ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami - Day 5
by ISAF 31 Jan 2015 06:38 GMT
26-31 January 2015
Four Gold and Early Glory
What could be sweeter than to wrap an Olympic-style event with a medal guaranteed before the Medal Race even starts?
At ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, there's an answer for that. Having the gold medal itself wrapped up, and extending an 18-month winning streak.
Do the math. In the Finn class, Giles Scott has 23 points. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic has 46. Scott could finish 10th out of ten qualifiers in Saturday's Medal Race, with his closest competitor in first, and still win with points in his pocket.
There have been 599 boats racing on Biscayne these last five days. Scott's Finn, GBR 11, is not the only one guaranteed to finish in a gold medal position tomorrow. Nacra 17 team Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri (ITA), Women's RS:X dominator Bryony Shaw (GBR) and the breakaway 49erFX Kiwis, Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) join him with gold in the bag.
Seven of ten Olympic classes completed at least one race on Friday in winds varying from killing light to dead calm. Days like that are a trial for race officials too—and then there was Yuseila Gonzalez Luis, who fought red tape and time and frustration to be the first Cuban sailor racing under the Cuban flag on Biscayne Bay since long before she was born. The morning began with a cascade of troubles and stumbling blocks, but Gonzalez was suited up and on the water in time to start the only RS:X windsurfing race of the day. She didn't finish, but she was there. Some victories have to be measured on a personal scale.
The good news for Friday. The wind is coming back.
Women's RS:X
Across 13 fleet races Bryony Shaw (GBR) finished out of the top five just once, resulting in an early defence of her ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami title.
Shaw has been dominant across the week, mustering such consistency that has been lacking from many sailors score lines in the ten Olympic and three Paralympic events on show in Miami. Shaw is 33 points clear of Lilian de Geus (NED) and a further 14 ahead of Flavia Tartaglini (ITA).
"It's a great start to the year," commented Shaw. "Miami has had a really high quality fleet here. It's been very popular, with the new World Cup format and it was a target event for me. I wanted to start the year on a high.
"We've had 30 knot gusts down to some marginal and then today was 5 or 6 knots. It was a range of conditions this week and that really played to my strengths. My downwinds have been exceptional this week. I've made some big gains and some big comebacks so I am really pleased."
Shaw's victory qualifies her to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final set to be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE from 27 October to 1 November. After winning the inaugural edition at the back end of 2014, Shaw likes where the World Cup is heading, "It's a change for the scene, but it's a change for the better so we'll always get some world class racing.
"The World Cup series, I really want to do well in it, it's a focus for me. The fact that winning here in Miami qualifies me for the World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi is great, it's the focus for sailing now.
"It's going to be great to have the elite of the sport racing, being the key focus."
Silver and bronze is yet to be decided. Hayley Chan (HKG) and Olga Maslivets (RUS) are two points off Tartaglini so it's all on the Medal Race.
Men's RS:X
Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED) is ten points better off than Thomas Goyard (FRA) heading into the Men's RS:X Medal Race.
The Dutchman has been his relaxed yet internally focused self in Miami and is primed for victory if he finishes in the top five.
For Goyard, his performance has come as a bit of a surprise for him. Not for vigilant observers, however, who have seen fervent improvements in Goyard across the last 12 months that resulted in a bronze at the Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds.
He holds a good points margin over the fourth placed sailor and bronze is guaranteed, but he is poised to improve on that, "It's been a really good week for me. I did not expect to be in second but it is a really good result for me," commented Goyard. "The wind was crazy today. Tricky and shifty. It was tough racing and still, really interesting.
"Everybody has a lot of points currently, even the leader. It's not usual but it's been a good regatta."
The next ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta is a significant one for the French RS:X team, not only because it's a World Cup regatta as Goyard explained, "The World Cup in Hyères will be really important because it's part of the selection process for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It's important to do good results all throughout the year."
For now Goyard is concentrating fully on solidifying silver and potentially overthrowing the Dutchman but he'll have to keep a close eye on Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) who trails him by three.
Laser
Nick Thompson of Great Britain is in a lay-up for gold or silver, and so is Philipp Buhl of Germany, only one point behind. Either of them could place 10th in Saturday's double-points contest and still lead third-place Matthew Wearn of Australia, if only by a squeaker.
