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Olympic Sailing Regatta Day 13: USA Wrapup

The 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta concluded today with some strong performances from Team USA. Twenty-five-year-old Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) led the team on the water with a gold medal in the Laser Radial class, the first gold medal for a U.S. female sailor in 20 years. Twenty-four-year-old Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) produced a strong performance in the Finn Class. Railey sailed a solid regatta from beginning to end to bring home the silver medal. This is the USA’s first Finn medal since 1992. Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman and Team Leader Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.) said, “We’re proud of this team. We came here with a young team of fourteen first-time Olympians. We are going home with a gold and a silver and a lot to build on for the future.”

Brenner also highlighted a need to look at the big picture. “We are in year four of a 20-year strategy. I’m proud of the results, but I’m not satisfied. We can do better, and once the dust settles on this event, we’ll get to work planning for 2012 and 2016.” He concluded, “I was happy when we were coming into these Games and I’m still happy.”

High Performance Director and Head Coach for the U.S. Olympic Sailing Program, Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.) said, “I’m really excited for our program because we won two singlehanded medals. We struggled in singlehanded performance for a few quads, so it’s really rewarding to win some singlehanded medals this time.”

Star— Men’s Keelboat
In the Star class, John Dane III (Gulfport, Miss.) and Austin Sperry (Gulfport, Miss.) finished in 11th of 16 boats, but not without some impressive results. Sailing in a boat designed for light winds, Dane and Sperry were fast in the breezes under eight knots and able to bring in impressive finishes of 2, 4, 4. However, once the wind started to pick up on day three they were unable to keep up with the more versatile designs.

Team USA
The U.S. Olympic Sailing team is proud of the medals earned by Anna Tunnicliffe and Zach Railey. Brenner said, “We are proud of this team, both on and off the water. They were prepared, they sailed hard, and they represented the USA with class and grace.” The regatta was challenging and Bodie was impressed with the team’s ability to handle the conditions. He said, “This is a tough place to sail and it was a tough regatta. We had light wind, plenty of current and some ocean lump. It’s not an easy place to excel.”

Brenner offered his thoughts on the future of the Olympic Sailing Program. “The team’s gold and silver medals are promising steps in the right direction, but there is more work to be done to raise the competitive level of the team.” The team and its management are already working on the plan for a strong performance in 2012.

Paralympic Games September 6-17
The United States has qualified for all three Paralympic sailing events. For more details on the team and reports from the regatta, please visithttp://olympics.ussailing.org/Olympics.htm.

Final Results (for full results please visithttp://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/olympicresults.php)

Star: 16 boats
1. Percy and Simpson (GBR), 7, (13), 3, 5, 8, 2, 1, 1, 2, 6, 10; 45
2. Scheidt and Prada (BRA), 10, (11), 6, 1, 9, 10, 2, 3, 3, 3, 6; 53
3. Loof and Ekstrom (SWE), 1, 4, (15), 3, 6, 1, 8, 2, 1, 7, 20; 53
11. John Dane (Gulfport, Miss.) and Austin Sperry (Gulfport, Miss.), 8, 2, 4, 12, 15, 15, (16), 16, 10, 4; 86

Derby Anderson

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