Olympic Sailing Events Underway

Competition began yesterday (Sunday, July 29) in three of the 10 Olympic sailing classes, with finals in all classes scheduled for the week of August 5-11.

On day one, which featured shifty winds, most competitors on the U.S.’ 16-ember team struggled, although Team USA was victorious in Women’s Match Racing contest against Denmark. The team, made up of Olympic veterans Anna Tunnicliffe and Debbie Capozzi, plus newcomer Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer, had bad luck during their second match-up against Spain, as they hit the anchor line of a course buoy, which stopped them momentarily, quashing their chance for a second win. Today’s two matches will be against Portugal and Australia. Check this link for complete schedule and results.

Members of Team USA are:

• Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) – 470 (Women’s Two Person Dinghy)
• Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) – Elliott 6m (women’s match racing)
• Bob Willis (Chicago, Ill.)—RS:X (Men’s Windsurfer)
• Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and Trevor Moore (Pomfret, Vt./Naples, Fla.)—49er (Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance)
• Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) – RS:X (Women’s Windsurfer)
• Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih (both Miami, Fla.) – Star (Men’s Keelboat)
• Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) – Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy)
• Rob Crane (Darien, Conn.)—Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy)
• Stu McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.)—470 (Men’s Two Person Dinghy)
• Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) – Finn (Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy)