News       


Long Beach . California                                                            10-06-2007

Day 1:  Getting some mistakes out
A quick pre-regatta update:  My board arrived on Thursday and there was plenty of time to set it up and get my gear organized, thanks to the timely action of the folks at Adventure Sports.  I am really happy with the board, it is light with a good gasket for the daggerboard, and it is fast.  I had two good days of training and doing some practice races with the boys, and then spent Friday relaxing, watching movies and exploring Huntington Beach before the racing.   
We had a normal October sea breeze here in Long Beach, and normal temperatures in the mid 70’s with plenty of sun.  Today we completed two windward-leeward races.  As the wind filled in, conditions went from marginal planing to full planing.  The first race the girls were using the daggerboard for the upwind.  Although I had a great start, I had some trouble pointing here and lost a lot of ground on the second upwind, resulting in a 4th place finish.  However, on the second race I made a comeback.  The wind had filled in to about 12-13 knots, planing conditions.  Our starting line was extremely short and I didn’t have a good start, hitting the pin end of the line.  However, I had good boardspeed and made really good time to the upwind mark.  We had some confusion as to which mark to round…during the previous race, the committee had changed the upwind mark but failed to remove the previous mark.  As I had seen the men round the farthest mark, I headed up there but saw the other competitors rounding the lower mark beneath me.  I was really angry but jibed around and sailed downwind in third place, after having been first.  I had good speed downwind.  When we were finally at the leeward gate, the mark boat signaled that there was the change and we were supposed to have used the furthest windward mark.  I had good speed again and pulled ahead of the other girls to finish first. 
All in all there were some crazy, glaring mistakes…but the butterflies have come out and I’ll be able to focus.  I was somewhat sick this morning after eating breakfast which also was throwing me off a little...I could feel it when I was tacking. Good thing my coach is cooking for me now!
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Farrah 
My coach’s view:
It was a very nice racing day.  Farrah was starting very well but made  small mistakes  in the first race when  pushed her to 4th.  However, in the second race when there were planing conditions, Farrah was the fastest girl and even small mistakes did not stop her.
Good job overall, and now she must forget about this day and focus for tomorrow’s racing.

Click to view full size image

     Hi everyone,

As you may have seen from my website, I have been keeping my plans under wraps for the past month.  Well, now I’m back at home in Maryland and Judgment Day is upon me….the first race of the US Olympic Trials, in Long Beach, CA, starts in just a week.  In case you don’t know, this regatta determines who will be the representative for the USA in the 2008 Olympic Games.  There is no second place….just one winner.  As I enter this regatta I feel confident in knowing that I have trained hard this season and am really well-prepared physically and mentally.  I have had some great help with fund raising, and I know that I have done all that I can to prepare logistically for the regatta.  There isn’t much room for being nervous (although there are a few butterflies!) because in the past few months I have learned a lot about being in competition.  Now it is time to focus, race the best that I can, and win. 
I have been home for a little over a week and a half (it’s really great to be back), and there has been adequate time to rest from my travels.  On Monday I depart for Long Beach.  I will update my site daily after racing and also send out emails.  You will also be able to read about the regatta and view results for each Olympic class at http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials/. 
Keep me in your thoughts…and happy fall sailing,
Farrah

               


06-11-2007

Hi everyone, here are the latest updates from Cyprus...you can also get them on my website, www.farrah-hall.com  (News).

My mother is worried about me.  Since departing Poland and arriving in Limassol, Cyprus, she is concerned that I am surrounded by hostile Muslim countries that will want to harm her sweet little blonde, blue-eyed American daughter. “Stay in Cyprus,” she says.  “Don’t go visit anywhere else!”  I understand that her Mom instinct is in full alert, but when I look around me, I have to laugh because I am in the midst of a bustling, bright city that is swarming with cheerful British tourists sporting lobster red sunburns. To me, the setting is a familiar one and I have transitioned back into training and race mode.   

