Kaenon Polarized

The largest of the spring European Olympic Class World Cups concluded with some good Kaenon results last week in Kiel, Germany.

Continuing to dominate the Men’s 470 were the Australian Gold Medal duo of Mat Belcher in Hard Kore Black G12 and Malcolm Page in Kore Black G12.

Spanish Bronze medalist Rafa Trujillo, repeated his Bronze medal podium spot placement, falling to third after the final race. Rafa sails in Kore G12.

Current Women’s Rolex World Sailor of the Year, Anna Tunnicliffe, sailing in Soft Kore Black G12, continues her transition into the new Women’s Match Race division from the single-handed Laser Radial where she won all of her acclaim the past five years with an impressive third place finish. Anna beat fellow American and Kaenon sailor Genny Tulloch (Georgia Tobacco Denim C12) in the Petit-Finals for the Bronze Medal.

Mark Mendelblatt, wearing Hard Kore Tobacco G12 and Magnus Liljedahl in Kore Black G12 also took Bronze in the Star Class. French windsurfer Julien Bontemps in Hard Kore won the Men’s RSX Class.

Bryony Shaw wearing Soft Kore Black C28.

Salior Genny Tulloch does a great job of keeping us up-to-date with her events and giving the inside scoop on what goes on during the races. Here is her personal recap of Kiel week:

“Teammate Alice Manard and I were fortunate to have Jenn Chamberlin as our new middle, and after a great week of training at the Chicago Match Race Center and some travel difficulties on Alice’s end, we setup at the USTTAG Base in Germany for the 6th event of the 2010 World Cup. Twenty-four teams qualified for the event, and when we won our initial grouping we advanced through to an automatic spot in the quarterfinals, and Gold Round Robin Racing. The week was light air, but the match racers completed almost all of our racing while the other fleets were mostly postponed. We enjoyed the benefits of being close to land and on short courses; even if it made for some very shifty races, some big chop as the other fleets towed in and out, and some late nights.

“In the end we were seeded against #1 World Ranked British team of Lucy Macgregor for the quarterfinals, and were initially down 1-2, sailing late into the night on Tuesday. With all the races needing to be done before 3 pm the next day, the Race Committee had us out early, and we won our two do-or-die races against Lucy to advance to the Semifinals against Claire Leroy. The conditions had us close to the shore with a very shifty and puffy offshore breeze, and it was often who won the start and got to the first shift would be able to control the race. We were happy to have done that to Lucy’s team, but then unfortunately lost the next 2 races to Claire off the line. The third race we led around the course but she got some better shifts on the final upwind, was close on our tail at the weather mark and was able to gybe inside at the mark and pass us on the downwind, sending us to the petit finals, against our own American teammates, Team Tunnicliffe.

“The duke-out for bronze was interesting, with Anna’s team winning the first race but as the clock ticked down there would only be time for one last race, so whoever won the final race would win the bronze. We saw pressure coming down on the left, won the pin and tacked on the left shift, leading them by three boatlenghths or more. But as we approached the weather mark the race committee abandoned the race due to the windshift, and rushed us back to restart. Unfortunately the next race went to their team, with us getting a penalty right at the start for tacking too close with them at our stern, so we ended up fourth for the event.

“For a first time sailing with a new teammate we were pleased to have finished fourth, having won our initial round over Claire Leroy, and defeated Lucy Macgregor in the quarterfinals. We left some to be desired in the final races, but very much know what we can continue to improve upon.”

Annapolis, Maryland — Kaenon Polarized took 3 of the top 4 spots at the 20th annual Women’s Match Racing Championship. Wearing Georgia Black G12, Genny Tulloch was one victory short of her first Grade 1 match race championship, eventually losing the best-of-5 race finale for a well-earned 2nd place overall. Behind her and winning the Petite Final for 3rd overall, was Rolex World Sailor of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe wearing Soft Kore Metallic Black G12. Tunnicliffe beat fellow Kaenon sailor Sally Barkow in Hard Kore, who finished 4th.

Genny Tulluch (above), wearing Georgia Tobacco Denim C12, driving in rear (white visor) and her second place team all in Kaenon Polarized, Georgia, Hard Kore and Kore.

