US Champion of Champions

20 one design sailors to line up this week at Sayville Yacht Club

20 of the country's top one-design sailors will be at Sayville Yacht Club (N.Y.) later on this week to compete in the U.S. Championship of Champions for US Sailing's Jack Brown Trophy. The regatta, sponsored by Rolex Watch, U.S.A. and Dry Creek Vineyard, is known as one of the toughest one-design competitions in the United States and this year's event will be no exception.

All of the competitors have qualified after winning a National and/or North American Championship in a one-design class and were nominated by their respective class associations. The competitors have a wide range of sailing backgrounds, from 71-year-old Dick Tillman who competed in the 1976 Olympic Games to 13-year-old Chris Williford. The Championship will be raced in Sunfish on Long Island Sound from September 24 through 27.

The 2008 competitors, along with their hometowns and events through which they qualified are:

Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.) - 2.4 mR National Championship
Stephen Smeulders (Pittsford, N.Y.) - Force 5 North American Championship
Peter Shope (Stratham, N.H.) - Frosty North American Championship
John Bauer (New Philadelphia, Ohio) - Highlander Class National Championship
Ian Schillebeeckx (Labadie, Mo.) - Inland 20 National Championship
William Nightingale (Rowayton, Conn.) - JY15 North American Championship
Cameron Hall (St. Petersburg, Fla.) - Laser 4.7 National & North American Championships
Newt Wattis (Surf City, N.J.) - Mariner Class National Championship
Ward Brooks (Blue Point, N.Y.) - Narrasketuck Class National Championship
Anne Edwards Baton (Rouge, La.) - Sunfish Women's North American Championship
Doug Kaukeinen (Rochester, N.Y.) - Sunfish North American Championship
Bobby Boger (Southold, N.Y.) - Sunfish Junior North American Championship
Dick Tillman (Syracuse, Ind.) - International Sunfish Masters Championship
Christopher Williford (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) - Optimist National Championship
John Baxter (Greenwich, Conn.) - Interclub National Championship
William Lynn (Marblehead, Mass.) - Sonar World Championship
Peter Sladovich (New Orleans, La.) - Rhodes 19 National Championship
Mike Ingham (Rochester, N.Y.) - Thistle National Championship
Christopher Banholzer (Hartland, Wis.) - X-Boat Inland Championship
Robert Rowland (Dayton, Ohio) - Y-Flyer National Championship