Star - Percy/Simpson win R5, Kusznierewicz leads

by Janet Maizner on 17 Apr 2008 Big wind shifts from the Northwest to the East with winds ranging from 8 to 20 knots were accommodated with two start line resets and a change on the course after the second weather mark today in the 2008 Star World Championships at Coral Reef Yacht Club.

Iain Percy and crew Andrew Simpson (GBR) took first place and sailed like the world champions they are. However, their black flag in race two and a disqualification in race four, put them out of the running for anything but a mid-fleet finish overall. Diego Negri/Luigi Viale (ITA) finished second and John Dane/Austin Sperry (USA) came in third.

'We had a good race today and sailed like we should have sailed the rest of the week,' said Percy. 'It was tricky with no wind and big shifts all the way around the course, but we got the right side on the first shift and did better than our disasters earlier this week.' Simpson added, 'We finally got it right.'

The Polish team of Mateusz Kusznierewicz/Dominik Zycki, current holders of the number one ISAF ranking for the Star Class, finished fourth today and moved into first place overall after the fifth race in the six race series. 'Everyone near us on the start got a black flag,' said Kusznierewicz. 'It was a difficult beginning and we started late, but safe.'

Deep in fleet rounding the first weather mark, the Poles picked up great speed, changed their tuning three or more times, and made their way to the top of the fleet. 'The communication between me and Dominik was great. When I didn’t know what to do, he did and when he didn’t know, I did,' explained Kusznierewicz.

By the second leeward gate, the Poles had passed almost 30 boats and were in 10th and striking distance for the beat to the finish line.

Diego Negri and crew Luigi Viale (ITA) took second place in today’s fifth race in the series and moved into second place overall. 'This was the best birthday present, I couldn’t have asked for better,' said the now 37-year-old.

The very first time Negri and Viale sailed together was the 2006 European Star Championships where they came in fourth. Their boat was old and literally taped together and they said they actually had to call some friends to figure out the rigging. That’s when they decided to name their boat 'Lady Mianda,' Mianda, which literally means old underwear, but in their Ligurian dialect means old sails or not very good sails.

Negri has been to the Olympics twice for Lasers and was at one time ranked 4th in the world. He decided to switch to Stars when he wasn’t having fun anymore. 'Racing Stars was like going home for me,' he said. 'At our first competition I saw Hamish Pepper, Robert Scheidt, Mark Mendelblatt, guys I used to race against in Laser.'

The Japanese team of Kunio Suzuki/Daichi Wada, which is trying to qualify its country for the Olympics, finished 19th today and jumped from 23rd to 11th overall. 'There was a lot of wind and it changed all the time. It was very difficult for us,' said Zuzuki. Other countries still racing for the four available Olympic slots are Austria, Ireland, Croatia and Switzerland.

Dane/Sperry had a solid day today sailing in the top 10 for the entire race. Marc Pickel/Ingo Borkowski (GER) moved into the top 10 at the second weather mark and finshed in fifth place.

Mark Mendelblatt/Mark Strube (USA) moved up two slots to sixth overall. At the first leeward mark the team moved into the top 10 and dropped down to an 11th place finish at the second leeward gate.

