Team for Laser Radial Youth World Championship

by Marni H Lane on 3 Aug 2007 US SAILING, the national governing body of the sport, together with Vanguard Sailboats, an official sponsor of the US Sailing Team, will send a team of talented youth sailors to represent the United States at the 2007 Laser Radial World Championship.

More than 270 sailors from 32 countries will compete in split male and female fleets for the Youth World Champion title over six days of racing. The five sailors who make up the US Laser Radial Youth World Team are: Philip Crain (Houston, Texas), Justin Doane (Nokomis, Fla.), Colin Smith (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Ian Sutherland (Toms River, N.J.) and Jerry Tullo (Staten Island, N.Y.).

The Laser Radial World Championship consists of three world championships: Men, Women and Youth. The Youth Championship begins August 4–11 in Scheveningen, The Netherlands. The competition is scheduled to begin August 6, with two races per day. The prize giving and closing ceremony are scheduled for Saturday, August 11, the final day of the regatta.

The Laser Radial Youth World Team is made up of a talented group of young sailors between the ages of 15 and 18. Earlier this summer, Smith won this year’s US SAILING Youth Championship in New Orleans, La., as well as the 2007 Laser North American Championship in Hyannis, Mass. The recipient of the Vanguard Grand Prix Ironman Award and 2007 Texas Youth Sailor of the Year Award, Crain won this year’s 2007 Laser Midwinters West in Marina del Ray, Calif., and came in eighth out of 113 boats at the Laser North Americans. Doane finished sixth out of 120 boats at the 2007 Laser Radial Midwinters East in Clearwater, Fla., and ninth out of 110 boats at the 2007 North Americans. Sutherland finished third in the 2006 Radial Vanguard Grand Prix and 14th at the Laser Midwinters East. Tullo, also a member of last year’s team, won the 2006 Laser Radial North American Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Members of this year’s team hope to follow in the footsteps of Kyle Rogachenko (Collegeville, Pa.), who became the first American to win the Laser Radial Youth World Championship in the boys’ fleet last year. Another American sailor, Claire Dennis (San Francisco, Calif.), won the girls’ fleet, completing an American sweep of the 2006 event.

As part of a nationwide program to support youth development for sailing, the US Radial Youth World Team was created by Vanguard and US SAILING to encourage young sailors to get more experience on the international race course. The five sailors will receive a grant to help off-set the expenses incurred while attending the World Championship. The sailors were selected based on their individual rankings on the Laser Radial Grand Prix in 2006. The program also provides funding for a coach to accompany the team. For the second year in a row, Brett Davis (Naples, Fla.) will coach the sailors in The Netherlands.

For information on the Laser Radial Youth World Championship, please visit the International Laser Class Association website at www.laserinternational.org.

About Vanguard
Demonstrating its continued commitment to the development of youth sailing, Vanguard Sailboats is providing sponsorship support for the US Laser Radial Youth World Team for a fifth consecutive year. Vanguard is the leading world manufacturer, and largest US supplier, of recreational and high performance small sailboats. Vanguard products include the Sunfish and Laser, two of the most recognized brands in the sailing world. Vanguard was started in 1967 and is located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. For more information please visit www.teamvanguard.com.

About US SAILING
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the National Governing Body for sailing. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the U.S. 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.