ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami - Day 4
by ISAF 30 Jan 2015 06:19 GMT
26-31 January 2015
A Latin Flair for a racecourse built of shifts
One measure of the success of Olympic class racing on Biscayne Bay is the steadily growing participation. The numbers in 2015—599 boats from 63 countries—make this a record turnout. But make that 64 countries. Add Cuba to the list.
At the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, presented by Sunbrella, Cuba's Yuseily Gonzalez Luis is coming in late (obviously) with no hope of qualifying for the Medal Races on Saturday. Even so, she wants to bring her RS:X windsurfer to the start line, if only for a day, to put her punctuation on the thaw in international relations. And see some friends on the water. And in a small way, make history.
Luis is likely to find single-digit winds on the course on Friday, down from the teens on Thursday. Once again, the racecourse was built out of shifts, whichever one of six racing areas you might have in mind. Once again, everyone struggled, but a few people turned in the kind of results that don't show it.
And then there was Bjornar Erikstad in the 2.mR, who learned anew the virtues of being "OSS." On Start Side. When both of your nearest competitors are OCS. Over early at the start. Suddenly the longtime campaigner from Nøtterøy, Norway is sitting in first with 21 points in his pocket.
It's lonely at the top.
Laser
Britain's Nick Thompson, who says that his favourite boat is the foiling Moth, is doing nicely here in a Laser, in contact with the surface of the water. The former youth world champion leads the 106-boat fleet with an eight-point margin going into the final day of racing ahead of Saturday's double points Medal Race. In second place, Philipp Buhl of Germany has burned his throw-out race on a 34th, so he has more to lose than Thompson (a 12th to throw out) if the wheels fall off on Friday. Behind them are serious threats still within range, depending, and it remains a difficult racecourse.
Young Andy ("Pain is temporary; glory is forever") Maloney of New Zealand has had his moments of late. He won the Palma version of this event in 2013, and in 2012 was second at Hyeres. As race day five beckons, he is seventh in the standings and found Thursday's conditions not quite as challenging as the races on Wednesday. "They moved the Thursday start into the morning," he said. "By comparison it seems to get a lot more patchy in the afternoon, as things heat up."
The second race of the day was ripe to be abandoned, and it was. "Between races, we were seeing 40 degree shifts with pressure drops to 5 knots," Maloney said, "and then pressure building to 15 knots and back to 5. They got a start off, and a massive lefty came down with heaps of pressure. It was a lay to the weather mark, so that race was abandoned, and we waited around for a bit. I think they were hoping it would stabilize, but finally they set up at an average angle and got on with it. There were lots of little shifts, but the thing was to be sure you were in phase with the big ones. When it's that tricky, nobody can get everything right."
Maloney won a race on Monday. Today he went 7-11.
Laser Radial
Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindon had the lowest finishes of the top three Radial sailors today, but that didn't knock her off the top of the leaderboard. An 11-14 day means that she is now eating an 11th and discarding the 14th. Previously, a 7th was her discard.
The day's results tightened things up, with second and third both in striking range.
Evi Van Acker of Belgium is only five points back. Marit Bouwmeester is only two points behind that.
This sets up some interesting running-math problems for the Medals Race on Saturday.
The hard-luck story of the day was Annalise Murphy from Ireland, who was part of this conversation until she picked up a keeper 35th in race eight. "It was hard to know where you had to be," she said, and left it at that.
Nacra 17
Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri (ITA) held firm in the Nacra 17 to maintain their lead over Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves (GBR) and Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA).
The Italians celebrated their first ISAF Sailing World Cup gold medal in Miami 12 months ago and returned with the one aim - to defend.
They are on track to achieve their goal and were full of smiles after racing, "We are happy because it's been a very tricky week," commented Bissaro. "We've been consistent in most races and that's why we're still leading. There are three races and a Medal Race left so we don't want to lose our good mood and we'll look to stay consistent until the end of the World Cup."
Sicouri added, "We won our first ISAF event here last year. We want to do the same again this year. This event is very important because the Olympic Games are in just one and a half years. This Miami fleet is very strong and everybody wants to beat everybody so from now on each race is going to be very important."
