Sailors breeze through first day - Rolex Miami OCR

by Rolex Event Media on 23 Jan 2007
Perfect conditions welcomed more than 855 elite sailors from 49 countries on the first day of racing at US SAILING's 2007 Rolex Miami OCR.

A steady southeasterly breeze and blue skies offered competitors a taste of what makes Biscayne Bay an ideal venue for this world-class event in its 18th year. The regatta is the only International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade-One regatta in the United States for Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls.

A number of American sailors enjoyed peak performances today, including Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wisc.) and her crew, Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.), the number-one ranked Yngling team on the US Sailing Team, who tied in points with Great Britain's team of Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson and Finland's team of Silja Lehtinen/Maria Klemetz/Livia Varesmaa but topped the scoreboard after tie-breaker rules were applied. Barkow and her crew swapped first- and third-place finishes in today's two races, while Lehtinen's team came in second place in both races.

'We stuck to our game plan and didn't make it too complicated,' said Barkow. 'We felt good to be in that position at the end of the day.' As for today's neck-and-neck competition, Barkow expects it to 'be tight all the way to the end.'

Among the classes that were large enough to warrant splitting into two racing fleets was the 49er. US Sailing Team member Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and his crew Chris Rast (Wake Forest, N.C.) topped their fleet by posting two bullets after a fourth-place finish and went on to post a second-place overall after scoring from the two groups was merged. Edging out the U.S. team by one point in overall scoring was the Japanese team of Akira Ishibashi and Yuko Makino, sailing in the second fleet.

More good fortune came to U.S. sailors in the 470 Women's racing, where American sailors Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (Aberdeen, N.J.) secured a third-place finish with 13 points in three races, behind The Netherlands' Marcelien de Konig and Lobke Berkhout with three bullets and Italy's Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol with 10 points. In the second of two races, the American team struck an object with their rudder on the downwind leg and lost some distance they needed to recover.

'We never gave up,' said Clark. 'We concentrated on the small gains, and finished with some good results.' Clark added: 'We're lucky to have such tight competition on home waters.'

In the men's 470 class, Portugal's Alvaro Marinho and Miguel Nunes came out swinging early with a victory in the first of that fleet's three races. 'The wind was a bit tricky,' said Marinho, 'but even with that it was an awesome day of 470 sailing.' Marinho acknowledged the presence of world champions and other top players in his fleet, including Great Britain's Olympic silver medalist Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, who finished 2-1-4 to post seven points and take the overall lead for the day. Marinho and Nunes finished their day with a 7-7 and settled for second place with 15 points. 'This will be a tough week to get good results but we are fighting,' said Marinho.

Online Information and Resources Updated Daily

For complete and up-to-the-minute regatta news and results, visit www.RolexMiamiOCR.org. For nightly video reports from America's Cup Hall of Fame inductee, author and sailing broadcaster Gary Jobson (Annapolis, Md.), visit www.NBCSports.com; for expanded video coverage, including more interviews and outtakes, visit www.RolexMiamiOCR.org

About US SAILING's 2007 Rolex Miami OCR

The Rolex Miami OCR is the only International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade-One ranking event in the U.S. for competition in all 14 Olympic and Paralympic classes selected for the next Olympic and Paralympic Games: 49er, 470 (Men & Women), Finn, Laser, Laser Radial, Neil Pryde RS:X (Men & Women), Star, Tornado; Yngling; 2.4mR, SKUD-18, and Sonar.

The regatta is especially important as a ranking regatta for American sailors hoping to qualify for the US Sailing Team and the US Disabled Sailing Team, which distinguish the top three sailors in each Olympic or Paralympic class.

Scheduled are five days of fleet racing through Friday, January 26, and one day of medal racing (for Olympic classes only) on Saturday, January 27. Saturday's medal races follow the new Olympic format, lining up the top 10 teams in each class on the starting line on the final day of racing.

Regatta Headquarters for the 2007 Rolex Miami OCR are at the US Sailing Center, with classes hosted by other area sailing organizations and parks, which include: Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Miami Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Shake-A-Leg Miami, and Crandon Park Marina. The City of Miami and the Miami Dade Sports Commission also support the event.

