Star South American Championship 2011 - Grael and Seifert lead
by ISAF on 1 Apr 2011
Lars Grael (with former crew) Photo: Marco Oquendo) Star
2011 Star South American Championship, Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert have moved to the top of the 2011 Star South American Championship after the second day in Mar del Plata.
The Brazilians took advantage of the variable wind conditions as they won both of their races.
During the first race, the fleet favoured the left side of the upwind allowing the faster boats to round the first mark ahead. Among them were Lars Grael and overnight leader Alessandro Pascolato.
However Grael used his experience by showing his downwind skills to give him a safe lead. Grael went on to win the third race with Julio Labandeira and Hernan Celedoni (ARG) in second, followed by Alberto Zanetti and Nicolas Rosas (ARG) in third.
The wind dropped significantly in the second race meaning it the sailors had to rely on patience and tactics.
All of the boats chose to go to the left side during the first upwind. Grael, once again, kept the left lay-line which paid off during the last 300 metres as he rounded the weather mark ahead.
In the downwind leg, his rivals chose to go near the shore but he was experienced enough to stay between them and the buoy to have a safe lead.
At the end of the day Grael and Seifert, on six points, lead Pascolato by three points in the overall standings.
Top 5 after four races:
1. Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert (BRA) 2-2-1-1 6points
2. Alessandro Pascolato and Paul Henry Boening (BRA) 1-1-3-4 9points
3. Alberto Zanetti and Nicolas Rosas (ARG) 3-4-4-3 14points
4. Gastao Brun and Gustavo Kunze (BRA) 4-5-6-2 17points
5. Julio Labandeira and Hernan Celedoni (ARG) 5-7-2-6 20points
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