Jan. 10, 2004 

USC, Point Loma HS Win Wet and Windy Rose Bowl   

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LONG BEACH, Calif.---Unperturbed by cool temperatures and occasionally heavy rains, the USC and Point Loma High School sailing teams claimed class victories in the 20th annual Rose Bowl Regatta Sunday.

The No. 2-ranked Trojans, led by two-time all-American Mikee Anderson, topped runner-up UC Irvine and 22 other college teams from across the country, while 17-year-old Adam Roberts led Point Loma over 52 high school teams from California and Hawaii. 

USC was the official host of the largest combined collegiate and high school regatta in the country. The US Sailing Center and nearby Alamitos Bay Yacht Club organized the event, with the latter serving as host facility. 

The teams, each consisting of four or more sailors, sailed 14-foot, two-person Club/Collegiate Flying Juniors (CFJs) in 12 rounds of racing, rotating boats off the beach next to ABYC and the US Sailing Center on the protected bay adjacent to the Long Beach Marina.

The high school teams were split into Gold and Silver divisions based on previous performance. The Gold shared Alamitos Bay with the collegians; the Silver competed on the smaller bay fronting the Sailing Center.

On Saturday, like the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day, the event caught a window in the series of rainstorms that have drenched California since Christmas. The 300-plus sailors enjoyed relatively dry, if overcast, sailing in 8-10 knots of breeze.

Sunday was a tighter window, preceded by a heavy downpour that abated before launch time. It was chased by a consistent southerly breeze of 16-20 knots that later brought an encore of more rain for the last four rounds.

It seemed the conditions would test the mettle of the boats and crews but, while parents and coaches huddled under canopies on the beach, the sailors took it all in stride.

"It was actually refreshing," Anderson said. "When you're sailing you're getting wet, anyway. When the rain squalls came in it did make it tough to see the [wind] pressure, though."

USC's A boat with Anderson edged UC Irvine's A boat with skipper rank Tybor by one point. Anderson, switching crew from lightweight Vanessa Decollibus on Saturday to the heavier Greg Helias on Sunday, won three of the 12 races with worst finishes of seventh and eighth.

Tybor, alternating between crew Whitney Loufek and William Pochereva, won two with worst scores of eighth and ninth.

USC's B boat boosted the overall winning margin over UCI to 85-120 by winning 5 of 12 races.

Brown University, ranked No. 1 nationally, placed 10th overall but, like other Eastern entries, lacked its strongest sailors. The Providence, R.I. school was represented by skipper Isaac Stoner and two men and two women from Northern California who were still on holiday break.

"We're kind of third-string JVs," Stoner said.

But he started off strong with a 1-2 in the first two races.

Roberts, coming off a win with Marla Menninger in a 95-boat 420 class in the Orange Bowl Regatta at Miami, Fla. two weeks earlier,  sailed Point Loma's varsity boat with Megan Magill. Tyler Sinks was the JV skipper, alternating with Ben Todter and Brennan Clark as crew.

Complete results

MORE INFORMATION

United States Sailing Center

(562) 433-7939

www.ussclb.org

Rich Roberts

Press Officer

(310) 835-2526

richsail@earthlink.net