The Volvo Trophy recognizes the nation with the best cumulative team results across all six events -- 29er (boys and girls doublehanded), Byte (girls singlehanded), Laser (boys singlehanded), and Mistral (boys and girls boardsailing). New Zealand placed first out of the 30 countries represented, with France following in second. Held July 18-27, the 2002 championship event attracted 150 competitors who will not have reached their 19th birthday in 2002.

California’s Andrew Campbell (San Diego) was able to cheer on his fellow teammates as he sat out the final race of the series after mathematically securing the singlehanded championship title. Sailing in the 24-boat Laser fleet, Campbell was at or near the top of the leader board from the first day of the event, winning the gold medal by 14 points over his closest competitor. The win of his first international title only adds luster to his recent victory at the 2002 U.S. Youth Championship. That win, less than a month ago, put the 18-year old Campbell into the history books as the only sailor to earn the coveted U.S. singlehanded championship crown three times.

With 2002 his last year of eligibility as a youth sailor, Campbell will go forward concentrating on international events and maintaining his top-ranked position on the US Sailing Team.

In the girls singlehanded event, Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) won the bronze medal sailing in a fleet of 20 Bytes. Railey, US SAILING’S 2001 Female Athlete of the Year, will set sail this week to defend the title she won at the 2001 U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship. If successful she would earn a repeat trip as the U.S. representative to next year’s youth world championship.

In the doublehanded fleets, both of which utilized 29ers, the two U.S. boats finished just out of the medals --each placing fourth overall -- at the conclusion of their 11-race series. In the boys competition, Alex Bernal and Tedd White (both Santa Barbara, Calif.) sailed in a fleet of 21 boats. 

Molly Carapiet (San Francisco, Calif.) and Mallory McCollum (Concord, Calif.) were among 14 boats competing for the girls title. 

Light winds were the bane of the boys and girls in the windsurfing events, who were only able to sail, respectively, 9 and 8 races. Philip Muller (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) placed 17th out of 17 Mistrals in the boys event, and Ericka Kofkin (Melbourne, Fla.) placed 12th out of 12 Mistrals in the girls event. 

Both Muller and Kofkin are members of the 2002 US Sailing Team. “This was an outstanding event in terms of organization, diversity, group living and camaraderie among sailors,” said US Team Leader Brian Doyle (Darien, Conn./Hanover, N.H.). “Our team had a wonderful experience which was greatly enhanced by Richard Feeny (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and George Muller (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), coaches for the singlehanded sailors and windsurfers, respectively.”