ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami 2015 - US Sailing Team, day 4 report

by Will Ricketson on 30 Jan 2015 Day 4 of ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami 2015, Presented by Sunbrella, saw the US Sailing Team Sperry make steady gains in the Laser and Laser Radial classes as gold fleet racing approaches its conclusion. In the Sonar, Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Maine) will go for gold tomorrow in the final day of Paralympic racing.

The energy and tension was palpable today on the women’s Laser Radial course, and manifested itself with numerous general recalls as sailors refused to concede an inch to their neighbors on the starting line. The US Sailing Team Sperry’s Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) recorded another solid day with a four, eight in two races to move up to fifth place, and 13 points out of bronze position.

'This whole regatta has been extremely difficult, with the weather being so strong and hard to interpret,' said Railey, a 2012 Olympian. 'I have done this regatta for 10 years, and this is the hardest one I can remember. One minute you look up and it seems that you’re in third, and the next minute you’re in 25th.' Railey also noted that the level of competition is as high as ever, with all of the prominent Rio 2016 hopefuls here to race. 'It’s really hard to come back from deep in the fleet. You can tell right away which girls are strong in these conditions, which is good because you can watch and learn from them.'

Sitting only seven points behind the World Champion Railey is 18-year-old high school senior Haddon Hughes (Houston, Texas), a 2014 ISAF Youth Worlds silver medalist here to compete in her first-ever World Cup regatta. Hughes stands in sixth overall, and says that her first experience at this level of the sport has been nothing but positive. 'I had two good races today,' said a satisfied Hughes on the ramp. 'It was really a ‘keep your head out of the boat’ day, and you had to be aware of what was happening around you and across the course. Also, you had to approach each race differently.' In terms of her consistent performance, Hughes said she is not surprised. 'I was hoping to do this well, and my goal was top 15. This is definitely the hardest regatta I’ve done so far.'

In the men’s Laser, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) of the US Sailing Team Sperry scored a third place in the first gold fleet race today, which helped him move from 15th to ninth overall. 'I didn’t have a great start, but I definitely had some good speed and worked my way back up,' said Buckingham, who finished seventh overall at the 2014 ISAF Worlds. 'I feel like I’m having a good event so far. My training focus since the Worlds has shifted a bit from speed gains to race management, and I’m excited to develop that part of my sailing a bit more.'

In the Paralympic Sonar, the veteran team of Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund are just shy of gold medal position and will enter the final day of racing on Friday with a one-point deficit to erase. 'The breeze is going to be light enough tomorrow that we can’t count on sailing one race or two, so we aren’t going to go out for blood right off the line,' said Freund. 'Sailing somewhat conservative and calculated has paid off for our team so far, so we’re going to stay that course. We actually need to put a boat between us and Norway, which could be tricky in light air. If the opportunity is there we will take it, but we always do our best sailing without other boats clouding our strategy.'

Notable US Results, Overall: Day 4

Sonar (10 boats):
• Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund, second overall (1 point shy of the lead going into the final day)
Laser Radial Women:
• Paige Railey, fifth overall
• Haddon Hughes, sixth overall
49er Men (54 boats):
• Brad Funk and Trevor Burd, eighth overall
Laser Men (103 boats):
• Charlie Buckingham, ninth overall
470 Women (30 boats):
• Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha, ninth overall
2.4mR (17 boats):
• John Ruf, ninth overall
• Daniel Evans, 10th overall
Finn Heavyweight Men (40 boats):
• Caleb Paine, 12th overall
RS:X Women (38 boards):
• Marion Lepert, 16th overall