In addition to title sponsor Rolex Watch U.S.A., the 2007 Rolex Miami OCR is also sponsored by all the partners that support the US Sailing Team: Nautica, Vanguard Sailboats, Zodiac, Gill, Harken, Sperry Top-Sider, Nikon, New England Ropes, Extrasport, and McLube. Rolex is also a sponsor of the US Sailing Team. The City of Miami has partnered with regatta organizers this year to help with the expansion of the sailing venues.

Rolex Miami OCR Top-Three Results
Day 1

Finn (49 boats) -- 2 races
1. Tapio Nirkko (FIN), 4-1, 5
2. Christopher Cook (CAN), 2-4, 6
3. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), 1-6, 7

49er (47 boats) -- 3 races
1. Akira Ishibashi/Yuko Makino (JPN), 1-2-2, 5
2. Tim Wadlow/Christopher Rast (Beverly, Mass./Wake Forest, N.C., USA), 4-1-1, 6
3. Federico Alonso/Arturo Alonso (ESP), 6-1-1, 8

470 Men's (31 boats) -- 3 races
1. Nick Rogers/Joe Glanfield (GBR), 2-1-4, 7
2. Alvaro Marinho/Miguel Nunes (POR), 1-7-7, 15
3. Gustavo Martinez/Dimas Wood (ESP), 4-3-13, 20

470 Women's (18 boats) -- 3 races
1. Marcelien de Koning/Lobke Berkhout (NED), 1-1-1, 3
2. Giulia Conti/Giovanna Micol (ITA), 5-3-2, 10
3. Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler (Shelter Island, N.Y./Aberdeen, N.J., USA), 2-5-6, 13

Laser Radial (69 boats) -- 2 races
1T. Sari Multala (FIN), 1-1, 2
1T. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla., USA), 1-1, 2
3. Karin Soderstrom (SWE), 2-2, 4

Laser (114 boats) -- 2 races
1. Tom Slingsby (AUS), 1-1, 2
2. Paul Goodison (GBR), 2-1, 3
3T. Vasilij Zbogar (SLO), 4-3, 7
3T. Thomas Le Breton (FRA) 4-3, 7

RS:X Men (44 boats) -- 2 races
1. Casper Bouman (NED), 3-1, 4
2. Przeymslaw Miarczynski (POL) 1-5, 6
3. Nick Dempsey (GBR) 4-4, 8

RS:X Women (28 boats) -- 2 races
1. Marta Hlavaty (POL), 1-1, 2
2. Lucy Horwood (GBR), 5-3, 8
3. Bryony Shaw (GBR), 3-5, 8

Skud (10 boats) -- 3 races
1. Allan Smith/Jackie Gay (GBR), 1-1, 2
2. David Cook/Brenda Hopkin (CAN), 2-4, 6
3. Gustaf Fresk/Annika Lindgren (SWE), 3-5, 8

Sonar (14 boats) -- 2 races
1. Rick Doerr/Tim Angle/Bill Donohue, (Clifton, N.J./ Marblehead, Mass./ Brick, N.J., USA), 1-1, 2
2. John Twomey/Brian O'Mahony/Anthony Hegarty (IRL), 2-2, 4
3. Dan Parsons/Tom Pygall/Guy Draper (GBR), 3-3, 6

Star (67 boats) -- 2 races
1. John Dane/Austin Sperry, (Gulfport, Miss./Gulfport, Miss., USA), 1-3, 4
2. Hamish Pepper/Dave Giles, NZL, 4-1, 5
3. Fredrik Loof/Anders Ekstrom, SWE, 3-2, 5

Tornado (43 boats) -- 2 races
1. Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby (AUS), 3-3, 6
2. Olivier Backes/Paul Ambroise Sevestre (FRA), 2-5, 7
3. Andrey Kirilyuk/Valery Ushkov (RUS), 7-1, 8

2.4 mR (25 boats) -- 2 races
1. Megan Pascoe (GBR), 3-1, 4
2. Stellan Berlin (SWE), 1-5, 6
3. Jim Gluek (Pewaukee, Wis., USA), 2-4, 6

Yngling (18 boats) -- 2 races
1. Sally Barkow/Carrie Howe/Debbie Cappozi (Nashotah, Wis./Grosse Pointe, Mich./Bayport, N.Y., USA) 3-1, 4
2. Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson, (GBR), 1-3, 4
3. Silja Lehtinen/Maria Klemetz/Livia Varesmaa, (FIN), 2-2, 4