Olympic effort carries Barkow to Santa Maria title
By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer
Published June 01, 2008
Sally Barkow is fully focused on capturing the gold medal in Yngling class at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The Wisconsin skipper is leaving no stone unturned in her quest to achieve that goal.
Which is why, just a few months in advance of the Olympic regatta, Barkow and her Team Seven were in Annapolis to compete in the 17th annual BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup. Barkow and her top-notch crew were at the top of their game from start to finish in winning the prestigious match racing regatta, hosted by Eastport Yacht Club.
This year’s event was abbreviated due to severe thunderstorms in the Annapolis area yesterday. Race organizers completed the semifinal round yesterday morning, but were only able to get off one race of the finals before the sky grew dark and the lightning struck.
"We had great racing conditions for every stage of the regatta until the finals," Santa Maria Cup chairman Tom Mullan. "We needed a two-hour window to complete the final round, but when the storm cleared, the wind went with it."
Barkow placed first in the round-robin portion of the competition with a 16-2 record and thus earned the top seed for the semifinals. The three-time All-American at Old Dominion then dispatched fellow American Molly Carapiet, 3-1, in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, French skipper Anne-Claire LeBerre, a newcomer to the Santa Maria Cup, defeated 2003 champion Liz Baylis, 3-1, in the other semi.
"LeBerre was a very late entry and she proved to be a phenomenal racer," Mullan said.
Barkow won the start and led the entire way in beating LeBerre in the first race of the best-of-five final. When weather put a halt to further racing, Barkow was declared winner of the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup for the third time since 2004.
"I’m fortunate to have a talented team and they sailed great again this week," said Barkow, a native of Nashotah, Wis. "Our boat-handling and speed got us out of a lot of tough situations."
While the Olympic regatta for Yngling class will be conducted in a fleet racing format, Barkow said it’s important to keep her match racing skills sharp. Olympic organizers have instituted a "medal race" to conclude the regatta and that is when Barkow’s match racing experience will come into play.
"This is great training for the team, and hopefully it will pay off in Beijing," said Barkow, who won the U.S. Olympic Trials for Yngling class earlier this year. "There are a lot of things we learn here that will help us down the road."
Debbie Capozzi and Carrie Howe comprise the crew for Barkow’s Yngling team. Whenever the Pine Lake Yacht Club product wants to do a match race event, Annie Lush gladly volunteers her services.
"Annie has been a key member of our team for five years. She may not be part of the Olympic crew, but she’s just as important," Barkow said.
Sharon Hadsell, who has been a member of the volunteer race committee since the inception of the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup in 1992, could not remember a more exciting regatta.
"We had a very strong field and the competition was extremely intense. The start box was insane with the skippers using the spectator boat and the committee boat as picks to rub off their opponents," Hadsell said.
Principal race officer Mark Murphy was not initially concerned about completing the regatta based on early forecasts that called for the thunderstorms to arrive late in the afternoon. However, dark, threatening clouds and lightning strikes forced Murphy to send the fleet back to port around 12:10 yesterday. Thus began a waiting game with the race committee desperately searching for a weather window in order to complete the finals and petit finals.
Carapiet, a San Francisco native who had Annapolis native and Eastport Yacht Club member Molly Vandemoer aboard as crew, beat Liz Baylis in the lone race of the petit finals to earn third place.
"The racing today was some of the closest, most hard-fought action we’ve had this week," Murphy said. "This regatta’s had very good luck finishing its program over the years, but sometimes Mother Nature just doesn’t cooperate."
Barkow sails into semifinals
By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer
Published May 31, 2008
Yesterday, Wisconsin skipper Sally Barkow showed the form that has made her a two-time champion of the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup Women’s Match Racing Championship.
Barkow won her four remaining round-robin races then took a 1-0 lead in her semifinal matchup with fellow American Molly Carapiet. After losing the start, Barkow showed superb boat speed in battling back to overtake Carapiet and won going away.
