Pick the right place! - Miami World Cup 2015

by Sail Canada on 29 Jan 2015 Miami delivered a wide range of conditions today with winds between 9-16kts and shifts in excess of 35 degrees reported from Bravo course. The unpredictable systems, did not delay any racing on Biscayne Bay!

Nacra 17 team Luke Ramsay & Nikola Girke turned on the speed today putting together a solid race 7 today, leading the fleet on several occasions and settling in nicely to fourth place. 'Very tricky day and we were able to capitalize on some shifts right off the bat and kept that momentum going through the race,' notes Ramsay. 'We sailed very clean for the most part and should’ve had another great result but Nik fell off the boat downwind. We made a nice recovery back to 13th.'
Ramsay/Girke maintain 15th overall, only 3 points out from 12th place.

Canadian Finn sailors continue to jockey for position with Martin Robitaille moving ahead of Greg Douglas in 15th position while Douglas hangs into the top 20. 'The boys came ready to execute on the Finn course today however without good starts, our strategies were unattainable in the massive pressure differences across the course,' explains caoch Vaughn Harrison. 'Tomorrow the emphasis will be on good starts.'

The Canadian Laser squad had their ups and downs in Gold fleet racing today making a few critical errors in judgment that cost a fortune in such a tight competitive fleet. A NZL 470 sailor was quoted today saying 'If you can’t pick the right place, try not to pick the wrong place.' Lee Parkhill picked the right place in race 7 to post a third behind Nick Thompson (GBR) and Bruno Fontes (BRA).

Canadian Radial sailor Brenda Bowskill moves back two spots to 10th overall today yet extends her lead further in the race for a Pan Am qualification. The top Canadian Radial sailor out of the Miami World Cup event will qualify for Toronto 2015. Clip of Brenda prior to racing today.

The Paralympic fleets sailed another 2 races on Bravo course today in extremely challenging conditions with significant variability in wind direction and velocity. Despite a challenging Race 5 for CAN 835, the team were confident in boat speed and boat positioning allowing them to put together a solid comeback to win Race 6. 'After rounding the first mark seventh, tensions were high however the team picked away at their opportunities and capitalized upon them for the win,' said coach Ken Dool. Paul Tingley, Scott Lutes & Logan Campbell will hang onto their red bibs, signifying their third place position, heading into the fourth day of racing.

Canadian Allan Leibel is locked in a tight battle with Norway and GBR with 5 points seperating first and fourth place positions. At the moment, GBR teammates Megan Pascoe & Helena Lucas hold down the two top spots on the leaderboard followed by Bjørnar Erikstad from Norway.

CAN58 had a difficult day today on the SKUD course with gear failure half way through their first race. 'We fought our way back to fourth, consolidating nicely with the fleet when two boats who had taken a flyer found some breeze and overtook us,' explains Jackie Gay. The Canadians were leading the second race when confusion at the finish caused them to miss the line. 'Lots of mistakes, lessons learned, and work to be done but we are right up there with the World Champions and have had some great moments.'

Canadian Olympic notable results after Day 3:
Radial – Brenda Bowskill – 10th
Nacra – Luke Ramsay & Nikola Girke – 15th
Finn: Martin Robitaille – 15th & Greg Douglas – 19th

Canadian Paralympic Results after Day 3:
2.4mR – Allan Leibel – fourth
Sonar – Paul Tingley, Logan Campbell, Scott Lutes - third
SKUD – John McRoberts & Jackie Gay - fifth

Schedule has been updated for tomorrow’s racing, so make sure to check http://miami.ussailing.org/ for Results