Wearn has more to play for. Brazil's formidable five-time Olympic medalist, Robert Scheidt, is 13 points back. Add one more point, and there is New Zealander Andy Maloney. The odds favor Wearn for bronze. But.
Wearn was smarting from his results in the Friday races. A 16th and a 30th meant that he has to keep the 20th place finish in race six that used to be his throwout. That was the context as he said, speaking for a lot of people, probably "It was extremely tricky racing. You think you're doing well and then the next minute you're not.
"Usually you go to a regatta and it's all about boat speed," he said. "This week was definitely about being smart as well as getting to the right place quickly. Mentally, it's one of the hardest regattas I've ever done."
Laser Radial
This Medal Race will be one to watch. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, Anne-Marie Rindom, DEN, and Evi Van Acker, BEL, in that order are separated by only three points.
With such a tight threesome, Van Acker said, "It's going to be an interesting day."
The only other Radial sailor with a mathematical chance at a medal is Paige Railey, USA. If she can win the race, she can beat any or all of the top three—if their day turns into a bottom of the pack nightmare.
Railey, a Florida native, called this week of sailing in extremely shifty and unstable winds "probably the most difficult conditions I've seen in ten years of sailing here." With the breeze dropping out of the teens to single digits on Friday, it was close to gruesome, and only a fraction of the scheduled races were completed—and only one Radial race.
"We set up expecting to start in one set of conditions," Railey said, "and then the race started and we found ourselves in something completely different. All through that race, if you weren't on the right end of the shift, you couldn't get to the next one."
Women's 470
What can you say about a race day with no racing?
Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie of New Zealand were the Olympic gold medal winners at the 2012 Games, They've been solid since, and they have a handy lead now. Today, that lead did not grow, or shrink.
"We went out and waited for breeze," Aleh said. "It looked promising a couple of times, and then it didn't. But the race committee has done a good job through the week, and I think they were right today to not send us off in a race that would have turned into a lottery."
Only the 2012 silver medalists, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, could take the gold medal spot away from Aleh and Powrie, and then, given a 19-point difference, only if the Kiwis stumble badly in a way that they just have not done yet.
The battle for bronze? There are six boats within a 10-point range.
Men's 470
Luke Patience and Elliott Willis of Great Britain are in a position very much like that of the Women's 470 leaders. Like them, they drifted around for a long day with no result but time lost. They too have a nice lead. They're ahead by 15 points, and second place is the only team with a shot at them. It could happen, but it would buck the trend. Again, it's all about the color of the medal.
That second-place team would be Australians Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, who have a 13-point lead over third and a 15-point lead over fourth. In a dream scenario for those two boats, a nightmare scenario for Belcher and Ryan, they could knock the Kiwis out of silver, or even out of the medals.
So let's give them names.
Onan Barreiros and Juan Curbelo Cabrera of Spain are in third, two points ahead of a pair of New Zealanders, Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Wilcox, with another points gap behind them.
A striking fact about the ten boats in the Men's 470 fleet: Ten countries are represented. In order: Great Britain, New Zealand, Spain, New Zealand Sweden, Greece, South Africa, Russia, France, Japan.
Finn
The story of a gold medal for Britain's Giles Scott is already written, even if the story of the Medals Race is not.
And the battle for silver and bronze will be hot.
Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic of Croatia lifted himself from fourth to second on Friday. "It was not so nice a day for sailing, but it was nice for me," he said. Gaspic now has 46 points to 47 points for Ioannic Mitakis of Greece. The podium spots are their battle, with only Jake Lilley to watch out for. This rising star is another 11 points back after having his worst day of the week, but still potentially a threat.
It's remarkable that the Finn class, identified in Olympic-speak as Men's Heavy, completed two races. A morning start helped. From a booming 7-8 knots at the start of the first race, the breeze dropped to 3-4 knots by the end of the second.
From the Department of Useless Facts: Each race took 1:06 to go to completion.
Target time, 50 minutes.
Nacra 17
A professional penultimate day performance from Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri (ITA) ensure they go into the Medal Race with gold in the bag.
