News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

RACINGSOUTHERN RACINGMAJOR RACES, NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTSPaige Railey Wins Gold Medal at theGood Luck Beijing 2006 QingdaoInternational RegattaCompetition at the first of twoscheduled pre-Olympic regattas finishedin August in Qingdao, China,with the top ten athletes in each classsailing the final medal race, whichcounted for double points.Three athletes from ClearwaterYacht Club had been selected by USSailing to compete in this regatta.Paige Railey took the gold medal inLaser Radials, Brad Funk finished23rd in Lasers and Zach Railey sixthin the Finn class. All three of thesesailors are campaigning hard for theopportunity to represent the United States at the BeijingGames in 2008, and each finished as the top U.S.A. athletein their class.Paige’s gold medal was won with a very convincing 17-point lead over Jo Aleh of New Zealand. Penny Clark ofGreat Britain was just two points behind Jo for the bronzemedal.This regatta was a test event designed to be as close aspossible to the 2008 Beijing Games Olympic regatta. Eachqualified country was permitted two entries for each classof boat, whereas at the Olympics only one entry per countryis permitted. The Chinese government has done anamazing job of transforming a derelict dock area of Qingdaointo the site of the 2008 Olympic regatta, and this eventserved as its first test. There are many photographs of theathletes and facilities on the official regatta Web site atwww.2006qdregatta.com.Steep Competition Anticipated forSunfish World Championships,Charleston, NC, Oct. 1-6Charleston, NC, will become even more active in earlyOctober when the 2006 Charleston Harbor Resort andMarina Sunfish World Championships take place on Oct. 1-6.Eduardo Cordero, a top competitor and sailing coachfrom Venezuela leads the list of sailing luminaries who haveregistered to compete in Charleston. Cordero has won eightSunfish world championship titles, and with those credentialshe’ll be very tough to beat. Despite his weighty resume,Cordero should have his hands full contending with manyother stalwarts from the Sunfish class, including MalcolmSmith of Bermuda, a three-time world champion, andBahamian Donnie Martinborough, a perennial favorite. Inall, there will be 13 former world champions competing,including New Yorker Paul-Jon Patin, who won the event in1922 and has since finished no worse than third five times.Firmly encamped on the list of top-notch competitors isLasers racing in Qingdao, China. Courtesy Photo.Charleston’s own David Loring, who won the Sunfishworld championship regatta in 1995. Loring, who is alsoserving as chairman of the event’s organizing committee,says he is looking forward to the competition. “I’m veryexcited about this. From my perspective as an event organizer,it’s such a great thing for Charleston to have a trueworld championship here on our home waters. We’ve gotcompetitors from 14 different countriescoming, including NewZealand. As a sailboat racer, it’sexciting for me to know that thelevel of competition is going to betremendous; that’s what I’m mostkeen about.”According to Loring, there areabout 30 entrants who are goodenough to win this regatta. Thatshould be great news for three otherCharlestonian racers who will bejoining him on the water, includingRyan Hamm and Kenny Krawcheck.Both Hamm and Krawcheck qualifiedfor this championship event by way of their success inprevious Sunfish regattas. Another Charleston racer, PeterRupp, recently received an invitation to compete as a wildcard entrant.The event starts on October 1, and races will beginMonday, October 2. For additional information go towww.sunfishworlds-2006.com. (800) 443-9441 ext. 3284 or(843) 224-9482.52nd Annual West MarineColumbus Day Regatta, Oct. 7-8,Biscayne Bay, FLThe 52nd annual Columbus Day Regatta will take placeduring the weekend of Oct. 7-8 on Biscayne Bay.Attendance is expected to draw over 200 racing andcruising sailboats from around South Florida. As usual, thecourse layout consists of a combination of governmentmarks and buoys scattered throughout Biscayne Bay, testingthe navigation skills of the competitors.Contenders will compete for first through fifth placetrophies in all classes as well as eight Perpetual Trophyawards. The Coral Reef Yacht Club will once again host theaward ceremonies on Saturday, Oct. 14. Raffle prizes will begiven away at the awards ceremony. Organizers are lookingfor donations for raffle prizes.To sponsor, donate raffle prizes or for more information,go to www.columbusdayregatta.net, the event web site.30th Isotope Nationals, LakeWaccamaw, NC, Aug. 26-27By Joleen RasmussenSixteen skippers arrived for the 30th Isotope Nationals,Aug. 26-27, on Lake Waccamaw, NC. Of those 16, three hadparticipated in the first nationals in 1977. Three others werearriving for their very first time. The forecast was promising,6-8 knots, ideal Isotope sailing weather. Boats started to arrive54 October 2006 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com