3rd place Anna Tunnicliffe in Soft Kore Metallic Black G12 (above), below (driving), with Molly Van der Meer, also in Soft Kore Black Metallic G12, and Kore on her other crew.

Anna Tunnicliffe was presented with her second Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award (a Rolex timepiece) in New York City last weekend at the New York Yacht Club. She also received the title last month–and another Rolex watch!–for being named the Rolex Female World Sailor of the Year.

Congrats Anna!

SAILING
On the heels of winning the Rolex World Sailor of the Year award just last month, Anna Tunnicliffe took her second Rolex US Sailor of the Year award in a row. She was nominated to the award’s shortlist for the fifth consecutive year, and is the first woman in 27 years to accomplish the feat of back-to-back wins. She’s also accumulating quite an impressive collection of personalized Rolex Timepieces!

Americans Bora Gulari and Anna Tunnicliffe were named US Sailing’s 2009 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. A shortlist of ten male and five female sailors—determined from nominations submitted by members of US Sailing—was evaluated by a panel of sailing journalists who selected these two sailors for the noteworthy distinction. Established in 1961 by US Sailing and sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. since 1980, the Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards recognize the outstanding on-the-water competitive achievement of an individual man and woman in the calendar year just concluded.

“I’m so happy I can do this [sail] for a living,” added Tunnicliffe. “I have more goals to reach in my sailing career, and starting this year [2010] with this award is amazing.”

Since winning the Laser Radial Olympic Gold Medal at the 2008 Games in China, Tunnicliffe has proven her talent and versatility by excelling not only in the singlehanded dinghy but also in skippering several different one-design boats in both fleet and match racing.  She dominated the Laser Radial fleet during the 2009 ISAF Sailing World Cup series by winning gold at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR and Semaine Olympique Francaise in France, and bronze at Kieler Woche in Germany.  She also won the Laser Radial Women’s North American Championship in Florida and finished third at the Laser Radial World Championship in Japan.

Tunnicliffe’s success on the 2009 match racing circuit was also notable.  She won the Detroit Cup in Ultimate 20s and was second at U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship in St. Thomas sailed in IC 24s.  Her medal haul also included bronze collected at the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in Brazil sailed in J/24s, and at Skandia Sail for Gold in England, sailing the Elliott 6 Metre, the equipment chosen for the debut of the new women’s match racing event at the 2012 Olympic Regatta.

SAILING – BUSAN, KOREA

This week in Busan, Korea, the venue of The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Annual Conference, US Sailing Team member Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) was named the recipient of the 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award, the most prestigious individual recognition in the sport of sailing.

Tunnicliffe was chosen based on her outstanding achievement in a variety of boats and multiple disciplines during the qualifying period of September 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009.

“I’m honored to win such a huge award,” said Tunnicliffe after the awards ceremony in Korea. “I’m honored to now be on the list with all the amazing sailors who won the award before me. It’s a great way to top off a fantastic year, and I’m very excited!”

At the 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards dinner, the HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Rolex’s Lionel Church presented the male and female winners with a marble and silver trophy. The male recipient of the award is Brazil’s Torben Grael, the winning skipper of the 2009 Volvo Ocean Race.

“Anna’s record on the water over the last year speaks for itself, and this award is just the latest proof of her talent, motivation and dedication,” said Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn). “Everyone at US Sailing is proud of Anna.”

The 2008 Awards were presented to four-time Olympic medal winners Ben Ainslie (GBR) and Alessandra Sensini (ITA), also Kaenon Polarized long-time sponsored sailors.

Anna Tunnicliffe and Torben Grael, the 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year

Anna Tunnicliffe, aft and standing in Georgia Tobacco C12 at the 2009 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth and Portland, UK.

Read the entire storyhere.

SAILING – ROCHESTER, NY

Kaenon’s Anna Tunnicliffe, wearing Beacon Tortoise G12, and her team of Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer, Liz Bower and Debbie Capozzi have won US Sailing’s 2009 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship. Racing took place at the Rochester Yacht Club in upstate New York October 7-10, 2009. At the gala Rolex Awards ceremony held this evening at the RYC, Tunnicliffe and her team were awarded US Sailings’s perpetual Bengt Julin Trophy and a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Stainless Steel & Gold Datejust presented by Jaimie Carlsen of Rolex Watch U.S.A.

