Fortaleza, Brazil (December 12, 2005) – 18-year-old Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) has won her second sailing World Championship title this year by winning the Laser Radial Women’s World Championship in Fortaleza, Brazil, which ended last Friday. With this win, Railey wraps up an impressive year winning a total of six major international regattas, including the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, and upholds her #1 spot in the world rankings in the Laser Radial class. In addition to Railey winning the event, two other US Sailing Team-members had impressive results: Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) finished third in the women’s fleet, while US Sailing Team-member Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.) finished second in the Open fleet.

In winning the first Laser Radial World title since the class became the Women’s Singlehanded Dinghy equipment for the 2008 Olympic Games, Railey shows a maturity beyond her 18 years of age. Despite all her previous successes, the World title really demonstrates that the American is the early pacesetter in the class. In a wide variety of testing conditions from six to 25 knots each day there were difficulties for the experienced fleet. Railey never won a race and only scored three top three places. Quite often she fought her way back from lower positions to achieve consistent single results. The rest of the fleet know they will have to raise their game significantly if they are to beat Railey next August when the Laser Radial World Championships are held at the California Yacht Club in Los Angeles, Calif.

Up next for Paige Railey is finishing up her first semester at the University of Southern Florida and preparing for US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR, which will be held January 22-27, 2006.

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