Two points clear of Saxton and Groves, the job is far from a given. Three vital races remain and then it's down to Saturday's deciding Medal Race.
49erFX
Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) hold a mammoth 56 point lead in the 49erFX. It's still mathematically possible for them to lose their lead – but it's hard to bet against the 2013 World Champions losing such an advantage.
Below the breakaway Kiwis, there's a real ding dong battle forming for the remaining podium positions. Nine points separate second to sixth. Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth (GBR) sit second whilst Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich (ITA) occupy third.
The Italians finished runners up at the 2014 edition and are battling for a medal once again. Conti and Clapcich were first ashore after racing – helped by being the first across the finish line in the final race of the day. A fourth and a seventh preceded their bullet which won them the day and Conti was in a buoyant mood after racing, "Miami is nice and warm, it's good and it was to escape a European winter," she joked.
"We had a very good day with a fourth, a seventh and that first. That bullet was a good way to end the day. We're enjoying the sun and Miami is always very good racing."
Three further races will be decide the Medal Race places, in which a real dogfight will be on the cards if the points remain similar at this stage on Friday.
49er
It's a good old fashion game of snakes and ladders in the 49er with a new leader at the end of the fourth day.
Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT) were the only team to finish in the top ten three times in a row. A 7-8-2 has enabled them to advance to the leading position.
Australia's Joel Turner and Iain Jensen are just one point behind the Austrians, in contention, waiting patiently to pounce. Spanish brothers Carlos and Anton Paz are in third, 14 points off the top.
Early leaders Diego Botin and Iago Lopez (ESP) have dropped further down the leader board following another day at the back of the pack.
470 Women
The rich got richer in the Women's 470 fleet, where the familiar series leaders had a 1-3 day to further tighten their grip on first. That would be the 2012 Olympic gold medalists from New Zealand, Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, who are sitting on the enviable scoreline of 2-2-1-(7)-1-1-3. Pressure outweighed direction shifts, in Powrie's thinking, but shifts were nothing to ignore, Aleh said, "Get both right and you were really looking good.
"There was a lot of close racing," Aleh said. "We had downwind legs where the whole fleet was right there."
Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark of Great Britain, silver medalists at the 2012 Games, are 13 points back, with a 10-point margin over Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntire. Also from the UK, Weguelin and McIntire have the Japanese duo of Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka breathing down their necks.
Non-athletes need not apply. Trapeze boats make extreme demands in changeable conditions, with the sailors trimming sails and, we might say, trimming their body weight in and out for balance in a sort of ongoing emergency triage. Or as Aleh put it, "There was a lot going on out there."
470 Men
Men's 470 results echoed Women's 470 results, with the rich getting richer. In this case, it was 2012 silver medalist Luke Patience and crew Elliot Willis sailing a throw-out 18th and keeping a race eight first.
Patience won his 2012 silver medal with Stuart Bithell, just two weeks after the pair teamed up. The new team of Patience and Willis wrapped up the European 470 Championship in 2014 with races to spare, and this pair from the UK are in form again.
Australians Mat Belcher and Will Ryan are 9 points back and still in touch. Then it's an 18-point jump to Onan Barreiros and Juan Curbelo Cabrera of Spain.
Finn
On a 3-1 day, Giles Scott, the Finn class leader who hasn't lot a regatta in 18 months, doubled his lead. The way he saw the racecourse, he said, "The right was stronger than the left, but there were routes out of the left. It was an oscillating day with bands of pressure, a shift and position day."
It was, he said, about "joining up the gusts."
Scott is 18 points ahead of Australian Jake Lilley and 18 points ahead of Ioannis Mitakis of Greece, with one more day of racing before the double-points Medals Race on Saturday.
Scott's fellow Briton, Ed Wright, had a 5-12 day and took it a bit harder. "If I was left," he said, "it went right. If I was right, it went left. It's a shame I picked up an RTD [Retired] earlier in the week or I'd be looking good now."