Olympic campaigns center around logistics...and here is a great example of the complications that are a normal occurrence can happen while moving from here to there.  I rented a car from a friend of the Polish youth team coach, to drive 9 hours to Zator, Poland where I have family (another story!).  I tried to take good care of the car, and in Zator it stayed locked in a garage.  I flew from Warsaw, so I drove there (5 hours) and parked the car at the airport while I was arranging logistics for the equipment on the flight, which left at 6:30 a.m.  During the 45 minutes I was gone, some dirty thief stole the Toyota logo off the front of the car!  Shortly afterwards, the coach and his friend show up (he has business in Warsaw) to deliver me my equipment and take the car back to Sopot…of course, now it looks like I haven’t taken care of the car…I also had so many presents from my wonderful, generous family that I couldn’t take them to Cyprus, so I have to leave them with Romek.  Also the board is not ready for the flight, so we have to speed over to the hardware store to find some pipe insulation to pack it with…we pack the board back at the airport, Romek leaves for another town for business, and I curl up on a bench to wait for the flight, 12 hours away (at that point it was too complicated for a hotel).   At 1:00 a.m. the security guard tells me in Polish to please go outside and wait, with all my gear.  So for 2 hours I curl up next to my gear with my jacket on top of me to fight against the cold.  At 3:30 a.m. I open an eye and notice that the other tired, cold people have ventured back into the airport, so back inside I go with the windsurfer.  4:00 a.m. I brush my teeth, wash my face and prepare for the flight.  Airport is full of tired British kids.  4:30 I am standing in line checking in.  5:30 I am finally in front of the checkin counter…5:45 I am confronting an irate security guard who is wondering why I haven’t dragged my equipment with me through a crowded line to the counter (impossible feat).  6:00 I have checked in the gear, watched the luggage handler bounce it on the ground, and am in the security line to the gate.  I don’t remember most of the flight as I was passed out.  Second leg of the flight I found an abandoned book.  Upon arrival in Cyprus, from the airplane comes a truckload of boards. Hurrah!  I found a cab that was willing to take me and the gear, but we couldn’t find the sailing club.  It didn’t help that I fell asleep in the cab as soon as I sat down.  We left all the gear at my hotel, and finally I got to sleep after 36 hours of semi-consciousness.  The next morning, I dragged the gear 2 km from the hotel to the club.  Good thing it has wheels…I was getting all kinds of attention from passersby and cars on the road!   
 
Anyway we are just starting the regatta here.  Yesterday we had 25 knots of breeze for the practice race!  However, today the breeze began to die, and we raced in mostly marginal conditions.  The committee is using a trapezoid course with a slalom finish, which is fun in planing conditions, but a bear in light wind when we’re not planing.  We had three races today and everyone is pretty exhausted as marginal conditions are tough physically.  Marginal conditions require many judgment calls as sailors must decide whether to use the daggerboard or not.  Sometimes we will put the daggerboard up or down a few times during one upwind leg!  My first race I didn’t make good decisions with the daggerboard, so I ended up behind the bulk of the fleet on the first upwind leg.  My next two races were better, though, and I found that all the practicing of starts that I had done last month was paying off, and I was automatically putting myself in good spots on the line.   Keep updated on the race at http://www.rsxclass.com/europeans.html.  

...and here's part 2....

It's our regatta lay day here in Cyprus, and everyone is staying far away from the sailing club.  Two more days of racing to go before the medal race and the end of the regatta.  

We finished up the "qualifying series" yesterday with one race in 25 knots of breeze.  Since there is only one fleet of women we don't have to stay on the men's schedule, but the race committee wants to keep the men and women on the same schedule.  That means two races tomorrow, and two on Wednesday.   Although I had a bad start yesterday, my upwind speed and pointing has improved quite a bit and I was able to keep up with the fleet.  My board handling has also improved noticeably. However, finding laylines when you're planing can be fairly difficult.  I found myself overshooting the layline by a little bit, due to my poor pointing abilities in the past.  Of course there will be lots of time to correct this habit.  I just wish there had been one more race! 


Happy summer sailing...