The team also won the Kaenon Polarized Boat of the Day award, winning two of the 3 official race days, presented with one of Kaenon’s female-specific sunglass models for each of their daily wins. “My team did a great job in putting us in the right position, and staying alert no matter what our situation,” Tunnicliffe said. “I’m excited to sail with them again in two weeks in St. Petersburg, FL, for the Osprey Cup, a Grade 1 Women’s Match Race event.”

‘We’re very excited,’ said Tunnicliffe, Olympic Gold Medalist and a member of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, moments after returning the dock. ‘We wanted to win this event for a while and finally we’ve done it. We’re super psyched!’ Both Vandemoer and Capozzi are also members of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics.
Her team’s five-race score line was 3-6-1-1-1 and with an unbeatable margin they decided not to participate in the final race.

Until this regatta, Tunnicliffe had held the record as the youngest competitor, having set the mark as a 14-year-old skipper in 1997. At that time, she confided that one day she would win the regatta. “I always thought it would be cool to do really well one day,” she said. “This is my fifth time sailing the regatta, my fourth time skippering it. We were getting to the point that we need to get up there sometime soon. I’m happy we sailed really well together and did so well. I have a fabulous crew. Debbie, Molly and Liz sailed together a few times before, and the chemistry has worked perfectly. It makes my life so easy on the race course and they make me look really good.”

SAILING – Karatsu, Japan

Reigning Olympic Gold Medalist, American Anna Tunnicliffe in Beacon Tortoise G12 in last week’s windy conditions. Just after a start, below.

Reigning Olympic Gold medalist Anna Tunnicliffe, racing in Beacon Tortoise G12, finished 3rd at the world championship last week in Japan. Here’s an excerpt of her race report: Karatsu, Japan: “I won the bronze medal!! We finished racing today at the 2009 Radial World Championships with two more windy races. I had a terrible first race finishing mid-teens, and then pulled back to a 4th in the second race of the day to secure third overall. Sari Mutala from Finland, sailed a fabulous regatta winning the first race today to seal the deal and be the new World Champion. Sophie de Turckheim from France also sailed a great day with a 2, 3 to finish second overall.
Sari and Sophie sailed a very good regatta and deserved to be on top. Congratulations. I was very happy with my position. My goal coming in was to be top three overall. I wasn’t quite expecting the wind to be as much as it was, so to finish third in the breeze makes me feel quite good too.” — Anna Tunnicliffe,

Top ten final results:
1. Sari Multala, FIN, 33 points
2. Sophie de Turckheim, FRA, 42
3. Anna Tunnicliffe, USA, 46
4. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 52
5. Lijia Xi, CHN, 55
6. Evi Van Acker, BEL, 60
7. Sarah Steyaert, FRA, 64
8. Annalise Murphy, IRL, 76
9. Alberte Lindberg, DEN, 83
10. Francesca Clapcich, ITA, 92
Full results: events.laserinternational.org

SAILING – Medemblik, Holland

Olympic aspirants completed the 4th of 5 major Spring European events that make up the annual training regimen gearing up for the London 2012 Olympics.

US Kaenon Polarized Results were:
3. Women’s 470, Erin Maxwell/ Isabelle Kinsolving (USA)- Hard Kore

4. Laser Radial, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) – Beacon

5. Star, Andrew Campbell/ Brad Nichol (USA) – Hard Kore / Kore

7. Star, Mark Mendelblatt/ Mark Strube (USA) – Hard Kore

SAILING

ROLEX US YACHTSMAN AND YACHTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR CEREMONY

New York Yacht Club (Manhattan, NYC) – The New York Yacht Club’s renowned Model Room was the setting for celebrating Terry Hutchinson’s (Annapolis, Md.) and Anna Tunnicliffe’s (Plantation, Fla.) 2008 competitive sailing achievements as family, friends, sailing dignitaries and members of the press looked on. Terry races in Kore and Rhino, Anna in Beacon, Baton and Georgia.

Determined from nominations submitted by the members of US SAILING, a short list of nine male and five female sailors was evaluated by a panel of sailing journalists who ultimately selected Hutchinson and Tunnicliffe the 2008 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year.

