Day 2 momentum builds at Rolex Miami OCR

by Event media on 28 Jan 2009
A brisk morning breeze greeted 444 sailors from 41 countries as they embarked on their second day of competition in US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR. The conditions, combined with yesterday's near perfection, has brought early momentum to the event, which is sailed on Biscayne Bay and based at the US Sailing Center, an official Olympic training center in the Coconut Grove section of Miami.

The regatta is part of the International Sailing Federation's (ISAF) World Cup circuit and has long been one of the 'must-do' events for elite sailors, since it replicates the classes and format of the Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Regattas.

'We had several really good downwind legs where we passed a lot boats,' said Geoff Ewenson (Annapolis, Md.) about his and crew Skip Dieball's (Toledo, Ohio) rise to the top of the scoreboard after two races in Star class today, 'and Skip did an awesome job calling tactics. He got us out of any tight jams I got us into.' The duo finished second in race one and won race two, while yesterday's leaders, Switzerland's 2008 Olympian Flavio Marazzi and crew Petter Morland Pedersen, won the first race, then suffered an OCS (premature start) in the second race, adding 33 points to their score line and causing them to tumble to eighth overall in the 32-boat fleet.

Ewenson, better known for his prowess in the Finn class, switched to the Star when the boat became available to him for this event. 'I had had it in my mind that I'd like to do it, and with the Finn, I was spending too much time seeing a chiropractor; it's a beastly boat and I'm not getting any younger.' He was especially pleased about posting a 2-1 today, because Dieball's daughter turned three today. 'On the way out to the course we said 'wouldn't if be nice to get three points for Mallory'; we were purely joking, but we'll take it,' said Ewenson.

Thinking of loved ones was also a part of Scott Whitman(Brick, N.J.) and Julia Dorsett's (Boca Raton, Fla) day. The SKUD 18 sailors, who repeated yesterday's performance with another two bullets today, are out to 'win it for Nick.' Nick Scandone, the USA's SKUD 18 Paralympic Gold Medalist from China, recently lost his battle with ALS; Whitman and Dorsett had been his and crew Maureen McKinnon-Tucker's (Marblehead, Mass.) training partners. (McKinnon-Tucker is sailing in the Sonar class with Rick Doerr and Hugh Freund, of Clifton, N.J., and Freeport, Maine, respectively.) 'Of all the Paralympic teams here, we are the constant,' said Dorsett, who explained that, by happenstance, many of the Paralympic skippers here have mix-and-match crews while she and Whitman have been sailing solidly together for three years. 'It definitely makes a difference in communication, which is so critical to boat handling.'

Boat handling was certainly critical today for The Netherlands' Dorian van Rijsselberge in the RS:X Men's class. He finished 1-4 to post 8 points and maintain his lead from yesterday, while Spain's Ivan Pastor nips at his heels with 9 points. 'I have to keep my eye out for everyone,' said van Rijsselberge, noting that he is pleased with the large turnout here. 'It's a big course, and they can come from anywhere.' The impressive 34-board fleet is all the more notable in that 19 countries are represented, including Portugal (Joao Rodrigues in third) and France (Olympic medalist Julien Bontemps in sixth), which Rijsselberge sees as additional threats to his throne.

Other sailors who have maintained their leads from yesterday are Chris Cook (CAN) in Finn class; Paul Callahan/ Roger Cleworth/ Tom Brown (Cape Coral, Fla./Lithia, Fla./ Castine, Maine, USA) in Sonar class; Allan Leibel (CAN) in 2.4mR class; and Nico Delle Karth/ Nikolaus Resch (AUT) in 49er class Fleet racing continues through Friday, when Paralympic and Women's Match Racing medalists will be named. The top-ten from the remaining nine Olympic classes will move on to a single medal race on Saturday.

Cumulative points tallied from the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup 2008-2009 will determine World Cup champions in each of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic classes. The series started with Sail Melbourne (Australia) last December and rounds out with the Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia (Palma, Spain) and Semaine Olympique Française (Hyères, France) in April; Delta Lloyd Regatta (Medemblik, The Netherlands) in May; Kieler Woche (Kiel, Germany) in June; and Skandia Sail for Gold (Weymouth, Great Britain) in September.

Regatta results, photos and updates are posted at www.rolexmiamiocr.org. Video highlights, produced by t2p.tv, will air Thursday through Saturday and can be viewed at the same URL.