Farrah

 

US SAILING STATEMENT ON RIOS-HALL HEARINGS


The US RS:X Women's Olympic Trials Jury conducted two hearings on April 8and 9, 2008 in Providence, Rhode Island. The first hearing was a reopeningof a request for redress filed by Nancy Rios (USA 323) after the last race
at the US Olympic Trials held in October 2007. The hearing was conducted "de novo" (that is from the beginning with all testimony from the prior hearing disregarded) on April 8th. After hearing all evidence, the jury granted redress to Ms Rios. Farrah Hall (
USA 3) then requested redress based on the jury's decision. The hearing on Ms. Hall's request for redress commenced at 9 AM on April 9th and ended at 10 PM. The jury concluded the evening by stating that it would render a decision as soon as possible.
 

At issue were a tear in Ms Rios' sail caused in a collision with a competitor required to keep clear and the time Ms Rios took to recover her sail and resume racing. The collision took place at the start of the final race in the Olympic Trials. At that time Ms Rios was winning the regatta. .Both Ms Hall and Ms Rios agreed that the tear occurred in that incident,
and that the tear affected. Ms Rios' performance. Both athletes also agreed that the collision caused Ms Rios to lose some time. The athletes disagreed, however, on the extent to which Ms Rios was affected. -- Read on: http://www.ussailing.org/News/2008/rios_hall_statement.asp
 
* Curmudgeon's Comment: We understand that if Hall is dissatisfied with the result of her redress hearing, she will follow through with all the options that remain: a complaint to the US Sailing Review Board, two complaints already filed with the US Olympic Committee, and the hearing already scheduled with the American Arbitration Association on May 21-23. For Rios, she will wait to decide on her next move following the results of Fall's redress hearing.


Great news!  Windsurfing here to stay in 2012 Olympic Games. 
 
 Windsurfing has been in the Olympic Games since 1984, so why after 23 years did it run a risk of being taking out of the Olympic Games?  As you can image this is a very good but weighted question that has many different view points and perspectives with underlying issues of politics, governing bodies, passionate individuals pulling in all sorts of directions. After only a year of windsurfing and a half a year of being involved in Olympic windsurfing I have only begun to understand the complexity of that answer.  Most Americans do not even know what windsurfing is or that is an Olympic sport. This lack of awareness only is a small part of the challenge that the few American windsurfers who dare to dream and dare to make their Olympic dream come true face.  The Olympic Games is not just not about taking part but about the journey to get there.  I glad to say the journey continues...to 2012.

Congratulations to all of those who participated in 2007 US Olympic Trials. Best wishes to Nancy Rios and Ben Barger who have earned the opportunity to represent the United States in 2008 Games.  Let the journey to 2012 Games begin...Dare to Dream, Dare to Achieve, and Dare to Live those Dreams.
 
Denise parris
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ISAF DECIDES ON 2012 OLYMPIC EVENTS
(November 9, 2007) The ten sailing events for the 2012 Olympic Games have
been decided by the ISAF Council during the 2007 ISAF Annual
Conference.Today
in Estoril, Portugal, ISAF President Göran Petersson led the ISAF Council in
over two hours of debate and discussion before the ten events were decided.
The final slate of events was voted on by the members of the ISAF Council,
which is formed of the ISAF Executive Committee (elected for a four-year
term
in November 2004), 28 appointed members (representing each of the regional
groups of sailing nations), and representatives of the Offshore Committee,
ISAF Classes Committee and a Women's Representative. The selection of the
ten
events is subject to final confirmation from the International Olympic
Committee.

The ten events selected by the ISAF Council for the 2012 Olympic Sailing
Competition are:
One person dinghy - Men
One person dinghy heavy - Men
Two person dinghy - Men
Two person dinghy high performance - Men
Windsurfer - Men
Keelboat - Men
One person dinghy - Women
Two person dinghy - Women
Keelboat match racing - Women
Windsurfer - Women

The ten sailing events at the 2012 London Olympic Games will be held at the
Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. The equipment for the ten
sailing events at the 2012 Games will be selected by the ISAF Council in
November 2008. -- Complete report:
http://www.sailing.org/21257.php?PHPSESSID=6d273468a056938f11b4998f9f864c32

=> Curmudgeon’s Comment: The International Olympic Committee told ISAF that
they had to reduce the number of events from the eleven that will
participate
in the 2008 Olympic in Qingdao, down to ten events for the 2012 Games. If
you are trying to figure out what got changed, the list of events is the
same
except the multihull got eliminated.

