ISAF Sailing World Championships at Santander - Day 1
by Jeff Martin & ISAF 12 Sep 2014 21:38 BST
8-21 September 2014
The thick fog that covered the harbour in Santander at the start of the day soon burnt off and gave way to a light 5 to 7 knot breeze from the north east allowing the Laser and Laser Radial Fleets to get afloat and start the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships.
After a delay ashore there was a further postponement afloat waiting for the wind to fill before the start of the four race qualification series.
Laser Radial
The 120 boat Women's Laser Radial Fleet is split into two groups of 60, each scoring points from 1 to 60. In this size fleet a good start is critical especially as the right hand side of the course was favoured and in the lighter conditions boat speeds are similar. Those sailors that were able to put together two single figure results were guaranteed a place in the top ten whilst others were having death and glory results not necessarily in that order.
Veronika Fenclova (CZE) had a big smile on her face as she explained, "In the first race I had a good start and led at the first mark but I could not hold my position downwind and dropped to third even though we did change places several times before the finish." In the second race she led from start to finish, "I had a good lead which protected me on the downwind." Fenclova's results were better than she expected as she has had a year off from sailing although she has been training hard for a month at Santander prior to the championship.
Min Gu from China is already looking like a worthy successor to the retired Olympic Champion Lijia Xu as she shares the same points with Fenclova at the top of the pack.
Laser Radial Results
Laser
In the record 76 nation Men's Laser fleet, sailing on a nearby course to the women, the story was much the same with Juan Maegli from Guatamala scoring exactly the same as Fenclova. He said "I had two good starts and went right both times. I had good speed and concentrated on trying to be consistent."
He has created a four point gap over second place Tom Burton (AUS) who scored a fifth and third.
Defending champion Robert Scheidt BRA saw his fellow countryman Bruno Fontes finish four places ahead of him but he has been around enough to know that there is still a long way to go in this event, "I did not get far enough right for the shift. I struggled to catch up and could only get back to 13th. I was happy to finish second in the next race."
Two more races are scheduled for tomorrow to conclude the qualification series before the fleet is split into a gold, silver and bronze. A final six race series will be followed by a Medal Race.
Laser Results
Official website www.santander2014.com will include blogs and live tracking.
Irish Sailing Association report (by Rachel Solon)
First up to represent Ireland were James Espey and Finn Lynch who are both competing in the Laser Standard class of 150 sailors. The fleet has been separated based on world rankings into three groups; Blue, Yellow and Red. Both Irish men are sailing in the Blue fleet until Sunday (14 Sept) when they will split to Gold, Silver and Bronze based on the initial results.
Race 1 began at 14.25 CEST. Providence Team IRL's James Espey got off to a strong start leading the top of the fleet alongside the UK's Nick Thompson. He fought hard but slipped a few places to finish 6th with Thompson taking the win. 18 year old Finn Lynch, who is current U19 World Champion, finished a notable 27th in this very senior and experienced class.
Espey finished 16th in Race 2 to move him to 26th overall while Lynch followed his 27th with a 43rd and lies 109th.
Annalise Murphy got off to a slow start finishing 37th in her first race. She followed that with a 44th in Race 2 leaving her 86th overall from 120 boat Laser Radial class.
"As expected it was a difficult day on the water. James has made a very solid start and will hope for a repeat tomorrow. Annalise will be disappointed but focused on tomorrow" remarked ISA Performance Director James O'Callaghan.
US Sailing Team report (by Will Ricketson)
ISAF Youth World Champion Erika Reineke (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) wasted no time in demonstrating her considerable skills, as she won a light and difficult first race in the Laser Radial fleet. "[Coach Luther Carpenter] and I were good about doing our homework before the start," said Reineke. "We looked at the wind and compass readings, and analyzed the current. [We also] did a bunch of warmups before the start and accelerations. I think it gave me confidence to go out and try to do the best I could that race." Reineke, who finished 6th overall at last month's highly competitive Rio de Janeiro Olympic Test Event, is steadily proving that she belongs at the top end of the international fleet. "I was really happy with my boat speed today, so I guess you could say I felt strong [in the light conditions]." Regarding her overall strategy, the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider athlete noted that it was important not to take too many big risks early in the event. "[We were] just being conservative today. If you happen to get the "1" while being conservative, I'll take it!" While the second race of the day proved to be more of a challenge, Reineke currently sits in 28th overall out of 120 competitors. ICSA Collegiate Singlehanded National Champion Claire Dennis (San Francisco, Calif.) is just behind in 32nd.
On the men's side, the most consistent US performance of the day was delivered by the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider's Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), who recorded a 7,11 scoreline. "It's a really short qualifying series, only two days and four races, so I knew I needed to come out of the gate hot," said the ICSA College Sailor of the Year. "It was a balance of getting solid finishes and being aggressive so I could get into the top group." Barnard also noted that the first day of a high-profile event typically brings with it an unusually charged atmosphere on the water. "You could tell on the line that everyone was a bit hesitant or nervous, and people seemed a little bit bow-back today. I knew success for the day would come down to getting off the line clean and using my boatspeed." Barnard is currently in 19th overall in a fleet of 147 Lasers.
The best single-race performance by an American Laser sailor was in Race 2, when US Sailing Development Team athlete Erik Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.) took 3rd. "I feel like I have much better speed this year, especially upwind and off the starting line," said Bowers. "Another big difference from the 2013 Worlds is that I've been working to better understand the wind and weather conditions."
The top American at the previous two Laser World Championships, the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider's Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) started the day with a 6th, and then took a 23rd in race two. "It was light and tricky today, with a lot of current," said Buckingham. "With the short qualifying series, there is a little added pressure not to make any huge errors."
Yachting New Zealand report (by Jodie Bakewell-White)
22 year old Thomas Saunders, from the Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club, has made the best start of the NZL Sailing Team men with an 11th in the opening race following that up with a 5th place to lie 15th overall in the highly competitive fleet.
Sam Meech, also from Tauranga has opened the series in similar fashion with a 12th and a 6th and lies just two places behind Saunders in 17th overall.
Andy Maloney (Murrays Bay Sailing Club) today recorded an 18th and a 10th to hold 35th overall. And Mike Bullot, rounding out the kiwi men's contingent, placed 23rd and 11th to lie 43rd at the end of day one.
Sara Winther, New Zealand's 2012 Olympic representative in the class, made a solid start with a 7th in race one. She went on to place 19th in race two and lies 20th overall.
Susannah Pyatt is close behind in 23rd, an 11th in race two her best result. And 2014 NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team sailor Ali Nightingale is in 76th.