ISAF Sailing World Cup - Annie Haeger on form in Hyeres

by Dana Paxton on 23 Apr 2013 Following a delay to allow the wind to strengthen into suitable conditions, day one of six at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères is in the books. A group of seventeen American athletes are competing in Women’s 470, 49er, 49er FX, Women’s RS:X, Laser and Finn classes.

Top performance of the day went to Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wis.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.), who are third overall in the 30-boat Women’s 470. They sailed three races and collected finishes of 3-5-3.

'We are making serious progress with our speed, especially in the light air and chop,' said Provancha on their team blog. 'We are working hard to have good maneuvers during the race, and they are slowly starting to become more second nature. This is the start of a long regatta and with a decent amount of breeze forecasted for the final series; we are looking to make improvements race by race.'

The second American Women’s 470 team of Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Sarah Lihan (New York, N.Y.) are in 19th after collecting scores of 20-12-25.

In the Laser class, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) is in 11th after three races in the 113-boat fleet. The Laser the largest fleet competing and one that is split into two parts for the qualifying series.

Buckingham started the day well, with a 12th and second in the first two races. The second race was a battle with Brazilian Olympic medalist Robert Scheidt. 'It's cool racing with him, for sure, but when you're racing against someone, you treat everyone the same,' said Buckingham. 'I’m in attack mode all the time. [You] just pick every boat you can, while placing yourself in good positions. It seemed to work in the first two races, but I just couldn't really get in the groove on the third race.' He finished in 24th. In 69th is Erik Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.).

The Finn fleet is also split into two groups and today they completed two races. Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) is in 34th, while Gordon Lamphere (Lake Forest, Ill.) in in 46th in the 68-boat fleet.

A fourth-place finished started the day for Brad Funk (Miami, Fla.) and Erik Aakhus (Corona del Mar, Calif.), who are in 37th overall. 'This was the first light air event we’ve had and our starts are one of our weaknesses,' said Funk. 'We got some pointers from our coaches and were top 12 in all races at some point.'



In Women’s RS:X, Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) is in 17th after one race.

Standings to date for U.S. athletes:
Overall, Class, Sailor (hometown), races scores

3rd, 470 Women - Anne Haeger (East Troy, Wis.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.)* 3-5-3
19th, 470 Women – Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Sarah Lihan (New York, N.Y.) * ** 20-12-25
29th, 49er - Fred Strammer (Nokomis, Fla.) and Zach Brown (San Diego, Calif.)*7-BFD-15
37th, 49er - Ryan Pesch (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.)* 15-17-13
37th, 49er – Brad Funk (Miami, Fla.) and Erik Aakhus (Corona del Mar, Calif.)** 4-19-16
19th, 49er FX - Kristen Lane (Tiburon, Calif.) and Christine Neville (Oakland, Calif.) ** 18-18-17
34th, Finn – Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)* BFD-23
46th, Finn – Gordon Lamphere (Lake Forest, Ill.)* 35-39
11th, Laser - Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)* 12-2-24
69th, Laser – Erik Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.) 35-53-20
17th, RS:X Women – Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)

* Denotes member of US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider
** Denotes member of US Sailing Development Team

Racing continues on Tuesday, April 23 with the final day of the qualifying series before three days of the final series, culminating in the medal series on Saturday, April 27. Event ISAF Sailing World Cup website