The complete Friday Issue 2472 can be found here:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=3788


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Day 5:  Hanging on with smart sailing
 
This morning was colder and cloudier than usual, which made the sea breeze very weak and late in coming.  We had two races in non-planing conditions and in both the wind was very light, 8 knots or less.   Again the right side of the course was favored and it was just a race to see who could get to the right spot the fastest.  My board speed had improved over the past few days as I got more dialed into the conditions and I was able to hang with the lightweight girls better.  Although I was definitely not as fast upwind, I had good downwind speed.  I made good decisions as to where to go on the downwind course, covered a few sailors, and finished with two second places.  It is becoming a battle of the conditions as Nancy Rios is really fast in the light wind, and I do well when it starts getting windy.  Nancy took the day with two firsts, but I was really happy that I could hang in there with two second places and overall was pleased with my performance today.
enlarged photo
 
enlarged photo
My coach says:
 
The light wind can be a problem for Farrah but today she proved that she can be really fast.  There is of course more work to do but overall this was a really good day, and she is still leading.  We are ready for tomorrow when there will be some planing conditions and she will increase her lead.  Now she must relax for the work tomorrow.
enlarged photo

Day 4:  Taking it back

First of all…check out my website for new pictures of the event!!   http://farrah-hall.com/photos/index.php

This morning, I looked outside and saw the sea breeze starting to fill early.  Sure enough, by race time, we had about 15 knots of breeze…which built to about 20 by the time the boys started.  We had some crazy puffs of about 25 coming through the start as we all prepared for the signal.  I started on port and struggled to keep my board down, but had clear air.  I rounded the windward mark first, but there was a lot of trash and kelp floating in the water and I hit a long strand of kelp which wrapped itself around my fin. I had to stop and clear the fin, and Karen Marriott went by me.  I spent the other two laps of the race trying to catch up to her as she is fast in the breeze.  The last lap of the race, the wind started to become light.  As the wind dropped to about 12 knots, I began to catch Karen on the downwind.  Then I had a lucky break:  She caught a piece of trash on her fin and had to stop and clear it…and I went by her to finish first.  It was a very close race!!


 
The second race also had about 12-15 knots of breeze, but the wind was dying and there were lots of holes.  The right was again favored and the fleet was consistently going that way.  I had a port start and had to duck some of the other girls but going to the right really paid off.  I planed all of the upwind legs but a few girls were sailing with the daggerboard down, and we all met up at the windward mark.  However my downwind sailing was consistently better.  Because the wind was dying, the committee shortened the course drastically on the last leg.  I rounded the bottom mark first but the sun was so low I couldn’t see the new upwind mark.  I went high on the right and got nervous so decided to tack.  Good thing I did…I had overshot the new layline a little bit.  I again finished first.

Two bullets in a row put me into first place by a couple points.  I now have to defend my place.  This is a good regatta with some mixed up results.

My coach says: 
It was a really beautiful day.  We were waiting for the wind and finally it came.  I am for sure happy that she won both races.  Now we need two more days like this!

Day 3:  There’s always hope

What a crazy day!  Today the seabreeze was lazy and took its time filling in.  The first race had light, non planing conditions of about 5 knots.  I had another good start by the boat and everyone went left to catch the filling breeze.  The girls have good speed in light wind and I was fourth around the windward mark.  I had two good downwind legs and finished third, which was a good finish for me in the light wind.

