This is the first press release for the 2004 Little America's Cup.
It has been already published by The Dailysail, Scuttlebutt and Sailhead on their respective web sites.
Press release
For immediate release
August 24, 2004
Top Olympic Catamaran Sailors in the world will compete for the International Catamaran Challenge Trophy on 18HT’s.
Some of the top catamaran sailors in the world will compete on 18HT’s for the International Catamaran Challenge Trophy (ICCT), nicknamed by the press as the “Little America’s Cup”, at Southern Yacht Club on Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans on October 18th through October 23rd, 2004.
Johnny Lovell and Charlie Ogletree will defend their 2003 ICCT win against a field of Olympic Tornado sailors and top catamaran sailors from around the world. Johnny Lovell is a 3-time Olympic Tornado sailor, a 2004 Princess Sophia Trophy winner, and a 2003 Kiel Week Champion. Charlie Ogletree, a 2-time Olympic Tornado Sailor, a 2004 Tornado World Silver medalist, a 2003 Kiel Week Champion, and a 5-time Tornado National Champion. Sailors competing for the right to defend the ICCT for the United States include Mark Murray, a 6-time national catamaran champion in catamaran classes including F40, Nacra 6.0, Hobie 21 Prosail Series and Stilletto 23. Also competing for the right to defend the trophy for the United States will be Bob Hodges and WF Oliver. Bob and WF are the 2002 & 2003 North American 18HT Champions and WF Oliver has eight National Catamaran Championships and one European Catamaran Championship to his name.
Competing for the right to challenge will be at least three 2004 Olympic Tornado teams including; Mitch Booth and Herbie Dercksen (NED), Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez (PUR), and William Howden (GBR). Italy will be sending two teams to compete including Daniele Saragoni and Teo di Battista. Daniele and Teo were the ICCT 2003 runners up, losing to Johnny and Charlie in the last race by less than about 5 seconds. Two other 2004 Olympic teams have expressed interest and are currently evaluating the possibility of competing in New Orleans.
“Mitch Booth’s catamaran resume is unbelievable, he’s one of the best catamaran sailors in the world, and Enrique Figueroa is a master at making catamarans go fast,” says WF Oliver, “so this year should be fun.”
The competition in the 2003 ICCT was so tight that the Championship was determined in the final race between Daniele and Teo and Johnny and Charlie, with Johnny and Charlie finishing less than 5 seconds before their rivals, coming back to win after flipping over at the start.
“Last years competition, under the revised format, resulted in the closest match racing we had seen in a long time. We haven’t had the finals go down to the last race since 1976. This year’s competition should be fierce, given the level of talent entered in this event. Although the 18HT is a development class, the new format has shifted the emphasis from engineering design to the match racing and sailing skill of the competing sailors. I was very excited to witness the very close finish in last year’s competition.” said John Dawson Jr. Chairman, ICCT Trustees.
“We are very pleased to see this level of international competition for this event, some of the best catamaran sailors in the world will be coming to the New Orleans to match race for the ICCT” said ICCT Regatta Chairman, Wallace Paletou.
The International Catamaran Challenge Trophy was created by a deed of gift given by Seacliff Yacht Club in 1961, as an international match-racing trophy for catamarans. The ICCT has been contested 22 times since 1961. From the beginning, the press used the nickname the “Little America’s cup” in reference to the trophy and it continues to be known by that name today. The 2004 ICCT will be raced using the 18HT’s and the boats will be governed by the 18HT development class rules.
Contacts
Wallace Paletou
ICCT Regatta Chairman
icct@southernyachtclub.nethttp://www.southernyachtclub.org/regattas/2004/icct.htmJohn Dawson Jr
Chairman ICCT Trustees, Seacliff Yacht Club
icct@seacliffyc.orgF18HT Klasse/USA:
http://www.f18htclass.com 
