Oct. 19, 2005

Hamilton Bermuda -- Sally Barkow successfully defended her ISAF World Match Racing Championship -- defeating Betsy Alison 3-0 in the finals.

"We had some aggressive racing in the pre-start today and then received two penalties," Barkow said. "It is so easy to make a mistake in match racing, but we made very few mistakes in our overall sailing. I have a team with great instincts when it comes to calling the breeze and I think that was critical to our results." Sailing with Barkow in J/24s on Hamilton Harbour were Debbie Capozzi, Carrie Howe and Annie Lush. Earlier in the year, Barkow, Howe and Capozzi also won the Yngling World Championship on Lake Mondsee, Austria. Capozzi was a 2003 All-American at ODU. Barkow earned All-American honors at ODU three straight years in 2000, 01 and 02.

Both Alison and Barkow have qualified to compete in the knockout round robin series of The Investor Guaranty presentation of The King Edward VII Gold Cup starting Thursday when Barkow faces Chris Dickson and Alison meets Gavin Brady. "I think Chris Dickson should be a little nervous about Sally," Alison said. "And, Gavin Brady, well, I just don't know."

In the petite finals of the 2005 Virtual Spectator ISAF Women's Worlds Match Racing Championship, Claire Leroy of France dominating Danish sailor Nina Braestrup, 2-0. -- www.ussailing.com