USSTAG Members named in US Sailing 2010 awards

by Dana Paxton on 22 Dec 2010 US Sailing has chosen nine US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) members as the sport’s 2010 SportsWoman, SportsMan and Team of the Year, in both Olympic and Paralympic classes, for outstanding on-the-water performance, achievement and sportsmanship.

US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) has named Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) and Finn sailor Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) SportsWoman and SportsMan of the Year, respectively, and Elliott 6m/Women’s Match Racing team of Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) as the Team of the Year. In the Paralympic classes, the OSC has selected 2.4 mR sailor John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.) the SportsMan of the Year and the Sonar team of Rick Doer (Clifton, N.J.), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Me.) as the Team of the Year.

The OSC has nominated these exceptional sailors to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) for consideration for the 2010 SportsMan, SportsWoman and Team of the Year awards across all Olympic and Paralympic sports. Each sport's national governing body selects their outstanding athletes for consideration for this prestigious national distinction. The overall winners will be announced in January 2011.

US Sailing’s 2010 Olympic SportsWoman of the Year: Paige Railey
Paige Railey started off 2010 with a bang winning a gold medal in the Olympic singlehanded Laser Radial at US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR, the second stop on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup series, and a week later winning the Radial Midwinters East among a fleet of 94 boats. With a strong season that included gold at the German World Cup stop, Kieler Woche, and bronze at the Laser Radial World Championship, in Largs, Scotland, she solidified her standing among the best singlehanded sailors in the world. Railey’s overall #2 international ranking along with her impressive results earned her a bronze medal for the 2009-2010 World Cup season.

US Sailing’s 2010 Olympic SportsMan of the Year: Zach Railey
Over the past year, 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Zach Railey continued on his elite form with notable performances in the men’s singlehanded Olympic Finn on the ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit where he placed fourth at two of the seven events: US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR, in Miami, Fla., and Kieler Woche, in Kiel, Germany. He also won the U.S. Finn National Championship and finished fourth among 87 boats at the Finn Gold Cup, the class’s World Championship, held in San Francisco, Calif. His season-end international ranking is #4 in the world. This is the fourth year in a row that Railey has won this award.

US Sailing’s 2010 Olympic Team of the Year: Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer and Debbie Capozzi
'Team Tunnicliffe', as the trio of Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer and Debbie Capozzi is collectively known, collected an impressive string of standings in the Olympic discipline of Women’s Match Racing. The team won three medals on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup circuis, which uses the Elliott 6m, the same boat as the Olympic Games. The year started with a gold medal at US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR, in Miami, Fla., and was quickly followed with silver at Semaine Olympique Française, in Hyères, France. Over the summer the team earned two bronze medals at World Cup events: Kieler Woche, in Kiel, Germany and at Skandia Sail for Gold, in Weymouth, England, the site of the 2012 Olympic Games. The team ended the year with a silver medal in the overall World Cup standings and a #4 international ranking.

In other women’s match racing events, Team Tunnicliffe won the ISAF Grade 1 International Women’s Match Race Criterium, in Calpe, Spain, finished second at the ISAF Grade 2 Toyota International Match Race, in Detroit, Mich., third at ISAF Grade 1 BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup, in Annapolis, Md., and fifth at the ISAF Grade Knickerbocker Cup, in Manhasset, N.Y.

Tunnicliffe has been short listed for US Sailing’s 2010 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award, an award she won in 2009 and 2008. She was named US Sailing’s SportsWoman of the Year in 2009, 2008 and 2007.

US Sailing’s 2010 Paralympic SportsMan of the Year: John Ruf
This is the third year in a row that John Ruf has won this award. The 2008 Paralympic Bronze Medalist had his first 2010 podium finish at US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR, in the Paralympic 2.4mR class where he won a bronze medal. Later in the year, he won gold against a fleet of 13 sailors at the 2010 2.4mR U.S. National Championship, in Darien, Conn., where he was awarded the Nick Scandone Trophy, which honors the late Paralympic Gold Medalist’s sailing accomplishments.

US Sailing’s 2010 Paralympic Team of the Year: Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund
At the halfway mark through the Paralympic quadrennium, skipper Rick Doerr has found the winning combination with crew Brad Kendall and Hugh Freund. The team won a bronze medal in the Sonar class at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR, in Miami, Fla., the second stop on the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup series.

For more USSTAG bios, news, latest results, photos and Meet the Team video interviews, please visit the US Sailing
Teams website at http://sailingteams.ussailing.org.

The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics is managed by the United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for the sport of sailing and sailboat racing. The top boats in each Olympic and Paralympic class are selected annually to be members of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. US Sailing supports these elite athletes with funding, coaching and training. The title sponsor of the team is AlphaGraphics; other sponsors include Rolex Watch USA, Atlantis WeatherGear, Sperry Top-Sider, LaserPerformance, Harken Team McLube, Bow Down Training, New England Ropes, Group Experiential Learning and Trinity Yachts.

Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 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. For more information about US Sailing, please visit: www.ussailing.org. For more information about the US Olympic Sailing Program and the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, please visit: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org.