2008 Star Class World Championship
Series Standing - 5 races scored
Information is provisional and subject to modification
Regatta results saved: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 6:26:39 PM EDT
Division: Star (104 boats)
Pos	Bow/Sail	Club	Skipper/Crew	1	2		3	4	5	Total  Points	Pos
1	09/ 8170	POL	Kusznierewicz, Mateusz/Zycki, Dominik	1	1		[44]	3	4	9.00	1
2	25/ 8266	ITA	Negri, Diego/Viale, Luigi	3	3		[25]	9	2	17.00	2
3	55/ 8255	BRA	Scheidt, Robert/Prada, Bruno	[37]	12		2	1	14	29.00	3
4	87/ 8187	NZL	Pepper, Hamish/Williams, Carl	12	[105/BFD]		3	2	15	32.00	4
5	33/ 8333	GER	Pickel, Marc/Borkowski, Ingo	5	[105/BFD]		6	18	5	34.00	5
6	67/ 8267	USA	Mendelblatt, Mark/Strube, Mark	2	6		[32]	17	11	36.00	6
7	96/ 8296	SUI	Marazzi, Flavio/De Maria, Enrico	6	14		[47]	10	8	38.00	7
8	47/ 8107	FRA	Rohart, Xavier/Rambeau, Pascal	[26]	21		1	4	20	46.00	8
9	31/ 8331	SWE	Loof, Fredrik/Ekstrom, Anders	27	8		9	5	[49]	49.00	9
10	14/ 7836	AUS	Murray, Iain/Palfrey, Andrew	11	11		5	24	[31]	51.00	10
11	42/ 8144	JPN	Suzuki, Kunio/Wada,Daichi	9	15		10	[105/DSQ]	19	53.00	11
12	95/ 8195	USA	MacCausland, John/Murphy, Kevin	15	4		8	27	[56]	54.00	12
13	30/ 8230	USA	Dane, John/Sperry, Austin	10	[105/BFD]		40	6	3	59.00	13
14	58/ 8158	IRL	Treacy, Max/Shanks, Anthony	7	[105/BFD]		17	15	26	65.00	14
15	60/ 8260	USA	Buchan, Carl/Buchan, Jamie	31	7		12	16	[39]	66.00	15
16	02/ 8309	POR	Domingos, Afonso/Santos, Bernardo	21	10		[37]	14	22	67.00	16
17	91/ 8291	CAN	Macdonald, Ross/Mitchell, Steve	25	9		7	[105/DNF]	30	71.00	17
18	26/ 8226	AUT	Spitzauer, Hans/Nehammer, Christian	14	18		[23]	19/AVG(1)	21	72.00	18
19	12/ 8312	USA	Merriman, Rick/Sharp, Brian	[58]	20		29	19	6	74.00	19
20	39/ 8339	CRO	Lovrovic Jr., Marin/Mikulicic, Sinsa	29	2		[64]	21	25	77.00	20
21	08/ 8109	GER	Stanjek, Robert/Koy, Markus	18	[105/BFD]		26	25	18	87.00	21
22	X2/ 8261	IRL	O'Leary, Peter/Milne, Stephen	19	5		36	[105/DNF]	36	96.00	22
23	85/ 8285	USA	Diaz, Augie/Trinter, Phil	[49]	13		28	23	32	96.00	23
24	90/ 8290	ITA	Santoni, Silvio/Natucci, Dodo	22	23		42	12	[47]	99.00	24
25	52/ 8250	USA	Macdonald, Andy/Fatih, Brian	[52]	27		18	36	29	110.00	25
26	37/ 8337	BRA	Adler, Alan/Seifert, Ronald	16	32		56	7	[105/BFD]	111.00	26
27	73/ 8273	USA	Szabo, George/Peters, Rick	39	25		[50]	35	12	111.00	27
28	81/ 7581	ESP	Bermudez, Roberto/Ferreira, Marcelo	28	[105/BFD]		16	13	61	118.00	28
29	76/ 8177	USA	Smith, Jud/Yuill, Terry	51	16		14	[105/DNF]	38	119.00	29
30	X9/ 8232	SUI	Dannesboe, Henrik/Morey, Edward	34	37		11	38	[41]	120.00	30
31	X5/ 7860	GER	Fritz, Werner/Seeberger, Uli	44	31		15	31	[105/BFD]	121.00	31
32	89/ 8284	BRA	Grael, Lars/Jordao, Marcelo	62	[105/BFD]		20	26	17	125.00	32
33	48/ 8348	ITA	Modena, Luca/Lambertenghi, Sergio	24	17		33	[105/DNF]	53	127.00	33
34	03/ 8003	ARG	Rigoni, Alejo/Gonzalez, Gustavo	33	29		38	[41]	27	127.00	34
35	18/ 8218	DEN	Anderson, Benny/Just, Mogens	36	[105/BFD]		4	29	59	128.00	35
36	32/ 8332	ITA	Chieffi, Enrico/Colaninno, Nando	32	19		45	[105/RAF]	34	130.00	36
