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Press Release
US SAILING Announces 2009 USSTAG
US SAILING Announces 2009 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics
Portsmouth, R.I. (March 16, 2009) - US SAILING, the national governing body for the
sport, is proud to announce the new 2009 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG). Fueled
by elite sailing talent and leadership, the Olympic Sailing Program is building momentum
towards the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Weymouth/Portland, England. The new
team consists of rising sailing stars as well as many top sailors in the world, including
2008 Olympic Gold Medalist and US SAILING’s Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Anna
Tunnicliffe, 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey, 2008 Paralympic Gold Medalist
Maureen McKinnon-Tucker, 2008 Paralympic Bronze Medalist John Ruf and 1988 Olympic Gold
Medalist Allison Jolly.
Based on results at US SAILING’s 2009 Rolex Miami OCR, US SAILING selected the
top three boats in each Olympic and Paralympic class for the 2009 USSTAG. Two boats declined
to pursue Olympic/Paralympic campaigns, so the Star and SKUD-18 classes include the top
two boats. The 10 Olympic classes chosen to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games are: Laser
Radial (women), Laser (men), Finn (men), Men’s RS:X, Women’s RS:X, 49er (men),
Men’s 470, Women’s 470, Star (men) and Elliott 6m (women). The three Paralympic
classes chosen for the 2012 Paralympic Games are: 2.4mR (open), SKUD18 (mixed) and Sonar
(open).
The members of the 2009 USSTAG are (listed in order of USSTAG ranking):
Olympic Classes
Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy):
Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.)
Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.)
Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy):
Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.)
Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
Emily Billing (Clearwater, Fla.)
Finn (Heavyweight Dinghy):
Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
Andrew Casey (Alameda, Calif.)
Bryan Boyd (Annapolis, Md.)
Men’s RS:X (Men’s Windsurfer):
Ben Barger (St. Petersburg. Fla.)
Bob Willis (Chicago, Ill.)
Jimi Sobeck (East Quogue, N.Y.)
Women’s RS:X (Women’s Windsurfer):
Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)
Lisa Kremer (Worthington, Minn./ Sioux City, Iowa)
Solvig Sayre (Vineyard Haven, Mass.)
Men’s 470 (Men’s Two Person Dinghy):
Stu McNay (Newton, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.)
Adam Roberts (San Diego, Calif.) and Nick Martin (San Diego, Calif.)
Hans Jensen (Duxbury, Mass.)
Women’s 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy):
Erin Maxwell (Stonington, Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving (New York, NY)
Molly Carapiet (Belvedere, Calif.) and Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.)
Alison Jolly (St. Petersburg. Fla.) and Darby Smith (Marblehead, Mass.)
49er (Skiff):
Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and Trevor Moore (North Pomfret, Vt.)
Joey Pasquali (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
Jonny Goldsberry (Sausalito, Calif.) and Charlie Smythe (Austin, Texas)
Star (Men’s Keelboat):
George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Rick Peters (Barrington, R.I./Venice, Calif.)
Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) and Brad Nichol (Miami Beach, Fla.)
Elliott 6m (Women’s Match Racing):
Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.), Jen Morgan Glass (Seattle, Wash.) and Jamie Haines
(Jamestown, R.I.)
Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.), Jackie Schmitz (Washington, D.C.) and Emily Hill (Miami,
Fla./New Haven, Conn.)
Katy Lovell (New Orleans, La.), Alice Manard (Charleston, S.C.) and Dana Riley (San Rafael,
Calif.)
Paralympic Classes
2.4mR (Open One Person Keelboat)
John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.)
Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.)
Scott Danberg (Cooper City, Fla. and Stamford, Conn.)
SKUD-18 (Mixed Two Person Keelboat)
Scott Whitman (Brick, NJ) and Julia Dorsett (Westchester, Pa. and Boca Raton, Fla.)
Karen Mitchell (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) and Bob Jones (Issaquah, Wash.)
Sonar (Open Three Person Keelboat)
Paul Callahan (Cape Coral, Fla. and Newport, R.I.), Roger Cleworth (Lithia, Fla.) and
Tom Brown (Castine, Me.)
Rick Doerr (Clifton, NJ), Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) and Hugh Freund
(South Freeport, Me.)
Jen French (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Michael Hersey (Hyannis, Mass.) and Brad Kendell (Tampa,
Fla.)
“We’re excited about the new team because we’ve never had this many
Olympic and Paralympic sailors return this early in the quad, which is a sign we’re
delivering more support to the sailors,” said Olympic Sailing Chairman Dean Brenner
(Wallingford, Conn.). “We’re also excited to see a new generation of talented
sailors dedicated to Olympic excellence.”
