All-Woman Jury Highlights International Focus

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (April 12) - As the 9th biennial Rolex International Women's
Keelboat Championship (Rolex IWKC) sails into the new millennium, local event
organizers and US SAILING have announced the members of the international
jury for the September 22-28 regatta.

Highlighting the prestige and international nature of this championship, the
event will for the first time have a chief judge from outside the U.S.
Charlotte Greppe of Sweden will chair the regatta.

"She has served as a member of the jury in two previous Rolex IWKCs and is
well known and highly respected throughout the world as both a judge and an
umpire," said Denise MacGillivray, chair of the US SAILING International
Women's Keelboat Committee. "Her fellow jury members also are veteran
international or US SAILING judges. In keeping with the regatta's goal of
promoting opportunities for women in high level international competition
this Rolex IWKC will have the distinction of having the first-ever all
women's international jury."

Other judges are:
Barbara Farquhar, U.S.A.
Sally Burnett, Great Britain
Lynne Beal, Canada
Ann Newton, U.S.A.

Arbitrators are
Ron Ward, U.S.A.
Jim Capron, U.S.A.

Key Race Officials are:
Jack Lynch, U.S.A., principal race officer
Chip Thayer, U.S.A., race committee chairman

"The Rolex IWKC provides the best women's keelboat fleet racing in the
world," said Chief Judge Greppe. "I'm certain the addition of a women's keelboat event in the 2004 Olympics will increase the number of international competitors and help women sailors gain better support from their national authorities. The change of venue and the boat will present exciting challenges for all competitors.
This is the event all women sailors should race and enjoy at least once."

Annapolis Yacht Club (AYC), regatta host, also has appointed Jack Lynch as
the principal race officer. "It's vital that the racing world understand just
how important this regatta is to the progress of women's sailing," said
Lynch. "AYC's race committee is committed to leading the way in providing
peerless race management, as we did with the Nautica Star Worlds last year."

"In any major championship, the race committee plays an absolutely vital, and
usually understated role," said Regatta Co-Chair Sandy Grosvenor. "One of
AYC's real strengths is the caliber, consistency and depth of their race
management team. Jack personifies this. He offers decades of invaluable
experience both as a competitor and as a race officer."

Notice of Race, Entry Form on Web
The Official Notice of Race (NOR) and Entry Form are available at
www.annapolisyc.com/rolexkeelboats. It includes all final rule modifications
made by International Sailing Federation made this November. Rolex is also publishing a comprehensive NOR package that will be mailed to an extensive list in late April. A web server list offers direct information by email. To subscribe, visit www.ussailing.org/riwkc.

What's New at a Glance
* New venue - Annapolis Yacht Club, Annapolis, Md.
* New boat - J/22s.
* All-woman jury.
* International chief judge.
* Record attendance expected - more than 50 boats.
* Several competing teams preparing for Olympic bids in 2004, when women's
keelboat fleet racing will make its Olympic debut.

Interest Soars As Teams Prepare: Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship

Annapolis, Md. (May 16, 2001) - The word is out that the world's premier women's keelboat regatta is the "must do" regatta of the 2001 sailing season. Before the Notice of Race (NOR) went out this Spring for the 2001 Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship (Rolex IWKC), more than 50 skippers from eight countries had registered their interest in participating through the event's website (www.ussailing.org/riwkc).

"Since the announcement of the regatta's move to Annapolis and into the International J/22, the buzz surrounding the event has been unbelievably positive," said Denise MacGillivray (Newport, R.I.), who chairs US SAILING's International Women's Keelboat Committee and was the regatta's chair in '99, when it was held in Newport, R.I.

This year's regatta co-chair Sandy Grosvenor (Annapolis, Md.) credits the interest to the changes plus a number of innovations. "We have two websites focusing on the event, www.annapolisyc.com/rolexkeelboats and www.ussailing.org/riwkc, and an email list service with hundreds of subscribers," said Grosvenor. "The Internet has really come into its own as a means of getting the word out. We can communicate seamlessly with competitors and other interested people to provide information and get feedback from around the world easier and faster than ever before."

