Text Box: Star keelboat, California Yacht Club, Marina del Rey: John Dane III and Austin Sperry: Attention, AARP---you have a new poster boy. Fifty-seven-year-old John Dane III of Gulfport, Miss., sailing with his son-in-law Austin Sperry, 29, as crew, won the biggest race of his life Sunday to claim the U.S. Olympic berth for the Games' most venerable class. They nosed out Rick Merriman and Phil Trinter by seconds in the only race remaining. Their only lingering rivals among 19 boats, George Szabo/Andrew Scott and Mark Mendelblatt/Magnus Liljedahl, finished sixth and seventh. Winds were 8-12 knots but Santa Monica Bay offered more straightforward sailing than it had most of the week. Dane and Sperry whooped and hugged after crossing the line. "I'm glad it's over," Sperry said. "JD did a great job, everything clicked, and we're going to the Olympics." They've been sailing together for three years, since sailing on different boats in the 2004 Trials. Their key improvement going into the Trials was downwind speed, following an intense nine days of concentration on that aspect working with Robert Scheidt, a triple Olympic medalist in Laser and current Star world champion. "We passed Merriman in the last 100 yards," Sperry said. "It was pretty cool." ---Tom O'Conor reporting
2008 US Olympic Star Trials
   
Place Sail# Skipper Name Hometown Club 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
Bow# Crew Name Hometown 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Points
1 USA8230 John Dane III Gulfport, MS PCYC 1 10 6 2 8 1 5 4 59
10 Austin Sperry Gulfport, MS [ 12] 2 3 4 3 3 6 1
2 USA8273 George Szabo San Diego, CA SDYC 2 1 [ 11] 7 3 4 9 6 63
15 Andrew Scott Annapolis, MD 2 1 1 8 6 4 3 6
3 USA8306 Mark Mendelblatt St. Petersburg, FL SPYC 3 3 1 8 1 3 6 2 69
19 Magnus Liljedahl Miami, FL 5 10 4 [ 12] 2 9 5 7
4 USA8156 Andy Horton Newport, RI NYYC [ 18] 7 7 1 5 11 1 3 82.4
18 Brad Nichol Sunapee, NH 1 17 12 5 6.4 1 2 3
5 USA8222 Rick Merriman New York, NY None [ 15] 13 13 9 4 5 3 5 87
22 Phil Trinter Charlottesville, VA 3 6 2 10 1 7 4 2
6 USA8320 Mark Reynolds San Diego, CA SDYC [ 12] 2 2 6 2 6 10 8 90.3
26 Hal Haenel Los Angeles, CA 6 4 9 3 5.3 11 11 5
7 USA8195 John MacCausland Medford, NJ CRYC 9 6 3 3 6 9 2 11 106.1
12 Robert Schofield Annapolis, MD 10 3 10 6 6.1 [ 15] 13 9
8 USA8263 Will Stout San Diego, CA SDYC 5 4 12 15 13 14 4 7 107.1
25 Richard Peters Venice, CA [ 15] 8 5 2 8.1 5 1 4
9 USA8244 Joe Londrigan Chatham, IL IBYC 14 11 9 5 7 7 8 1 116
23 Mark Strube West Palm Beach, FL 11 13 11 1 4 2 [ 20] 12
10 USA8250 Andrew Macdonald Laguna Beach, CA NHYC 11 5 10 4 [ 15] 12 7 10 117
11 Brian Fatih Miami, FL 8 5 6 7 5 6 8 13
11 USA8207 Jim Buckingham Newport Beach, CA NHYC 6 8 4 10 14 13 14 9 145
24 Eric Monroe Laguna Hills, CA 4 7 15 [ 16] 10 14 7 10
12 USA8176 Erik Lidecis Huntington Beach, CA BCYC 8 14 5 13 9 2 11 16 148
20 Michael Marzahl Ventura, CA 7 11 7 13 9 12 [ 16] 11
13 USA8153 Steve Brown Santa Ana, CA BCYC 7 19 17 11 10 8 13 14 204
28 Timothy Ray Beverly Hills, CA 14 14 19 18 [ 20] 8 15 17
14 USA7673 Chuck Driscoll San Diego, CA SDYC 4 16 [ 19] 18 11 10 18 18 210
27 Jim Oberg San Diego, CA 17 12 13 11 14 18 12 18
15 USA8080 Fotis Boliakis Rowayton, CT CPYC [ 19] 15 14 17 12 15 15 15 210
16 Mike Nichol Sunapee, NH 18 15 14 15 11 16 10 8
16 USA8077 Mike Hanna Los Angeles, CA SBSC 13 9 16 14 17 17 17 19 212
29 Stephan Cohen Marina del Rey, CA [ 19] 9 8 9 13 17 18 16
17 USA8269 Jock Kohlhas Miami, FL None 16 12 18 16 19 18 16 13 212
21 Trevor Nederlor Westport, CT 9 [ 19] 17 14 8 13 9 14
18 USA8286 Karl Anderson Hyannis, MA HYC 17 17 8 12 16 16 12 12 215.5
14 Edward Morey Hyannis, MA 13 18 18 [ 19] 14.5 10 17 15
19 USA8084 Robert Teitge Gross Pointe Shores, MI BYC 10 18 15 19 18 19 19 17 245
17 James Darin Jensen Ann Arbor, MI 16 16 16 17 12 19 14 [ 19]