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Big Breeze a Challenging, But Necessary, Test for Two-Time Olympian Railey

After 18 months away from a physically demanding sailboat such as the Laser Radial, a windy day like Day 3 of the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, can be a rude awakening. But if two-time Olympian Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) is going to get back into world-class sailing shape in time to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, there’s no time to waste.

I haven’t sailed since the [Rio Olympic] Games, and coming into this event we’re extremely underweight and obviously not in the best of shape,” she said. “So, what [a windy day] does for the long term goal is that it really shows you how hard you can push yourself. It also forces you to be really good with all of your boat handling. I think events like this, too, when they’re windy day after day, it’s good mentally. The Games is always a tough mental event. If you can start early on in the quad where you start pushing yourself mentally, I think it’s good training for the big events.”

Railey’s first day back was workmanlike, two 10ths and a 13th. Today was less successful with a mid-fleet finish and a black-flag disqualification for being over the starting line early. She’s 15th overall, but within striking distance of the top 10, and Sunday’s Medal Race. Emma Plasschaert (BEL) is walking away with the competition. Her 20-point total is 22 points less than Manami Doi (JPN) who is second. But Plasschaert has a large number for her throwout, which means this regatta just one mistake from being completely wide open again.

With more than a decade of campaign experience under her belt, Railey is pragmatic about the path to her third Olympic team. The key to campaigning as a veteran is to be as efficient as possible with your time and energy. That means embracing whatever conditions come her way.

I have a bucket list [of things to work on this event],” she said. “But honestly it’s getting off the line, and since it’s so windy—and I’m sitting under 135 pounds—it’s really getting off the start and then just focusing on trying to hike as hard as I can. I’m literally in the phase right now where I’m just trying to get my legs and everything back which is obviously brutal, but whatever, it’s life.”

While many might find that level of physical exertion unappetizing, for Railey it’s a welcome change after a year and a half in the business world.  

“There’s nothing like going out and physically pushing yourself,” she said. “You know, you go to the brink of ‘I don’t even know if I can continue doing this.’ It starts turning into mind over matter. In the working world, a lot of it’s just mental, mental, mental, and then you’re lacking the physical exertion. What’s fun for me is being out on the water and actually feeling the fatigue. People would say that’s crazy, but I actually like to be able to push myself physically.”

Railey is the top-placed American in the fleet by a 18-points. But with the strong winds expected to continue through the weekend, a good result will require her to push herself back into the pain cave time and time again. And while rising stars Erika Reineke, Haddon Hughes and Christina Sakellaris, among others, are not having great regattas, each has shown the potential to place in this very competitive fleet. The race for the U.S. Laser Radial berth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has only just begun.

It was a wild and wooly day for the 49er fleet with a number of teams not finishing or even not starting races. Day 2 leaders Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell (GBR) kept themselves in the pole position with a solid day, including a win and a third. In second and third, after nine races, are a pair of Spanish teams, Diego Botín le Chever and Iago López Marra (ESP) and  brothers Federico and Arturo Alonso Tellechea (ESP).

© Jesus Renedo /Sailing Energy/World Sailing

Judge Ryan (San Diego, Calif.) continued his consistent sailing with fill-in crew Alain Sighn (GBR). They are eighth in the overall standings. The full-fleet portion of the regatta will wrap up tomorrow with three more races, with the top 10 moving on to Saturday’s Medal Race.

“Today, we had some pretty epic breeze on the 49er course, about 18 to 20 knots with some gusts in the 23 range,” said Ryan (at right). “The goal of the day, and actually the goal of our regatta, has been to just try and keep getting around the top mark in the top 15 and pick away from there. Sort of our scoreline reflects that from today. It wasn’t really a superb day, but we did what we needed to do and actually, because of our consistency, we moved up a spot. That’s always pretty rewarding on the big breeze days.”

Capsizes were plentiful today and Ryan noted that they can have a lasting impact.  

