News / Results Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award 
| Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award | | Print | |
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Miami, Florida US Sailing announced this week that I’m the 2007 winner of the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. Just as in 2005 when I also won this prestigious award, it’s for my entire team. I couldn’t have done it without my core Yngling crew and the numerous fantastic others who all deserve a piece of it. The announcement was exciting and unexpected! I was shocked when I got the call. The other nominees are extremely distinguished and accomplished. Debbie, Carrie and I got the news here in Miami where we are training in the Yngling for the US Sailing Rolex Olympic Classes Regatta here, January 27-Feb 2 and for the Yngling Women’s World Championship, also here, February 8-15. The World Champs are the qualifier for the US Yngling crew to represent our country at the Olympic Games in China in August. I have not sailed a single-handed boat since 2002 and I believe that teamwork is our biggest asset on the water. Debbie Capozzi has sailed with me in every event this past year, not to mention the preceding five years. Carrie Howe has also been racing with me for the past five years, only missing a few events this year. Britain’s Annie Lush has raced in all our match race events and all three of our successful Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championships. Beyond these three, there have been other great crew, too numerous to mention. Our sport involves a great deal of teamwork, and it is the entire team that makes success happen. The Rolex citation said that apart from our Olympic campaign, our performance in other classes, whether fleet or match racing, were what set me apart from the other nominees. We started the year with our third consecutive win at the Rolex Miami OCR in the Yngling class. We also finished second at the North American Championship in Miami, won the Princess Sofia Trophy in Spain and collected silver at both Semaine Olympique Française in France and the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Portugal. On the match racing circuit we scored wins at the Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup in Annapolis, Md., and the Vitória Brasil Women's Cup in Brazil. One day after that, starting in Houston, Texas, I skippered our J/22 to victory at US Sailing’s Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship for the third consecutive year. Remember, our Team 7 site is at http://www.team7sailing.com. Please come visit. We have an exciting and eventful four weeks ahead of us. Sally |
