Brits struggle at Miami Olympic regatta
by RYA/Sail-World.com on 2 Feb 2008
Star - Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) Rolex / Dan Nerney
Iain Percy and Shirley Robertson have missed out on the final Medal races at the Rolex Miami OCR, while in the battle for Olympic selection Penny Clark strengthened her position as the top British boat in the Laser Radial class heading into the final 10-boat medal race. The Miami event is part of a potential three-regatta series of trials events for four Skandia Team GBR sailors, of whom three will compete in Saturday’s final.
Shirley Robertson, Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor will miss out on the final race after finishing outside of the top ten places in 15th, with Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson also missing out in the Star class. A fourth in their only race on Saturday pushed up them up to 13th overall, but it was not enough to see them through to the ten-boat final showdown.
Clark’s position as the top British boat is now unassailable, and the Royal Navy Officer can finish no worse than her current position of fourth, with bronze within her grasp if she can finish ahead of Sweden’s Karin Soderstrom in tomorrow’s medal race. Charlotte Dobson goes into the final race in sixth place, and Lizzie Vickers in tenth.
A steady performance of 8,8 from their two races today boosted Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson into third from their overnight position of sixth in the Yngling class, with the trio looking to protect their bronze medal prospects in the medal race on Saturday.
Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta - Day 5
Laser (23 boats) -- 12 races
1. Maciej Grabowski (POL), 32pts
2. Kyle Rogachenko (USA), 38pts
3. Charlie Buckingham (USA), 41pts
Laser Radial (39 boats) -- 11 races
1. Paige Railey (USA), 27pts
2. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), 42pts
3. Karin Soderstrom (SWE), 56pts
GBR
4. Penny Clark 57pts
6. Charlotte Dobson 79pts
10. Lizzie Vickers 98pts
16. Andrea Brewster 141pts
Star (66 boats) – 8 races
1. Eivind Melleby/Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR), 24pts
2. Xavier Rohart/Pascal Rambeau (FRA), 28pts
3. Flavio Marazzi/Enrico De Maria (SUI), 30pts
GBR
13. Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson 74pts
Yngling (28 boats) -- 12 races
1. Mandy Mulder/Mary Faber/Merel Witteveen (NED), 62pts
2. Ekaterina Skudina,/Diana Krutskikh/Natalia Ivanova (RUS), 66pts
3. Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson (GBR), 95pts
Other GBR
15. Shirley Robertson/Annie Lush/Lucy Macgregor 146pts
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