The second race was really crazy.  By this time the seabreeze had started to fill in to about 8 knots.  I expected the left to again be favored, since the breeze had only just begun to fill and there was good pressure over there.  Unfortunately it ended up being the wrong choice because there was a shift that made the right side favored.  I went up the left with Nancy, but we rounded third and fourth.  After another downwind (thankfully planing this time) I went the right way, but was really far behind.  I decided to try something crazy to catch up and started planing upwind, which was going great until the wind started to die again.  I again rounded the upwind mark in fourth…quite far behind the others.  I was fighting really hard to stay planing.  However, I again had a decent downwind leg and finished third.

Two third places today was a little disappointing, but the regatta has only just begun.  We have ten more races, in which anything could happen.  There are two more races tomorrow and then follows our lay day.

My coach’s view:
Today Farrah made some good decisions to fix the mistakes she made while racing today.   We talked about the last race for a while to make sure she knew her mistakes and can correct them tomorrow.  In every race there is always the possibility to do well even if you have made mistakes.
Olympic Trials:  Day 2

Although temperature were normal here in Long Beach today, there was a lot of wind drainage from the northwest affecting the sea breeze.  Today’s first race, right on time, had about 4 knots of wind with a current running 90 degrees to the wind direction.  I had a great start but my boardspeed was not so good.  I was pointing too high and my sail had a little too much downhaul.  I was fourth around the top mark, had a good downwind and caught the other girls at the downwind gate…but tacked over too early to get onto the lifting side of the current and was on the wrong side of the course to catch the sea breeze filling in.  Ouch!  Unfortunately it resulted in another 4th place finish.

The second race had much better conditions as the sea breeze filled in to about 12 knots.  The first upwind leg wasn’t planing conditions and I was third around the windward mark, but blasted by the other girls on the downwind, and created a huge lead.  The second upwind was planing and I increased the lead with superior boardspeed.  I finished first…the same score as yesterday!  For results see   http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials/


My coach says:
Today we were sailing near a huge oil rig platform with lots of seals sitting on the frame underneath. The start line was about 100 meters from the oil rig so they could see everyone sailing.  The seals looked really bored because Farrah was sailing the same as yesterday.  What can I say?  It was a great day.  With the a 4th and 1st place finish, Farrah remains in second place with one point away from first.  This was a nice beginning to the regatta and I hope that there will be more drama tomorrow.   

Farrah Hall
Nancy Rios
,  

18. Born: Orange County, CA

#1 on the US Sailing Team in RS: X class for the second year in a row

Nancy has been windsurfing for four years.

In 2004 and 2005 spent time as a sailing instructor for Collier County Parks and Recreation teaching the basic of sailing for special needs, children and adults

Nancy has participated at windsurfing events at the local, national and international level.

2003 - ISAF Youth World Championships – Madeira, Portugal

- Calema Midwinters Merritt Island, FL

-USA Olympic Trials – Jensen Beach, FL

2004 - ISAF Youth World Championships – Gydnia, Poland

2005- Island Style Classic/ North American Master Championships Sarasota, Florida

-Calema Midwinters Merritt Island, FL

2006 - US Sailing Team Trials – Miami, FL

- ISAF Youth World Championships – Weymouth, England

-Calema Midwinters Merritt Island, FL

- Olympic Test Event – Qingdao, China

-US Olympic Pre Trials- Long Beach, California

2007 - North American Championships Miami, FL

- US Sailing Team Trials – Miami, FL

Future Events:

2007 June - ISAF World Sailing Championship - Portugal

2007 July - Pan American Games - Brazil

2007 August - Pre Olympics - Qingdao, China

2007 October – US Olympic Trials - Long beach, California (winner represents USA at the 2008 Olympic Games)


FARRAH HALL 

Olympic quest a full-time job

Broadneck grad holds No. 2 spot on U.S. windsurfing team

By WENDI WINTERS, For The Capital


Kids trolling the local waters on their sailboards might not be beach bums avoiding chores at home after all - they could be future Olympians.

Twenty-five-year-old Farrah Hall, a 1999 graduate of Broadneck High School, currently is the No. 2-ranked woman on the Olympic-bound U.S. National Team. She's moved up from No. 5 in 2005.

