Midwest Girls from the "Land of Cheeseheads" Bring it Home!(New Orleans, LA) – The 2011 edition of the US Women's Match Racing Championship, hosted by Southern Yacht Club, came down to a thrilling finish in Sunday’s final series. In a rematch of last year’s Championship round, skipper Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) defeated defending two-time Champion Genny Tulloch (Sausalito, Calif./Houston, Texas) in the fifth and final race for a 3-2 win and her third Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy, second as a skipper. The womens' teams all sailed J/22s on Lake Ponchartrain supplied by Southern YC's active J/22 one-design fleet.
“We
had a great final series with Genny in tough conditions and really
shifty winds,” said Barkow. “We like having great matches with her team.
Unfortunately, she didn’t see the change of course at the entry.”
Tulloch had a lead at the start of the decisive fifth match. However,
they incorrectly rounded the first upwind windward mark and never
recovered. Tulloch came from behind in the final series twice after
trailing 1-0 and 2-1.Barkow and Tulloch finished off their semifinals opponents the morning of the last day to advance to the finals. Barkow defeated Kaitlin Storck (New Orleans, La.), 2-0, and Tulloch beat Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.), 3-0. Storck finished third by defeating Roble, 2-1, in the Petite finals.
Barkow’s
crew included Elizabeth Kratzig-Burnham (Miami Beach, Fla.), Alana
O'Reilly (Charleston, S.C.) and Amanda Callahan (Portsmouth, R.I.).
Crewing for Tulloch was Alice Manard Leonard (New Orleans, La./East
Haven, Conn.), Jennifer Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) and Elizabeth Hall
(Cary, N.C.). Roble sailed with Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.), Darby
Smith (Wilmette, Ill.) and Jennifer Wilson (Chicago, Ill.).Barkow, the #3 ISAF ranked women’s match racer in the world, was 19-3 overall this week. Tulloch, ranked #11 by ISAF, was 16-6. They each had successful outings at the 2011 US Olympic Team Qualifying Regatta last October at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club (Fla.). Tulloch finished second and Barkow was third. Barkow, Kratzig-Burnham, O’Reilly, Tulloch, Manard Leonard and Chamberlin are all members of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Of note, Sally Barkow was a coach/ mentor to Steph Roble back in Steph's Optimist racing days. Clearly Steph's learned a lot and stepped up her game to be amongst the top of women's match-racing while she's still in college at Old Dominion University in Virginia-- watch for this rising star in the future! For more US Women’s Match Racing sailing information
