ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami Day 4 – US Sailing Team overall

by Will Ricketson on 31 Jan 2014 On day four of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami 2014 wind finally returned to Biscayne bay, an event that coincided with American sailors enjoying a strong day of racing. The top US athletes in each class improved their overall standing in the 49er, 49erFX, Laser, 2.4mR, Nacra 17, RS:X Men, and 470 Men, where US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider athletes Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.) moved into 1st overall. Americans held their spot in the SKUD-18, 470 Women and Laser Radial, where the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider's Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) continues to lead the regatta.

Laser Radial (Women): Paige Railey hung onto her lead in this large and deep fleet, despite conditions that were especially difficult to read. 'The clouds were changing the wind every single leg we sailed, and you never knew what it was going to be like at the top [of the course],' said Railey. The defending champion, Railey indicated that she wasn't going to get ahead of herself, and worry about results. 'You've got to keep focused on the here and now, keep working on the objective you set, and to not worry about winning. Tomorrow, it's just one race at a time.'

US Standings : Paige Railey (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 1st, Erika Reineke (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 9th, Christine Neville (US Sailing Development Team) 12th, Hanne Weaver 15th, Dana Rohde (US Sailing Development Team) 23rd, Riley Legault 29th, Claire Dennis (US Sailing Development Team) 31st.

470 (Men): Day four marked a terrific effort for new regatta leaders Stu McNay and Dave Hughes, who jumped from third overall to first after recording a scoreline of five,one,one. For these two, the secret seems to be focusing on the pure fun of racing 470s. 'We went out there and told ourselves that we need to continue having fun, and remember how lucky we are to be on the water every day,' said the always low-key skipper McNay. 'That seems to do the trick, and relaxes us well.'

The second-ranked US boat so far, Adam Roberts (San Francisco, Calif.) and Erik Storck (San Francisco, Calif.), have been enjoying themselves as well, showing competitive speed despite limited time training together. 'The pieces kind of fell into place,' said Roberts of their pairing. 'We started doing the weekend warrior lifestyle. We went out for a few practices, came out here [for the event], and potentially [will do] more, but it's been great.' Storck, who spent seven years training hard in a 49er skiff, and represented the United States at the London 2012 Olympic Games, said that he still had much to learn about the 470. 'The [hardest] thing so far for me has been learning to get my head out of the boat. The speeds and angles are different, but it's coming together.'

US Standings: Stu McNay and Dave Highes (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 1st, Adam Roberts and Erik Storck 19th, Wade Waddell and Henry Fernberger (US Sailing Development Team) 21st, Jordan factor and Matt Wefer (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 24th.

49er (Men): Brad Funk (Miami, Fla.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.) won their first World Cup race as a team, and continue to improve. 'It's been tough to stay consistent with the conditions we've seen, and with such a talented fleet, so we've just focused on what we can control: making sure our pre-race plan is solid and boat is set up right,' explained Burd. 'We've avoided getting caught up in packs of boats as much as possible, and just tried to keep the boat moving fast.'

US Standings : Brad Funk and Trevor Burd (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 5th, Trevor Moore and Zach Brown (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 12th, Thomas Barrows and Joe Morris 24th.

470 (Women), US Standings : Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) fourth, Sydney Bolger and Carly Shevitz (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) ninth.

Finn (Men), US Standings : Luke Lawrence 8th, Caleb Paine (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 12th, John F. Dane 17th, Henry Sprague 19th, Gordon Lamphere (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 21st.

Laser (Men), US Standings : Charlie Buckingham (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 7th, Chris Barnard 12th, Erik Bowers 19th, Greg Martinez 28th, Luke Muller 31st, Derick Vranizan (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 32nd.

2.4mR (Mixed), US Standings : Danny Evans (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 8th, Charlie Rosenfield (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 11th, Ted Green 12th.

Nacra 17 (Mixed) US Standings : Robbie Daniel and Catherine Shanahan (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 12th, Sarah Newberry and John Casey (US Sailing Development Team) 13th, Taylor Reiss and Sarah Lihan (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 21st, Steph Hudson and Dave Hein (US Sailing Development Team) 22nd.

49erFX (Women), US Standings : Kristen Lane and Maggie She (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 18th, Paris Henken and Helena Scutt (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 21st, Genny Tulloch and Kathleen Tocke 24th, Debbie Capozzi and Molly Vandemoer (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 29th.

Sonar (Mixed): Rick Doerr, Tim Angle and Hugh Freund (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) third, Andrew Fisher, Kieth Burhans and Brad Johnson (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) fifth.

RS: X (Men) US Standings : Carson Crain (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider 14th, Jonathan Rudich 15th, Raul Lopez (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 16th.

RS: X (Women), US Standings : Farrah Hall 7th, Marion Lepert (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) 12th, Solvig Sayre 14th.

SKUD-18 (Mixed), US Standings : Ryan Porteous and Cindy Walker (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) third, Sarah Everhart Skeels and Gerry Tiernan (US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider) fourth.

US Sailing Team website: click here

Event website: click here