Race seven started the day and went to Croatia's Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, who "got a clear lane after the start and kept on the right hand side. At some moments it didn't look so nice, but patience paid and I rounded the top mark just ahead of the fleet. On the downwind I got a bit of distance and then just controlled to the finish."
The cut to make the top 10 is tight in the Finn fleet, with four boats close on points and another group not to be ruled out.
Men's RS:X
It was mixed days all around for the Men's RS:X fleet with high scores afoot for many of the fleet.
London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED) grabbed the lead from Thomas Goyard (FRA) in spite of an up and down day. When he was up, he was up - securing an opening race bullet ahead of Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) which was then backed up by a sixth. When he was down, he was down – finishing back in 22nd, which he now discards.
Although his day was somewhat back and forth, his competitors experienced similar results, thus leaving the Dutchman with a three point advantage over Goyard. Kokkalanis' daily string of 2-1-15 leaves him seven points off the top.
Italy's Daniele Benedetti had something to prove to himself in the final race of the day after he was black flagged and scored over the line in the first two races. Perhaps it was his freshness on a warm Miami day that gave him an advantage but Benedetti grasped the lead early on and never looked back, taking the gun.
Benedetti sits in 12th.
Women's RS:X
Bryony Shaw (GBR) has solidified her position at the top of the Women's RS:X leader board, adding another race win to her impressive tally of four. Shaw is 21 points clear of Lilian de Geus (NED) and firmly in control, ready to defend the title she won one year ago.
Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) occupies third overall with Hayley Chan (HKG) two points behind.
Paralympic Events
Bjornar Erikstad (NOR) is now leading the way in the 2.4mR after his three main rivals were all on the course side in the final race of the day. He leads on 16 points with Megan Pascoe (GBR) second on 17 points.
ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne winners Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) remain in the lead in the SKUD18. Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) are second whilst Marco Gualandris and Marta Zanetti (ITA) are third.
Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Per Eugen Kristiansen and Marie Solberg (NOR) grabbed the Sonar lead with both hands after a double bullet day. They are a point clear of Alphonsus Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund (USA).
Racing is scheduled to resume at 10:00 on Friday 30 January as the Medal Race places will be decided.
Results are available at www.sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php
NZL leaders extend, with six in top ten after day four (from Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand)
New Zealand leads in two classes, with a total of six crews on target to make their medal race as ISAF Sailing Cup Miami rolls into the penultimate day of competition.
Image: Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech in action on day four © Walter Cooper
In similar style to yesterday, today saw both of New Zealand's two-handed women's crews, in the 470 and the 49erfX skiff, extend their points leads even further.
Elsewhere, in the Laser, Radial, Nacra and Men's 470 the kiwi crews either improved or consolidated their positions and will head into tomorrow's final day of gold fleet racing in good shape for a top ten placing and a start in Saturday's medal races.
Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie sailed two races today to finish 3rd and 1st fairing much better than the other top placed crews. After day four they have opened a 19 point leading margin, when the best 2nd placed crew of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (Great Britain) could do was 7th and 11th.
Jo Aleh reports after today's racing, "Another solid day today. Two more races in lighter breeze than we have had all week, slightly less shifty but no less tricky! Tough racing out there, it was easy for things to go from bad to worse. Luckily, we stayed away from the bad, and went from ok to better as the day went on."
In today's first race Aleh and Powrie were amidst a tight bunch at the first mark, but worked their way through the pack to cross in 3rd.
Aleh describes how the next race unfolded; "It got a little shiftier, and we picked the first beat well to round the top mark in the lead. However it was one of those races where it would have been easier to be behind and pass people rather than trying to stay ahead."
"So it all got a little tight on the last downwind, but we kept our cool and managed to take the race win, to finish with a tidy score-line yet again."
Three races took place for the 49erFX gold fleet today and Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech end the day no less than 56 points out in front in the Olympic skiff for women. In the opening race of the day they scored a 22nd, their worst of the series to date, however they bit back with a race win in the next, and finished the day with an 11th.
The Brazilian pair of Grael and Kunze, who have been leading the chasing pack, today suffered with a black flag in the second race and a 32nd after that to slide down the leader-board to 7th place.
