American 470 Class sailors battling at the top in France

by Will Ricketson on 24 Apr 2015 Day Two of ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères brought much more breeze and beaming sunshine to the waters surrounding this sailing-infused Mediterranean town. The result was nearly perfect racing conditions for the US Sailing Team Sperry and hundreds of international competitors.

Heading into the day in the overall lead and wearing gold jerseys in the Women's 470 class was the team of Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.). On Day Two, the pair scored a mid-fleet finish followed by a seventh, resulting in a three-way tie on points for first place, which puts the Americans in second overall. 'The fleet here in general has been racing quite well, and it shows in the results,' said Provancha. 'It's getting harder to make comebacks, and you really have to be on your game. The level of racing here is definitely top notch.' Now sandwiched in the standings by the London 2012 Olympic gold and silver medal-winning teams from New Zealand and Great Britain, Haeger and Provancha will look to be at their best heading into tomorrow.

With slightly smaller fleet sizes in Hyères this year as the result of a new ISAF Sailing World Cup quota system, racing in each class has immediately taken on a level of intensity usually reserved for 'gold fleet' racing at larger events. This has been evident in the Men's 470 class, which boasts a deep pool of talent and technical sophistication. Winning the first race of the day was the American team of Stu McNay (Providence, R.I) and Dave Hughes (San Diego, Calif.), who leaned on their great pace and extensive experience at this venue.

'The first race we sailed in a building sea breeze, and after we identified the correct side bias we played hard in that direction,' said two-time Olympian McNay. 'Good speed helped us gain the lead and helped us increase that lead over the course of the race.' McNay and Hughes jumped from fifteenth to sixth overall on Day Two, and are now just a few points shy of the top three. 'We are on track,' continued McNay. 'I'm happy with our performance, and while there were opportunities to do better, we are on the right track for our performance goals.'

Other US Sailing Team Sperry athletes made large jumps today, such as Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) in the Laser Radial, who moved up to 11th from 29th. Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) is now in ninth overall in the Finn, improving from 13th. Paralympic classes newcomer and five-time World Champion (in several classes) Dee Smith (Annapolis, Md.) had his best race yet with a third place in race four of the 2.4mR event, and moved up to ninth overall.

Racing continues on Friday with Day Three of ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères. Medal races are scheduled for Sunday.

Day two US Results: ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyéres 2015

470 Women:
• Second overall, Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.)
• 24th overall Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Carly Shevitz (Santa Barbara, Calif.)

470 Men:
• Sixth overall, Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (San Diego, Calif.)

2.4mR Paralympic (Open):
• Ninth overall, Dee Smith (Annapolis, Md.)

Finn Heavyweight Men:
• Ninth overall, Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)

Laser Radial Women
• 11th overall, Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)

49erFX Women:
• 16th, Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.)

Laser Men:
• 18th overall, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)

Nacra 17 Mixed:
• 23rd Sarah Newberry (Miami, Fla.) and Matthew Whitehead (Panama City, Fla.)

49er Men:
• 24th, Brad Funk (Miami, Fla.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.)