The defending champions ventured into Miami with one aim, to defend their title. Hard graft had been done over the first four days of the regatta, leaving them in a handy position going into the penultimate day.
Bissaro and Sicouri notched up a 2-1 whilst their nearest rivals, Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves (GBR) missed their opportunity to hold on, only managing a ninth and a discarded 21. The Italians ended the day with an unassailable 26 point lead to take the title once again.
Saxton and Groves have a 17 point advantage over Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (NZL). Not untouchable by any means but Jones and Saunders will more likely have their eyes on Mandy Mulder and Coen de Koning (NED) and Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA) who are within striking distance of the final podium spot.
49erFX
Consistent days have been few and far between for the 49erFX fleet. No one has truly grasped the Miami race track and after 15 fleet races, every team counts a triple digit net score.
A 110 point net score isn't usually one which wins regattas, but for Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) it has proven to be, surprisingly.
They hold an unassailable 50 point lead heading into the Medal Race but will no doubt want to finish strong after a 10-10-20 score line on the penultimate day.
There have been 14 race winners across the five day, 15 race series. Only the Kiwis have picked up a duo of wins. A sign showing that when you read the Miami racing area well, it pays dividends and when you do not, you flounder.
Nonetheless, lessons will be taken away from Miami on the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final, which the Kiwis qualify for as event winners.
Although gold is settled, the battle for silver is an intriguing one with one point separating Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich (ITA) and Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA). Jena Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen (DEN) are 12 points off the podium and in with a shout.
49er
No racing was possible in the 49er with the light breeze playing havoc. The overnight results stand and Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT) will take a one point lead over Joel Turner and Iain Jensen (AUS) into the Medal Race.
Spanish brothers Carlos and Anton Paz are 14 points off the leaderboard with John Pink and Stuart Bithell (GBR) two points off of them and Jonas Warrer and Anders Thomsen (DEN) three off.
In all likelihood, it'll be a duel between the top two with the Spaniards fending off the medal chasers.
Paralympic Events
The Paralympic events came to a light wind conclusion in Miami with no racing possible.
Results from overnight stand with the medals confirmed.
Norway's Bjornar Erikstad claimed only his second ISAF Sailing World Cup gold medal in Miami, remaining in control across the seven 2.4mR races. Erikstad's rivals were either inconsistent or picked up penalties that affected their scores.
Megan Pascoe (GBR) and Allan Leibel (CAN) were on the course side in what turned out to be the final race of the regatta the day prior. Discarding that score ensured they counted their next big score, thus promoting Erikstad and leaving them in silver and bronze medal position respectively.
Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) made it two ISAF Sailing World Cup SKUD18 victories in a row in Miami. The pair won the Melbourne edition in December and facing new foes, they claimed another scalp.
Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) take silver whilst bronze goes to Marco Gualandris and Marta Zanetti (ITA).
A double bullet penultimate day advanced Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Per Eugen Kristiansen and Marie Solberg (NOR) to the top of the leader board. With no racing on the final day, those victories proved crucial as they took Miami gold for the fourth time.
Alphonsus Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund (USA) pick up silver whilst Paul Tingley, Logan Campbell and Scott Lutes (CAN) take bronze.
Racing is scheduled to commence at 11:00 local time on Saturday 31 January as the Medal Races bring the regatta to a close.
Full results can be found here.
NZL secures one gold, and looks good for another (from Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand)
The New Zealand Olympic sailing crews of Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech, and Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie will enjoy tomorrow's medal races at 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami... because they're looking good for gold.
At the conclusion of competition today, on what was the penultimate day of the ISAF World Cup series regatta, Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech have an unassailable 50 point gap over 2nd place and consequently must simply show up for the race, then return to shore to be awarded the 49erFX gold medal.
This victory earned by Maloney and Meech is in a fleet which features the big guns in the women's Olympic skiff, and assures them a place in this year's limited entry ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi in October.
The 49erFX medal race is scheduled to start at 2:15pm in Miami when the battle for the minor medals will be hard fought with just one point separating reigning world champions Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze of Brazil and Italy's Guilia Conti and Francesca Clapcich.
