Yngling trio make gains in Miami

by RYA on 30 Jan 2008 World Champions Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson are leading the Yngling fleet after Tuesday’s second day of racing at the Rolex Miami OCR (29 January).

After a postponement to the morning’s race schedule due to light winds, the afternoon breeze picked up to 10-15 knots across Biscayne Bay, with the women’s keelboat fleet managing three races in the improved conditions.

Ayton, Webb and Wilson started the day with a bang, with two race wins sandwiching a discardable 23rd from the second race, with them now ahead of the second-placed Russian boat by three points in the overall standings. Shirley Robertson, Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor are in 14th place, posting 16,10,21 from their three races.

In the Laser Radial class, Penny Clark has kept her nose in front in this first event of the potential three-regatta Olympic trials for the British women’s single-handers. Clark was consistent amid tricky and shifty wind conditions, finishing in sixth and ninth in the two races, while Charlotte Dobson dipped slightly to eighth place overall with results of 13,14 from today.

Lizzie Vickers is currently in 11th place with Andrea Brewster in 17th, while the two American sailors of Anna Tunnicliffe and Paige Railey top the leaderboard and are already enjoying a sizeable points margin over the rest of the 39-boat fleet.

In the Paralympic classes, Skandia Team GBR’s Sonar crew of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas have boosted themselves up into second place – a race win and a fifth sees them now six points adrift of the leading German boat, while in the 2.4mR single-handed class, Helena Lucas is currently the top ranking British sailor in overall fourth place.

Lucas crossed in sixth place in the first of the fleet’s two races, but ran into trouble in the second.

“I had a bit of an incident with one of the American boats coming up to the windward mark,” she explained. “I ended up with my boat head to wind and going backwards, so that wasn’t an ideal position to be in!”

Lucas can discard the 18th place from that second race, and she’s now five points off the medal positions, with teammate Megan Pascoe six points behind in eight place.

In the two-person Paralympic SKUD class, Allan Smith and Jackie Gay are also just outside the podium spots after two days of racing – they picked up a steady 5,6, while Niki Birrell and Alexandra Rickham scored 8,7 to see them in eighth place overall.

Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson had a day they’d rather forget in the men’s keelboat Star class, picking up a penalty for a premature start in their first race of the day and then a 22 in their second. They’re now in 17th place in the overall standings.

Racing at the Rolex Miami OCR 2007 will runs until 2 February – for results and regatta information visit www.skandiateamgbr.com

Leading positions

Laser (24 boats) -- 5 races
1. Maciej Grabowski, POL, 9pts
2. Kyle Rogachenko, USA, 12pts
3. Marcin Rudawski (POL), 13pts

Laser Radial (39 boats) -- 4 races
1. Paige Railey, USA, 7pts
2. Anna Tunnicliffe USA, 9pts
3. Penny Clark, GBR 23pts

Other GBR
8. Charlotte Dobson, 41pts
11. Lizzie Vickers, 51pts
17. Andrea Brewster, 70pts

Star (70 boats) - 4 races
1. Rick Merriman/Brian Sharp, USA, 8pts
2. Eivind Melleby/Petter Morland Pedersen NOR, 14pts
3. Hamish Pepper/Carl Williams NZL,18pts

GBR
17. Iain Percy-Andrew Simpson, 48pts


Yngling (28 boats) -- 5 races
1. Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson GBR, 14pts
2. Ekaterina Skudina,/Diana Krutskikh/Natalia Ivanova RUS, 17pts
3. Monica Azon/Sandra Azon/Graciela Pisonero ESP, 20pts

Other GBR
14, Shirley Robertson/Annie Lush/Lucy Macgregor, 48pts

2.4mR (25 boats) -- 5 races
1. Damien Seguin FRA, 7pts
2. Stellan Berlin SWE, 10pts
3. Paul Tingley CAN, 16pts

GBR
4. Helena Lucas, 21pts
8. Megan Pascoe, 27pts

SKUD-18 (10 boats) -- 4 races
1. Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker USA, 4pts
2. Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett, USA, 12pts
3. John McRoberts/Stacie Louttit, CAN, 12pts

GBR
4. Allan Smith-Jackie Gay, 20pts
7. Niki Birrell-Alexandra Rickham, 26pts

Sonar (11 boats) -- 4 races
1. Jens Kroker/Tobias Schuetz/Siegmund Mainka GER, 8pts
2. John Robertson/Hannah Stodel/Steve Thomas GBR, 14pts
3. Bruno Jourden/Herve Larhant/Nicolas Vimont Vicary FRA, 16pts