2002 U.S. YOUTH WORLD TEAM FINISHES
THIRD OVERALL FOR VOLVO TROPHY
CAMPBELL CAPTURES GOLD IN SINGLEHANDED EVENT
PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (July 31, 2002) – The notable performance
of the 2002 U.S. Youth World Team, competing in Lunenburg,
Nova Scotia, placed the U.S.A. third overall for the Volvo
Trophy, the best showing in several years for U.S. sailors
at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF (International Sailing
Federation) World Championships. The Volvo Trophy recognizes
the nation with the best cumulative team results across all
six events -- 29er (boys and girls doublehanded), Byte (girls
singlehanded), Laser (boys singlehanded), and Mistral (boys
and girls boardsailing). New Zealand placed first out of the
30 countries represented, with France following in second.
Held July 18-27, the 2002 championship event attracted 150
competitors who will not have reached their 19th birthday
in 2002.
California’s Andrew Campbell (San
Diego) was able to cheer on his fellow teammates as he sat
out the final race of the series after mathematically securing
the singlehanded championship title. Sailing in the 24-boat
Laser fleet, Campbell was at or near the top of the leader
board from the first day of the event, winning the gold medal
by 14 points over his closest competitor. The win of his first
international title only adds luster to his recent victory
at the 2002 U.S. Youth Championship. That win, less than a
month ago, put the 18-year old Campbell into the history books
as the only sailor to earn the coveted U.S. singlehanded championship
crown three times. With 2002 his last year of eligibility
as a youth sailor, Campbell will go forward concentrating
on international events and maintaining his top-ranked position
on the US Sailing Team.
In the girls singlehanded event, Paige
Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) won the bronze medal sailing in
a fleet of 20 Bytes. Railey, US SAILING’S 2001 Female
Athlete of the Year, will set sail this week to defend the
title she won at the 2001 U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded
Championship. If successful she would earn a repeat trip as
the U.S. representative to next year’s youth world championship.
In the doublehanded fleets, both of
which utilized 29ers, the two U.S. boats finished just out
of the medals --each placing fourth overall -- at the conclusion
of their 11-race series. In the boys competition, Alex Bernal
and Tedd White (both Santa Barbara, Calif.) sailed in a fleet
of 21 boats. Molly Carapiet (San Francisco, Calif.) and Mallory
McCollum (Concord,
Calif.) were among 14 boats competing for the girls title.
Light winds were the bane of the boys
and girls in the windsurfing events, who were only able to
sail, respectively, 9 and 8 races. Philip Muller (Ft. Pierce,
Fla.) placed 17th out of 17 Mistrals in the boys event, and
Ericka Kofkin (Melbourne, Fla.) placed 12th out of 12 Mistrals
in the girls event. Both Muller and Kofkin are members of
the 2002 US Sailing Team.
“This was an outstanding event
in terms of organization, diversity, group living and camaraderie
among sailors,” said US Team Leader Brian Doyle (Darien,
Conn./Hanover, N.H.). “Our team had a wonderful experience
which was greatly enhanced by Richard Feeny (Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla.) and George Muller (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), coaches for the
singlehanded sailors and windsurfers, respectively.”
Additional information on the U.S. athletes
can be found at: www.ussailing.org/Olympics/YouthWorld/
Full results from the championship are available at www.worldyouthsailingcanada.com