37	07/ 7907	ARG	MacGowan, Fabian/Engelhard, Federico	[50]	26		34	33	40	133.00	37
38	43/ 8143	CAN	Cramer, Brian/Bjorn, Tyler	47	22		[68]	20	48	137.00	38
39	80/ 8280	CRO	Lovrovic, Dan/Lovrovic Sr., Marin	40	30		[105/OCS]	28	50	148.00	39
40	82/ 8282	BRA	Pascolato, Alessandro/Booning, Henry Raul	[105/BFD]	43		41	51.3/AVG(2)	16	151.30	40
41	24/ 8156	USA	Horton, Andy/Scott, Andrew	13	[105/BFD]		24	105/DNF	10	152.00	41
42	19/ 8319	CHI	Zuazola, Rodrigo/Riegel, Robert	65	[105/BFD]		19	30	43	157.00	42
43	98/ 8298	SWE	Lofstedt, Tom/Carlsson, Krister	[69]	48		58	39	13	158.00	43
44	27/ 8343	DEN	Svendsen, Joegen/Jurlander, Jens Christian	46	55		[81]	22	35	158.00	44
45	13/ 8213	GER	Wilhelm, Peer/Hollweg, Nils	43	41		30	46	[70]	160.00	45
46	54/ 8254	IRL	O'Connell, Maurice/Cooke, Ben	30	[105/BFD]		21	8	105/BFD	164.00	46
47	36/ 8136	USA	Filter, Henry/Wagner, Will	54	45		[74]	47	23	169.00	47
48	05/ 8305	RUS	Shevtsov, Sergey/Sadchikov, Roman	23	[105/BFD]		59	37	51	170.00	48
49	77/ 8277	NED	Haakman, Sjaak/Zetzema, Weitze	45	40		[53]	43	42	170.00	49
50	49/ 8345	GBR	Percy, Iain/Simpson, Andrew	8	[105/BFD]		60	105/DSQ	1	174.00	50
51	70/ 7570	CAN	Lowden, Hunter/Wilson, Brett	35	36		[65]	58	45	174.00	51
52	74/ 8263	NED	Jorissen, Sander/Veldhuizen, Erik	64	34		71	[105/BFD]	7	176.00	52
53	62/ 7462	USA	Watt, Dave/Martin, Dave	42	[105/BFD]		22	55	58	177.00	53
54	78/ 7777	ARG	Labandeira, Julio/Della Torre, Enrique	73	[105/BFD]		13	34	60	180.00	54
55	66/ 8166	HUN	Tenke, Tibor/Bendicsek, Jozsef	63	44		43	32	[105/BFD]	182.00	55
56	34/ 8183	NOR	Melleby, Eivind/Pedersen, Petter	20	[105/BFD]		48	11	105/DSQ(3)	184.00	56
57	71/ 8119	RUS	Tarakanov, Vitaliy/Karelsky, Maxim	[105/BFD]	61		51	49	24	185.00	57
58	Y1/ 8205	UKR	Datsenko, Kostya/Yevseyenko, Olexandr	77	42		31	[105/DNF]	37	187.00	58
59	72/ 8272	BER	Bromby, Peter/White, Lee	4	[105/BFD]		63	105/DNF	28	200.00	59
60	93/ 8192	GRE	Pelekanakis, L/Stylianos, George	38	56		[105/OCS]	42	66	202.00	60
61	28/ 8256	GER	Merkelbach, Hubert/Bartel, Gerrit	[105/BFD]	35		84	40	44	203.00	61
62	59/ 8159	USA	Proctor, Ched/Semler, Matt	78	28		55	[105/BFD]	52	213.00	62
63	64/ 8164	ITA	Chinca, Valerio/Ciano, Massimo	59	57		[80]	53	46	215.00	63
64	53/ 8253	USA	Brethorst, Rick/Anderson, Scott	41	52		[79]	48	76	217.00	64
65	99/ 8096	UKR	Avksentiev, Evgen/Kondratuyk, Kostyantin	[79]	33		75	45	65	218.00	65
66	20/ 8320	USA	Reynolds, Mark/Haenel, Hal	17	[105/BFD]		67	105/DNF	33	222.00	66
67	15/ 8215	USA	Allen, Bill/Lichter, Brad	88	51		27	[105/DNF]	57	223.00	67
68	69/ 8269	USA	Kohlhas, Jock/Scott, Larry	71	38		[76]	54	67	230.00	68
69	04/ 8009	SUI	Gautschi, Christoph/Gouda, Alex	[84]	39		78	44	69	230.00	69
70	01/ 7828	CRO	Arapov, Mate/Uljevic, Ognjen	60	[105/BFD]		57	105/DNF	9	231.00	70
71	88/ 7990	SUI	Stegmeier, Daniel/Stegmeier, Beat	48	[105/DSQ]		49	64	71	232.00	71
72	56/ 7978	SWE	Krook, Ingvar/Hasselgren, Henrik	66	64		46	61	[105/BFD]	237.00	72
73	23/ 8301	ESP	Sanchez, Francisco/Roca, Manuel	[105/DNF]	24		52	105/DNF	62	243.00	73
