PERTH, Australia – Sailing Head Coach Amanda Callahan, along with her New York Yacht Club Silver Panda team, successfully defended their Team Racing title after winning the 2009 ISAF Team Racing World Championship.

“It's one of those things you don't like to say before the regatta begins, but we didn't bring the trophy case with us to Australia, because we were really hoping to bring the trophy back home with us, said Callahan.

The team fulfilled those hopes as the six-some of Callahan, Clay Bischoff, Lisa Keith, Colin Merrick, Pete Levesque, and Liz Hall earned the victory on Sunday, February 8, giving Silver Panda its second straight title, alongside the Team Racing Championship won in October of 2007 in Gandia, Spain.

The team stormed out to a very strong start, with a perfect 13-0 record over the first two days of racing and entering the final day of racing having won 92 percent of their races.

On the last day, Silver Panda qualified for the championship round after compiling a 12-1 record in the Round Robin 4. En route to securing the championship, the team had to get past unfamiliar foes in the host Austrailian team and the New Zealand team.

The Australian and New Zealand teams have come a long way over the last year and half,” said Callahan. “They turned out to be better competition than our usual rivals, the Brits. It could be their familiarity with the boats, but it was good to see that they are really getting behind team racing.”

Their improvement helped make for a tightly-contested final round between Silver Panda and the Aussies.

“Towards the end of the regatta we had some really close races with very exciting finishes,” said Callahan. “In the first race of the finals against Australia 1, the finish was so close that we weren't sure who won until the race committee flew our flag several minutes after all of the boats finished.”

In the end, Silver Panda cruised to its second straight championship after winning all three races in the final round.

“The two host clubs, the South of Perth Yacht Club and the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, did a first-class job running the event, and between the two venues, we experienced some great and varied sailing conditions,” said Callahan. “All told it was a great event and a wonderful trip.”