Preview: U.S. Match Racing Championship 2013

Two U.S. Match Racing icons and the #1 ranked match racer in the world will go head-to-head this week at the U.S. Match Racing Championship, hosted by Sail Sheboygan (Wis.). Eight teams will match race for the Prince of Wales Bowl in Sonars on Lake Michigan, beginning Thursday, September 19 through Sunday, September 22.

Taylor Canfield (Chicago, Ill.) enters this week’s week event as the #1 ranked match racer in the world by ISAF. After losing in the finals of the U.S. Match Racing Championship in 2011 and 2012, Canfield captured his first Prince of Wales Bowl last year in Marblehead, Mass. Canfield will switch roles on the boat for this year’s event and crew for Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.), who crewed for Canfield at last year’s championship. Roble is the top ranked women’s match racer in the U.S. Earlier this summer, Roble won the Stena Match Race Sweden event, a stop on the new Women’s International Match Racing Tour. Brian Janney (Holland, Mich.) and Anne Haeger (East Troy, Wis.) will be sailing with Roble and Canfield for the first time, collectively. Janney sails with Canfield on the USOne Sailing Team. Roble’s team will represent the Lake Beulah Yacht Club and Chicago Match Race Center.

Returning to compete in his 12th U.S. Match Racing Championship is Dave Perry (Southport, Conn.), a four-time winner of the Prince of Wales Bowl. Perry and crewmates Mike Rehe (Harper Woods, Mich.) and Chris Museler (Portsmouth, R.I.) won the title two years ago off the coast of Newport Beach, Calif. Museler also won this championship with Perry in 2008 (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and 2006 (Fort Worth, Texas). Perry is the fifth ranked match racer in the country. The two-time Congressional Cup Champion will be representing the Pequot Yacht Club (PYC) again this year. Perry won this championship on three occasions while representing PYC in 2011, 2008 and 2006, and once for the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club in 1982.

Two-time U.S. Match Racing Champion Dave Dellenbaugh (Easton, Conn.) has returned to take another shot at the title. Dellenbaugh, who won this championship in 2002 and 1984, is also representing the Pequot Yacht Club. He’ll be sailing this week with his daughter Rebecca Dellenbaugh, a 2010 ICSA All-American at Dartmouth (Easton, Conn.), Janel Zarkowsky (Annapolis, Md.), who won the championship last year as crew for Canfield, and accomplished team racer Amanda Callahan (Portsmouth, R.I.).

David Storrs (Southport, Conn.), the fifth ranked match racer in the U.S., will be sailing this week with Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.), who won as crew for Canfield last year and with Genny Tulloch at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship. Storrs will represent the Chicago Match Race Center.

Long Beach Yacht Club’s (Calif.) Dustin Durant will be crewing for helmsman Scott Dickson this week, along with Steve Flam. Durant is the second ranked match racer in the country and the skipper of the Long Beach Match Racing Team.

The winning skipper of this event will receive an invitation to race at the 2014 Ficker Cup, a grade 3 event and a Congressional Cup Qualifier.

The U.S. Match Racing Championship is a US Sailing National Championship sponsored by Gill North America and Hobie Polarized Sunglasses. The championship is a Sailors for the Sea – Clean Regattas certification event.

Visit the official event website this week for the daily video recaps by Chris Love Productions, photos, daily recaps, rosters, standings, real-time Twitter updates from Sheboygan, and more.

Championship Notes:
– The intended format for this event:
Stage 1 – A round robin
Stage 2 – A round robin
Stage 3 – A knockout series, first to score 2 points, to determine places 9-12
Stage 4 – A knockout series, first to score 2 points, to determine places 5-8
Stage 5 – Knockout petit final (first to score 2 points) and final (first to score 3 points) series
– Course area will be east of the Sheboygan Harbor on Lake Michigan
– Racing to start at 10 a.m. Thursday through Sunday (subject to change)
– The course will be windward/leeward with starboard roundings, finishing downwind
– The skippers and their crew members placing first, second and third in this regatta will be awarded US Sailing Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, respectively.

Championship Personnel:
Greg Kiely, U.S. Match Racing Championship Chair
Kathy Lindgren, Event Chair
Liz Walker, US Sailing Championships Director

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jake Fish, US Sailing Communications Manager, jakefish@ussailing.org, 401.683.0800 x614