"The discipline practiced in the Olympics is course racing and is similar in format to sailboat regattas," Farrah said. "Races are run on the same 'trapezoid' and 'windward-leeward' courses as the other Olympic-class sailboats. These courses incorporate upwind, reaching, and downwind legs. Olympic-format regattas consist of 16 races over 9 days, with a typical day of competition consisting of two or three 45-minute races. All this adds up for some very intense competition."

Currently, the only thing that stands between Farrah and the No. 1 slot is Nancy Rios of Coco Beach, Fla., and money. It takes a lot of time and a modest amount of cash - a fraction of what Tiger Woods gets for one wristwatch commercial - to mount and maintain an Olympic campaign.

Only the woman in the No. 1 position is sent to the Olympics to represent the U.S. The No. 2 person is expected to attend as an alternate, but has to pay her own way.

Not too long ago, the blue-eyed, blonde Bruins track star was knocking around in the waters off Cape St. Claire, instead of practicing her violin for Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra concerts.

"We purchased a second-hand sailboat when she was around 13, and the owner threw in a windsurf board and sail as a freebie," recalled her mother, Linda Hall, a Cape St. Claire resident and art instructor at Annapolis High School. The Halls live across the street from Lake Claire.

"She really took to it," said Mrs. Hall. "Farrah would sail down the Magothy towards the Bay, but there sometimes wasn't enough wind to carry her back. She'd sit out there and wait for passing boats to give her a tow back to the Cape's main beach."

Besides violin, which she's played since she was 3, Farrah's focus in high school was on track. In the 1 and 2 mile races, she was ranked 4th in Maryland. She's run the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C., the B&A Trail Half Marathon, the Chesapeake Triathalon and various Thanksgiving Turkey Trots. From kindergarten through sixth grade, she was an avid swimmer on the Naval Academy Junior Swim Club team.

At Broadneck High, she wasn't voted "most likely" to do anything. "I wasn't part of that crowd," Farrah laughed. "I was pretty much a nerd in high school. I was so into running that was all I wanted to do." She also was a member of the school orchestra, as well as the All County and All State Orchestras.

Still, in the summer, she'd head out on the water and learned by herself how to bend the wind to her will.

At St. Mary's college, where she earned a B.A. in Biology, she was an award-winning member of the varsity swim team. In her sophomore year, her interest shifted to windsurfing and she began a club, which initially attracted three members. They started with some old longboards and rigs she'd haggled for at a local swap meet.

When Mike Gephardt, a two-time Olympic medalist, visited the campus on a recruiting trip, Farrah learned for the first time that windsurfing was an Olympic sport. She was hooked.

"The club grew so big, by her senior year, the college put up a new building on the waterfront," Mrs. Hall said. "The club was taking over the sailing space!"

About her name, her mother noted, it was selected when actress Farrah Fawcett was in celebrity ascendancy. "Farrah blended nicely with our last name. Her father wanted 'Dolly,' but I said NO!"

William Hall is an electronics engineer for Northrup Grumman, near BWI. Sole sibling Nathan, 23, works for Constellation Energy in Annapolis.

Farrah lives a nomadic life. She has an open job when she's in Florida, as a member of the biological research staff in seagrass ecology at the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg. When in town, she rents a small room. The rest of the time, traversing the U.S. to attend windsurfing regattas and pre-Olympic qualifying trials on both coasts, she lives in her battered minivan.

Learning she slept most nights on her equipment bag, a friend recently installed a bed in the van.

"All I own is my board and some equipment," Farrah admitted. "My clothes fit in one bag and there's some room for my book library, my violin and a guitar. Oh, and a banjo I bought, but I'm too busy to learn."

"I have no boyfriend and no pets. Those are impossible with the lifestyle I have right now," she added wryly.

In 2006, she crisscrossed the country several times in her van and flew to regattas in Spain, Austria, Poland, Turkey and in Qingdao, China, where the 2008 Olympics will be held.

