Tough regatta for Team USA - ISAF World Sailing Cup 2013 Hyères
by Dana Paxton on 26 Apr 2013
Charlie Buckingham US Sailing Team Laser Mick Anderson / Sailingpix.dk
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Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wis.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) went into the final day of the series in third overall, with a plan on qualifying for the medal race. They met their goal and will now face the remaining nine top teams in the original 30-boat fleet.
'Today we did not sail the way we were hoping to, but the points are super close between all the boats for tomorrow’s medal races and we still in podium contention,' said Provancha.
She explained that the conditions were light, shifty and very challenging, which lead to unwelcome race scores. 'The first race, we were scored an OCS, which was not ideal. We tried to shake it off for the second race. We started in a pretty conservative spot, and halfway up the beat, the breeze got lighter and extremely inconsistent. It was very tricky sailing and we were lucky to have finished 13th.'
Going into the medal round, the duo are in contention for a medal. 'We did the best we could to hang in there mentally today and we are going to race hard for a medal tomorrow,' said Provancha.
The medal round takes place on Saturday, April 27 and two races are scheduled to begin at 12:20 (local time) in the Women’s 470. Points scored in medal stage races are doubled and non-excludable to the overall points score.
Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Sarah Lihan (New York, N.Y.) ended just shy of advancing in Women’s 470. They ended the regatta in 13th. Although the regatta ended earlier than they both would like, they were positive about the experience.
'Sydney and I decided to do this regatta at last minute and we’re really glad we and got some more experience sailing together,' said Lihan.
'We had some high points and low points. We managed to pull out two race wins, which is always feels good, and we also very clearly saw what our weaknesses are. Moving forward we have a really good idea of what we’re we need to do and what it takes to get there.'
Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) ended his regatta 22nd in the 113-boat Laser fleet. 'I had a tough event,' he said. 'I don’t feel like I performed very well. I never really got in the groove all week.'
He had his best performance in the series final race where he finished fourth. 'I got a good start and sailed the race that I wanted to,' he said. 'It’s pretty much the only race I got to do that the whole regatta. It felt good to get it in and end on a high note, for sure.'
Standings to date for U.S. athletes:
7th, 470 Women - Anne Haeger (East Troy, Wis.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.)* 6-2-4-9-8OCS-13 [advanced to medal round]
Final standings for U.S. athletes:
13th, 470 Women – Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Sarah Lihan (New York, N.Y.) * **
15th, 49er FX - Kristen Lane (Tiburon, Calif.) and Christine Neville (Oakland, Calif.) **
16th, Finn – Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)*
16th, RS:X Women – Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)
22nd, Laser - Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)*
26th, 49er - Fred Strammer (Nokomis, Fla.) and Zach Brown (San Diego, Calif.)* retired from racing
32nd, 49er - Ryan Pesch (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.)*
41st, 49er – Brad Funk (Miami, Fla.) and Erik Aakhus (Corona del Mar, Calif.)**
41st, Finn – Gordon Lamphere (Lake Forest, Ill.)* 4-7-11-11-17-6-BFD
69th, Laser – Erik Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.) 11-6-15-42-15-BFD-15
Full results: http://swc.ffvoile.com/
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