Day 4- Tunnicliffe Leads After Two Races

by Derby Anderson on 12 Aug 2008
Qingdao has impressed the skeptics by mustering enough breeze to run the first three days of sailing on schedule. However, today’s six classes were not so lucky and sat onshore in an hour-long postponement before heading out to the race course. Breezes picked up to a suitable six to seven knots for the first races of the day, but by the second races the changing current and growing chop made the conditions feel a bit stickier.

This morning a flotilla of over 300 small boats responded to an overnight algae bloom, and cleaned up as much as possible before racing. Though the algae has been present in small patches recently, today saw a resurgence, but nothing near the devastating caliber of six weeks ago.

The Lasers and Laser Radials sailed their first races today on Course A, which is only about one hundred meters from the seawall. The 43 men started first in the Lasers, and USA sailor Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) finished in 14th and 18th in his two races, putting him in 13th overall. He said, 'It’s not impossible to figure out, it’s just really tough racing.' Some Laser class favorites had major ups and downs today, so Campbell’s consistent scores show appropriate caution for the first day of a long regatta.

Laser Radial sailor Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) is a medal favorite going into this event, and came out on top after 4th and 5th place finishes today. She said, 'I made a couple mistakes and could have had a couple top threes, but given the caliber of this fleet I’m happy.' In the second race of the day, Paraguayan Cerutti banged the corner to lead around the top mark. When asked what Anna thought about that risky move, she said, 'She was so far ahead I thought she was a full rig!' This was the debut of the Laser Radial as the women’s singlehanded dinghy class, replacing the Europe dinghy sailed in 1992-1004. Twenty-eight Radials are racing here in Qingdao.

In the Women’s RS:X, underdog Nancy Rios (Miami, Fla.) had a slightly improved day coming in a 22, 26, but stays in 26th place overall. In the first race today, Rios made it to the top mark in fifth place, and held in sixth by the bottom. Despite dropping back on the second lap, Rios is really enjoying the Olympic experience, 'I’m learning more about myself here. I have to tell myself to calm down and remember to breathe.'

In the 470 Women, Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (New York, N.Y.) were busy last night in two protests, but won both and were bumped up from 15th to 12th place overall. Today’s 10, 15 performance puts them in 14th overall. The duo held sixth place for half of the second race, but Mergenthaler said, 'Then it went Qingdao on us. There was a huge shift and we were on the wrong side so that was tough.' As far as the conditions in Qingdao, Rios said, 'I almost threw up during the last race because it was so hot and I was working so hard.'

Stu McNay (Lincoln, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.) were pulled out of today’s first race after having started early, and were penalized OCS, which is 30 points. After a 17th in the second race they are now in 23rd overall in the 29-boat fleet.

In the Men’s RS:X, Ben Barger had a slightly worse day and now sits in 24th of the 35-board class. The aerobic demands of the windsurfers are mind boggling and worth checking out on the NBC website. Barger will likely welcome tomorrow’s day of rest tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s weather calls for more of the same, with Chinese forecasts showing a consistent two to three knots more than other models. Finn and Yngling will return to race tomorrow, as will Men’s and Women’s 470, Laser and Laser Radial, and the 49er.

Current Standings for U.S. Sailors (for full results please visit http://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/olympicresults.php)

Laser Radial: 28 boats
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), 4, 5; 9
2. Van Acker (BEL), 1, 10; 11
3. Steyaert (FRA), 11, 1; 12

Finn: 26 boats
1. Ainslie (GBR), (10), 1, 4, 1, 1, 10; 17
2. Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), 2, 5, 2, 2, 7, (8); 18
3. Florent (FRA), 5, 8, (20), 3, 4, 6; 26

Yngling: 15 boats
1. Ayton, Webb and Wilson (GBR), 2, 3, 4, (7), 4, 2; 15
2. Mulder, Bes, Witteveen (NED), 9, 1, 2, (13), 1, 5; 18
3. Weir, Gojnich and Farrell (AUS), 1, 11, 6, (12), 7, 7; 32

4. Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.), (14), 2, 8, 5, 6, 11; 32

49er: 19 boats
1. Outteridge and Austin (AUS), (20 DSQ), 1, 7, 3, 1, 1; 13
2. Warrer and Ibsen (DEN), 2, 4, (10), 4, 2, 3; 15
3. Sibello and Sibello (ITA), 3, (9), 1, 1, 6, 9; 20

13. Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and Chris Rast (San Diego, Calif.), 5, 14, 15, (16), 5, 10; 49

Laser: 43 boats
1. Murdoch (NZL), 2, 5; 7
2. Romero (ITA), 6, 3; 9
3. Alsogaray (ARG), 1, 12; 13

13. Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.), 14, 18, 32

Men’s 470: 29 boats
1. Wilmot and Page (AUS), 4, 7, 3, 3; 17
2. Charbonnier and Bausset (FRA), 6, 3, 8, 1; 18
3. Barreiros and Sarmiento (ESP), 8, 2, 6, 9; 25

23. Stu McNay (Lincoln, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.), 26, 12, OCS, 17; 85

Women’s 470: 19 boats
1. Rechichi and Parkinson (AUS), 2, 2, 4,1; 9
2. Dufresne and Tutso (ESP), 4, 5, 2, 6; 17
3. De Koning and Berkhout (NED), 3, 1, 9, 5; 18

15. Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (New York, N.Y.), 14, 12, 10, 15; 26

Men’s RS:X: 35 boards
1. Zubari (ISR), 1, 3, 1, 3; 8
2. Chan (HKG), 5, 4, 2, 5; 16
3. Ashley (NZL), 4, 7, 7, 1; 19

22. Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 21, 22, 24, 26; 43

Women’s RS:X: 27 boards

1. Yin (CHN), 1, 1, 1, 1; 6
2. Albau (ESP), 3, 5, 5, 2; 15
3. Crisp (ASU), 2, 4, 3, 8; 17

26. Nancy Rios (Miami, Fla.), 25, 26, 22, 26; 97

For more news and pictures from US SAILING, please visit http://olympics.ussailing.org/Olympics.htm

For NBC website coverage, please visit http://www.nbcolympics.com/sailing/index.html



For results and Olympic regatta coverage from ISAF, please visit http://www.sailing.org/olympics/racing/olympicresults.php



About the United States Olympic Team for Sailing

The athletes of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Team are selected, trained, and managed by US SAILING, national governing body for the sport of sailing. The top three athletes in each Olympic and Paralympic class are part of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the United States. For more information about the athletes of the U.S. Olympic Team for Sailing, please visit www.ussailing.org.