Clearwater Beach sailor Zach Railey acknowledges victory just seconds after qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
CLEARWATER BEACH – Members of the Clearwater Yacht Club on Clearwater Beach have five good reasons to be feeling mighty proud these days – one in particular. The club will be represented by Zach Railey at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Five of the club’s young sailors, all either current members or graduates of the CYC Youth Sailing Program, qualified to compete at the USA Olympic Sailing Trials last week in Newport, R.I. and Newport Beach, Calif. Only one sailor from each class of board won the right to represent their country at the 2008 Olympics, set for Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China.
The CYC sailors competing in Newport were: Laser Class – Brad Funk (No. 1 in the country) and Kurt Taulbee; Laser Radial Class – Paige Railey (No. 2 in the country and recent Pan Am Games gold medalist) and Emily Billing.
Across the country in Newport Beach, Zach Railey (No. 1 in the country) competed in the Finn Class trials. Railey went on to win the competition and nab the single spot available to represent the USA in the Finn sailing competition in Beijing.
“It is truly an amazing accomplishment that a tiny club like Clearwater Yacht Club has been able to nurture so many Olympic class sailors. Our club is very proud of them as should be the city of Clearwater and the people of Tampa Bay,” said Diane Gustard of the CYC.
Competition on both coasts was fierce and full of nail-biting suspense for all four days. After leading the field throughout 16 Laser trials, CYC’s Brad Funk and his strongest challenger, Andrew Campbell ended up in a tie. After applying Racing Rules of Sailing tiebreaker procedures, Campbell took first place and the Olympic berth.
As expected, the Laser Radials turned into a two-woman battle between Paige Railey and Anna Tunicliffe of Fort Lauderdale. At the end of 15 hard-fought races, Tunicliffe came in first and Railey second. Only four points separated these two champions and between the two of them they won 13 first places out of 15 races. CYC’s Emily Billing, who at 16 is years younger than most of the competitors, finished with an amazing sixth place win. Kurt Taulbee finished in 15th place.
Fairlie Brinkley, past commodore of the CYC, was in Newport during the trials and e-mailed daily reports back to Clearwater. After the thrilling competition, he commented, “To see these youth sailing team members grow into champions and sail in the Olympic Trials is a tribute to them and to the Clearwater Yacht Club. And to see Zach Railey mature into an Olympic contestant is an honor for us all. It will stay in our hearts and memories forever.”
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