> US SAILING Media > Latest News > 2009 > Dieball Takes the Lead Going into Final Day of Championship of Champions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Jake Fish, US SAILING Communications Manager
jakefish@ussailing.org
(401) 683-0800
LAKE CARLYLE, Ill. (October 16, 2009) – Skip Dieball and crew Jody and Tom Starck jumped from fifth place through eight races to first after 14 races on the second day of US SAILING’s Championship of Champions. Dieball has a four point lead over yesterday’s leader, Greg Fisher.
Dieball (Toledo, Ohio), the Highlander National Champion, won two of the six races conducted today. He also added a pair of third and fifth place finishes to round out an impressive day of racing. Fisher (Annapolis, Md.), the 2008 Thistle National Champion, with crew Dan and Tobi Moriarty (St. Louis, Mo.) are tied with Allan Terhune (Arnold, Md.) for second place. Fisher posted a line today of 6-6-[12]-9-9-4. The two-time Lightning North American Champion, Terhune with crew Catherine Terhune (Arnold, Md.) and Dave Perkowski (Crownsville, Md.) started strongly today by winning race nine and finished second in race 11. However, his final three races were 16-10-[17]. Stuart Robertson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) is fourth and 17 points off the lead. Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) pulled to fifth place after winning races 11 and 13.
The weather conditions tested the mettle of competitors today. There were reports of thin ice on dock ramps in the morning. Tom Pinkel, manning one of the race committee boats, measured 39 degrees on the water at mid-morning. Winds were 10-12 mph. After lunch, the winds became shifty and lightened up somewhat. Race 13 saw a 30 degree shift to the left and by mid-afternoon a few rays of sun started peeking through the overcast. Land temperatures stayed in the mid-40s. Racing resumes at 10 a.m. on Saturday with the regatta concluding by noon.
Twenty of the country's top one-design sailors are competing for the Jack Brown Trophy this week. This year’s championship is hosted by the Carlyle Sailing Association outside of St. Louis, Mo. The regatta, sponsored nationally by Rolex Watch, U.S.A. and Sail Proud, and locally by North Sails, is known as one of the toughest one-design competitions in the United States. The championship runs through Saturday. All of the competitors have qualified for this event by winning a National and/or North American Championship in a one-design class.
A complete roster, standings, daily reports, and photos from US SAILING's 2009 Championship of Champions are available on the event website at http://championships.ussailing.org/Adult/CofC.htm.
- Race recap contributions made by Betty Struckhoff.