Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships - US second in Star class

by Dana Paxton on 12 Dec 2011 Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships second week is underway with the Men’s RS:X, Laser, Women’s 470 and 49er fleet racing. The Star class continued its series from Sunday, and Women’s Match Racing continued with the seeding matches for semi-finals.

The event serves as the second and final U.S. Olympic Team Selection Event in the nine Olympic fleet racing events. It is also the country qualification regatta where USA will look to secure an Olympic berth in all 10 Olympic events.

Mark Mendelblatt (Miami, Fla.) and Brian Fatih (Miami, Fla.) now stand in second overall in the Star class, after scoring a 9-8 on a day plagued with gusting wind and approaching rain. They are 12 points behind leaders Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR) after four races.

In Women’s Match Racing, it was another long day on the water. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.), sailing as 'Team Maclaren' matched against France’s Claire Leroy in a 'best-to-two-wins' and lost two straight matches. They will be the second seed in the semi-final round.

For Genny Tulloch (Sausalito, Calif.), Alice Manard Leonard (East Haven, Conn.) and Jenn Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.), they continued in the repechage round, and finished the day with six wins, six losses.

Excitement came during flight 73 when Tulloch’s 'Team GETSailing' matched against Denmark’s Lotte Medlgaard Pedersen. Tulloch was given a penalty at the beginning of the match, but lead most of the match. On the last downwind leg, Tulloch forced a penalty on Pedersen and cancelled out her penalty. They matched to the finish, but it was Tulloch’s team crossing the line for the win.

In the Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance, 49er skiff, Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and Trevor Moore (North Pomfret, Vt./Naples, Fla.) began their series with three races and went 8-6-15 and find themselves in 17th overall in the 67-boat fleet. They race committee divides the fleet daily and then compiles the scores into an overall listing.

Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had a good day in the heavy wind conditions Women’s 470 (Women's Two Person Dinghy). They scored a 12th in the first race and third in the second to finish fifth overall in the 48-boat fleet. Erin Maxwell (Wilton, Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar (New York/Fishers Island, N.Y.) went 28-28 for 27th overall.

In the Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy), College Sailor of the Year and US Sailing Development Team member Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) had a standout day with a fifth and fourth to stand ninth overall in the ultracompetitive fleet. USSTAG finishes: Clay Johnson (Toms River, N.J.) 17th; Rob Crane (Darien, Conn.) 45th; with American Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.), the current Trials leader on points, in 53rd.

Robert Willis (Chicago, Ill.) scored two top-10s (9-7) to collect 16th overall, while Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.) is in 34th in the Men’s RS:X (Men’s Windsurfer).

World Championship racing in the Women’s RS:X, Laser Radial, Men’s 470 and Finn classes were completed on December 11.

To follow the live blog from event organizers and link to live tracking, please visit the event website. For class results click US Sailing Team website