Tomorrow begins the 6th stop on the ISAF World Cup series, Weymouth's Sail for Gold. But this is not just another stop for the world's Olympic hopefuls, this is a defining moment for over a thousand sailors on the circuit, including over 50 from the US.
With the Olympic Games just over a year away, this is the last time the worlds' best will convene at the sailing venue. The official Olympic Test Event is later this summer, but with a much smaller number of entries, that regatta's significance pales in comparison to Sail for Gold. This week will be important for every sailor, whether they are a shoe-in for the Olympics, getting valuable experience on the Olympic course, or if they are part of the much larger group of Olympic hopefuls, whose nationals teams have designated this regatta as a trial event for the Olympic berth.
That is exactly the case for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, the organization responsible for sending Americans to the Olympic sailing regatta. They have decided, for the first time ever, to forgo the traditional domestic trials system in which US hopefuls compete head-to-head in a single trial regatta. This year the Olympic sailors will be chosen based on combined performance at Sail for Gold, starting tomorrow, and the combined ISAF Worlds in Perth, Australia, in December.
The significance is obvious. Over the past three years since the 2008 Olympic sailing regatta inQingdao, China, we have seen multiple candidates in almost every class taking the top finish at World Cup events. The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics website has broken it all down with their Trials Tracker, detailing each sailor's finishes at all major regatta. So who will get it done this week? Will we see any sailors put in a big enough gap to clinch? Or will it be neck and neck, setting up the December event as a final sail-off? Who are your favorites in each class?
USSTAG Athletes (Please note that any US sailor can get the spot):
Olympic Classes
Finn (Men's One Person Dinghy - Heavy)
Zach Railey
Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy)
Rob Crane
Clay Johnson
Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy)
Paige Railey
Erika Reineke
Men's RS:X (Men's Windsurfing)
Ben Barger
Robert Willis
Women's RS:X (Women's Windsurfing)
Farrah Hall
Solvig Sayre
49er (Men's Two Person Dinghy)
Alex Bishop
Val Smith
Erik Storck
Trevor Moore
Men's 470 (Men's Two Person Dinghy)
Stu McNay
Graham Biehl
Adam Roberts
Nick Martin
Women's 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy)
Amanda Clark
Sarah Lihan
Erin Maxwell
Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar
Sarah Chin
Star (Men's Keelboat)
Andrew Campbell
Ian Coleman
Andy Horton
James Lyne
Andrew MacDonald
Brad Nichol
Mark Mendelblatt
Brian Fatih
Rick Merriman
John von Schwarz
George Szabo
Mark Strube
Elliott 6m (Women's Match Racing)
Sally Barkow
Alana O'Reilly
Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham
Genny Tulloch
Alice Marnard Leonard
Jenn Chamberlin
Anna Tunnicliffe
Debbie Capozzi
Molly Vandemoer
Paralympic Classes
2.4mR (Open One Person Keelboat)
Mark LeBlanc
Charles Rosenfield
John Ruf
SKUD-18 (Mixed Two Person Keelboat)
Jen French
JP Creignou
Sonar (Open Three Person Keelboat)
Paul Callahan
Brad Johnson
Tom Brown
Rick Doerr
Brad Kendell
Hugh Freund
Bert Foster
Michael Hersey
David Burdette
Chris Love 12 months ago
Tomorrow begins the 6th stop on the ISAF World Cup series, Weymouth's Sail for Gold. But this is not just another stop for the world's Olympic hopefuls, this is a defining moment for over a thousand sailors on the circuit, including over 50 from the US.
With the Olympic Games just over a year away, this is the last time the worlds' best will convene at the sailing venue. The official Olympic Test Event is later this summer, but with a much smaller number of entries, that regatta's significance pales in comparison to Sail for Gold. This week will be important for every sailor, whether they are a shoe-in for the Olympics, getting valuable experience on the Olympic course, or if they are part of the much larger group of Olympic hopefuls, whose nationals teams have designated this regatta as a trial event for the Olympic berth.
That is exactly the case for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, the organization responsible for sending Americans to the Olympic sailing regatta. They have decided, for the first time ever, to forgo the traditional domestic trials system in which US hopefuls compete head-to-head in a single trial regatta. This year the Olympic sailors will be chosen based on combined performance at Sail for Gold, starting tomorrow, and the combined ISAF Worlds in Perth, Australia, in December.
The significance is obvious. Over the past three years since the 2008 Olympic sailing regatta inQingdao, China, we have seen multiple candidates in almost every class taking the top finish at World Cup events. The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics website has broken it all down with their Trials Tracker, detailing each sailor's finishes at all major regatta. So who will get it done this week? Will we see any sailors put in a big enough gap to clinch? Or will it be neck and neck, setting up the December event as a final sail-off? Who are your favorites in each class?
USSTAG Athletes (Please note that any US sailor can get the spot):
Olympic Classes
Finn (Men's One Person Dinghy - Heavy)
Zach Railey
Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy)
Rob Crane
Clay Johnson
Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy)
Paige Railey
Erika Reineke
Men's RS:X (Men's Windsurfing)
Ben Barger
Robert Willis
Women's RS:X (Women's Windsurfing)
Farrah Hall
Solvig Sayre
49er (Men's Two Person Dinghy)
Alex Bishop
Val Smith
Erik Storck
Trevor Moore
Men's 470 (Men's Two Person Dinghy)
Stu McNay
Graham Biehl
Adam Roberts
Nick Martin
Women's 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy)
Amanda Clark
Sarah Lihan
Erin Maxwell
Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar
Sarah Chin
Star (Men's Keelboat)
Andrew Campbell
Ian Coleman
Andy Horton
James Lyne
Andrew MacDonald
Brad Nichol
Mark Mendelblatt
Brian Fatih
Rick Merriman
John von Schwarz
George Szabo
Mark Strube
Elliott 6m (Women's Match Racing)
Sally Barkow
Alana O'Reilly
Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham
Genny Tulloch
Alice Marnard Leonard
Jenn Chamberlin
Anna Tunnicliffe
Debbie Capozzi
Molly Vandemoer
Paralympic Classes
2.4mR (Open One Person Keelboat)
Mark LeBlanc
Charles Rosenfield
John Ruf
SKUD-18 (Mixed Two Person Keelboat)
Jen French
JP Creignou
Sonar (Open Three Person Keelboat)
Paul Callahan
Brad Johnson
Tom Brown
Rick Doerr
Brad Kendell
Hugh Freund
Bert Foster
Michael Hersey
David Burdette