News Beat

Week of December 13-19, 2011

ISAF Worlds Wrap Up

The ISAF Sailing World Championship took place December 3-18 in Fremantle, Australia. The event served as the country qualification regatta where USA secured an Olympic berth in nine of the 10 Olympic events: 49er, Men’s RS:X, Men’s 470, Women’s 470, Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, Star and Women’s Match Racing.

The top-scoring eligible American athletes in their respective Olympic sailing classes, Paige Railey (Laser Radial), Zach Railey (Finn), Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl (Men's 470), have successfully completed qualification. US Sailing's Olympic Sailing Committee will officially nominate the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, pending approval from the U.S. Olympic Committee. Farrah Hall earned a nomination in the women’s windsurfer (RS:X), pending both US Olympic Committee approval and qualification of the USA in the RS:X. As the USA did not qualify at the ISAF Worlds, the final opportunity will be the 2012 RS:X World Championship, March 20-29, 2012 in Cadiz, Spain.

Siblings Zach and Paige Railey, both members of St. Francis YC, will be competing in their first Olympics together. In 2008 Zach won silver in China.

Top American finishers are listed below.

49er (Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance): 67 boats
9th - Erik Storck (Huntington, NY) and Trevor Moore (North Pomfret, VT/Naples, FL)

Men’s 470 (Men’s Two Person Dinghy): 80 boats
13th - Stuart McNay (Boston, MA) and Graham Biehl (San Diego)

Women’s 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy): 48 boats
12th - Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, NY) and Sarah Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Finn (Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy): 72 boats
9th - Zach Railey (Clearwater, FL)

Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy): 147 boats
14th - Rob Crane (Darien, Conn.)

Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy): 102 boats
3rd - Paige Railey (Clearwater, FL)

Men’s RS:X (Men’s Windsurfer): 91 boats
38th - Robert Willis (Chicago)

Women’s RS:X (Women’s Windsurfer): 68 boats
51st - Farrah Hall (Annapolis, MD)

Star (Men’s Keelboat): 41 boats
3rd - Mark Mendelblatt (Miami, Fla.) and Brian Fatih (Miami, FL)
11th - George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Mark Strube (Punta Gorda, Fla.)
14th - Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) and Ian Coleman (Annapolis, Md.)

Women’s Match Racing
1st - Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, FL), Molly Vandemoer (Stanford) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, NY)
13th - Genny Tulloch (Sausalito), Alice Manard Leonard (East Haven, CT) and Jenn Chamberlin (Washington, DC).

For more, see www.perth2011.com.

SF Commissions Approve AC34 EIR

The America's Cup has jumped another major hurdle as the the final Environmental Impact Report was unamimously passed by San Francisco's Planning Commission and Port Commission, and has been "certified." It now goes to the Board of Supes for the final okay. Telegraph Hill Dwellers, Waterfront Watch, San Francisco Tomorrow (an urban environmental group) and the Audubon Society are appealing.

Some of the neighbors are concerned about changes to the piers, like this one. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

And in more America's Cup news, a new lawsuit has emerged against defender Golden Gate YC and the protocol. For a good write-up by Cory Friedman on this latest twist in the Cup saga, see http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf/#p62.