Kiwis Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox remain in 4th overall in the Men's 470 and after an 11th and a 4th on the water today they're just two points behind 3rd place.
Early leaders in the Nacra multihull Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders went some way towards redeeming themselves after average results on day three saw them take a tumble down the board to 7th. At the end of today they've climbed back to 5th overall.
Also climbing back up the ranks today were Sara Winther in the Laser Radial, and Andy Maloney and Mike Bullot in the Laser. Winther is now in 9th after a 12th and an 11th in today's two races and will be looking to stay within the top ten with some good results tomorrow.
Andy Maloney took a race win today and is back up to7th (from 11th) in the Laser fleet; he says that Miami can be a tricky place to sail, and today, while slightly better than yesterday, it was still challenging; "There were lots of little shifts, but the thing was to be sure you were in phase with the big ones. When it's that tricky, nobody can get everything right."
Mike Bullot jumped from 27th up to 14th.
Racing continues tomorrow with two more fleet races in what looks like much lighter wind, ahead of Saturday's medal races in which only the top ten placed sailors get to race.
Paralympic Gold medallists Fitzgibbon/Tesch lead (from Cora Zillich, Yachting Australia)
It was again challenging racing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup with wind back in the east at 13-15 knots all day. But day four (Thursday, 29 Jan local time, i.e. Friday, 30 Jan AEDT) saw little change in the overall rankings and counting down to Saturday's (Sunday AEDT) top-ten medal races in the Olympic boat classes.
The Paralympic boat classes will finish on Friday, January 30 (Saturday, 31 January AEDT) and things are looking good for Australian Sailing's Paralympic gold medallists Daniel Fitzgibbon (NSW) and Liesl Tesch (NSW). The pair remains in the lead and has a four-point advantage over their closest rivals Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell from Great Britain. Both crews posted a second and first on the penultimate day of Paralympic sailing, which will make for an exciting battle in the last two remaining races with the Australian's aiming to bring it home:
"Today the wind was a little lighter and more unstable than previous days," skipper Daniel Fitzgibbon summed up the day. "In the first race we were able to extend our lead over the second placed Italian boat and finish second. The final race of the day was a good one for us where we led from start to finish. There are two final races tomorrow and we hold a four point lead over the GBR crew and we will try to bring it home."
Tasmanian Matt Bugg finished the day off with a race win as well, which moved him into fifth place in the 2.4mR.
In the Olympic classes, Men's 470 World Champions Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD) continue to sit in second with nine points behind Great Britain's Luke Patience and Elliot Willis. The pair is still in touch and has two more races ahead of the final medal races to gain on points.
Olympic gold medallist Iain Jensen (NSW) sailing in Miami with up and coming skipper Joel Turner (QLD) held onto their second place in the 49er skiff. After an impressive performance of this new pairing, with 19-year old Turner filling in for Nathan Outteridge at this event, they are only one point behind the leading crew from Austria. (See Thursday's Media Release with more information on Turner/Jensen http://www.australiansailing.org/aus-sailings-youngsters-make-waves-at-sailing-world-cup-miami/)
Australian Sailing Squad's Finn Sailors continue their strong performance with Queenslander Jake Lilley holding onto his second place and Victorian Oliver Tweddell moving up into fifth.
"The Miami Sailing World Cup is living up to my expectations of being a challenging venue with world class competition", Jake Lilley said about racing in Miami. "The first three days of offshore north-westerly winds produced unpredictable shifty conditions. One minute you're looking like a hero and the next you find yourself in the bottom of the heap. Fortunately so far I have done well picking the good shifts and sailing with speed in these conditions. It looks like we might have more of a classic Miami sea breeze condition over next couple days and I'm looking forward to the challenge of lighter winds."
With one more day of racing before the double-points medal race on Saturday. Britain's Giles Scott, who has not lost an event over the past 18-months, is 10 points ahead of Jake Lilley, who in turn is eight points ahead of Ioannis Mitakis of Greece.
In the Laser yesterday's leader Matt Wearn (WA) dropped to third, but the 19-year old Western Australian remained confident.
