Current US Sailing Team-members Mikee Anderson-Mitterling (Coronado, Calif.), and Dave Hughes (San Diego, Calif.) won the 470 Men’s class at the Kiel Week regatta in Germany this weekend, defeating 57 boats to take home the trophy. Since Anderson-Mitterling and Hughes started racing together earlier this year, this was their first win at an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 1 event; the team finished second at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR last January.

Mikee Anderson-Mitterling, who will celebrate his 21st birthday in a few weeks, has been enjoying a successful year thus far, having recently been named as the 2004/2005 College Sailor of the Year by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

“Mikee and Dave now join Olympic medalists Paul Foerster and Bob Merrick as the only American 470 Men’s teams to win Kiel Week,” said Skip Whyte, US Sailing Team coach. “They clearly like being on the podium and there is no doubt that they will be back there before long.”

There were 586 entries from 50 nations that participated in Kiel Week and American sailors put on a good show. Besides Anderson-Mitterling and Hughes, three other U.S. teams finished in the top ten of their classes. In the 74-boat Women’s Laser Radial Class, 18-year-old Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) finished second behind Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania, missing winning the event by just one point and reminding her fellow competitors that she is to be reckoned with. U.S. sailors George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.), and Eric Monroe (Newport Harbor, Calif.) finished an impressive second in the 44-boat Star fleet, only four points behind the winners, Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki of Poland. US Sailing Team-members Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (Harvey Cedars, N.J.), finished eighth out of 35 boats in the Women’s 470 class.

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