in what the County of Westchester in New York proclaimed as Disabled Sailing Day, was held under sunny skies with variable conditions with the race committee managing to pull off four races. Throughout the regatta, host clubs American and Larchmont Yacht Clubs opened their doors to athletes, families, and spectators.

The U.S. Disabled Championship is sponsored nationally by Rolex Watch U.S.A. and Dry Creek Vineyard, as well as by UBS, The Carlyle Group, Heineken and EMA Clocks.

Next year's U.S. Disabled Championship will return to the Long Island Sound when Riverside Yacht Club in Greenwich, Conn., will host the event. With the addition of the SKUD-18 sailing next year, it promises to be a great event.

About the American Yacht Club
The American Yacht Club (AYC) was founded in 1883 in New York City and this year is celebrating its 125 anniversary. Originally a club for steam yachts, AYC is now a premier sailing and racing club. In the past, Club members have been America's Cup Defenders, Trans-Atlantic, and Bermuda Race winners. AYC sailors have been Long Island Sound, North American and World Champions in a number of classes. They have competed in the Olympics and captured Olympic medals - most recently in 1996, when Courtenay Becker-Dey took a bronze in the Europe class. Four AYC skippers have won the U.S. Women's Sailing Championship. AYC is proud to promote yacht design and prominent sailboat designers such as Bill Tripp and the Herreshoffs are or have been members. Located at the tip of Milton Point in Rye, New York, the club currently has about 900 members. For more information and directions, please visit www.americanyc.com.  

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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