ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship - Barkow claims silver

by Dana Paxton on 26 Sep 2010 USA’s Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) and teammates Alanna O’Reilly, Elizabeth Kratzig and Suzy Leech claimed the silver medal today at the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship in a thrilling five-race match against eventual champion Lucy MacGregor (GBR).

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ Team Tulloch – Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.), Alice Manard, Liz Hall and Jennifer Chamberlain – finished in fifth overall while US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics’ Team Tunnicliffe – Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer, Debbie Capozzi and Liz Bower – finished in ninth. The 2010 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship was hosted by New York Yacht Club, in Newport, R.I., from September 21-25, and a total of 20 teams representing 14 countries competed.

'We didn’t walk away with the championship, but our goal was to be in the top two and we achieved that,' said Barkow, who has qualified for the 2011 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. 'We had a really good day. We went all the way to five races against Lucy, and they were all really tough (races).'

Barkow defeated Australia’s Nicky Souter in three straight races to advance to the final match against MacGregor, who defeated France’s Claire Leroy, 3-1. Souter went on to defeat Leroy in the Petit-Final Round, 2-1.
For USA’s women’s match racing program, this week has been a strong showing against an international fleet. 'This is one of our most competitive classes in the U.S.,' said Olympic Sailing Committee Chair Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.). 'We like the fact that we had three strong teams competing here. If you look at the results from this year, each of our three teams has had great results, and in many instances they have had wins against each other.'

Next up for Barkow is a crew position with Team Tunnicliffe at the Bermuda Gold Cup, scheduled for October 5-10.
For full results, daily photos, videos and a link to the race blog and race tracking please visit the New York Yacht Club’s website at http://www.nyyc.org/isafwomens

For more information about the US Olympic Sailing Program and the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, please visit: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org.