Club News


SDYC’s Graham Biehl Headed Back to Olympics

By | December 12, 2011

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The next chapter in the lives of five US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics athletes began at the ISAF Sailing World Championships when they were selected for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. As the top-scoring eligible American athletes in their Olympic sailing class, Stuart McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) have successfully completed qualification.

McNay and Biehl finished 13th in the 80-boat Men’s 470 class. “We know we can sail much better than that,” said Biehl at the conclusion of the regatta. “But, at the end of the day we’re going to the Olympics and we’re pretty psyched about that.”

McNay and Biehl teamed up in 2005 with the goal of winning an Olympic Medal for the United States. They completed the first part of their dream in 2008 by representing the USA at the Olympics in the Men’s 470 class, the doublehanded dinghy.

The pair finished a respectable 13th and then rededicated themselves winning a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Since 2008, they stood atop the podium on the International Sailing Federation World Cup’s Sail Melbourne for the past three years earning a gold (’11) and two silver (’10, ’09) medals. The team finished 11th at the Weymouth & Perth Int’l Regatta, Weymouth, U.K. (London 2012 Olympic Test Event). McNay is a member of Beverly Yacht Club and Biehl is a member of San Diego Yacht Club. They are currently ranked #5 in the world.