2016 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (September 11, 2016) – On Sunday in Annapolis, Nicole Breault (San Francisco, Calif.) became only the second skipper to win back-to-back U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championships in event history. Breault, the reigning defending champion from last year’s event in Balboa, California, defeated home town sailor Janel Zarkowsky (Annapolis, Md.), 3-0, in this afternoon’s final series on Chesapeake Bay. The 2016 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship was hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club, Friday through Sunday, in the J/22 class sailboat.
Breault was joined by a talented crew comprised of Molly Carapiet (San Francisco, Calif.), Karen Loutzenheiser (Santa Cruz, Calif.), and Hannah Burroughs (San Francisco, Calif.). Carapiet and Loutzenheiser won with Breault in last year’s championship. Also, for the second straight year, Zarkowsky’s team ran into Breault in the Finals and finished runner-up.
“We won because of teamwork,” stated Breault. “You can’t under estimate that part of the game, especially with all the maneuvering you want to do, you need it delivered, and I couldn’t do it without them.”
Breault will be racing at the 2016 World Sailing Women’s Match Racing World Championships in Sheboygan on September 19-25.
“I’ve been looking for a chance to race against Stephanie (Roble) and her whole team, and I’ll see her in Sheboygan.” Roble is the top ranked U.S. women’s match racer.
The team from the Bay area was dominant throughout the three day event. In the three Round Robin stages, they were 5-0, 4-1 and 5-0, respectively. They won their semifinal series, 3-0, over Robyn Lesh (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) to advance to the finals. Lesh upended Morgan Wilson, 2-0, in the petite finals to take third place.
The first Round Robin was conducted on Friday and the second and third Round Robins took place Saturday. The knock-out rounds were raced on Sunday.
The win earned Breault an invitation to the 2017 Buddy Melges Challenge at Sail Sheboygan in Wisconsin. Breault, who was introduced to match racing in 2008, is ranked #2 in the country for women’s match racing. She also won the Nation’s Cup in 2015.
Previous winners of the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship include an impressive list of the top women sailors in recent U.S. history. Cory Sertl, Betsy Alison, Sally Barkow, Anna Tunnicliffe, Stephanie Roble, Genny Tulloch, Liz Baylis, and Debbie Cappozi have all won this US Sailing National Championship.
Media & Coverage
- For results, standings, photos, Twitter real-time updates, and more information from the 2016 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship, please visit the event website.
- Follow the conversation and real-time updates on Twitter and Instagram with #womensmatch16.
Quotes of the Week
- Robin Lesh (Friday quote) – “Communication is key. When there is a tactical call, I need to know what is going on and we are all synced when we make a move.”
- Rebecca McAlvain (Friday quote) – “For most of us on this team, it was our first time match racing, so it was a pretty steep learning curve, but we improved throughout the day and match racing is super fun.”
- Danielle Gallo (Friday quote) – “We had moments of brilliance, but if you make one mistake against good competition, you are behind.”
- Nicole Breault (on how women can participate in match racing) – “Women who want to match race now have two options. The first is to take full advantage of open division events around the country. The open division of match racing is not reserved for men, it is open! The only advantage male sailors might have over female sailors is their higher (on average) strength-to-weight ratio. On smaller boats this advantage doesn’t mean much, and on larger boats athletic women on a smart team can still win. Besides, mixed-gender crews can be more fun!
Social Media Highlights
Flight 5 match, our two leaders, Breault vs Zarkowsky, pretty even off the line #womensmatch16 pic.twitter.com/2CACLdL3Yr
— AYC Women’s Match 16 (@WomensMatch16) September 10, 2016
Day 2 of US Women’s match racing champs. Signal boat is anchored and course being laid #womensmatch16 pic.twitter.com/A1cLqoKbR0
— AYC Women’s Match 16 (@WomensMatch16) September 10, 2016
The 2016 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship was sponsored by Gill North America and Switlik Survival Products.
US Sailing Media Contact: Jake Fish, jakefish@ussailing.org
About US Sailing
The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and growth for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. 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 US Sailing Team Sperry. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.
About Gill North America
Gill NA, with headquarters near Atlanta, GA is the exclusive importer and distributor of Gill-brand foul weather gear in North America including Caribbean, US and Canada. Gill is a worldwide apparel and accessories brand serving the marine industry with over three decades of experience. Gill specializes in high tech, breathable waterproof clothing. The company develops and markets a variety of performance-oriented, award-winning apparel and accessories for virtually every type of boating activity with product lines that include foul weather gear; interactive layering systems; footwear; gloves; bags; junior gear; scholastic gear and team wear. Gill products are available through hundreds of independent dealers and select West Marine Stores. For further information, please contact: Gary Barker at 941-505-2111 or gary.barker@gillna.com.
About Switlik Survival Products
Established in 1920, Switlik Parachute Co. has been owned and operated by the Switlik family for four generations and is known worldwide as a manufacturer of the highest quality sewn and heat sealed inflatable safety and survival products for the aviation, marine, and military/government markets. Our capabilities include a wide variety of anti-exposure and anti-g suits, inflatable life rafts, inflatable life vests, inflation systems and other specialty textile-based military equipment all manufactured at our 85,000 sq. ft. facility located in Trenton, NJ USA. www.switlik.com