SAN DIEGO, Calif.- September 21, 1994 - The America3 Foundation announced today the addition of two crew members to its historic all-women America's Cup team: Suzette Smith and Debbie Pettibone.

The two women made the cut after coaches invited several candidates to the America3 compound here in August for week long tryouts with the other 24 members of the sailing team, who have been engaged in a rigorous 65 -75 hour week sailing training program since early June 1994.

"We welcome Suzette and Debbie on board," said Bill Koch, chairman and CEO of the America3 Foundation. "Given the 40 sailors on the 1992 crew, we knew we would want to add to our initial roster of women announced on June 1. Our fund-raising is going very well so we can now expand."

Debbie Pettibone, 25, comes from Port Huron, Mich., where she grew up cruising in sailboats on the Great Lakes and began racing at age 14. One of Debbie's younger sisters, Katie, was named to the America3 sailing team earlier this year. Debbie is a veteran of a number of major regattas in the Great Lakes and Southern Circuits, including the Mackinac and Key West races. A 1991 graduate of the University of Michigan, she was a sail maker at Shore Sails Miami in Miami, Fla. prior to joining the team.

Suzette Hau'oli Smith, 32, is a native of Honolulu, Hawaii. She has been immersed in water sports since the age of one: swimming, surfing, sailing, outrigger canoes (paddling, surfing sailing) and yacht racing. For the past ten years, she has actively raced yachts ranging from 18 to 70 feet in a variety of regattas, including the Kenwood Cup, San Francisco Big Boat Series and Mexorc. Smith has also raced outrigger canoes for 15 years, steering her division to a 1993 Hawaii state championship. Prior to making the team, she worked as a captain for Atlantis Submarines Hawaii.

The new team members join the rest of the crew this week at the America3 compound in San Diego, where the women are busy training for the upcoming IACC World Championships scheduled to begin here October 28.

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For additonal information please send e-mail to: Rick Wrightson

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