Tingley wins gold in top international event

Miami, Fla. (January 29, 2010) – After five days of racing on Biscayne Bay, gold, silver and bronze medalists were determined today in three Paralympic classes at US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Miami OCR, the second of seven stops of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2009-2010. USA racked up the most medals with four, followed by Canada with two and one apiece for Norway, Great Britain and The Netherlands. Also determined after five days of racing were the Olympic class sailors (four teams from women’s match racing and top-ten finishers from fleet racing in nine other classes) who have earned a coveted spot in tomorrow’s final medal races.

The Rolex Miami OCR, which this year hosted 448 teams (633 athletes) from 45 nations, is one of the world’s most competitive regattas for those hoping to claim a sailing berth at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and as such it offers hefty bragging rights for podium finishers as well as critical points on the Sailing World Cup circuit and for certain national team designations and rankings.

2.4mR

Canada’s Paul Tingley secured the first gold of the regatta when his 2.4mR class sailed two back-to-back races (on the staggered-start schedule) in light air. Going into today, he was in the bronze medal position, with Thierry Schmitter (NED) leading and John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.,USA) in silver position, so he decided to get gutsy.

“I wasn’t going to do it by not taking a risk,” said Tingley, who, with a handful of others, chose the right-hand side of the course five minutes into the first race. “I saw them (NED) on the pin end of the start line and I was at the committee boat; I knew I would benefit if the wind went right, and to my good fortune it did, and I got the win.” Meanwhile Schmitter finished ninth, and when Tingley stuck close to him in the second race for a third-place finish to Schmitter’s second, it was game over. “The last race was mine to lose, so I knew I had to stay in Thierry’s zip code, so to say.”

When asked if he was happy with silver, Schmitter said with a gracious smile, “No and yes. Going into this morning I was first and now I’m second. When I went left with John Ruf (who claimed bronze in the end), that was our death. But it has been tight all week-- John led one day,Paul one day, me one day—it’s not like there was one guy through it all who was the leader.”

Tingley won a 2.4mR gold medal at the 2008 Paralympics and a Sonar bronze in 2000. He finished third at the most recent 2.4mR Worlds, which hosted over 100 boats (sailed by both disabled and able-bodied sailors) and was won by Ruf. The 2.4mR is hugely popular because of its compact size--about 14 feet long (4.2 metres)--and the fact that it requires little physical exertion to sail. Its skipper remains seated, looking forward at all times with the majority of his body below the waterline, and has the choice of steering it by foot pedal or by “joy stick,” making it an equal platform for sailors with varying physical restrictions.

See video of the event - http://rmocr.ussailing.org/video.htm.

(http://rmocr.ussailing.org)