Portsmouth, R.I. (March 13, 2013) – US Sailing, the national governing body for the sport, announced 34 athletes named to the 2013 US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider. The national team is selected annually and comprised of the top sailors competing in the events selected for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. American sailors qualified based on their 2012 results or performance at the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami last month. Final selection in the Nacra 17 and SKUD-18 will take place at future events.

The members of the 2013 US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider (listed in alphabetical order, by class):

Athlete (Hometown)

2.4mR
Danny Evans (Miami, Fla.)
Charles Rosenfield (Woodstock, Ct.)

470 Men’s:
Jordan Factor (Burlington, Vt.) and Matthew Wefer (Glen Head, N.Y.)
Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.)

470 Women’s:
Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Carly Shevitz (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Anne Haeger (East Troy, Mich.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.)

49er:
Ryan Pesch  (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.)
Fred Strammer (Nokomis, Fla.) and Zach Brown (San Diego, Calif.)

49er FX
Allie Blecher (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.)
Anna Tunnicliffe (Miami, Fla.) and Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.)

Finn:
Gordon Lamphere (Lake Forest, Ill.)
Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)

Laser:
Charlie Buckingham( San Diego, CA.)
Derick Vranizan (Shoreline, Wash.)

Laser Radial:
Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

RS:X Men’s:
Carson Crain (Houston, Texas)
Raul Lopez (Miami, Fla.)

RS:X Women’s:
Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.)
Kathleen Tocke (Buffalo, N.Y./Miami, Fla.)

Sonar:
Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.), Hugh Freund (Brookline, Mass.)
Andrew Fisher (Greenwich, Conn.), Mike Hersey (Hyannis, Mass.), Ryan Levinson (San Diego, Calif.)

“The beginning of an Olympic and Paralympic quadrennium is an exciting time,” said Josh Adams, Managing Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing. “The 2013 US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider is the first look at which sailors we might see representing Team USA in four years. This year’s team features a strong balance of returning veterans and emerging talent.”

American sailors will be selected for US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider at the Nacra World Championship, scheduled for July 20-28 in The Hague, NED, and, for the SKUD-18 class, at the 2013 C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Clinic & Regatta, scheduled for June 26-30. The sailors will be announced upon the completion of the regattas.

Meet the Team

Of the 34 selected to the Team, 14 members moved up from the 2012 US Sailing Development team and four were members of the 2012 Olympic Team: Stuart McNay, Paige Railey, Anna Tunnicliffe and Molly Vandemoer.

Tunnicliffe, 30, who won a gold medal at the ’08 Games in the Laser Radial, teamed up with Vandemoer, 33, in Women’s Match Racing for the ’12 Games and finished in 5th. They are now campaigning in the 49er FX, the new women’s skiff entry for the 2016 Games. The duo finished second overall in last month’s ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami. Joining them as the second 49er FX team are Helena Scutt, 20, and Allie Blecher, 25, the 2010 Quantum Female College Sailor of the Year.

McNay, 31, a two-time Olympian has teamed up with David Hughes, 35, for a 2016 campaign. Hughes, a past team member, coached the U.S. 49er team at the Olympic Games. They won the Men’s 470 class at World Cup Miami, with the second American team of Factor and Wefer, both 21, finishing in 5th.

With an average age of 28 among the 34 sailors, the trend toward a younger team in the first year of an Olympic and Paralympic quadrennium is evidenced in 16-year-old windsurfer Raul Lopez. He is the youngest of the four windsurfers on the team; three are under the age of 20. Marion Lepert, 17, finished 26th overall at the RS:X World Championships, third among sailors under the age of 21. She also is a member of the U.S. Youth World Team, and will represent the USA at the ISAF Youth Worlds this summer. Carson Crain, 19, switched to the RS:X after competing in the Laser class where he finished 10th at the 2012 ICSA Singlehanded National Championship. Kathleen Tocke, 38, represented the USA at the 2011 Pan American Games in the Snipe, and finished in 10th at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami.

Standout sailor and two-time College Sailor of the Year Charlie Buckingham qualified in the Laser class along with 24-year-old Frederick Vranzian. Buckingham, who is 24 years old, was second overall in the 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup series. In the other men’s singlehanded class, the Finn, 22-year-old Caleb Paine won gold at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami and with it, the Golden Torch award for the best performance by an American sailor. Bronze medalist at the 2012 Finn Nationals Gordon Lamphere, 25, joins Paine on the Finn squad.

In the Laser Radial, ISAF Rolex World Sailor and Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (’06) Paige Railey, 25, won gold at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami. Laser Youth World Champion Erika Reineke is dividing her time between Radial sailing and college sailing. The 19-year-old freshman at Boston College captured the ICSA (Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association) Singlehanded national title.

Fred Strammer. 24, and Zach Brown, 27, teamed up in 2011 in the 49er with a solid background of sailing, including college All American honors. Second behind Strammer and Brown at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami were Ryan Pesch, 22, and Trevor Burd, 23, who teamed up while attending Boston University (both graduated 2012).

The women’s 470 teams also count solid college sailing experience. 2011 Quantum Female Sailor of the Year Annie Haeger, 23, and Briana Provancha, 24, sailed at Boston College (both graduated 2012). 2012 Quantum Female Sailor of the Year Sydney Bolger, 23,  is a graduate of Georgetown University (’12) and her crew, 21-year-old Carly Shevitz, is a junior at College of Charleston.

The 2.4mR class is represented by 52-year-old Charlie Rosenfield, who was last a member of the US Sailing Team in 2010. He’s joined by Danny Evans, making his first appearance on the team at 35 years of age. They finished 5th and 6th, respectively, in Miami.

In the Sonar, 2010 Paralympic Sailing Team of the Year consists of skipper Rick Doerr, a 15 year veteran of the US Sailing Team, and crew Brad Kendell, 32, and Hugh Freund, 25. They finished 3rd in Miami behind Andy Fisher, 55, Mike Hersey, 45, and Ryan Levinson, 40, who recently teamed up after sailing with other crew in the Sonar.

To learn more about the 2013 US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider, visit the Team page: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Teams/USSTSTS13.htm

US Sailing provides the members of the 2013 US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider with financial, fundraising, logistical, performance (including coaching and on-and-off-the-water fitness training), marketing and communication support. The US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider is led by Managing Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing Josh Adams (Essex, Mass.), Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman Ben Richardson (Gloucester, Mass.), High Performance Director Charlie McKee (Coronado, Calif.), Communications Director Dana Paxton (Newport, R.I.), Commercial Manager Katie Smith (Newport, R.I.), Olympic Manager Meredith Muller (Newport, R.I.) and Olympic Coordinator Will Ricketson (Newport, R.I.). In addition to McKee, the team is coached by Paralympic Coach Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), Olympic Coach Romain Bonnaud (Miami, Fla.), Senior Olympic Coach Luther Carpenter (La Porte, Texas), and Olympic Coach Leandro Spina (Miami, Fla.).

For more information on selection:
Olympic classes Selection: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Selection/USSTSTSClasses/2013.htm
Paralympic classes Selection: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Selection/GPara/2013.htm