On Friday, July 3^rd the Independence holiday action kicks off with final registration for Pensacola Yacht Club’s USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival presented by SUBWAY® Restaurants. Exciting youth racing clinics will be offered all day long.

Ben Barger, USA Olympic RS:X board sailor and five time US National Champion, will be on hand to give the young sailors personal insights on international and Olympic competition. Barger is currently the 24^th ranked RS:X board sailor in the world and the top ranked American.

Then on Friday night, PYC goes into high gear. Ben Barger will be the guest speaker at the SUBWAY® Celebrate Sailing festival Kick-off dinner. Each of the youth sailors participating in the festival will have a free ticket to the dinner and show. This exciting presentation is open to all PYC members, guests and also to the general public. It’s a big holiday event for anyone interested in sailing and the Olympics.

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Reservations for the Celebrate Sailing program are being taken through July 1^st. Dinner tickets for festival participants are free. Tickets for children 12 and under are $10 and adults are $20.

Space is limited. Call PYC for reservations now: 433-8804.

Racing takes the spotlight on Saturday and Sunday with competition in nine racing classes: Opti Green, Red, White, and Blue fleets; Laser Full, Radial & 4.7 fleets; Flying Scots, Club 420’s. The committee predicts that there will be anywhere from 75 to 100 young sailors participating in the festival. Prizes will be awarded Sunday afternoon.

The SUBWAY® Junior Sailing Clinic, Ben Barger and Celebrate Sailing dinner program and the 8^th annual USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival on the Gulf Coast are presented for the first time this year by local SUBWAY® franchisees. Pensacola Yacht Club in Pensacola, Florida hosts the annual festival and regatta on July 3-5th.

All sailors 8-21 years old are invited to bring their Optis, Lasers, Club 420’s and Flying Scots to join the fun at this traditional 4^TH of July holiday regatta. Come out and help PYC Celebrate Sailing.

To register or to learn more about the event, go to the PYC web site, http://www.pensacolayachtclub.org/, click GUEST then click on HERE below the Junior Olympic Sailing Festival event logo.

For PYC Junior Olympic Sailing Festival information,

For press or sponsor information,

Office: +1 850-432-8170 or Cel: +1 850-217-7138

In its 13th season, the Junior Olympic Sailing program is a nationwide series of regattas for youth, ages 8 to 21. There are 25 regattas slated for 2009 in the continental United States and Hawaii and over 4,300 sailors are expected to participate. The action begins with two events in June, and the series culminates with the 33rd annual Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami, the largest junior sailing event in the country.

This youth development program, nationally sponsored by West Marine, Gill

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North America, Active.com and Bull Frog, is a nationwide series of regattas hosted by yacht clubs and sailing organizations. They are designed to promote the enjoyment of sailing, develop the skills of young sailors, and to provide a pathway for hopeful Olympic competitors.

During the course of the 2009 JO season, young sailors will race Optimists, Lasers, Bytes, Sunfish, El Toros, Club 420s, CFJs, 29ers, windsurfers and

more in 25 events held in 16 states. Since the inception of the program in 1997, more than 38,000 sailors have participated in 233 events offering various levels of competition, skill building and fun activities designed to encourage a life-long involvement in the sport of sailing.

Additionally, US SAILING’s JO program has inspired hundreds of young sailors to reach for their Olympic dreams. The medal ceremony at the end of each JO event is similar to that of the Olympic Games format, as class winners step up to the podium to collect gold, silver, and bronze Junior Olympic medals. Special fun prizes and sportsmanship awards are presented at many JO events.