ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami 2015 - Day 5 news from US Sailing Team

by Will Ricketson on 31 Jan 2015 Day five of ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Presented by Sunbrella, saw the stage set for the Saturday’s medal races in the Olympic classes, while on the Paralympic side US Sailing Team Sperry athletes Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Maine) secured a silver medal in the three-person Sonar.

Sailing conditions came full circle on Friday, as a week which began with winds over 30mph on Monday gave way to a glassy calm for much of the final day of gold and silver fleet action. 7 of 10 Olympic classes were able to finish at least one race, while none of the Paralympic classes were able to sail on their final day of competition.

'It was a challenge to get my body up to speed for the competition,' said Doerr, a disabled world champion who recently underwent surgery on his hip that nearly sidelined him for the regatta. 'My crew pulled the lion’s share of the weight. I took it a day at a time, and a race at a time.' Kendell said the week was a battle from the start. 'Monday (with the heavy breeze) was the toughest day, and we definitely fought through that challenge. It tired us out, but Rick inspired Hugh and I, in that if he can fight through it, we can fight through it.' Freund noted that in trying to adapt to their skipper’s health, they learned some strategies that will make them a stronger team going forward. 'We were able to learn really quickly and figure out what was working well. We’re going to be able to capitalize on that in the future. It’s been a great start to 2015.'

On the Olympic side, the US Sailing Team Sperry will have a shot at a medal in the women’s Laser Radial class, where veteran athlete Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla) is 16 points from bronze, and 19 points from the lead. Getting on the podium in the double-points medal race will be a tough task, but nobody in the fleet is ruling out Railey, an Olympian, World Champion, and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. 'Medal races are very strategic, and dependent on the points situation,' said Railey. 'You need to adjust to the facts at hand each time you go into one. You can control the situation a lot. The points total helps you decide on if you are going on the offensive or staying on the defensive.' The Laser Radial medal race is scheduled for 11:45AM EST on Saturday.

In the men’s heavyweight Finn class, Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) completed the sailing equivalent of American football’s 'hail mary' pass to get into the medal race on Friday. Paine found himself deep in the pack in the first race of the day, but successfully worked his way back by finding more pressure far on the edge of the racecourse during the second beat. 'He passed at least 15 boats. It was awesome,' said Paine’s coach, 1992 silver medalist Brian Ledbetter (Seattle, Wash.). 'I took a risky puff on one side of the course and passed all of those boats in less than 5 knots. It was stressful,' said Paine. 'Overall this week, we had a major equipment breakdown and I couldn’t find my downwind speed. I didn’t feel like my equipment was perfect, with most of my latest stuff being in Europe or down in Rio de Janeiro. It’s something I’ll have to work on.' Paine will compete in the medal race starting at 11:00AM EST.

The US Sailing Team Sperry will also be represented in the medal round in the men’s Laser and 49er classes, and the women’s 470 class. 'With the small fleet of 10 boats, the style of racing might be different in the medal race but the preparation beforehand is exactly the same,' said Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), who will compete in the Laser medal race at this event for the fourth consecutive year. In the 470, #2 world ranked Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) said that they will be in 'total offense mode' to try to improve their ninth place position. In the 49er, Brad Funk (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.) return to the medal race a year after winning silver at the 2014 edition of ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami.

Notable US Results, Overall: Day 5

Sonar (10 boats)
• Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund, second overall
Laser Radial Women
• Paige Railey, fourth overall
• Haddon Hughes, 11th 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, ninth overall
RS:X Women (38 boards):
• Marion Lepert, 16th overall