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US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Members Win Three Silver Medals at French Olympic Sailing Week
Portsmouth, R.I. (April 27, 2008) – After six days of racing at the French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyères, France,
sailors from the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics clinched silver medals in three classes. Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and Chris Rast (San Diego, Calif.) in the 49er, Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) in the Laser Radial, and Yngling
Team Seven of Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe, (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) all stood on the podium after Friday’s light and shifty medal race.
As the teams prepare to head to the Olympic Games in
Qingdao
,
China
, they have been losing weight and training for the predicted light air regatta in August. All had hoped Hyères would serve as a good training ground for Qingdao-like breezes, but the first three days of the regatta were dogged by
heavy winds and big waves. By the medal race, though, the sailors finally found what they were looking for.
Team Seven had the most impressive finish Friday with a first-place bullet in the final race. That was their second win of the series,
and it gave them the edge on the tiebreaker with
Great Britain
’s Yngling team of Sarah Ayton, Pippa Wilson and Sarah Webb. Ayton’s team most recently won Yngling European Championship, so Team Seven must be pleased to be rising in the results as the season continues. Norwegian Yngling
sailors Siren Sundby, Lise Fredriksen, Alexandra Koefoed won the 20-boat fleet by seven points.
In the 49er, Tim Wadlow and Chris Rast had been leading going into today’s racing, but after a fifth place in the medal race they
lost a tiebreaker and fell second to Xabier Fernandez and Iker Martinez of
Spain
. Impressively consistent, Wadlow and Rast were the only 49er duo to earn all top ten finishes among the 41 boats in the eleven-race series.
Anna Tunnicliffe clung to second place in the Laser Radial class, with the 2007 International Sailing Federation's Rolex World Sailor
of the Year nominee Evi Van Ecker of
Belgium
only one point behind in the final standings. Over the nine-race series, Tunnicliffe’s worst score was only an eleventh. She had the lowest dropped score in the 78-boat class. Sarah Blanck of
Australia
earned first place and finished all but one race in the top four.
With just over three months to the Olympics in
Qingdao
, the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members use the French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyères as an important benchmark in their training. American representatives in almost every class finished in the top 15 of this competitive regatta
and for these three teams, silver medals make a good prognosis for racing in
China
.
About the
US
Sailing Team Alphagraphics
The US Sailing Team Alphagraphics recognizes the top three teams in all Olympic and Paralympic classes. The top athlete in each class
is also a member of the U.S. Olympic Team for Sailing. The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics is managed by US SAILING, national governing body of the sport. Headquartered in
Portsmouth
,
Rhode Island
, the organization 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, including National Championships and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.
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