BRISTOL, R.I. – RWU Sailing Head Coach Amanda Callahan will travel down to Australia for two weeks in an effort for her second straight International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Team Racing World Championship.
Callahan, a member of the New York Yacht Club Silver Panda team, heads down to Perth Wednesday afternoon to defend the title. Along with her teammates Clay Bischoff, Lisa Keith, Peter Levesque, Liz Hall, and RWU Sailing Assistant Coach Colin Merrick, the six sailors seek to give the United States its fourth straight title.
“I'm really excited to go to Australia,” said Callahan. “I've never been there and it's going to be warm with it being summertime in the southern hemisphere.”
The first day of competition is February 2 and will last until February 8, where the field will take part in approximately 13 races per day. Though last year's championship was raced in International 420s, Pacers will be the boat of choice for this year's race.
“It's going to be a challenge to figure out the pacers and get up to speed to compete with the home Australian teams, so that will be our focus for the first few days of the regatta, just getting up to speed and figuring out the boat handling.”
The team recently spent a weekend training and practicing in FJs at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Though FJs somewhat resemble the handling of Pacers, none of the six members of Silver Panda have sailed in Pacers before and will be spending much of the two training days getting familiar with the boat.
The British and United States teams are the top contenders in the Team Racing Championships. However, the Australian teams hold a great advantage in familiarity with the Pacers and knowledge of the local water.
“We'll have to keep an eye on how the other US team is doing because only one US team can make it into the top-four,” said Callahan. “Ultimately, it would be really nice to bring the trophy back home; that's our goal.”
In addition to Callahan's quest for a Team Racing championship, two members of the Sailing team are also on the road. Alex Sachs and Michael Costello are down in Florida at the 2009 Miami Rolex Olympic Classes Regatta (OCR), sailing in 470s in the second of seven events in the ISAF World Cup
“Alex and Mike are getting great experience sailing on the international level and getting practice in the 470 early in the quadrennials,” said Callahan. “Hopefully they'll learn some lessons that will apply to college sailing and they can share them with their teammates when they get back.”
The event, which began Monday, serves as the beginning of the campaign for Olympic hopefuls looking to be a part of the 2012 team. The top three U.S. finishers will make the U.S. AlphaGraphics Sailing team, and Miami Rolex OCR is the only event this year for sailors to qualify for the team.
Costello, who is crewing for Brendan Kopp, currently sits in 12th place through five races, while Sachs, crewing for Sam Williams, is right behind Costello in 13th through five races.
The entire Roger Williams University community would like to wish the best of luck to Amanda during her time in Australia and to Alex and Mike while they are in Miami.
