Sail for Gold Regatta - Outstanding day 2 for US Sailing team

by Dana Paxton on 6 Jun 2012 The second day of the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta was an outstanding one for US sailors with some of them moving up into the standings and snagging three top three positions in Women’s 470, 49er, and Finn. Though the wind returned to Weymouth and Portland, site of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing regatta, the rain and cold whipped through the area and served up big waves. For the US Sailing Team, it was a day to remember.

After a slow start on the first day in frustrating light wind conditions, Paige Railey relished the big waves and strong wind on day two. She worked the Laser Radial fleet and collected a sixth and third to move her up in the standings after four races.

Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan won 470 Women’s race 4 and with it moved into third place overall in the 32-boat fleet. 'Today’s misery is only dulled by yesterday’s horiffic conditions,' said Sarah Lihan of the two quick Women’s 470 races. 'The race committee did a fantastic job today. It was great. We know that this is our advantage condtion, when it’s big waves and windy, we’re one of the fastest teams out there.. Our game plan was to go out and dominate. It’s a great feeling to say that and do that and have it done. Our speed is very good, both upwind and downwind. We struggled a bit on the starting line, but we’re working on it. It’s great to keep working hard.'

Sarah Lihan talks day 2

For Erik Storck and Trevor Moore, today was a day of everything going well. 'It was windy, but not quite as windy as it was supposed to be. We saw up to 18-20 knots in the final race, sailed around clean and got a 2-3-1 to win the day and bump us up to third overall,' he said. 'We have been focusing a lot on our starts in the training leading up to this. I can happily say we are six for six on getting off the line well, front row and be able to do whatever we want. When you add the boat speed we had today.'



For a report from Erik and Trevor, click here

In the 2.4mR class, Mark LeBlanc talked about day one before heading out. 'It wasn’t that great,' he said. I had a poor start, I picked the wrong side and got an 18 out of 33. In the second race I had a great start, made a couple of mistakes and ended up with 16th.' As he explained, moving up is very hard to find a clear lane. With a speed advantage on a short course, 'you have to find a clear lane and pick up speed. I think I can be a little more consistent with my speed.' LeBlanc finished day three with a 7-5 to move up into ninth overall.



In Women’s Match Racing, Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer and Debbie Capozzi improved their overall standings in the round robin, collecting three wins. Round robin racing continues on Wed.

To listen to Bob Willis talk about an improvement in Men’s RS:X standings despite the challenging conditions and what to expect on the Olympic race courses.

Bob Willis (RS:X), Sail For Gold Day 2, Post Racing by USSailingTeam

Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta website