BRIEFS

NEWPORT BEACH — Zach Railey won the U.S. Olympic team trials for the Finn Class Sunday after spending most of the week with a double-digit lead.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club hosted the event.

Railey, 23, was among the youngest competitors in the trials’ largest fleet of 42 boats.

Veterans as old as 72 were competing in the trials.

“You have to respect the experience,” Railey told US Sailing. “You know that no one’s giving up.”

Racing was delayed two hours Sunday until 2:00 p.m. when the wind came in at 12 knots.

“It was a true test,” he said. “I’m glad I did all the work beforehand. The first goal was to win the trials, but the ultimate goal is to be on the podium in China.”

NEWPORT, R.I. — Nick Scandone of Balboa Yacht Club qualified for the Beijing Paralympics with his partner Maureen McKinnon-Tucker of Marblehead, Mass. in the SKUD-18 class Sunday.

Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker had mathematically sewn up a victory before the last day of competition, but were named to the team Sunday. Scandone, who has Amoyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), was the 2005 US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. He and McKinnon-Tucker are a new pairing in the doublehanded class which is making its Paralympic debut in 2008.

They were also silver medalists at last month’s International Assn. for Disabled Sailing’s world sailing championships.

— from staff reports