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GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS!

28 SEPTEMBER 2007 • One noticeable attribute of the 2007 Audi Melges 24 U.S. National Championship was the welcomed increase in female participation. A quarter of the entire fleet carried women! On several boats, there consisted of one or more female crew members. Amongst those competitors is the lovely and extremely talented Olympic hopeful — Carrie Howe.

Carrie is one of many high-profile women sailors in the USA and as she works towards her Olympic goals in the Yingling class, here is what she had to say about why the Melges 24 is a great boat for women. "The Melges 24 is perfect for girls. There is plenty to do. It's such a great boat because there are not many classes that are really this friendly to the idea. Doesn't really matter if you are a strong or weak girl. But, ultimately when you are trying to put together a crew of four or five guys every team should consider adding a girl to the mix."

This is the second time that Howe has sailed the Melges 24 and the first time in a long while that she had sailed in Detroit. "I got out there and I thought 'Here's the tricky breeze again, I forgot about this when I was a kid. I definitely remember it now." Howe sailed with Andy Robinson on 'GBR-618 DIVDAT Racing' a fleet newcomer of only 8-months. "The finesse that women have onboard, a lot of people do not realize how crucial that is, we always say women have a better feel for the boat anyway."

Howe concluded, "The teamwork aspect of this boat is amazing and trying to work with five people, you have to find that balance. Sometimes we managed to get the boat around the course great. The three other members are catamaran sailors who have never sailed the boat before so they really enjoyed this. The angles were similar, the downwind speed was similar, the upwind speed was a bit different. They loved it. Andy is planning to campaign the boat and we all hope to be around to help build Andy as a helm."

LADIES... and gentlemen!
Two teams this year carried three girls as crew — Mike Krantz on 'Lamorak' crewed with his incredible wife Rebecca Krantz, Laura Muma, Meredith Brown and Ben Moon. Greg McCliment on 'Cujo' took along Sandi Svoboda, Krysta Paxton, Lauren Sinclair and Tim Profit. Simon Strauss on 'Gill' employed two wonderful young ladies at the recent Worlds in Santa Cruz and brought them along to Nationals — Becky Damore and Jane Delashmutt.

Women populated two of the three overall winners — Dave Ullman crewing for Scott Holmgren on 'Rosebud' welcomed Kelly Buchanan onboard. Placed third overall, Alan Field on 'WTF' crewed alongside of Sarah Curran.

Other ladies on the course included:
'USA-160 I'm With Stupid' : Christina Zadariason (23rd overall)
'USA-202 Rumblur' : Laurie Bunn, Rychee Vetor
'USA-510 Rustler' : Janet Rozelle (26th overall)
'USA-513 Lightwave Nano' : Jennifer Wilson (4th overall)
'USA-548 Silver' : Mary Anne Ward
'USA-551 Gazoo' : Katie Mackevich
'USA-615 HooDlum Racing' : Jen Lech (14th overall)
'USA-617 Padawan 3' : Beth Block
'USA-658 Mustang' : Tammy Avink (27th overall)
'USA-675 12HappyThoughts' : Pam Henderson, Kati Belden (20th overall)

CHECK OUT THE LADIES IN ACTION