Hobart and William Smith Colleges

20 December 2011 Alums Head to London Olympics

Two former Hobart College sailors will represent Team USA in the 2012 Olympics in London next summer. As the top American finishers at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships which ended on Dec. 18 in Perth, Australia, Trevor Moore 07, of North Pomfret, Vt., and Rob Crane 09, of Darien, Conn., qualified in the 49er class and Laser class, respectively.

With a ninth place finish in the 49er class (double-handed skiff), Moore along with his skipper Erik Storck, of Huntington, N.Y., accomplished their goal of a top 10 finish and qualifying for the Olympics. They entered the final race of the regatta in fifth place within striking distance of a medal, but suffered a fluke breakdown. Moore and Storck held the lead in the final race through 4.5 of 6 laps, but then their rudder pin snapped and the boat capsized, leaving them unable to finish.

Our goal was top 10 to secure USA a berth at the 2012 Olympic Games, Moore said in a postrace interview with USSAILING. All is accomplished and we cant complain. I guess were going to save our medal for the 2012 Games.

Moore was a three-time All-American and in 2007 he became the first Statesman to win the Everett B. Morris Trophy as the College Sailor of the Year. During his collegiate career, Moore competed in seven ICSA National Championship events, leading the Colleges to the 2005 Team Race and Coed Dinghy National Championships. He was also the first Statesman sailor to earn the Babe Kraus Award as Hobarts Senior Athlete of the Year.

Heading into the final two Laser (singlehanded dinghy) races trailing fellow American Clay Johnson by 35 points, Crane needed to sail well and get a little bit of luck to earn an Olympic berth. He got all of that and more. Crane won the penultimate race while Johnson finished well back in the fleet in 41st place. In the finale, Crane crossed the finish second to Johnsons 21st, vaulting up 19 spots into 14th place on a course to London.

Unbelievable. Im still in shock a little bit that it happened, Crane said in a postrace interview with USSAILING. Im obviously thrilled but to have that in arguably the hardest regatta, in the hardest fleet in the world, to have a day like that is unbelievable.

Crane sailed in two ICSA Mens Singlehanded National Championship regattas during his Hobart career. He was 13th in his first appearance in 2006 and placed third as a senior in 2008.

Two other former HWS sailors, Andy Horton 98, of South Burlington, Vt., and Kathleen Tocke 95, of Miami, also competed in Perth. Horton and his crew placed 20th in the 41-entry Star class (mens keelboat). They were the fourth American finisher. Tocke was 68th in Womens Windsurfer RS:X.