FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marlieke de Lange Eaton
401-683-0800
New York Yacht Club Silver Panda Wins U.S. Team Racing Championship For A Third Consecutive Time
Erie, Penn. (August 18, 2008) - There were no major upsets at the U.S.
Team Racing Championship over the weekend, when for a third consecutive
time, and a fourth time overall, team New York Yacht Club Silver Panda won
the event, hosted by Erie Yacht Club (Erie, Penn.) and sponsored by Rolex
Watch U.S.A., Nautica, LaserPerformance, and Dry Creek Vineyard. The Silver
Panda team - made up of Pete Levesque (Tiverton, R.I.), Elizabeth Hall
(Washington, D.C.), Clay Bischoff (Philadelphia, Penn.), Lisa Keith (Boston,
Mass.), Colin Merrick (Portsmouth, R.I.), and Amanda Callahan (Canton,
Mass.) - won US SAILING's George R. Hinman Trophy in convincing style,
defeating British team West Kirby Hawks in Sunday's finals without losing a
single race. Silver Panda has once again qualified to represent the USA at
the Team Racing World Championship to be held in Australia in early 2009.
"This was a very competitive regatta," said Pete Levesque of New York Yacht
Club Silver Panda, adding, "The fleet was very deep with a lot of
high-quality racing."
New York Yacht Club Silver Panda has dominated team racing on national and
international levels in recent years, winning several major team racing
events, including the Team Racing World Championship and the Wilson Trophy.
They previously won the U.S. Team Racing Championship in 2002, 2006, 2007,
and now in 2008. They will be looking to defend their World Championship
title when they hit the waters off Perth, Australia, in January 2009.
For the second-place team from Great Britain (made up of Dom Johnson, Debs
Hill, Ben Field, Tom Foster, Andy Cornah, and Hamish Walker), the U.S. Team
Racing Championship served as a great trial run in preparation for their
nation's World Championship qualifier scheduled for next month.
Joel Hanneman of Newport, R.I., has for several years been dedicating quite
a bit of his time to help grow the sport of team racing, not only in his
professional career working as an engineer for event sponsor
LaserPerformance, but also as a driving force for the Rhode Island Team
Racing Association (www.ritra.org). In
addition, he has developed a team racing program for keelboats at Beverly
Yacht Club in Marion, Mass. For all his efforts and his dedicated
commitment, Hanneman was recognized by being presented with the Gay Lynn
Service Award.
Complete results, daily reports, and photos from the event are posted on the
event website at
www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/ustrc.
The U.S. Team Racing Championship for the George R. Hinman 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. Team Racing
Championship is sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. LaserPerformance,
manufacturer of Vanguard 15s sailed in this championship, is a sponsor of
the U.S. Team Racing Championship, along with several other U.S.
Championships. Nautica—the Official General Apparel Supplier to US SAILING
and the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics—also returns this year as a sponsor of
the Championship. Dry Creek Vineyard sponsors several U.S. Championships,
including the U.S. Team Racing Championship.
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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