Historic U.S. Men’s and Women’s Sailing Championships Come to North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (October 5, 2011) - Two of the most celebrated championships in all of sailing will be on the line this Columbus Day weekend in Mooresville, N.C. at the 2011 U.S. Men's and Women's Sailing Championships, hosted by the Lake Norman Yacht Club. Eleven triplehanded men’s teams in Ultimate 20s and 10 triplehanded women’s teams in Flying Scots will race for four days on Lake Norman, beginning Friday, October 7 and finishing Monday, October 10 (subject to change).

The women’s fleet will be racing for the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Cup, originated in 1924 and believed to be the first women’s championship ever held in the world. Past winners of the Adams Cup include sailing icons Betsy Alison, Sally Lindsay Honey, Allison Jolly, Timothea Larr, Cory Sertl and Jody Swanson.

Notable contenders in the women’s fleet this year include skippers Amy Kleinschrodt (Mobile, Ala.) and Heather Rowe-Ambrose (North Ferrisburgh, Vt.). Kleinschrodt won the 2009 U.S. Women’s Championship in Flying Scots and last year she finished third in Lightnings. This week she sails with Sarah Hall (Mobile, Ala.) and Kara Kimbrell (Tgeodore, Ala.). Hall sailed with Kleinschrodt in 2009 and 2010. Rowe-Ambrose finished second last year to Debbie Probst. She returns both crew from the 2010 team, including Christina Bronger (South Burlington, Vt.) and Suzy Colburn (South Hero, Vt.).
 
The men’s fleet will compete for the Clifford D. Mallory Trophy, founded in 1952. The Mallory Trophy has been won by sailing legends such as Buddy Melges, Jr., Cornelius Shields, John Kolius, Dave Ullman and six-time champion Scott Young.

Last year’s champion, skipper Paul Wilson (New York, N.Y.) will attempt to defend the championship with two new crewmates, Brett Davis (Annapolis, Md.) and Tom Kirk (Portsmouth, R.I.). Wilson will be challenged by Ken Kleinschrodt (Mobile, Ala.), who placed second the last two years in the Sonar in 2010 and Flying Scot in 2009. He will also be racing with a pair of new crew, including Julian Bingham (Mobile, Ala.) and Samson Vasquez (Gulfport, Miss.). Other distinguished competitors this week are Pat Toole (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and his team, including Dale Turley (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and George Witter (Santa Barbara, Calif.). Toole won the 2010 J/24 North American Championship, and earlier this year his team won the Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD Regatta in the J/24 class competition. Two former Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) All-American skippers from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Chris Gaffney (Annapolis, Md.) in 2000 and his crew Tybur Reed (Vallejo, Calif.) in 2000 and 1999, take aim at recapturing their successes, along with crew Melissa Deveney (Annapolis, Md.).

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, photo galleries, videos 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.