In the Women's 470 no racing took place today and Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie go into tomorrow's double-points medal race 19 points ahead of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark of Great Britain. The reigning Olympic champs need to start and finish the medal race without incurring any disqualification in order to secure the title and the gold medal.
Jo Aleh reports from Miami, "Not much happened today... no wind. Never even had a start sequence.
"But as a result of the lack of racing we have indeed managed to pretty much win the regatta, with a 19 point lead going into tomorrow's medal race, that means as long as we finish, we can't be beaten."
"So we will just have to make sure we get around the track!! Looks like there will be breeze on again, so can't wait!"
There's a chance for New Zealand to add to the already secure medal tally at this event with Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders currently lying 3rd overall going into the Nacra 17 medal race, as well as Men's 470 pair Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders lying 4th and just two points off a podium result.
In the Nacra multihull the gap for Jones and Saunders to close on 2nd place is challenging at 17 points, and with Mandy Mulder and Coen de Koning (NED) chasing hard and just a point behind, the kiwis will be focussing on a great final race.
New Zealand will also be represented in the Laser and Laser Radial medal races in Miami tomorrow with Andy Maloney sailing home with a 6th place in the only Laser race sailed today to go into the final day in 5th overall. Maloney is just one point behind Brazil's Robert Scheidt lying 4th.
Sara Winther took a 23rd on the water today but despite that retains 9th overall and a place in the Laser Radial starting line-up.
Paralympic champions Fitzgibbon/Tesch take home win (from Cora Zillich, Yachting Australia)
Belcher/Ryan and Turner/Jensen in 2nd, Wearn 3rd ahead of tomorrow's medal races as part of six AUS boats in top ten
London 2012 Paralympic gold medallists Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch have taken home the win in the SKUD 18 at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami on Friday (30 January / Saturday, 31 AEDT). Paralympian Matt Bugg (TAS) finished the regatta in fifth.
No wind on the penultimate date of racing for the Olympic classes made for several race cancellations and shortened race schedule. With no racing in the Men's 470 and 49er skiff the overnight results stand and the leader board top ten advanced straight through to Saturday's (Sunday AEDT) medal race. Consequently Men's 470 World Champions Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD) as well as the new 49er skiff pairing of Joel Turner (QLD) and Iain Jensen (NSW) will go into tomorrow's final medal racing ranked second.
Olympic gold medallist Iain Jensen (NSW) sailing in Miami with up and coming skipper Joel Turner (QLD) only sit one point behind the leading Austrians and given they have only sailed together for a few days, any medal will be a great success for this combination after an exciting performance in Miami this week (see Thursday's Media Release with more information on Turner/Jensen).
There will be more at stake for Belcher and Ryan in the medal race, after the last opportunity to gain valuable points was cancelled today. Going into the final day Belcher and Ryan sit 15 points behind the leading British crew of Luke Patience and Elliot Willis. Looking behind them, the pair has a 13-point lead over third and 15-point over fourth but there is still potential for the results to go either way in the double points medal race so Belcher and Ryan will have to be on their game.
"It's unfortunate we didn't get to race the last two races, which unfortunately didn't give us the opportunity to catch up on any points and try to close the points gap. But that's sailing. It's a bit of a points gap in front and behind so we'll see what we can manage but we are looking forward to finishing strong tomorrow", Mat Belcher said.
Laser sailor Matt Wearn (WA) will go into the final race day in third and Finn sailor Jake Lilley (QLD) will fight to get back on the podium after finishing fourth on the penultimate race day. Oliver Tweddell (VIC) in the Finn and women's 49erFX skiff crew of Tess Lloyd (VIC) and Caitlin Elks (WA) complete Australian Sailing's medal race contingent of a total of six boats.
Current Laser World #1 Tom Burton (NSW), who had slowly been moving up the ranks after a virus had weakened him considerably at the start of the event, finished racing ranked 18th.
"All the small things have added up. I'm still pleased with some of my results, especially considering with how bad I was feeling just a week ago," he said.
"It's another kick up the butt like in Qingdao. You just can't race the laser on 50%. I'll have some time now to prepare for Palma and come back hard. It's good to see where I stand at the moment even if it's not ideal and move forward to the next block of regattas."