Usually, most airlines offer free or discounted rates for the young Olympians and their huge, unwieldy baggage containing their sailboards, sails and equipment. But, Mrs. Hall, who traveled to China to cheer on the American athletes, recounted how a Russian airline employee stubbornly insisted Farrah pay $2,500 to depart China for a flight that landed in Moscow, en route to Vienna. A friend argued with the belligerent official until five minutes before the flight. Finally, he allowed them to board, but wanted $250 each.

In a carefully detailed spreadsheet, Farrah plots out her expenses for the year ahead. Her single board is getting ratty from abuse in the water and at airports, and most Olympians own one regular board and a spare. Equipment costs were $6,197 in 2006. Airfare and regatta-related expenses last year were $7,600. Coaching by Olympic medalist Mike Gebhardt was $2,000.

"Between my work in Florida and donations, if I got $30,000 a year, I could hold down a real apartment and fly to U.S. regattas," she said wistfully. Contributions to the Farrah Hall Olympic Campaign are tax deductible. Details and sponsorship levels can be viewed on her Web site, www.farrah-hall.com. Donations can be made in the form of product discounts, products, cash or a salary arrangement.

She's pleased with a couple of sponsors already lined up: Flow Yoga in Hood River, Ore., where she often sails, gives her free yoga lessons when she's in town. One sponsor gives her a regular supply of energy bars. Closer to home is Alan's Factory Outlet in Hughesville. "Friends and family have helped a lot over the years. They've been there when I needed help," Farrah said.

 


Coming up this month are two important regattas over a three-week period in Miami: The RS:X (the official type of board) North American Regatta on Thursday, followed by the Miami Olympic Class Regatta on Jan. 21. "That will give us our ranking in the U.S. for 2007 - it's the one that counts," Farrah said.

In October, there are regattas in Long Beach, Calif., to determine who will go to the Olympics in 2008.

Looking ahead, she's already thinking about another campaign for the 2012 Olympics. Or, she may head to grad school. Her long-term game plan is to earn a Ph.D. and teach college level ecology.

Right now, though, she's reaching for the elusive brass ring - make that the five gold rings that represent the Olympics. "She's sacrificed a lot. She has her heart set on this," said her mom. "She's really driven."

Wendi Winters is a freelance writer living on the Broadneck Peninsula.

- No Jumps-

Published January 07, 2007, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2007
The Capital, Annapolis, Md.


The Rolex Miami OCR                                                 

                                                                                                                         Jan 21-27 2007

Reports by : 

 Eric Rahnenfuehrer US-136

The Olympic Class Regatta is being held in Biscayne Bay south of the US Sailing Center. The windsurfing class is the RSX board. There are nine Americans competing in a mostly international event. Four men, a junior and four women are sailing hard every day. Results are posted on www.rolexmiamiocr.org/results.

The men are Ben Barger, Bob Willis, Mark Powell, and Eric Rahnenfuehrer. The junior is Jimi Sobek. The women are Nancy Rios, Farrah Hall, Karen Marriott, and Sedef Koktenturk.

Monday Day 1 Light southerly winds These were conditions for daggerboard down sailing. Two races each were held for men and women. The first man’s race was a three lap event followed by a two lap race. This means lots of pumping especially downwind.

Tuesday Day 2 Light southerly winds The morning was spent waiting on the beach under the postponement flag. The Discovery Travel channel was interviewing US sailors. The single race for each fleet was held that afternoon. It was a two lap affair.

Wednesday Day 3 Light increasing southeast winds. The first race of the afternoon was a dagger down two lap pumpfest. The second race had dagger down for most sailors during the first lap with dagger up planning upwind as the afternoon breeze filled in. The top American results after five races are Ben Barger in 14th place, Jimi Sobek in32ndand Nancy Rios in 20th.The plan for Thursday is three races each Thursday afternoon when the wind picks up to planning conditions. Friday’s forecast is also for more wind. The plan is for up to 11 races through Friday. On Saturday the top 10 sailors from each fleet advance to the medal round for the 12th and final race.