Great Weekend of Sailing Concludes in Newport at The Clagett, U.S. Para Sailing Championships

For Immediate Release

The Clagett Media Contact: Sam Crichton sam@samcrichton.com, (401) 787-2250
US Sailing Media Contact: Jake Fish, jakefish@ussailing.org

NEWPORT, R.I. (June 24, 2018) – The 16th C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta and the 2018 U.S. Para Sailing Championships have been run and won.  Three days of racing, 10 races and the 46 sailors from across North America are now celebrating with the newly crowned champions.

“We’ve just concluded the 16th Clagett Regatta and we couldn’t do it without the support of the volunteers, sponsors, supporters and especially the sailors.  We’re so thrilled that we’ve been able to join forces with US Sailing to host the U.S. Para Sailing Championships this year.  We are working together to demonstrate the interest in sailing and to get it reinstated to the Paralympics,” remarked Clagett President and Co-Founder Judy Clagett McLennan (Portsmouth, R.I.).

In the triplehanded Sonar class, Rio Paralympian and Silver Medalist Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.) sailed in this regatta with a graduate of the Warrior Sailing Program Dawn Hart (Dade City, Fla.) and Charles McClure (Brookline, Mass.). They led the Sonar fleet from start to finish over the three days.  Making Doerr and his crew work for their medal was the team from Chicago of Gary Pierce (Highland Park, Ill.), Patrick LoDuca (Chicago, Ill.) and Jeff Long (Newport, R.I.), who secured second place overall.

“Thank you to my crew members they are real troopers.  The competition pushed us and the level just keeps going up.  The training is like no other regatta and it’s just fantastic to be here with all these great sailors,” commented Doerr after the presentation.  He continued after the being presented the Nick Scandone Award, “Nick inspired me a lot when we sailed in Beijing. It isn’t about this award, it’s about being part of this group and these sailors.  The challenges we have to overcome as sailors makes the results worthwhile.  We owe it to others to set a high bar and pass on own knowledge to the future generations.  Nick gave back and now I’m doing it and so is everyone else at this regatta.”

The 22 boats in the singlehanded 2.4mR fleet have had some fantastic racing with the Principal Race Officer Tom Duggan (East Sandwich, Mass.) commenting after the three days of racing, “It’s a super competitive fleet.”  This fleet was peppered with Paralympians and nearly half the fleet have traveled from all parts of Canada to race at The Clagett and U.S. Para Sailing Championships.

Eventual winner in the largest fleet at the regatta, Dee Smith (Annapolis, Md.) managed to hold off the challengers from Puerto Rico and Canada, of Julio Reguero (Guanynabo, Puerto Rico) and Peter Wood (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), to take home the gold medal, with Reguero taking silver and Wood the bronze.

Smith commented after presentation, “I haven’t been to The Clagett for three years and I want to say thank you to everyone for continuing all their work for this regatta.  I give you my congratulations to all the competitors, everyone is getting better and the competition is going to the next level and it has a lot to do with the coaching that The Clagett provides.”

A new class to adaptive sailing and The Clagett, the RS Venture Connect, had seven teams racing in a round robin competition over the first two days of racing to make it to the semifinals Sunday.  The top four teams headed in to the finals and it was the former Paralympic duo from Canada of John McRoberts (Victoria, BC, Canada) and Scott Lutes (Mahone Bay, NS, Canada), who sailed in to the top place.  In the U.S. Para Sailing Championships, the bi-coastal U.S. team of Cristina Rubke (San Francisco, Calif.) and Kris Scheppe (Naples, Fla.) were awarded the silver, and the bronze medal went to JR Hardenburgh (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) and Nick Bryan Brown (Jamaica Plain, Mass.).

“I am very pleased to be back sailing at The Clagett, I’m really pleased to see so many new sailors this year and to have new sailors joining the ranks,” commented McRoberts who will be racing with Lutes again in the RS Venture Connect at the Para Sailing World Championships later this year in Sheboygan, Wis.  McRoberts and Lutes were announced as the winners of the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Trophy, “It’s a true honor and I’m very, very shaken to be awarded this trophy,” remarked McRoberts.

Clagett trophies awarded to:

Sonar
1. Rick Doerr/Dawn Hart/Charles McClure
2. Gary Pierce/Jeff Long/Patrick LoDuca
3. David Gaston/Mike Janota/Kevin Somers

RS Venture Connect
1. John McRoberts and Scott Lutes
2. Christina Rubke and Kris Scheppe
3. JR Hardenburgh and Nick Bryan-Brown

2.4mR
1. Dee Smith
2. Julio Reguero
3. Peter Wood

U.S. Para Sailing Championships trophies awarded to:

  • Judd Goldman Trophy and the U.S. Para Sailing Singlehanded National Champion – Dee Smith
  • Doublehanded RS Venture Connect team awarded the Chandler Hovey Trophy to John McRoberts and Scott Lutes
  • U.S. Para Sailing Doublehanded National Champions – Christina Rubke and Kris Scheppe
  • Triplehanded Sonar team awarded the Gene Hinkel Trophy to Rick Doerr, Dawn Hart, Charles McClure

Thomas Clagett, Jr. Trophy – John McRoberts and Scott Lutes
Susan B Johnson – Sportsmanship Award – Shaylagh Lay
Larry Gadsby – Most Improved Award – Delani Hulme-Lawrence
Nick Scandone – Spirit Award – Rick Doerr
Robie Pierce and Gene Hinkle – Seamanship Award – Y-Knot program

For more information about The 2018 Clagett Regatta and U.S. Para Sailing Championships visit: www.clagettregatta.org and the U.S. Para Sailing Championships event website. Follow The Clagett and US Sailing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and search #ClagettRegatta for content.

The 2018 U.S. Para Sailing Championships is sponsored by Gill.

*Photos to be posted and available later this week.

About the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta
Founded in 2003, the C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta honors the late Tom Clagett (1916-2001), a U.S. Navy World War II veteran who learned to sail on Chesapeake Bay. As a youngster he suffered temporary paralysis as the result of a bout of meningitis; an experience that left him with a deep respect for the accomplishments of people with disabilities. The Clagett’s stated mission is “to assist sailors in realizing their potential on the water by providing them both the knowledge and tools to improve their skills and the opportunity to use these skills in competition”. Tom Clagett’s motto was “Reach for Success”, which resonates with every Clagett participant. Clagett competitors have seen medal success at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. Competitors often comment that, The Clagett, has improved their quality of life as they apply what is achieved on the water to everyday situations.

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. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.

Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta 2018 sponsors and supporters
The Clagett organization would like to thank the following 2018 sponsors – Fiduciary Trust International at the Platinum level; Newman’s Own Foundation at the Gold level; American International Group, Inc. (AIG) at the Silver level; The Horance A. Kimball & S. Ella Kimball Foundation and Alice and Bruce Whelihan at the Bronze level.

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