Medals decided in Paralympic boat classes
The Paralympic events came to a light wind conclusion in Miami with no racing possible on the last day.
Results from overnight stand with the medals confirmed and Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch made it two ISAF Sailing World Cup SKUD18 victories in a row in Miami. The pair won the Melbourne edition in December and facing new foes, they claimed another scalp.
Fitzgibbon and Tesch put in a strong performance in Miami after the week had started out with a bit of bad luck for the pair when they missed a race due to technical issues with Fitzgibbon's seat set-up. But already on day two they took the lead and never handed it back winning with a four-point advantage over their closest rivals Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell from Great Britain.
"The start of our week was a bit up and down. We started with a bullet and then suffered some gear failure with my canting seat" Fitzgibbon explained. "The next two days followed this trend with a good and not so good race, but we got in a couple race wins over the last couple of days. For the upcoming events we will be aiming for a bit more consistency but it's great to take home another win."
Tasmanian Matt Bugg finished the event off with a race win yesterday and an overall fifth place in the 2.4mR.
Silver for US Sonar, Medal Races Set (from Will Ricketson, US Sailing)
Day 5 of ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Presented by Sunbrella, saw the stage set for the Saturday's medal races in the Olympic classes, while on the Paralympic side US Sailing Team Sperry athletes Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Maine) secured a silver medal in the three-person Sonar. Sailing conditions came full circle on Friday, as a week which began with winds over 30mph on Monday gave way to a glassy calm for much of the final day of gold and silver fleet action. 7 of 10 Olympic classes were able to finish at least one race, while none of the Paralympic classes were able to sail on their final day of competition.
"It was a challenge to get my body up to speed for the competition," said Doerr, a disabled world champion who recently underwent surgery on his hip that nearly sidelined him for the regatta. "My crew pulled the lion's share of the weight. I took it a day at a time, and a race at a time." Kendell said the week was a battle from the start. "Monday [with the heavy breeze] was the toughest day, and we definitely fought through that challenge. It tired us out, but Rick inspired Hugh and I, in that if he can fight through it, we can fight through it." Freund noted that in trying to adapt to their skipper's health, they learned some strategies that will make them a stronger team going forward. "We were able to learn really quickly and figure out what was working well. We're going to be able to capitalize on that in the future. It's been a great start to 2015."
On the Olympic side, the US Sailing Team Sperry will have a shot at a medal in the women's Laser Radial class, where veteran athlete Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla) is 16 points from bronze, and 19 points from the lead. Getting on the podium in the double-points medal race will be a tough task, but nobody in the fleet is ruling out Railey, an Olympian, World Champion, and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. "Medal races are very strategic, and dependent on the points situation," said Railey. "You need to adjust to the facts at hand each time you go into one. You can control the situation a lot. The points total helps you decide on if you are going on the offensive or staying on the defensive." The Laser Radial medal race is scheduled for 11:45AM EST on Saturday.
In the men's heavyweight Finn class, Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) completed the sailing equivalent of American football's "hail mary" pass to get into the medal race on Friday. Paine found himself deep in the pack in the first race of the day, but successfully worked his way back by finding more pressure far on the edge of the racecourse during the second beat. "He passed at least 15 boats. It was awesome," said Paine's coach, 1992 silver medalist Brian Ledbetter (Seattle, Wash.). "I took a risky puff on one side of the course and passed all of those boats in less than 5 knots. It was stressful," said Paine. "Overall this week, we had a major equipment breakdown and I couldn't find my downwind speed. I didn't feel like my equipment was perfect, with most of my latest stuff being in Europe or down in Rio de Janeiro. It's something I'll have to work on." Paine will compete in the medal race starting at 11:00AM EST.
The US Sailing Team Sperry will also be represented in the medal round in the men's Laser and 49er classes, and the women's 470 class. "With the small fleet of 10 boats, the style of racing might be different in the medal race but the preparation beforehand is exactly the same," said Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), who will compete in the Laser medal race at this event for the 4th consecutive year.
In the 470, #2 world ranked Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) said that they will be in "total offense mode" to try to improve their 9th place position. In the 49er, Brad Funk (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.) return to the medal race a year after winning silver at the 2014 edition of ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami.