SAILING: US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Member Anna Tunnicliffe Wins Gold at French Olympic Sailing SAILING: US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics Member Anna Tunnicliffe Wins Gold at French Olympic Sailing Week in Hyères, France.
finishing in 13th place overall in the 46-boat fleet. This was Boyd's second strong finish at such a highly competitive event (he finished 11th at the Princess Sofia Trophy - also an ISAF World Cup event - in Palma, Spain, earlier this month).
In the very large Laser fleet (139 boats), USSTAG members Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.) and Clay Johnson (Tom's River, N.J.) each had a rough start in the regatta but fought hard to catch up. Johnson pulled off three race wins and Funk one, but it wasn't enough to make the cut-off for the gold fleet. Funk finished 49th overall and Johnson finished 52nd overall.
In total, ten USSTAG members competed in French Olympic Sailing Week. In the men's RS:X fleet, 2008 Olympian Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.) finished 31 out 86. In the women's RS;X fleet, Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) finished 28 out of 34. In addition to the USSTAG members, two other Americans competed in the regatta: Andrew McDonald and Brian Fatih finished fourth in the six-boat Star class.
French Olympic Sailing Week is the fourth stop on the inaugural International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2008-2009 circuit, bringing together the world’s top Olympic and Paralympic class competitors. French Olympic Sailing Week is also part of a busy and competitive summer season in Europe for members of the USSTAG and their international competitors. Next up is the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, The Netherlands, which starts May 27, 2009. It is the fifth event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup.
For more information about the 2009 USSTAG, including bios and photos, please visit the new team web site, http://sailingteams.ussailing.org. For complete results from French Olympic Sailing Week, please visit the event web site at http://sof.ffvoile.net, or ISAF's web site, www.sailing.org.
About the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics and US SAILING
The US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) is managed by the United States Sailing Association (US SAILING), the national governing body for the sport of sailing and sailboat racing. The top three 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, Atlantis WeatherGear, LaserPerformance, Harken and Team McLube. 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 Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, please visit http://sailingteams.ussailing.org.
