Rolex Miami OCR - Long day on water pays off

by Dana Paxton on 28 Jan 2011 With a long wait for wind and racing completed in nine of the 13 Olympic and Paralympic classes, US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) holds four podium positions going into day 5: Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Me.) lead the Sonar class; Jen French (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Jean-Paul Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.) hold second place in the SKUD18 class; Scott Whitman (Brick, N.J.) and Julia Dorsett (Westchester, Pa./Boca Raton, Fla.) are third in the SKUD18; and Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) holds third place in the Laser Radial class. In Elliott 6s, Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) advanced to the women’s match racing quarter-finals.

Paige Railey won the only race held in the Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy) class and closed the gap in points among the top three. It was a long wait for the wind to fill in, but when it did the race committee set up within 10 minutes and started, catching many of the competitors by surprise. 'Honestly, I was surprised because the forecast said to expect dying breeze. When we started, all I was thinking is how we were (racing) so close to the key, and I knew the wind filled in from right. Right from the start, I literally stayed on a lifted tack and focused on staying in a lifted breeze. I held my lane all the way out to the layling and was thinking about how to be ready when a shift comes.

'First, I accepted that the race would be really tight betwne me and the other girls. Then, I tried to stay relaxed and focus on my sail and body position, and staying focused on where the other girls went. I actually got passed by an Italian (Francesca Clapcich), and I knew she had better wind. It was so close between us; we were even going downwind, straight to the finish. I’m really happy with the position I’m in. The top three are really close in points and I’ll keep plugging away so we can go into the medal race with a good chance to win.'

Sarah Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is in 18th overall; Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) moved up to19th; and Claire Dennis (Saratoga, Calif.) remains in 21st.

Racing was abandoned in the Laser gold fleet, much to the chagrin of Kyle Rogachenko (Collegeville, Pa.) and Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.), who had a large lead on the international fleet. One race was completed in the Laser silver fleet.

The High Performance 49er is a boat that is launched when there is enough wind. When the wind is light and the courses are short, picking the wrong side of the racecourse can lead to less-than-optimum results. That was the case with Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and Trevor Moore (North Pomfret, Vt.), who posted 12-12-17 for the day’s three races and dropped into seventh overall.

Two races were held in the 40-boat Finn class (Men's One Person Dinghy Heavy) and Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) turned in 20-12, but dropped the 20 as his throwout. He is in fourth overall. Bryan Boyd (Annapolis, Md.) continued his upward momentum by winning the day’s first race and finishing eighth in the second. He is now in 12th overall, while US Sailing Development Team (USSDT) athlete Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) is in 10th, and USSDT athlete Luke Lawrence (Palm City, Fla.) is in 13th.

Stuart McNay (Boston, Mass) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) moved up into sixth overall in the Men's 470 (Men's Two Person Dinghy) where only one race was held today. Keith Davids (Coronado, Calif.) and David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.) are in 29th overall in the 41-boat fleet.

No racing was completed in the Women's 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy) and Erin Maxwell (Stonington, Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar (New York, N.Y.) continue tied on points with teammates Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Chin (Hoboken, N.J.), in 13th and 14th, respectively. USSDT’s Anne Haeger (Lake Forest, Oll.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) hold at 12th overall, while USSDT’s Marlena Fauer (New York, N.Y.) and Carly Shevitz (Santa Barbara, Calif.), are in 20th, and Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Leah Volk (Lexington, Ky.), remain in 22nd overall.

The 56-boat Star (Men's Keelboat) class completed two races and Mark Mendelblatt (Miami, Fla.) and Brian Fatih (Miami, Fla.) had a great day, scoring a 2-5, to put them into fourth overall.

'It was a good day,' said Mendelblatt, who recently relocated to Coconut Grove. 'It was light and it is always dangerous in light air. We had good speed today upwind and downwind, and we managed to get into good pressure and go somewhat the right way for us. Anytime you can get top-10 in a race when it’s that light is good.Since we have a black flag from yesterday we know we have to keep everything from now on and get two more races that count.'

Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) and Ian Coleman (Annapolis, Md.) are in sixth; George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and substitute crew Frithjof Kleen (Berlin, GER) remain in ninth; Andy Horton (S. Burlington, Vt.) and James Lyne (Granville, Vt.) are in 11th; and Andrew MacDonald (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Brad Nichol (North Miami Beach, Fla.) are in 22nd.

In the Elliott 6m (Women's Match Racing), Team Tunnicliffe -- Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi – advanced to the quarter-final round. 'It was a short day for us as we only had two races to complete,' said Tunnicliffe. 'We didn't have that great of a day, losing both races to finish the gold round 2-3. This placed us in a four- way tie for third, which we came out of in fifth. Being the fifth seed going into the quarterfinals places up against the fourth seed, Team Lehtinen from Finland.'

Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Alana O’Reilly (Charleston, S.C.) and Elizabeth Kratzig (Miami, Fla.) won four matches in the repechage, while Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.), Alice Manard Leonard (New Orleans, La.) and Jennifer Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) went 2 wins, 2 losses.

There wasn’t sufficient wind to complete racing in Women’s and Men's RS:X (Men's Windsurfing). Standings to date in the Men’s: Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.) in 18th overall, Jimi Sobeck (East Quogue, N.Y.) in 22nd. On the Women's RS:X (Women’s Windsurfing) course Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) is in 12th and Solvig Sayre (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) is in 20th.

Two races were held in the 2.4mR class today, John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.) in ninth; Mark LeBlanc (New Orleans, La.) in 18th and Charles Rosenfield (Woodstock, Conn.) moved up into 19th.

Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Me.) now lead the Sonar (Open Three Person Keelboat) class, with a 2-3 in today’s racing.

Albert Foster (Wayzata, Minn.), Michael Hersey (Hyannis, Mass.) and David Burdette (Lutherville, Md.) are in sixth and Paul Callahan (Cape Coral, Fla./Newport R.I.), Tom Brown (Castine, Me.) and Bradley Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.) are in ninth.

With only one race on the line today, Jen French (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Jean-Paul Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.) continued their consistent ways in the SKUD-18 (Mixed Two Person Keelboat) with a second in race 5.They remain in second place, while Scott Whitman (Brick, N.J.) and Julia Dorsett (Westchester, Pa./Boca Raton, Fla.) are in third overall.

Racing in 10 Olympic and three Paralympic classes continues tomorrow, with the Paralympic classes completing their regatta. Competition is scheduled this week in the 10 Olympic and three Paralympic sailing classes in advance of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, to be held in Weymouth, U.K. Over 700 of the world’s top athletes from 53 countries are competing.

Full results: here