2016 Rio Olympic Games - Team USA displays speed in complex weather

by Will Ricketson on 11 Aug 2016 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games - The sailing venue at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games continues to surprise and challenge hundreds of the world’s best athletes and coaches with unpredictable weather, and the third day of competition featured the toughest racing yet. Light winds in the early afternoon gave way to rain on the “Pao” (Nacra 17) and “Escola Naval” (470) race courses on Guanabara Bay, which also brought heavier and shiftier breezes.

Meanwhile, Laser, Laser Radial and Finn sailors competing on the Copacabana and Niteroi open-ocean courses battled consistent 25-knot winds with waves over eight feet in height. Despite the challenges, Team USA submitted strong scores throughout the day and is in the top ten overall in five of the eight active classes.

“Today there was a front that was supposed to move through and bring a whole bunch of breeze, but it ended up just kind of plopping right on the racecourse,” said Women’s 470 athlete Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.), who with teammate Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) made her Olympic Games debut on Wednesday. “It made it really shifty and puffy, and it was pretty hard to predict.”

Haeger and Provancha may be new to the Games, but the pair executed a rare and difficult maneuver at the beginning of the second race of the day, signaling their comfort with competing at the highest international level. “We actually port tacked the fleet (on the second start), and that was a pretty cool feeling at the Olympics. We finished the race in third, and were happy with that one.” Haeger and Provancha finished with scores of eight, three on the day, and are in fifth overall.

“Our campaign has been building for four years now, and to actually have the start gun go and be racing against the best women in the world feels pretty incredible,” said Haeger, who won the 2015 Olympic Test Event with Provancha. “There’s this media presence that all of us are not quite used to, but it’s the same girls, and the same race course that we’ve been practicing on for years. We’re prepared.”

In the Men’s 470 fleet, Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.), Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.) also started with solid results, earning a ten, seven on the notoriously difficult Escola Naval course and are in eighth overall. Both 470 fleets were challenged to address variable currents and variable breeze strength, and consistency was elusive.

Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) was eager to get out onto the open-ocean Niteroi course in the Finn class, but some early technical problems hampered his results. “We had around 25 knots of wind all day, with big swells of probably six - eight feet. I had one of my five millimeter mast chocks pop out,” said Paine. “We discovered the problem before the second race, fortunately had a spare out there, and was excited about my second race. I definitely had better speed.” Paine finished 21st in race three before taking third in race four, and is in seventh overall. “The points are still pretty close, so as long as I can keep getting off the (starting) line and doing what I need to do, I’ll be there at the end.”

The Laser and Laser Radial classes also moved onto an ocean course for the first time, and Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) had her best day yet, scoring two, seven and moving up to seventh overall. Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) started well with an eighth, but a 26th in the second race of the day became his drop race. Buckingham now stands in 15th in the 46 boat fleet.

Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.) and Louisa Chafee (Warwick, R.I.) saw action for the first time in the Nacra 17, the mixed gender multihull which is a new Olympic class for Rio 2016. Despite being a veteran competitor in the sport, Gulari’s enthusiasm regarding the beginning of his regatta was palpable. “Just happiness, that’s what I felt,” said the two-time Moth World Champion. “(Our) first Olympic race was awesome. There are not many things I haven’t done in sailing yet, but that was one of them, so I’m pretty excited about it.”

Televised live for the American audience on NBC Olympics, the first Nacra races were unpredictable and at times chaotic, with frequent lead changes. “We all would go from zero to hero and back to zero,” said Gulari when asked about how the racing unfolded. “It was wild. I think we did a pretty good job downwind. I missed some (opportunities) upwind unfortunately, but we still feel pretty good. Nothing wrong with our scores, (which are) keepers in my mind. Louisa did a great job. I think (these conditions) are just really challenging for a crew. I don’t even know how many gybes we were doing down the runs, (but) it wasn’t catamaran-esque racing whatsoever.”

U.S. Sailing Team Results: Day 2 (Tuesday, August 9)

Women’s 470 (Top 10):

1. JPN – KONDO YOSHIDA Ai / YOSHIOKA Miho: 5
2. NZL – ALEH Jo / POWRIE Polly: 7
3. SLO – MRAK Tina / MACAROL Veronika: 8
4. BRA – OLIVEIRA Fernanda / BARBACHAN Ana Luiza: 10
5. USA – HAEGER Annie / PROVANCHA Briana: 11
6. GBR – MILLS Hannah / CLARK Saskia: 11
7. AUT – VADLAU Lara / OGAR Jolanta: 15
8. NED – ZEGERS Afrodite / VAN VEEN Anneloes: 18
9. CHI – HORWITZ Nadja / MIDDLETOWN Sofia: 21
10. CHN – HUANG Lizhu / WANG Xiaoli: 22

Men’s Finn: (Top 10)

1. GBR – SCOTT Giles: 6
2. SLO – ZBOGAR Vasilij: 11
3. TUR – KAYNAR Alican: 13
4. GRE – MITAKIS Ioannis: 17
5. FRA – LOBERT Jonathan: 18
6. DEN – HOGH-CHRISTENSEN Jonas: 19
7. USA – PAINE Caleb: 20
8. BRA – ZARIF Jorge: 21
9. CRO – KLJAKOVIC GASPIC Ivan: 24
10. ITA – POGGI Giorgio: 26

Women’s Laser Radial: (Top 10)

1. IRL – MURPHY Annalise: 19
2. DEN – RINDOM Anne-Marie: 20
3. NED – BOUWMEESTER Marit: 21
4. CHN – XU Lijia: 27
5. FIN – TENKANEN Tuula: 30.8
6. LTU – SCHEIDT Gintare: 34
7. USA – RAILEY Paige: 35
8. SWE – OLSSON Josefin: 40
9. CRO – MIHELIC Tina: 42
10. BEL- VAN ACKER Evi: 47

Women’s RS:X: (Top 10, No Racing on Wednesday, August 10)

1. ITA – TARTAGLINI, Flavia: 12 points
2. FRA – PICON, Charline: 13 points
3. RUS – ELFUTINA, Stefaniya: 18 points
4. NED – DE GEUS, Lilian: 20 points
5. ISR – DAVIDOVICH, Maayan: 24 points
6. ESP – ALABAU NEIRA, Marina: 31 points
7. FIN – PETAJA-SIREN, Tuuli: 31 points
8. BRA – FRETS, Patricia: 33 points
9. CHN – CHEN, Peina: 39 points
10. USA – LEPERT, Marion: 47.8 points

Men’s 470:

1. CRO – FANTELA Sime / MARENIC Igor: 3
2. AUS – BELCHER Mathew / RYAN Will: 9
3. NZL – SNOW-HANSEN Paul / WILLCOX Daniel: 12
4. GRE – MANTIS Panagiotis / KAGIALIS Pavlos: 12
5. AUT – SCHMID Matthias / REICHSTAEDTER Florian: 12
6. FRA – BOUVET Sofian / MION Jeremie: 12
7. SUI – BRAUCHLI Yannick / HAUSSER Romuald: 15
8. USA – MCNAY Stuart / HUGHES Dave: 17
9. ESP – XAMMAR HERNANDEZ Jordi / HERP MORELL Joan: 20
10. ISR – LEVINE Eyal / FROYLICHE Dan: 22

Mixed Nacra 17:

11. USA – GULARI Bora / CHAFEE Louisa: 23

Men’s Laser:

15. USA – BUCKINGHAM, Charlie: 37 points

Men’s RS:X: (No Racing on Wednesday, August 10)

30. USA – PASCUAL, Pedro: 136 points