Women ready for battle

Competitors from throughout the United States to compete for the U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship

Over 50 competitors from throughout the United States and the Caribbean will head to Marblehead, Massachusetts, at the end of July to compete for a title that has distinguished the careers of many top female sailors: the U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship.

Winners who have captured this title and engraved their name on the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy have included an Olympic medalist, two winners of the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Awards, and numerous champions on the one-design stage - and the young women heading to New England to compete in Laser Radials at this US Sailing Championship know full well that the stakes are high. Sponsored nationally by Vanguard Sailboats, the event will be hosted by Pleon Yacht Club, 29 July to 3 August.

Five women who ranked in the top one-quarter of the fleet at this championship last year will return to make another bid for this national title, along with sailors who have already shown their promise this summer at other US Sailing Championships.

Carolyn Prioleau, whose fifth-place finish at the event last year makes her the top contender from '06 heading to the starting line, will be joined by two women who were top finishers at the hotly contested U.S. Junior Women's Doublehanded Championship, held in Louisiana in early July. Skipper Eliza Richartz and crew Nicole Heinl placed fifth in the doublehanded event; but at the singlehanded championship, they will be stepping into separate Laser Radials and changing roles from crewmates to competitors.

The three-day regatta will be preceded by a two-day clinic led by United States Naval Academy’s head intercollegiate sailing coach, John Vandemoer. Sarah Lihan, who won this championship in 2006, will be one of the coaches joining Vandemoer for the clinic.

The young women competing at this championship will have an opportunity to gain valuable keelboat experience right after the regatta by staying on in Marblehead and participating in the Junior Road to Rolex Clinic. Scheduled for 4-5 August at Eastern Yacht Club, this two-day clinic is designed to prepare junior women for this fall's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship.

The winner of the U.S. Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship will be awarded US Sailing's Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy, named for a woman who was a champion in many classes of boats. This perpetual trophy was created by the late C. Thomas Clagett Jr. in memory of his wife for the purpose of encouraging sailing among young women in the United States.