US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members are consistently ranked the top sailors in the
world by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Anna Tunnicliffe has been ranked
number one in the world in the Laser Radial class since April, 2008. She is also number
one in the ISAF Sailing World Cup standings, after winning gold medals at US SAILING’s
2009 Rolex Miami OCR in January and Sail Melbourne in December 2008. USSTAG members Stu
McNay and Graham Biehl are also ranked first in the Men’s 470, thanks to a gold
medal at Rolex Miami OCR and a silver at Sail Melbourne; Scott Whitman and Julia Dorsett
are first in the SKUD-18 class after setting an event record by winning every race in
Miami.
In addition to these athletes ranked number one in the ISAF Sailing World Cup standings,
12 other USSTAG boats are ranked among the top five in the world in their respective
classes, based on their top performances at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR, the second
of seven ISAF Sailing World Cup events. In the Star class, George Szabo and Rick Peters
are second, while Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol are fourth in the world. In the Women’s
470, Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving are third and Molly Carapiet and Molly O’Bryan
Vandemoer are in fifth place. Paige Railey is fourth in the Laser Radial, while her brother
Zach Railey is fifth in the Finn class. Genny Tulloch, Jen Morgan and Jamie Haines stand
in fourth place, while Debbie Capozzi, Jackie Schmitz and Emily Hill are fifth in the
new Women’s Match Racing event. In addition to Whitman and Dorsett’s first-place
standing in the SKUD-18 class, Karen Mitchell and Bob Jones are ranked fourth in the
class. In the Sonar class, Paul Callahan, Roger Cleworth and Tom Brown are ranked second,
Rick Doerr, Maureen McKinnon-Tucker and Hugh Freund are third and Jen French, Mike Hersey
and Brad Kendell are fifth. The U.S. dominated US SAILING’s 2009 Rolex Miami OCR
in January by winning 12 medals, which was the most medals of any country competing.
The Olympic Sailing Program is focused on developing a strong, cohesive team and training
culture to ensure high performance for the next four years leading up to the 2012 Olympic
and Paralympic Games in Weymouth/Portland, England. Goals for 2009 include continuing
to support team members and instituting a more collaborative culture of knowledge sharing
and joint training. The program also wants to give team members every opportunity to
become the very best in their classes and compete at the top international regattas,
including the ISAF Sailing World Cup events and Olympic and Paralympic class world championships.
“We want to start this year off with a high level of activity and build momentum
for the rest of the quad,” said High Performance Director/ Head Coach Kenneth Andreasen
(Tampa, Fla.). “We have a strong group of talented sailors who are showing great
promise. Most importantly, they are working extremely hard, and I am sure the results
will follow.”
US SAILING provides these top athletes with financial, fundraising, logistical, performance
(including coaching and on-and-off-the-water fitness training) and marketing and communication
support. The USSTAG is led by Olympic Sailing Program Chairman Dean
Brenner (Wallingford,
Conn.), Olympic Director Katie Kelly (Barrington, R.I.), High Performance Director/Head
Coach Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.), Commercial Director Dan Cooney (Marion, Mass.),
Communications Director Marni Lane (Norwalk, Conn.), Olympic Coordinator Sarah Hawkins
(Newport, R.I.) and coached by Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), Luther Carpenter (Laporte,
Texas) and Leandro Spina (Miami, Fla.). Team members must be eligible to represent the
U.S. in the next Olympic and Paralympic Games, remain a member of US SAILING and commit
to weight requirements as appropriate in the nominated class.
The USSTAG is proud to be supported by several outstanding sponsors, including the team’s
first-ever title partner, AlphaGraphics, as well as Gold-level partners Rolex Watch USA
and Atlantis WeatherGear. The team is also sponsored by Silver partner Sperry Top-Sider
and Bronze partners LaserPerformance, Harken and Team McLube.
For more information about the 2009 USSTAG, please visit the new team web site,
http://sailingteams.ussailing.org,
and click on “Teams.”
About the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics and US SAILING
The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics is managed by the United States Sailing Association
(US SAILING), the national governing body for the sport of sailing and sailboat racing.
The top boats in each Olympic and Paralympic class are selected annually to be members
of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. US SAILING supports these elite athletes with
funding, coaching and training. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, US SAILING 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. For more information about US SAILING, please visit: ussailing.org. For
more information about the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, please visit: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marni Lane, MarniLane@ussailing.org, 617.671.8332
© 2009 US SAILING
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