LAKE CARLYLE, Ill. (October 17, 2009) – Skip Dieball and crew Jody and
Tom Starck expanded the four point lead they had through 14 races
yesterday by dropping an impressive, 2-1-3, line in today’s three races
to win US SAILING’s Championship of Champions by a 13 point margin.
“Most
national championships are tough enough,” said Dieball. "Coming here to
face 19 other national and world champions is incredibly challenging.
Winning this regatta is really gratifying. We’ve been sailing for 10
years in Lightnings and I hope we do it for 10 more.”
Dieball
(Toledo, Ohio) has had an outstanding season. He won the Highlander
National Championship and Interlake National Championship this summer.
Dieball now has 17 national championships to his resume. As a team,
Dieball and the Starcks (Jody is a former two-time US SAILING Rolex
Yachtswoman of the Year) won the 2004 Lightning North American
Championships.
Greg Fisher (Annapolis, Md.), the 2008 Thistle
National Champion, with crew Dan and Tobi Moriarty (St. Louis, Mo.)
finished second with a 3-2-[15] line today. The two-time Lightning
North American Champion, Allan Terhune (Arnold, Md.) with crew
Catherine Terhune (Arnold, Md.) and Dave Perkowski (Crownsville, Md.)
ended the championship 17 points behind Dieball in third. Terhune
posted an 8-9-2 line today. Paul Cayard (Kentfield, Calif.) and Chris
Raab (Sunset Beach, Calif.) won races today.
Winds were 8-10 mph
for the first race and built to about 12 mph by the end of the final
race. As the winds grew, there were definite pressure differences
across the course, providing exciting competition for the many
spectator boats surrounding the course.
Twenty of the
country's top one-design sailors competed for the Jack Brown Trophy
this week. This year’s championship was hosted by the Carlyle Sailing
Association outside of St. Louis, Mo. The regatta, sponsored nationally
by Rolex Watch, U.S.A. and Sail Proud, and locally by North Sails, is
known as one of the toughest one-design competitions in the United
States. All of the competitors qualified for this event by winning a
National and/or North American Championship in a one-design class.
Final results, daily reports, and photos from US SAILING's 2009 Championship of Champions are available on the event website at http://championships.ussailing.org/Adult/CofC.htm.
- Race recap contributions made by Betty Struckhoff.
Final Standings: Top 5
Pos Skipper Results Total Points
1. Skip Dieball 9-6-[14]-6-6-[9]-3-2-5-1-3-1-3-5-2-1-3- ; 56
2. Greg Fisher 1-1-10-5-4-1-4-4-6-6-[12]-9-9-4-3-2-[15]- ; 69
3. Allan Terhune 6-12-3-3-2-3-1-3-1-8-2-[16]-10-[17]-8-9-2- ; 73
4. Stuart Robertson 4-5-2-4-9-10-9-1-2-9-6-6-[12]-10-[17]-7/RDG-7/RDG- ; 91
5. Augie Diaz 3-8-4-13-13-15-2-6-4-[17]-1-2-1-[15]-4-14-8- ; 98
