ISAF World Cup Palma 2013 - Steady improvement for Americans on Day 2

by Dana Paxton on 3 Apr 2013 ISAF World Cup Palma 2013. With the wind true to form for a second day at the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma, the 20-25 knot conditions gave the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider an opportunity to improve on overall results. Top performers again were Sydney Bolger and Sarah Lihan in the Women’s 470, who moved into seventh overall.

In the Laser and Finn classes, big upward movements in the results came from Charlie Buckingham and Caleb Paine, who both improved their standings by over 10 positions and are now in 24th and 15th respectively. After being blown out on day one, racing took place in the 49er, 49 FX and Nacra 17, with Americans Sarah Newberry and John Casey in 10th overall.

Performance highlights include:

Top performers from ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Sarah Newberry (Miami, Florida) and John Casey (Longwood, Florida), made their European debut today in the Nacra 17. The two have trained hard together in Florida over the winter months and found the conditions to their liking. Of the three races sailed, the pair finished 7-8-16 for a 10th in the 34-boat class.

In Women’s 470, Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Sarah Lihan (New York, N.Y.) continued their time in the top-10, moving up one position into seventh overall. With two races, they scored a 27-7, but get to drop the 27 as part of the scoring system.

Racing in the 49er and 49er FX classes was a battle to stay upright and avoid an out of control moment. 'Today was significantly easier to sail than yesterday,' said Fred Strammer. 'We did a much better job of throttling back and we were pretty quick upwind.'

The high performance skiff is known as the wild child of Olympic sailing, with the two-person teams almost always at disaster’s door. Zach Brown explained that their priority was to keep the boat upright. 'Take it easy through the tacks, take it easy through the jibes and go as slow as we can to stay upright,' he said. 'We would pass three boats downwind just by not flipping over.'

Results to date:

21st, 470 Men - Stuart McNay (Providence, R.I.) and David Hughes (Miami, Fla.)*
18th, 470 Women - Anne Haeger (East Troy, Mich.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.)*
7th, 470 Women – Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Sarah Lihan (New York, N.Y.) * **
20th, 49er - Fred Strammer (Nokomis, Fla.) and Zach Brown (San Diego, Calif.)*
42nd, 49er - Ryan Pesch (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.)*
39th – Brad Funk (Miami, Fla.) and Erik Aakhus (Corona del Mar, Calif.)**
28th, 49er FX- Kristen Lane (Tiburon, Calif.) and Christine Neville (Oakland, Calif.) **
15th, Finn – Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)*
54th, Finn – Gordon Lamphere (Lake Forest, Ill.)*
24th, Laser - Charlie Buckingham( Newport Beach, Calif.)*
85th, Laser – Erik Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.)
10th, Nacra 17 – Sarah Newberry (Miami, Fla.) and John Casey (Longwood, Fla.)
10th, RS:X Women – Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)

* Denotes member of US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider
** Denotes member of US Sailing Development Team



Racing continues on April 3. To follow along with the event’s live blogging, go to ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma