Annapolis J/22 sailor- Sue Mikulski Women's Worlds interview

* J/22 sailor from Annapolis, Sue Mikulski,
a long time veteran competitor and key contributor to the Rolex Women's
reflects on how this special event has impacted her life. Over the
years, she has made it a personal goal of hers to grow competitive
women’s sailing and the Championship has played a major role in
achieving this.



Sue was the Outreach Coordinator for the Road to Rolex Clinics and Next
Step to Rolex from 2000 to 2005. Road to Rolex clinics are designed to
prepare competitors for the Rolex IWKC. Junior women sailors interested
in gaining international sailing experience participate in the Next Step
to Rolex Program.



“I spent many hours and many evenings contacting women sailors from
around the world explaining theses Rolex programs, how it draws women
into racing at all levels and that it is the opportunity of a lifetime,”
said Sue. “The Road to Rolex clinics helped promote women's sailing,
and especially those getting ready to do their first international
event.” 



Sue is ecstatic about the progress these programs have made on the
evolution of the Rolex IWKC and maintaining it as a first class event
with talent and diversity.



“It is extremely rewarding to see names of juniors from the Next Step
Program now competing in the upcoming RIWKC. I smile when I see those
names,” she said.



Sue trained for two years leading up to her first Rolex IWKC in 1995.
She joined the Liberty Sailing Club in Philadelphia, Pa. and the
Philadelphia Laser Fleet in the early 1990s and sailed close to 200
races a year from 1993 to 1995.



“I felt it important to give back to the sport of sailing, after so many
helped me get involved, and that US SAILING helped me get my start in
conjunction with Rolex. I had a great team who helped me pull it
together,” she said. Sue went on to skipper at the Rolex IWKC at
Annapolis in 2001, 2003 and 2005.



She is excited to return to competition this year after missing the 2009
and 2007 events. For the past five years Sue has battling the effects
of Chondromalacia. She has no cartilage behind her knee caps and two
torn meniscus in each knee. During this time she became very involved
with Race Committee at Annapolis Yacht Club, which she loves to be part
of. After hours of therapy, she is ready to make a return.



The Rolex IWKC is a unique event with a camaraderie unlike any event
I've ever done. Sailing with your girlfriends is fun, intense and such a
learning experience about yourself.  Racing, owning and skippering my
boat helped my confidence, helped my leadership ability and ability to
be a team player.”



US SAILING’s 2011 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship
(Rolex IWKC), hosted by the Rochester Yacht Club (N.Y.), takes place on
August 29 - September 1. For team rosters, results, video, photos,
Facebook/Twitter updates and daily racing reports, please visit the
event website at http://riwkc.ussailing.org.

  

Rolex Womens Preview Shootout at the Women's OK Corral!

(Rochester, NY)- Talk about some fire-power. Two Rolex Women's Sailors
of the Year, two Women College Sailors of the Year, Women's Match Race
World Champions, four Women Olympians and multiple College Women
All-Americans? This year’s edition of the Rolex IWKC features 36 teams
representing 16 U.S. states and three foreign countries (Canada, Great
Britain and The Netherlands). This biennial regatta, marking its 14th
edition in 26 years, will offer these top sailors the opportunity to
experience high-level competition along with social activities designed
to promote camaraderie. The Rolex Gala, on Thursday, September 1, will
conclude the event with the presentation of US SAILING’s Bengt Julin
Trophy and a Rolex timepiece to the winning boat’s skipper.



Many world-renown sailors are returning to the event this year,
including the top three teams from 2009. The defending champion team is
back for another shot at the title. They compete full-time as “Team
Maclaren” for a 2012 Olympic berth in Women’s Match Racing as members of
the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Team Maclaren includes Olympic Gold
medalist and Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation,
Fla.), Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.), Debbie Capozzi
(Bayport, N.Y.) and Liz Bower (Rochester, N.Y.).



After a break from the 2009 competition, three-time champion and
Olympian Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) returns with her US Sailing Team
AlphaGraphics crew Alana O’Reilly (Charleston, S.C.) along with Annie
Lush (Bournemouth, U.K.) and Jacqueline Campbell (Washington, D.C.).



They’ll face stiff competition from 2009 second-place finisher and top
hometown team of Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Cory Sertl (Rochester,
N.Y.), Amy Moran (Pittsford, N.Y.), Annemarie Cook (Rochester, N.Y.) and
Jane Mastrandrea (Webster, N.Y.); and from third-place finisher,
Olympian and past champion Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.) returns with
Margaret Podlich (Severna Park, Md.), Kim Couranz (Annapolis, Md.) and
new addition Karina Vogen Shelton (Watsonville, Calif.).



A number of promising young newcomers have entered to compete in this
talented and diverse fleet. Skipper Allie Blecher (Fullerton, Calif.) is
a four-time ICSA All-American and the 2010 Quantum Female College
Sailor of the Year. Blecher’s team includes, Alyssa Aitken (Sandwich,
Mass.), Molly Robinson (Sausalito, Calif.) and Sarah Somes (Grosse
Pointe Park, Mich.). All four have sailed, or are still sailing, for
College of Charleston. Blecher and Aitken won the 2010 ICSA National
Women’s Championship.



In her three years at Boston College, Anne Haeger (Lake Forest, Ill.)
has been named an ICSA All-American each year and was crowned the
Quantum Female College Sailor of the Year for 2011. She is currently
helming a 470 campaign for the 2012 Olympics and a member of the US
Sailing Development Team. Haeger’s crew includes, Stephanie Roble (East
Troy, Wis.), Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) and Darby Smith (Marblehead,
Mass.). Roble, also a three-time ICSA All-American at Old Dominion
University (class of 2011) and is currently driving a match race
campaign for the 2012 Olympics. Shea, a two-time ICSA All-American at
Connecticut College, is currently trimming main for a match race
campaign for the 2012 Olympics, while Darby, an outstanding crew from
the University of South Florida, is currently doing bow for the same
match race campaign.



