2011 U.S. Men's and Women's Sailing Championships Day One Report

October 7, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jake Fish
US SAILING Communications Manager
jakefish@ussailing.org
401.683.0800 x614

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (October 7, 2011) - Sailors were greeted with clear blue and sunny skies over Lake Norman and a special Blue Angels flyover during the Opening Ceremonies at day one of the 2011 U.S. Men's and Women's Sailing Championships, hosted by the Lake Norman Yacht Club in Mooresville, N.C. Despite light breezes and a subsequent postponement, the men’s Ultimate 20 fleet and women’s Flying Scot fleet finished three races on Friday.

Defending Champion Paul Wilson (New York, N.Y.) is in a tie for the lead with skipper Pat Toole (Santa Barbara, Calif.), the 2010 J/24 North American Champion. Toole took an early lead by winning the first race of the day. He followed up with a pair fourth place finishes. Toole is joined by crewmates Dale Turley (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and George Witter (Santa Barbara, Calif.). Wilson finished second in races one and three, and fifth in race two. He is joined by new crew this year, including Brett Davis (Annapolis, Md.) and Tom Kirk (Portsmouth, R.I.). Trailing Wilson and Toole by a point is David M. Hyer (West Islip, N.Y.). He is joined by his crew and father David A. Hyer (West Islip, N.Y.) and Gregory Schneller (West Islip, N.Y.). They launched into contention after winning the last race of the day. Hyer finished fifth overall in last year’s event.

Competition is close at the top of the women’s leaderboard as well. Heather Rowe-Ambrose (North Ferrisburgh, Vt.), has a one point lead over Greta Mittman (Garland, Texas). Rowe-Ambrose won the first race, finished fourth in race two and second in race three. She returns both crew from the 2010 team that finished second, including Christina Bronger (South Burlington, Vt.) and Suzy Colburn (South Hero, Vt.). Mittman tallied third, first and fourth place finishes today. She is sailing with Heidi Gough (Coppell, Texas) and Bowman O’Connor (Dallas, Texas). Skippers Amy Kleinschrodt (Mobile, Ala.), the 2009 U.S. Women’s Champion, and Clematis Everett (Rye, N.Y.) are in a tie for third and three points behind Rowe-Ambrose. Kleinschrodt sails with Sarah Hall (Mobile, Ala.) and Kara Kimbrell (Tgeodore, Ala.). Hall sailed with Kleinschrodt in 2009 and 2010. Everett is sailing with crew Carolyn Russell (Greenwich, Conn.) and Susan Doyle (Cos Cob, Conn.) this week.

Racing didn’t start until 2:15 following the postponement. Northeasterly winds swept over Lake Norman at 5 to 8 knots in the afternoon. Start time on Saturday is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. 

The U.S. Men’s and Women’s Sailing Championships is sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. and Gill North America. Please visit the event website at http://bit.ly/usmwsc11 for results, standings, daily reports and more. Also, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/ussailing and for regular updates from Mooresville, N.C. The Championship is a Sailors for the Sea - Clean Regattas certification event.

Championship Notes:

• Sailors qualified for these national championships through Area Eliminations or by resume.
• The regatta will be conducted using a round-robin format for the Men’s Championship. If possible, each team will race each boat once. The Women competitors will draw a new boat each day and sail that boat for the day. All Flying Scots are new including sails and will be tuned identically.
• Eleven races are scheduled for the men's fleet and 10 races are scheduled for the women's fleet.
• Courses will be Windward-Leeward.
• Racing area will be on Lake Norman in the vicinity of Marker D7.

U.S. Women’s Championship:

• 1st place will be awarded the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Cup.
• 2nd place team will be awarded the Mrs. Willis D. Wood Trophy.
• 3rd place team will be awarded the Alexander Gest Trophy.
• The Frances McElwain Wakeman Sportsmanship Award will be awarded to the skipper or crew who best exemplifies sportsmanship both on and off the water.
• US SAILING medals will be awarded to the skippers and crews finishing in the top three positions.
• A Shipshape Award may be presented to the Team with the greatest number of points for neatness and general shipshape condition of borrowed boats.

U.S. Men’s Championship: 

• 1st place team will be awarded the Clifford D. Mallory Trophy and Gold medals.
• US SAILING medals will be awarded to the skippers and crews finishing in the top three positions.
• The Royal Victoria Trophy is awarded for excellence in Seamanship.
• The Staton J. Peele, Jr. Trophy voted upon by the sailors is awarded for Sportsmanship.