"Today just didn't seem to be my day," he said after racing. "I couldn't get my head around the shifts. Although I did fight back in both races, which could have been shockers, and managed to score a 12th and a 16th. Not great; and it made me slip down to third overall. But it's still close at the top with two more races to go before the medal race."
In the 49erFX both Australian Sailing crews of Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks (WA) as well as Olivia Price (NSW) and Eliza Solly are ranked 11th and 12th respectively. They will aim to make the most of tomorrow's three races to move up into the top ten in order to compete in the medal race. Also fighting for a top-ten spot tomorrow will be Euan McNicol and Lucinda Whitty (NSW) who moved up to 12th in the Nacra17 after posting a race win, a 15th and 3rd in Thursday's racing.
Racing in Miami continues on Friday local time (Saturday AEDT) when the Olympic class opening series will conclude. The medal race for the top ten will be sailed on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
Competitors in the Paralympic events have a total of five days of fleet racing and will finish the regatta on Friday, 30 January 2015 (Saturday, 31 January 2015 AEDT).
The Sailing World Cup Miami on Biscayne Bay sees world-class fields in ten Olympic and three Paralympic events including 599 boats and featuring 768 sailors from 63 countries. Australian Sailing Team and Squad athletes are represented in eight Olympic and two Paralympic classes.
Buckingham & Radials Move Up, Sonar Goes For the Podium (from Will Ricketson, US Sailing)
Day 4 of ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami 2015, Presented by Sunbrella, saw the US Sailing Team Sperry make steady gains in the Laser and Laser Radial classes as gold fleet racing approaches its conclusion. In the Sonar, Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Maine) will go for gold tomorrow in the final day of Paralympic racing.
The energy and tension was palpable today on the women's Laser Radial course, and manifested itself with numerous general recalls as sailors refused to concede an inch to their neighbors on the starting line. The US Sailing Team Sperry's Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) recorded another solid day with a 4,8 in two races to move up to 5th place, and 13 points out of bronze position. "This whole regatta has been extremely difficult, with the weather being so strong and hard to interpret," said Railey, a 2012 Olympian. "I have done this regatta for 10 years, and this is the hardest one I can remember. One minute you look up and it seems that you're in 3rd, and the next minute you're in 25th." Railey also noted that the level of competition is as high as ever, with all of the prominent Rio 2016 hopefuls here to race. "It's really hard to come back from deep in the fleet. You can tell right away which girls are strong in these conditions, which is good because you can watch and learn from them."
Sitting only seven points behind the World Champion Railey is 18-year-old high school senior Haddon Hughes (Houston, Texas), a 2014 ISAF Youth Worlds silver medalist here to compete in her first-ever World Cup regatta. Hughes stands in 6th overall, and says that her first experience at this level of the sport has been nothing but positive. "I had two good races today," said a satisfied Hughes on the ramp. "It was really a 'keep your head out of the boat' day, and you had to be aware of what was happening around you and across the course. Also, you had to approach each race differently." In terms of her consistent performance, Hughes said she is not surprised. "I was hoping to do this well, and my goal was top 15. This is definitely the hardest regatta I've done so far."
In the men's Laser, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) of the US Sailing Team Sperry scored a 3rd place in the first gold fleet race today, which helped him move from 15th to 9th overall. "I didn't have a great start, but I definitely had some good speed and worked my way back up, " said Buckingham, who finished 7th overall at the 2014 ISAF Worlds. "I feel like I'm having a good event so far. My training focus since the Worlds has shifted a bit from speed gains to race management, and I'm excited to develop that part of my sailing a bit more."
In the Paralympic Sonar, the veteran team of Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund are just shy of gold medal position and will enter the final day of racing on Friday with a one-point deficit to erase. "The breeze is going to be light enough tomorrow that we can't count on sailing one race or two, so we aren't going to go out for blood right off the line," said Freund. "Sailing somewhat conservative and calculated has paid off for our team so far, so we're going to stay that course. We actually need to put a boat between us and Norway, which could be tricky in light air. If the opportunity is there we will take it, but we always do our best sailing without other boats clouding our strategy."