US SAILING's 2009 Rolex Miami OCR

Top-three Finishes - Day Two

Laser (62 boats) - 5 races
1. Nick Thompson (GBR), 3-8-1-1-[18], 13
2. Pavlos Kontides (CYP), 5-2-6-12-[23], 25
3. Lee Parkhill (CAN), 9-[23]-8-14-2, 33

Laser Radial (41 boats) - 5 races
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla., USA), 2-[5]-1-2-1, 6
2. Paige Railey Clearwater, Fla., USA), 6-3-2-3-[42/OCS], 14
3. Jennifer Spalding (CAN), 1-2-6-7-[11], 16

Finn (31 boats) - 4 races
1. Christopher Cook (CAN), 1-3-2-4, 10
2. Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla., USA), 4-5-1-1, 11
3. Edward Wright (GBR), 2-4-6-3, 15

470 Men (18 boats) - 5 races
1. Onan Barreiros / Aaron Sarmiento (ESP), 1-[6]-2-1-2, 6
2. Charles Modica / Hans Jensen (Hobe Sound, Fla., / Duxbury, Mass.,USA), 2-2-5-[7]-1, 10
3. Stuart McNay / Graham Biehl (Lincoln, Mass. / San Diego, Calif.,USA), 3-1-[6]-3-6, 13

470 Women (9 boats) - 5 races
1. Henriette Koch / Lene Sommer (DEN), [4]-1-2-1-1, 5
2. Erin Maxwell / Isabelle Kinsolving (Norwalk, Conn. / New York, N.Y., USA), 1-2-[10/OCS]-3-2, 8
3. Hanna Saari / Mikaela Wulff (FIN), [5]-5-1-2-3, 11

49er (22 boats) - 5 races
1. Nico Delle Karth/ Nikolaus Resch (AUT), 1-1-3-[8]-2, 7
2. John Pink/ Rick Peacok (GBR), 7-2-2-[9]-1, 12
3. Billy Gooderham/ Ian Hogan (CAN), 4-7-1-1-[10], 13

Star (32 boats) - 4 races
1. Geoffrey Ewensen / Skip Dieball (Annapolis, Md. / Toledo, Ohio, USA), 6-12-2-1, 21
2. George Szabo/ Rick Peters (San Diego, Calif. / Marina del Ray, Calif.,USA), 2-7-4-12, 25
3. Rick Merriman / Phil Trinter (New York, N.Y. / Charlottesville, Va., USA), 3-6-13-4, 26

RS:X Men (34 boats) - 4 races
1. Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED), 2-1-1-4, 8
2. Ivan Pastor (ESP), 1-3-2-3, 9
3. Joao Rodrigues (POR), 3-2-6-7, 18

RS:X Women (23 boats) - 4 races
1. Marina Alabau (ESP), 2-2-1-2, 7
2. Blanca Manchon (ESP), 1-1-5-4, 11
3. Zofia Klepacka (POL), 5-3-2-1, 11

Women's Match Racing (12 boats) - Round Robin #1
1. Lucy MacGregor / Annie Lush / Ally Martin (GBR), 11-0
2. Giulia Conti / Alessandra Marenzi / Alessandra Angelini (ITA), 10-1
3. Genevieve Tulloch / Jennifer Morgan Glass / Jamie Haines (Tiburon, Calif. / Seattle, Wash. / Jamestown, R.I., USA) 7-4

2.4mR (20 boats) - 6 races
1. Allan Leibel (CAN), 2-1-2-1-[3]-1, 7
2. Paul Tingley (CAN), 1-3-4-3-1-[5], 12
3. Bruce Millar (CAN), [6]-6-1-4-2-2, 15

Sonar (5 boats) - 5 races
1. Paul Callahan/ Roger Cleworth/ Tom Brown (Cape Coral, Fla. / Lithia, Fla. / Castine, Maine,USA), 1-1-2-[4]-1, 5
2. John Robertson/ Hannah Stodel/ Alex Wang-Hansen (GBR), 2-[4]-1-2-2, 7
3. Rick Doerr/ Maureen McKinnon-Tucker/ Hugh Freund (Clifton, N.J. / Beverly, Mass. / South Freeport, Maine, USA), [5]-2-5-1-3, 11

SKUD 18 (5 boats) - 4 races
1. Scott Whitman/ Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J. / Boca Raton, Fla., USA), 1-1-1-1, 4
2. Alexandra Rickham/ Niki Birrell (GBR), 2-5-3-2, 12
3. Karen Mitchell / Bob Jones (Deerfield Beach, Fla. / Issaquah, Wash., USA) 4-3-2-4, 13

Event organizers have partnered with the City of Miami, and additional hosts for the event include Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club and Shake-a-Leg-Miami. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closin