Who's coming
One of 2000's most celebrated sailors, USA's Olympic 470 women's silver medallist and Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Pease Glaser (Long Beach, Calif.), will crew in the Rolex IWKC for 1995 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Cory Sertl (Rochester, N.Y.), who has participated in all but one of the regatta's past eight runnings. Since returning from the Sydney Olympics, Glaser is "still really psyched to go sailing," and nothing is going to stop her from competing at the Rolex IWKC this year. "Cory and I have talked about sailing the Rolex Women's together for the last four or five times," said Glaser. "But there were always other regattas on my schedule that conflicted with it. A lot of my friends have done the Rolex and everyone always talks about how much fun it is. We decided last year that no matter what, we were going to do the Rolex Women's together this year!"

Sertl, who is well known for her dedication to women's and youth sailing and serves on the US SAILING ISAF delegation, also will include her perennial Rolex IWKC crew Dina Kowalyshyn (Annapolis, Md.) and one other crewmember yet to be decided. A frequent competitor in many dinghy and one-design classes, Sertl is looking forward to the challenge of sailing the J/22, which replaced the J/24 previously used. "I love sailing in different types of boats," said Sertl. "The J/22 is a good choice because you need four people instead of six, which is more manageable in many ways." Sertl won the inaugural event in 1985 crewing for Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.).

Returning to defend her 1999 Rolex IWKC title is Pat Connerney (Middletown, R.I.). Working around a successful career as a nurse practitioner and a family that includes two young children, Connerney has a busy summer planned. With two of her '99 winning crew, Louisa Boatwright (Providence, R.I.) and Kim Hapgood (Newport, R.I.), Connerney will charter a J/22 for competing in local and regional events. As a former Olympic aspirant in the 470 Women's class, Connerney likes the pace of preparing for the Rolex IWKC. "The Rolex IWKC is a perfect regatta for me to participate in," she said. "It doesn't take the all-out 100 percent dedication of Olympic-level sailing where you give up your life. It's a very doable regatta to prepare for and fits perfectly into my professional and personal time."
She is excited about the superb racing conditions in Annapolis. "Annapolis is a fantastic place to sail," said Connerney. "I am very happy about the new venue. There are so many great women sailors already in the area."

Jody Swanson (Buffalo, N.Y.), who won both the Rolex IWKC and the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award in 1989, will sail with veteran crew Abby Ruhlman (Cleveland, Ohio), Debbie Probst (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Joyce Spring (Columbus, Ohio). "I'm really looking forward to it, and Annapolis Yacht Club does such a great job with every regatta they run," said Swanson. "The J/22 is a good boat because you need some change every once in a while. Hopefully it will draw some of the match racers to the event, and there are plenty of good J/22 sailors who will come." Swanson's busy sailing schedule this summer includes the world championships for Lightning and Yngling, as well as the J/22 North American championship.

Although this is her first time helming an entry in the Rolex IWKC, Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.) has competed five times. Cronin put the event on the top of her "must do" list for 2001. "The regatta is a really good fit for me and my Yngling campaign," said Cronin, who has been nominated numerous times for Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year based on her success as a standout crew in several one-design classes. "It's important to get an international regatta under my belt and it seemed time to step up to the plate and drive a boat." This summer, Connerney will crew for Cronin, her tactician in the '99 Rolex IWKC, aboard a Yngling as they start their campaign for a 2004 Olympic team berth.

Many other accomplished sailors, known for their international experience, have expressed interest in competing, including 1999 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Dawn Riley (San Francisco, Calif.), Danish match racer Marie Klok, Cayman Islands one-design sailor Jane Moon and 2000 Europe Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson (U.K.).

Veterans of the Rolex IWKC planning their return in 2001 include:
Ann Acland (Halifax, Nova Scotia; CAN), Charlie Arms (Vallejo, Calif.), Janie Davis (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Anne Eager (Galesville, Md.), Sandy Grosvenor (Annapolis, Md.), Susan Reddaway, (Flowery Branch, Ga.), Heidi Riddle (Vermilion, Ohio), Sandra Swenson (Philadelphia, Pa.), Diana Weidenbacker (Kittery, Maine), Judy Woellner (Wayzata, Minn.) and Nancy Zangerle (Cleveland, Ohio).

Organizers are using the Internet to promote the Rolex IWKC and provide information: www.annapolisyc.com/rolexkeelboats is focusing on Annapolis details; www.ussailing.org/riwkc has the official NOR and Entry Form in PDF format, event history and news releases. There is a web server list to get direct information by email. To subscribe, visit www.ussailing.org/riwkc.