Tornado Medalists Win Pre-Trials2004 Olympic silver medalists John Lovell (skipper) and Charlie Ogletree (crew) won five of seven races to take first place at the Tornado Olympic Pre-Trials, held this past weekend at the San Diego Yacht Club. The victory fits nicely into the crew’s plan for Qingdao, China, in 2008. “We came back for this campaign to win a gold medal,” said Lovell, who won the last race by one and a half minutes. Enrique Figueroa (skipper) and Jorge Hernandez (crew), who tuned with Lovelll and Ogletree before the event, finished second in the 12-boat fleet. US Olympic Trials West continues next weekend with the 49ers at Southwestern YC in San Diego, the Finns at Newport Harbor YC, and the Stars at California YC in Marina del Rey. The following weekend, the men’s and women’s 470s pre-trials take place at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach, and the men’s and women’s RS:X–the new Olympic sailboard–race at Alamitos Bay YC. For complete results from the Tornado Pre-Trials, click here.Williams Leads World Match Racing TourGreat Britain’s Ian Williams defeated France’s Mathieu Richard 3-1 in the finals of the King Edward VII Gold Cup, winning the 58th annual match-racing regatta in Hamilton, Bermuda. In the finals, Williams and crew Bill Hardesty (bow and tactics), Gerry Mitchell (headsails), and Mark Nicholls (mainsail) won the first two races, dropped the third, and closed out the series with a one boatlength victory in the fourth. The team received $25,000 for their victory. “There’ve been moments this week where I’ve lost it and didn’t know what was going on,” said Williams, “My crew kept me going at all times. It’s just fantastic to have finally won one.”The win moves Williams into first place in the World Match Racing Tour, a series of 15 events that determines the ISAF Match Racing World Champion, who will be crowned in December 2007.For the latest World Match Racing Tour news, click here. ABN AMRO ONE Gunning for Sydney-Hobart RecordABN AMRO ONE, the winner of the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race, announced plans to compete in the 2006 Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. The crew will consist of a number of ABN AMRO veterans, including Volvo-winning skipper Mike Sanderson, Nick Bice, Neil Cox, Phil Harmer, Brad Jackson, Scott Beavis, and Matt Stechmann.The all-star crew is shooting for line honors and, if the conditions favor the boat’s wide-transom, a new race record. Wild Oats holds the current course record of 1 day, 18 hours, 14 minutes, 10 seconds. The 62nd Sydney-Hobart race starts on December 26 in Sydney, Australia. Competitors race down the east coast of Australia, across the Bass Strait, and finish in Hobart, Tasmania. For the latest ABN AMRO news, click here.Mumm 30 Pegasus Surfs to Victory on Lake Michigan High winds tossed up large waves on Lake Michigan, setting the stage for a photo finish at the 2006 Mumm 30 North American Championship, held at Macatawa Bay YC in Holland, Michigan, in late September.Going in to the last day of the three-day event, the Australian team, Foreign Affair, held a one point lead over the California team, Pegasus. In the first race of the day, Foreign Affair finished fifth and Pegasus second. The Australians won the final race, but in order to win the regatta, they needed Pegasus to finish third or worse. From beyond the finish line, the crew aboard Foreign Affair watched anxiously as the next two boats, Pegasus and Turbo Duck, gybed down the last leg, neck and neck. Pegasus tactician Jeff Madrigali said, “It all came down to the last few waves. We were able to surf past Turbo Duck right at the finish line and got them by just enough.” Pegasus finished second in the race, winning the Mumm 30 North American Championship. For complete regatta results, click here.
