(Press release issued by US Sailing)

Portsmouth, R.I. (October 4, 2005) – US SAILING, national governing body for the sport, announced today that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Team Trials for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in October 2007 in two parts of the country: Southern California and Rhode Island.

The decision on the location was made after several months of carefully evaluating all the aspects that needed to be taken into consideration. “We wanted to make sure we could offer all of the athletes an opportunity to compete in great sailing conditions and there are several of those around the country,” said Dean Brenner, Chairman of US SAILING’s Olympic Sailing Committee. “In the end, we needed to go with what we felt was best for the sailors. We are confident that this decision will help us produce the strongest U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. These organizations will be great partners and we are looking forward to a great event.”

The classes and host yacht clubs will be divided as follows:
Southern California sailing organizations will host
• Star (California Yacht Club),
• RS:X and 470 Men & Women (Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and US Sailing Center of Long Beach),
• Finn (Newport Harbor Yacht Club),
• Tornado and 49er (San Diego and Southwestern Yacht Clubs)
The Rhode Island Sailing Foundation (comprised of New York Yacht Club, Ida Lewis Yacht Club and Sail Newport) will host
• Yngling
• Laser and Laser Radial
• Sonar
• 2.4mR
• A new Paralympic class which will be announced next month

Over the next few months, US SAILING’s Olympic Sailing Committee will work with the host organizations to finalize all aspects of the events, including exact dates and race formats.

The selection process for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams is the responsibility of US SAILING, national governing body for the sport. Headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US SAILING’s mission is to encourage participation and promote excellence in sailing in the U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including the US Sailing Teams and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.