2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup - US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider Day 1

by Will Ricketson on 1 Apr 2014 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca - US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider athletes were in action today in sunny, cool, and shifty conditions in at ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca (Trofeo Princesa Sofia). The breeze came in around 11:00AM local time, and did not exceed seven knots throughout the day. With qualification spots for gold fleet on the line, US athletes were keen to record a solid start.

Finding themselves in the top fifteen in their fleets after consistent racing are Americans Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha (470, 11th overall), Paris Henken and Helena Scutt (49erFX, 13th overall, Luke Lawrence (Finn, fourth overall) and Caleb Paine (Finn, 11th overall). The top individual race finishes of the day were a sixth in Race two by the 470 team of Stu McNay and David Hughes, a sixth in Race two by Haeger and Provancha (470), a second in Race two by the Nacra 17 team of Sarah Newberry and John Casey, a third in Race one by Paine (Finn), and a first in Race two by Lawrence (Finn).

Racing continues tomorrow at 11:00AM, with medal races scheduled for Saturday, April 5th.

Notable US results, day 1:

470 Men (78 boats):
- 25th overall, Stuart McNay (Providence, R.I.) and David Hughes (Miami, Fla.), US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

470 Women (47 boats):
- 11th overall, Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.), US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

49er (79 boats):
- 30th overall, Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) and Joe Morris (Annapolis, Md.), US Sailing Development Team

49erFX (50 boats):
- 13th overall, Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.), US Sailing Development Team

Finn (92 boats):
- fourth overall, Luke Lawrence (Miami, Fla.)
- 11th overall, Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.), US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider
- 35th overall, John F. Dane (Pass Christian, Miss.), US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

Laser (144 boats):?
- 17th overall, Erik Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.), US Sailing Development Team
- 36th overall, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)?, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider
- 47th overall, Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

Nacra 17 (73 boats):
- 22nd overall, Sarah Newberry (Miami, Fla.) and John Casey (Longwood, Fla.), US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

RS:X Women (56 boards)
- 35th overall, Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.), US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

For full results Click here.

Quotes:

'We had a strong start to the event with two top 10's in an unstable sea breeze.' -Annie Haeger (470, East Troy, Wisc.)

'Showed lots of promise with solid boat speed and a couple top five first mark roundings. Unfortunately gave away a lot of points to have a sub-par day results-wise. Need a good day tomorrow to make Gold fleet.' - Chris Barnard (Laser, Newport Beach, Calif.)

'A solid start to Trofeo Princesa Sofía today! We scored 6,11,4 in the light sea breeze, putting us in 13th overall (out of 50). After tomorrow's races the top 25 boats will be in gold fleet.' - Helena Scutt (49erFX, Kirkland, Wash.)

'I just have to keep getting top-20's to make gold fleet. One more day of general racing tomorrow and then they split into gold and silver fleets. The goal right now is to obviously make the gold fleet, and up from there!. Oh yeah, and I port tacked the fleet the first start, which was cool.' - John F. Dane (Finn, Pass Christian, Miss.)

'Palma can be extremely challenging to sail in a skiff, but today we had delightful conditions. When it rips, it really rips. It's a great venue to come to because you have to be able to sail the boat in all conditions.' - Kristen Lane (49erFX, San Francisco, Calif.).

'The last race we seemed more like our old selves. Getting used to the swell and chop combo really changes your weight connection to the boat, and trying to calibrate that has been the biggest challenge to get right.' - Brad Funk (49er, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).