U.S. Women's Match Racing Championships - Preview
by Jake Fish, US Sailing 11 Jul 2014 08:50 BST
11-13 July 2014
Women's match racing takes centre stage this week at Oakcliff Sailing in Oyster Bay, N.Y. One of the premier high-performance training centres in the country will host the 2014 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship, beginning this Friday, July 11 through Sunday, July 13.
Eight talented teams of six sailors will race in the Match 40 over three days of intense, one-on-one match racing action. Competition is just part of the experience for sailors this week. Oakcliff Executive Director Dawn Riley will conduct a match racing clinic for the competing teams prior to the start of the championship on Thursday, July 10. Riley is a world-renowned sailor, who has raced on four America's Cup and two Whitbread (now Volvo Ocean Race) teams.
Highlighting this year's cast is Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.), who is fresh off her third place finish at the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship last June in Cork, Ireland. Roble is the third ranked women's match racer in the world and #1 in the U.S. She won the 2013 Stena Match Cup Sweden Women's Trophy. She returns to the U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship after placing second last year in Chicago.
Four skippers who raced in last year's championship have returned to take another shot at the elusive Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy. These returning skippers, along with Roble, are Katie Maxim (Napa, Calif.), Sandy Hayes (Scituate, Mass.), and Madeline Gill (Oyster Bay, N.Y.). Access the full sailor list with crew.
There is a lot on the line this week beyond trophies and medals. The winning skipper receives an automatic invitation to the 2014 U.S. Match Racing Championship, which will be sailed October 3-5, 2014 at St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, Calif. and an automatic invitation to the 2014 Buddy Melges Challenge at Sail Sheboygan (Wis.) on September 23-28, 2014.