Hutchinson (age 40), a first-time winner, redefined himself as a well-rounded fleet racer after emerging from his stint as tactician aboard Emirates Team New Zealand in the 32nd America’s Cup. He racked up four major European victories in the TP52 before skippering to become that class’s World Champion. He also scored major U.S. regatta victories in the Farr 40, Melges 24, M30 and Melges 32 classes, also as tactician.

Tunnicliffe (age 26), also a first-time winner, was cited for her rise to number one in the world rankings and her gold-medal performance in the Laser Radial at the 2008 Olympic Games in China. Her excellent 2008 sailing resume made her the panel’s unanimous choice for the award. Read the full story at USSailing.org

SAILING

Kaenon Polarized Sailors Terry Hutchinson and Anna Tunnicliffe Win 2008 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards

TP52 World Champion Terry Hutchinson (Kore, Rhino) and Laser Radial Olympic Gold Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe (Beacon, Georgia, Baton) today were named US SAILING’s 2008 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. A shortlist of nine male and five female sailors – determined from nominations submitted by members of US SAILING – was evaluated by a panel of sailing journalists who selected these two sailors for the noteworthy distinction.

Nominated 4 times prior, Terry Hutchinson earned the coveted award as members of the selection panel remarked that in 2008 Hutchinson had “redefined himself” after he “emerged from the America’s Cup to be an awesome fleet racer.” Hutchinson got the year rolling as tactician aboard Jim Richardson’s Farr 40 Barking Mad, which won Acura Key West and Acura Miami Grand Prix. Switching to the TP52 and moving into the skipper’s position, Hutchinson racked up four major victories in Europe to win the Audi MedCup series, followed a month later by winning the TP52 World Championship and Melges 24 North Americans.

Anna Tunnicliffe, who wore Kaenon’s Beacon to win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, was also nominated to the award’s shortlist for the fourth consecutive year and was the unanimous choice of the panel, all of whom ranked her first in the voting that determines the honoree. Cited by one panelist for “an unbelievable year” culminating with victory in China, Tunnicliffe rose in the world rankings in the Laser Radial class as she worked toward fulfilling her goal of winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Also recognized by the Rolex judging panel for his tremendous accomplishments in sailing was Paralympic Champion Nick Scandone (Hard Kore Rx, Beacon Rx), a religious wearer of Kaenon Polarized Rx who died last Friday after a 6-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“What Nick overcame in 2008 went far beyond the limited scope of the Rolex award, and his story will not soon be forgotten,” said one Rolex judge.

In addition, Kaenon Polarized also swept the prestigious Rolex World Sailors of the Year awards when Brit Ben Ainslie and Italian Alessandra Sensini won timepieces in recognition of being the most outstanding sailors in 2008.  Like Rolex, Kaenon Polarized is synonymous with excellence, as represented as the sunglass and lens technology these great sailors rely on for protection and visibility to win races.

To get the complete report: http://www.ussailing.org/awards/rolex/

SAILING

Back-to-Back Gold is the Ultimate Aim for Kaenon Polarized Sailor and Beijing Olympic Champion, Anna Tunnicliffe

Stepping back into a Laser Radial dinghy for the inaugural event of the ISAF Sailing World Cup – Sail Melbourne this week, Beijing Gold-Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe (Beacon G12) isn’t resting on her Olympic laurels quite yet – evidenced by an impressive start to the ISAF Sailing World Cup season. Topping the leaderboard in the Laser Radial class, the 24-year-old worked her way through the field to post a third, second and first respectively to lead the regatta on six points. Her adaptability to challenging conditions makes her an early favorite for the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup trophy, with the seven World Cup events across Oceania, North America and Europe sure to provide a wide range of very different sailing conditions and challenges.

As for another Olympic medal, Tunnicliffe said, “I’m a pretty driven person and I try to succeed at whatever I set my mind to – it would be fantastic to win another gold medal but I know it will probably be harder again this time. But if I do it again, it will just prove it was worth all of the effort I’ve put in … but right now I’m just thinking of the small goals that I have to achieve to get there.”

Read more from Sail Melbourner here – http://www.sailing.org/26527.php