| PORTSMOUTH, R.I-(1-11-2002) The Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC)
of US SAILING, national governing body for the sport, has named the first
members of it’s 2003 Pan American Games Team. Pending approval from the
U.S. Olympic Committee (Colorado Springs, Colo.), the five sailors -- recent
winners of the selection trials in the Hobie 16 and Lightning classes --
will represent the U.S.A. at the XIV Pan American Games, scheduled for
August 1-17, 2003, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The U.S. has
qualified to enter all nine events featured in the sailing competition which
will be staged from the Santo Domingo Yacht Club: Laser (men) and Mistral
(men and women), and the non-Olympic Laser Radial (women), Hobie 16, J/24,
Lightning, Snipe and Sunfish (all open).
Lightning Sometimes being runner-up is a good thing. Finishing second out
of 60 boats at the 2002 Lightning Atlantic Coast Championship earned skipper
Brian Taboada (Island Heights, N.J.), and his crew of Ryan Dunn (Brick,
N.J.) and Theresa Colantuono (Portsmouth, R.I.), a one-in-15 chance to make
the U.S.A.'s 2003 Pan American Games Team. Those odds came out in their
favor at the recent Lightning Pan Am Trials held at Metedeconk River Yacht
Club (Brick, N.J.), where both Taboada and Dunn learned to sail. “As often
happens at a big local event, the conditions were from an unusual
direction -- almost favoring someone unfamiliar with the area because they
do not have to get over their paradigms,” said Taboada. U.S. athletes have
won eight Pan Am Games medals (five gold, one silver and two bronze) in the
Lightning. The 19-foot centerboard sloop has been sailed in the Pan Am
Games since the first running of the games in 1951.
Hobie 16 At the Hobie North American Continental Championships in Ft.
Walton, Fla., 19 boats sailed an eight-race series to select a Hobie 16 team
to represent the USA at the Pan Am Games. After five races, the
front-runners -- Paul and Mary Ann Hess (both Napa, Calif.), and 1999 Pan Am
Team member Wally Myers (Marmora, N.J.) -- were tied with both teams having
won two races apiece. In the final three races, the Hess’ finished 5-3-3 to
Myers’ 4-4-5. With both teams dropping their fifth-place finishes, the Hess
’ secured the Pan Am slot with 16 points to Myers’ 18. The Hobie 16, a 17
foot catamaran, will make its second appearance at the Pan American Games in
2003.
Upcoming Pan Am Trials:
October 31-November 3, 2002 - for Mistrals at the US Sailing Center-Martin
County (Stuart, Fla.)
November 14-17, 2002 - for Laser and Laser Radials at Houston Yacht Club
(Houston, Texas)
January 4-6, 2003 - for J/24s at Key Biscayne Yacht Club (Key Biscayne,
Fla.)
March 21-23, 2003 - for Snipes at Clearwater Yacht Club (Clearwater, Fla.)
April 25-27, 2003 - for Sunfish at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron (Sarasota,
Fla.).
A multi-sport event, the Pan Am Games has been held every four years since
its inception in 1951. Always held the summer preceding the Olympics, the
Pan Am Games has featured some of the world's finest athletes from the 41
member nations of the Pan American Sports Organizations from North, Central
and South America, and the Caribbean.
For more information, visit www.ussailing.org/Olympics/PanAm/
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