74	38/ 7437	BUL	Vassilev, Nedko/Nikolov, Boycho	[83]	46		69	51	78	244.00	74
75	X6/ 8283	BRA	Brun, Gastao/Kraiczyk, Fabio	53	[105/BFD]		35	105/DNF	54	247.00	75
76	75/ 8175	USA	Babel, James/Hawk, Bill	56	50		66	[105/DNF]	80	252.00	76
77	44/ 8344	ITA	Tamburini, Antonio/Ricci, Renzo	70	62		[105/OCS]	59	64	255.00	77
78	Y6/ 7972	CHI	Gimeno, Vicente P/Hasbun, Ignacio	[76]	73		62	52	73	260.00	78
79	00/ 8300	BRA	Ficker, Peter/Lopes, Arthur	72	66		70	57	[75]	265.00	79
80	Y3/ 8281	RUS	Vokhmintsev, Dmitry/Pinegin, Yury	61	53		93	[105/BFD]	63	270.00	80
81	X8/ 7865	GER	Lehnert, Stefan/Menning, Peter	86	[105/BFD]		83	50	55	274.00	81
82	61/ 8061	USA	DeCouteau, Derek/Nederlof, Trevor	[90]	54		82	56	82	274.00	82
83	Y8/ 8016	GER	Rauch, Hubert/Kling, Felix	67	76		[91]	60	77	280.00	83
84	10/ 7713	USA	Fransen, Ben/Coleman, Ian	81	[105/DNS]		61	66	72	280.00	84
85	50/ 7750	GER	Burmester, Jens/Mehlen, Markus	91	65		[105/OCS]	62	79	297.00	85
86	79/ 8279	USA	Bonanni, Claude/Burgess, Rick	80	49		88	[105/DNF]	81	298.00	86
87	17/ 7814	USA	Donald, Keith/Sean Bryson Quinn	89	58		[95]	65	86	298.00	87
88	92/ 8292	FIN	Makila, Jali/Heinonen, Erkki	57	[105/BFD]		39	105/DNF	105/BFD	306.00	88
89	29/ 8329	SUI	Wyss, Daniel/Joss, Urs	75	59		89	[105/DNF]	83	306.00	89
90	83/ 8083	USA	Chiarella, John/Carlson, Bob	95	70		[98]	68	74	307.00	90
91	63/ 8163	USA	Stazko, Ryan/Donahue, Jack	[93]	69		92	63	84	308.00	91
92	86/ 8085	SUI	Zimmerman, Lorenz/Mutti, Michael	[105/BFD]	47		54	105/DNF	105/DNF	311.00	92
93	X4/ 8247	UKR	Gureyev, Vasyl/Korotkov, Volodymyr	68	[105/BFD]		72	105/DNF	68	313.00	93
94	45/ 8245	USA	Zambella, Joe/Peter Costa	74	63		73	[105/DNF]	105/DNS	315.00	94
95	X3/ 7105	USA	Babel, Bill/Davis, Trevor	85	60		77	[105/DNS]	105/DNS	327.00	95
96	46/ 7946	GER	Weiler, Hermann/Dietrich, Niklas	[98]	77		97	69	85	328.00	96
97	16/ 7816	GER	Hasche, Marko A/Behn, Philip G	96	75		94	67	[105/DNF]	332.00	97
98	68/ 7866	GER	Thomsen, Dierk/Jensen, Darin	82	72		87	[105/DNS]	105/DSQ(4)	346.00	98
99	84/ 7784	CHN	Li, Hongquan/Wang, He	92	68		85	[105/DNF]	105/DSQ(5)	350.00	99
100	Y5/ 7562	ITA	Bettarini, Stefano/Cristaldini, Corrado	87	74		86	[105/DNF]	105/DNF	352.00	100
101	21/ 8021	AUT	Wirth, Harald/Pickering, Jim	94	71		96	[105/DNF]	105/DNS	366.00	101
102	Y4/ 8043	USA	Manderson, John/Gotsulyak, Roman	55	[105/BFD]		105/DSQ	105/DNF	105/DNS	370.00	102
103	51/ 7451	CAN	Burgess, Dennis/Clay, Gordon	97	[105/BFD]		90	105/DNF	87	379.00	103
104	22/ 8216	AUT	Tomasini-Grinover, Roberto/Bahr, Gunnar	[105/BFD]	67		105/DNS	105/DNS	105/DSQ(6)	382.00	104
Notes
-1						Average for Races 1, 2, 3 & 5
-2						Average for Races 1, 2, 3 & 5
-3						Weight Penalty
-4						Weight Penalty
-5						Weight Penalty
-6						Weight Penalty
-7						Scoring System is ISAF Low Point 2005-2008
-8						Finishes in [brackets] denote throwouts
Information is provisional and subject to modification
Principal Race Officer: Rich Raymond
Jury Chair: Eric Tulla