Portsmouth, R.I. (March 9, 2006) - US SAILING, national governing body of the sport, has hired Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) as the full-time coach of the US Disabled Sailing Team. Alison, a five-time US SAILING Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and two-time Yngling World Champion, has been working with athletes of the US Disabled Sailing Team for several years, accompanying the U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team to the 2000 and 2004 Paralympic Games.

“It’s great to have Betsy Alison, an athlete of such high caliber, working with the members of the US Disabled Sailing Team,” said Dean Brenner, Chairman of US SAILING’s Olympic Sailing Committee which manages the US Disabled Sailing Team. “Our disabled athletes have been achieving great results in major international competitions and we look forward to continuing these successes as Betsy expands her responsibilities.”

Alison now officially joins a staff of three elite sailing coaches employed full-time by US SAILING: High Performance Director and US Sailing Team Head Coach Gary Bodie, as well as US Sailing Team Coaches Luther Carpenter and Skip Whyte.

Created in 1998 to develop and prepare the Team representing the U.S. at the Paralympic Games, the US Disabled Sailing Team annually recognizes the top three competitors in the three classes selected for the Paralympic Games: 2.4 Metre (Open Singlehanded), UD18 (Open Doublehanded) and Sonar (Open Triplehanded). Sponsors of the US Disabled Sailing Team are Rolex Watch U.S.A., Vanguard Sailboats, Nautica, Zodiac of North America, Gill, Vineyard Vines, Sperry Top-Sider, Nikon, Harken, New England Ropes, Extrasport, and Team McLube.

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