Tiebreakers And Heartbreakers On Final Day Of US Disabled Championship

Going into the last day of racing on 9 June 2008 at the US Disabled Sailing Championship, it was not a sealed deal for Paralympic Team members Rick Doerr, Tim Angle and Bill Donohue in the Sonar.
While they had been in the lead since the regatta started on Saturday, their fellow US Disabled Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members Paul Callahan, Roger Cleworth and Mike Hersey were hovering nearby, anxious to take over the lead. And when the athletes got off the water, Rick Doerr and his team won only after coming out ahead in the tiebreaker. In the 2.4mR and Ideal 18 classes, Canadians Bruce Millar and John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit took home the top honours respectively.

The Sonar fleet wasn't the only one with tight racing: the Ideal 18 fleet was filled with talented athletes. And, as in the Sonar, it all came down to the final day to determine the new champion. Sarah Everhart Skeels sailing with new crew Jim DonahueE, was in first place overall going into the final day, but not even her two first-place finishes today were enough to stay ahead of McRoberts. She finished just two points behind the Canadian.

In the 2.4mR, MILLAR held a comfortable lead throughout the regatta to secure his win, 13 points ahead of fellow Canadian Paul Tingley. US Disabled Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member Mark Leblanc finished third, just one point behind Tingley.

The racing on Monday, in what the County of Westchester in New York proclaimed as Disabled Sailing Day, was held under sunny skies with variable conditions with the race committee managing to pull off four races. Throughout the regatta, host clubs American and Larchmont Yacht Clubs opened their doors to athletes, families, and spectators.

For more information, please visit www.sailing.org

Madrid Will Host The 2008 IFDS Annual General Meeting

The 2008 IFDS Annual General Meeting (AGM) is scheduled to be held in November 2008 in Madrid, Spain at the same venue as the ISAF Annual Conference.
During the 2008 IFDS AGM there will be elections for two IFDS Vice-Presidents. The elections will be carried out to fill the vacancies for IFDS Executive Committee Members, Serge Jorgensen and Jan Romme.

In order to be eligible as a candidate for the office of Vice-President, all candidates must be nominated by an IFDS RNA. Please note that only IFDS RNA’s in good standing are entitled to nominate candidates. In addition, the nominated candidates will be required to submit further information to the Secretariat by completing the IFDS Executive Committee Nomination Form.

All nominations should be made in writing and the original forms should be received at the IFDS Secretariat no later than 1700 UTC, Friday 3 October 2008. Further information will shortly be circulated to all IFDS RNA’s.
In accordance with the IFDS By Laws (By Law IV (a) (iii)), all IFDS RNA’s and Committee Chairs may propose motions for consideration at the AGM. A motion may be concerning any issue under the jurisdiction of IFDS. The motion shall state the:
• Proposal
• Current Position
• Rules (if any) Considered to be Affected
• Reason for the Motion

Motions shall be in writing and signed by the authorized representative of the RNA or the Committee Chair Person and received at the IFDS Secretariat by 12:00 UTC, Friday 29 August 2008.

For more information, please visit the official website at http://sailing.org/disabled  
 

Race Officials For Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS), has announced the Race Officials team for the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Competition.
The Race Officials team for the three events which make up the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Competition is composed of 12 members.

International Jury
John DOERR (GBR) - Chairman
Marianne MIDDELTHON (NOR)
Noel ALLEN (AUS)
Swee HUNG TAN (SIN)
Xinzu GU (CHN)

International Race Officer
John PARISH (NZL)
Ross WILSON (AUS)

International Measurers
Gene HINKEL (USA)
Stephan RYOTT (SWE)

Technical Delegate Team
Phil VARDY (AUS) – Technical Delegate
Ian HARRISON (GBR) – Assistant Technical Delegate
Pauline HARRISON (GBR) – Secretary to the Technical Delegates

For more information, please visit the ISAF Paralympic Games microsite at www.sailing.org/paralympics