News Beat

Week of January 8-15, 2012

Rolex Yachtsman & Yachtswoman of the Year

Etchells World Champion Bill Hardesty of San Diego and ISAF Sailing World Champion Anna Tunnicliffe of Plantation, FL, have been named US Sailing’s 2011 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. Anna's match racing crew are Molly Vandemoer of Stanford and Debbie Capozzi of New York.

The winners will be honored on February 22 at St. Francis Yacht Club. See more at US Sailing.

U.S. Paralympic Team Qualifiers

The International Federation of Disabled Sailors (IFDS) Worlds wrapped up today in Charlotte Harbor, Punta Gorda, FL. The second and final selection event is US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR, January 23-28, in Miami. The eligible teams with the best overall combined result will be selected to represent the U.S. at the 2012 Paralympic Games. The top U.S. teams coming out of this week's event were East Coasters Paul Callahan, Tom Brown, and Bradley Johnson in the Sonar; Floridians Jennifer French and Jean-Paul Creignou in the SKUD; and John Ruf of Wisconsin in the 2.4mR. One NorCal sailor, Jim Thweatt of West Sacramento, competed in the Sonar class. For more, see US Sailing and www.ifdsworlds2012.com.

BAR in the ACWS

Squeezing in a little America's Cup World Series action after the London Olympics, Ben Ainslie Racing will put another AC45 team on the water here in San Francisco this August and September. He then plans to join the Oracle Racing team for the defense of the America's Cup. The British Finn sailor, who has won gold at the Olympics three times, will sail for Royal Cornwall YC. For more see, www.americascup.com.