Perth 2011 - US athletes look to clinch Olympic Team spot

by Dana Paxton on 29 Nov 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship is set to take place from 3rd to 18th December 2011 in Perth, Australia.

It all comes down to one regatta for US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics athletes looking to clinch a U.S. Olympic Team spot. The ISAF Sailing World Championship will serve as the second and final U.S. Olympic Team Selection Event in the nine Olympic fleet racing events. It is also the country qualification regatta where USA will look to secure an Olympic berth in all 10 Olympic events. More than 5,000 officials, 1,200 sailors and tens of thousands of spectators are expected to visit Western Australia for the two-week regatta where world champions in each of the 10 Olympic sailing events will be determined.

'All of the training and preparation done by US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics athletes over the past three and a half years will come together in Perth,' said Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.) 'The Olympic Sailing Committee structured the U.S. Olympic Team selection process to align with our primary mission of fielding a team that gives the U.S. the best possible chances of success at the Games. And international competition at the highest level is what will best prepare America’s athletes for the Olympic Games. At the conclusion of this regatta, America will know 13 of the 16 U.S. Olympic Team members.'

USSTAG athletes will combine their overall score from this regatta with their result from the 2011 Skandia Sail for Gold, however not all USSTAG athletes are competing for an Olympic team spot. The top-performing eligible athlete(s) in each Olympic fleet racing class will be selected to join the U.S. Olympic Team to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games, scheduled for set for July 27- August 12, 2012 in Weymouth/Portland, England.

Below you see can who is leading the results after the Sail for Gold

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members competing in the ISAF Sailing World Championships:

49er (Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance):
Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and Trevor Moore (North Pomfret, Vt./Naples, Fla.)

Men’s 470 (Men’s Two Person Dinghy):
Stuart McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.)
Adam Roberts (San Diego, Calif.) and Nick Martin (San Diego, Calif.)

Women’s 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy):
Erin Maxwell (Wilton, Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar (New York/Fishers Island, N.Y.)
Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Finn (Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy):
Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)

Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy):
Rob Crane (Darien, Conn.)
Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.)

Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy):
Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Men’s RS:X (Men’s Windsurfer):
Robert Willis (Chicago, Ill.)
Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.)

Women’s RS:X (Women’s Windsurfer):
Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)

Star (Men’s Keelboat):
Mark Mendelblatt (Miami, Fla.) and Brian Fatih (Miami, Fla.)
George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Mark Strube (Punta Gorda, Fla.)
Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) and Ian Coleman (Annapolis, Md.)
Andy Horton (Washington, D.C.) and John von Schwarz (Annapolis, Md.)
Rick Merriman (New York, N.Y.), who will sail with past USSTAG member Phil Trinter

Women’s Match Racing Olympic Team selection does not take place at the ISAF Sailing World Championships. The two events used to select the U.S. Olympic Team representatives are the U. S. Olympic Team Qualifying Regattas, held in October, 2011 and May, 2012. The top two placed teams in the first qualifying regatta earned the USA spot at the Worlds:
Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.)
Genny Tulloch (Sausalito, Calif.), Alice Manard Leonard (East Haven, Conn.) and Jenn Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.).

The 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships is the key country qualification event for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Seventy five per cent of nations to participate in London will be decided at Perth 2011, based on the entry quotas established by ISAF. US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics athletes and all competing USA sailors are eligible to qualify the USA in each of the 10 Olympic events.

Also competing this week in the Laser class is Derick Vranizan (Shoreline, Wash.), a member of the US Sailing Development US Sailing Team website