Barkow, a native of Nashotah, Wis., is the defending champion and also won the Santa Maria Cup in 2004. The three-time All-American at Old Dominion dominated the round-robin portion of the event with a final record of 16-2.
"We’re excited for tomorrow," Barkow said. "The forecast looks pretty windy, which should be fun. We’re looking to attack the last two races of the semis tomorrow and move on to the finals. We just need to focus on minimizing mistakes. The less mistakes you make, the better off you are. It’s more focus on fine-tuning our game as opposed to focusing on the teams that we’re sailing against."
Liz Baylis, the 2003 winner, finished second in the round-robin with a 14-4 record. However, the San Francisco Yacht Club skipper lost her initial semifinal race to Anne-Claire LeBerre yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday’s action was held in a solid, southerly breeze that filled in nicely during the afternoon session. The highlight of the day came when Carapiet and French skipper Christelle Philippe squared off in a battle for fourth place. Philippe drew a penalty during pre-start maneuvers and was never able to recover, enabling Carapiet to earn the final spot in the semifinals.
Annapolis resident and Eastport Yacht Club member Molly Vandemoer is crewing for Carapiet, a San Francisco resident and former All-American at Yale. Those two placed third in 470 class at the recent United States Olympic Trials.
Annapolis native and Severn School product Suzy Leech is crewing for Baylis, who is No. 11 in the latest International Sailing Federation Women’s Match Race rankings.
Annapolis resident Derby Anderson put forth her finest performance in three appearances in the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup. The former Georgetown All-American, who is unranked on the World Women’s Match Racing circuit, placed sixth with an 8-10 record.
"That is quite an accomplishment. Derby sailed much above her normal level in this event," principal race officer Mark Murphy said.
Murphy and regatta chairman Tom Mullan hope to complete the semifinals in the morning then contest the championship series in the early afternoon before the weather turns nasty.
"(Today) should be interesting. The weather forecast calls for breeze, but also for thunderstorms late in the afternoon," Murphy said. "Hopefully, we will be done before the storms hit. If there are thunderstorms, the sailors will have to come off the water and the results will have to be decided by other provisions."
(Special correspondent Alex Bertrand contributed to this story).
BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup Regatta
Round Robin Results (18 flights)
1. Sally Barkow (USA, #5), 16-2
2. Liz Baylis (USA, #11), 14-4
3. Anne-Claire LeBerre (FRA, #64), 12-6
4. Molly Carapiet (USA, NR), 11-7
5. Christelle Philippe (FRA, #4), 10-8
6. Derby Anderson (USA, NR), 8-10
7. Lorenza Mariani (ITA, #25), 6-12
8. Katy Lovell (USA, #17), 6-12
9. JoAnn Fisher, (USA, NR), 4-14
10. Caroline Martins de Castro Bejar (BRA, #39), 3-15
Semifinal Round Results
LeBerre (FRA) beat Baylis (USA)
Barkow (USA) beat Carapiet (USA)
Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup
Hosted by Eastport Yacht Club
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Leo Mehalic, 410-991-1690
May 28, 2008 ; sailingunc@comcast.net
PROAM FUN EVENT ADDED DAY BEFORE COMPETITION FOR BOAT U.S. SANTA MARIA CUP
New This Year: Live Commentary on VHF Radio Channel 78
ANNAPOLIS, MD. A new fun event was added this year before the actual competition gets underway. A ProAm competition with local sailors joining the Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup racers for some friendly bragging rights. This was the Inaugural event in which local Annapolis teams representing Boatyard Bar and Grill, National Sailing Hall of Fame, North Sails and J-World competed in a fleet race against the 10 BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup teams. The event started after regular practice at 4 p.m. with good wind conditions under bright skies. Two races were held with the overall winner being determined by the combined results. Sally Barkow, who will sail Yinglings for the U.S in the Olympics in August, was the overall winner, with EYC’s JoAnn Fisher seco nd and Lorenzo Marianne of Italy third. A local Annapolis team representing North Sail won the second of the two races, but had finished well back in the first race after being late to the start line.
