U.S. athletes triumph over cold conditions in Miami at 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Day 3

Stu McNay and Dave Hughes at the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami © Sailing Energy / World Sailing

International sailors expecting warm temperatures in Coconut Grove were again surprised by today's conditions at the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami. The early morning featured temperatures in the low 40s and wind speeds reaching just above 20 knots. Despite the chilly weather, U.S. athletes welcomed another full day of racing.

While Florida local and US Sailing Team Laser Radial sailor, Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), doesn't love the colder temperatures, she welcomes the windy racing. She said with a smile on her face, "I've been training in these conditions for a bit now, so I'm feeling big!" Unsurprisingly based on that response, Reineke did well in today's two windy laser Radial races. She finished both races in second place and maintains the overall lead in the fleet.

The American RS:X sailors excelled in today's conditions as well. In the Women's fleet, Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) moved up to second place overall and Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.) continues to lead in the Men's fleet.

Also representing the U.S. in the Men's RS:X fleet, Geronimo Nores (Miami Beach, Fla.) particularly enjoyed the breeze, "I honestly really liked the conditions. I like when it's windy. We had a little bit of chop out there as well, so it was a little crazy out there, very fun. It was also a fast course. We were really moving out there, making fast decisions and that's the kind of racing I enjoy." Nores climbed up to third place after finishing all of the races over the last two days in the top three.

U.S. Men's 470 athletes Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.) also enjoyed their morning in the heavy-air thanks to some improvements they made today. "We left a little bit on the table with some of our technique yesterday," said McNay. "Today, we were able to clean up some of the edges, so I was really happy with the noticeable improvement in similar conditions." After today's advances, the pair is in 7th overall.

Carmen and Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) continue to lead the U.S. Women's 470 sailors in 8th place overall. Atlantic and Nora Brugman (Winthrop, Mass.) are 10th overall and Nikki Barnes (Miami, Fla.) and Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, Minn.) are in 10th.

In the Finn fleet, Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) and Luke Muller (Fort Pierce, Fla.) maintained their podium positions. Although, Paine and Muller remained in first and second place, respectively, the high winds still caused Muller some trouble on the water. While sailing upwind to check out the course before the first race of the day, Muller and coach Luther Carpenter (Cypress, Texas) got into a collision.

Carpenter hit the port side of Muller's boat near the mast after Muller tacked without realizing Carpenter's position thanks to the breeze drowning out the sound of his engine and hails. Muller was entirely unharmed, but the same could not be said for the boat. Despite the damage, Muller was able to complete both races without taking on significant amounts of water. Tomorrow he will use a different boat.

Racing will resume at 11:00 a.m. (GMT -5) on Thursday, January 23.

For more information visit miami.ussailing.org.