Skipper Kristen Lane’s (Tiburon, Calif.) team features several standout
crew members, including current US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics member
Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.), who is campaigning in women’s
match racing for the 2012 Olympics. Also joining the team are Molly
Carapiet (Belvedere, Calif.) and Jennifer Morgan-Glass (Seattle, Wash.).



Not only will all four corners of the U.S. be represented with teams
coming from northern Massachusetts down to the tip of Florida and out
west from Washington state to southern California, but also Canada with
four teams and The Netherlands with the return of the sixth-place
finishers from the 2009 Rolex IWKC. The Netherlands team has been
sailing together for the past five years and skipper Marike Poulie
(Amsterdam), first sailed the Rolex IWKC in 1995 in Newport, R.I. Since
then she has sailed many J/22 events with Bregje Lodewikus (Haarlem),
Renske Verbeek (Amsterdam) and Leontien Benders (Hilversum).  For more Rolex Women's Worlds sailing information

  

Gaffney Eclipses J/22 Mid-Atlantics

(Annapolis, MD)- Severn Sailing Association on the tip of Easton's Point
in Annapolis, MD consistently puts on a great show for local Chesapeake
sailors.  In particular, they're support of the J/22 class is
wonderful, playing host to this year's J/22 Mid-Atlantic Coast
Championship.



After six races sailed, Chris Gaffney's team sailed to a 3-2-1-1-1-7 for
15 total points.  They ensured that second place finisher, Jeff Todd,
did not beat them in the last race.  Jeff's team sailed well and
finished with a 2-1-3-2-6-8 for 22 points.  Third was John Loe's team
with a 1-13-2-3-7-2 for 28 points.  Fourth was Alon Finkelstein with a
6-6-5-4-8-1 for 30 points.  Fifth just two points back was Art Silcox
with a 9-4-7-5-2-5 for 32 points.  For more J/22 Mid-Atlantic Championship sailing results.

  

Rocky Mountain High for J/Sailors!

J/22, J/24, J/80s Love Dillon Open

(Dillon, CO)- This year's Dillon Open Regatta continues to bring
thrilling sailing experiences to sailors on Lake Dillon.  The Dillon
Open, known for its superior race management and challenging sailing
conditions, is the premier sailing regatta in the Rocky Mountain region
and all proceeds from the Dillon Open are donated to the Dillon Yacht
Club Junior Sailing Program (DYCJSP), a non-profit organization that
provides weekly sailing camps for youth kids in Summit County, Western
slope and along the front-range.



The
Dillon Yacht Club (DYC), founded in 1968, is America's highest yacht
club at 9,017 feet above sea level. The Dillon Open Regatta is one of
the most unique sailing regattas in the world and draws amateur and
professional sailors from various states to compete in the challenging
conditions of Lake Dillon. The highly competitive nature of this regatta
hosts seven fleets of one-design boats to participate in this sailing
event. Colorado has no shortage of top contenders, the Dillon Yacht Club
is proud to claim several of its members as past winners of the Dillon
Open Regatta.



The J/22s had one of their best regatta turnouts in years, with fourteen
boats fighting for "King of the Hill" honors in the big Rocky Mountain
region!  This year's newly crowned "King" is Robin Jackson sailing K'NAE
to a 1-1-6-1 record for 9 points, easily eclipsing his competitors who
all had to be suffering nose-bleeds from such a beating.  Bill Darling's
crew on CAMPROBBER kept them honest, but could scarcely match their
speed and cunning, getting a 3-3-3-6 score for 15 points.  Just behind
them were Mike Kline's team on the NAUTI MOOSE with a 5-2-7-3 record for
17 points.



All
the drama was in the J/24 class.  As one of the longest running
one-design keelboat fleets on Lake Dillon, the J/24s were not lacking
for competition despite having seven entries racing for all the
marbles.  It was the ONLY fleet that determined its winner on a
tie-breaker!!  OMG, the top four were nearly ALL tied together going
into the last race!  What gives?!  Clearly these teams were having a
"fiesta" amongst themselves and enjoyed the fun, camaraderie and
competition.  Day one leaders became day two toast, literally.  Not sure
how that happened but perhaps it was some of Lake Dillon's famous
watering holes and 9k altitude had something to do with some teams
losing common sense or some brain cells to boot.  Nevertheless, coming
from way behind after day one and winning the tie-breaker was Dave
Irwin's team on IBAJ (get it?  I-B-A-J.  Ha!).  Their 3-3-2-1 for 9
points beat out Tim Nelson's FLY MO'J team that had a 2-1-3-3 for an
IDENTICAL score!?  Yes, in such case the tie-break goes to who beat who
last!  Bummer.  Just behind them was Frank Keesling on THE (big)
DUMPSTER also winning his tie-break to get third!!  Wow.  His 4-4-1-2
for 11 pts beat out Greg Johnson's PINOTAGE team with an IDENTICAL
1-2-4-4 record on the same basis as the winners tied for first!! Holy
COW, when has THAT ever happened in ONE regatta-- probably NEVER.  One
for the record books and a fun one to be a part of in yachting history.



The J/80s had good competition in the PHRF A fleet and sailing as a
sub-class.  At the end of the day, Dave Leavenworth's HARMATTAN sailed
well to win the J/80s. Second was Kurt Van der wal's HENDRIX and third
was Bob Lane's BLISS.   Sailing photo credits- Greg Schertz   For more Dillon Open sailing information