A recap of the final results of the round robbins and the finals, plus photos and commentary can be found on the Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup web site at http://www.santamariacup.org/index.asp .
Spectators will be able to view the competition on the Chesapeake Bay or tune their VHF radios to channel 78 for live commentary on the final races as they happen.
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Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup
Hosted by Eastport Yacht Club
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Leo Mehalic, 410-991-1690
May 28, 2008 ; sailingunc@comcast.net
BOAT U.S.SANTA MARIA CUP 2008 UNDERWAY
New This Year: Live Commentary on VHF Radio Channel 78
By Nancy Noyes
For a taste of America’s Cup-type competition without the lawsuits, the best spectator opportunity around will be the annual BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup Regatta, which pits 10 of the world’s top match-racing teams in a four-day battle through a heated double round-robin series before the top four emerge to sail the finals and petit-finals.
Unlike the America’s Cup, the sailors are all women and the boats are J/22s, but this helps enhance the spectator experience as the courses are short and easily viewed from a single vantage point on the water.
Competition is managed by Eastport Yacht Club, and begins on Wednesday, May 28, with the finals scheduled for Saturday, May 31.
The international fleet includes France’s Claire LeRoy, still ranked number one in the world in women’s match racing; Italian Lorenza Mariani, ranked at 25; and Caroline Martins de Castro Bejar of Brazil, 39th in the world, plus a still-to-be-designated foreign sailor.
In addition, American Olympian Sally Barkow, who earned her second Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award last year, along with the 2004 and 2007 Santa Maria Cup titles, will be in the fleet.
Barkow, ranked #5 internationally and also the Women’s World Match Racing championship winner in 2004 and 2005, will be facing off against several other American sailors, including Liz Baylis (#11), the 2002 World Match Racing Champion and Executive Director of the new Women’s International Match Racing Association; plus SMC veteran Katy Lovell (#17) and Arnold resident Jo Ann Fisher (#54). Another American, Molly Carapiet, as yet unranked, also will compete, having earned her berth by winning this year’s Sundance Cup, along with youngster Derby Anderson, a rising local standout.
The pairs of boats go off in closely spaced flights, with each race taking about 30 minutes to complete. The sailors switch boats after each race, and each team will sail every other team twice during the course of the round-robin phase.
This year, regatta organizers plan to try to sail as many races as possible close-in in the Severn River, where they will be visible from EYC, although given the likelihood of boat traffic on Saturday, the final portions most likely will be sailed out in the Bay.
The results of this regatta can shake up the world match racing rankings, so every one of the women will be sailing at the top of their skills. On-the-water umpires watch the action closely, and when they call for a penalty turn it can have a serious impact in such close racing.
A new element has been added to the schedule this year. On Tuesday afternoon, May 27, an “Annapolis versus the World” fleet race will be held off EYC, in which the women will compete against local sailors put up by the National Sailing Hall of Fame, Annapolis Maritime Museum, the Boatyard Bar & Grill, North Sails, Sailing World magazine, and more.
The public is invited to watch the action – two short races starting around 4 p.m. – from the EYC docks, while the Boatyard will be offering food and drink specials afterward as part of the celebration.
The action concludes with an awards party with live music, food and drink on Saturday evening, May 31. The party is open to the public; tickets are $20 at the door.
In addition to title sponsor BoatU.S., other sponsors of the Santa Maria Cup include The Airport Shuttle, Dean’s Yacht Services, Regattaweb.net, North Sails, Yellow Book USA, New England Ropes, SpinSheet, Quantum One-Design, and Weems & Plath.
More information about the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup regatta, including important tips on how to get close enough to the action for a great view without getting in the way, is available online at www.santamariacup.org.