“As our coach says, ‘You’ve got to use the K.I.S.S approach. Keep it simple, stupid,’” Ryan said. “Basically, minimize maneuvers, don’t capsize, and make your life easy. On a four-race day, if you have a few capsizes, your energy gets zapped. It just gets worse and worse, and obviously your performance suffers.”

With nine full-fleet races in the books, and just three remaining, for the Nacra 17 class at the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, this much is clear: anyone hoping for a place on the podium in this coed class is going to have to knock a defending Olympic medalist down a peg. Five of the six sailors that won medals in the 2016 Rio Olympics are sailing in the class this week, and showing little willingness to share the wealth, so to speak.

Rio 2016 silver medalists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) have done their homework when it comes to the lifting foils that were introduced to the class less than a year ago. Whether in near-drifting conditions on Day 1 and Day 2 or the full-on breeze of Day 3, they have been extremely hard to beat, winning five races and posting just one finish outside the top four.

“Today was great, quite fresh, which is tricky on a foiling boat,” said Waterhouse. “We scored a three, two, one but we threw away a few points in the first race due an equipment malfunction, which was quite disappointing.”

With a 17-point lead, Waterhouse and Darmanin have a few points to burn. And, he added, there is an upside to the malfunction.

“We are trialing a lot of new systems and we had an issue where something got caught and we couldn’t get the spinnaker up,” he said. “We are actually pleased that happened because we can learn from it. Imagine if that happened at the World Championships or the Olympics.”

The reigning gold medalists in the class, Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) are second, though they have nearly matched the Australian team over the last five races. The bronze medal skipper from 2016, Thomas Zajac (AUT) is sailing with a new crew in this Olympic cycle, Barbara Matz (AUT).

© Jesus Renedo /Sailing Energy/World Sailing

The top three American teams are grouped within six points of one another, between ninth and 11th place. Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.) (at left) lead the trio, with Ravi Parent and Christina Persson in 10th and Sarah Newberry and David Liebenberg in 11th. All three teams are new partnerships for this Olympic cycle and face the double challenge of learning a new boat and meshing with a new teammate.

Giles Scott (GBR) and Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.), both whom who won medals in the Finn class in the Rio 2016 Olympics, are in familiar territory after six races, with Paine in third and Scott tied on points for the lead with Alican Kaynar (TUR). The top 10 is tightly packed, however, with 13 points separating fourth from 10th, which should make for an exciting conclusion to the full-fleet portion of the regatta.

For a team that had not sailed together for five-plus years before reuniting during the lead-up to this regatta, Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Graham Biehl (San Francisco, Calif.) have shown a remarkable ability to pick up where they left off. A sixth and a ninth today, in the sort of punchy conditions that would expose any rust or lack of cohesion, puts them in sixth place overall, with four races remaining before Sunday’s Medal Race. Getting onto the podium, which is currently occupied by Luke Patience and Chris Grube (GBR) in first with 16 points, Kevin Peponnet and Jeremie Mion (FRA) in second with 22 points, and Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström (SWE) in third with 26 points, will likely require some help. But getting as high as fourth is very realistic for the American team. Young guns Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin, who won the 2016 Youth World Championships in the International 420, are 26th.

Afrodite Zeggers and Anneloes Van Veen (NED) showed their skill in the wind and waves today, scoring a first and a second in two races in the Women’s 470 division. That moved them up to second place. Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshikoa (JPN) hung on to the overall lead despite a 17th in today’s final race. But the margin between first and sixth is just 10 points, with four full-fleet races remaining before Sunday’s Medal Race. Atlantic and Nora Brugman (Miami, Fla.) are the top-ranked American team in 24th.

The dramatic shift in the wind conditions, from 6 to 8 knots for races 1 through 4 of the RS:X Women’s regatta to 18 to 25 knots for races 4 through 8, did a number on the results. Noga Geller (ISR) who was so dominant in the light air, struggled to break into the top 20 in the breeze and dropped from first to sixth. Hélène Noesmoen (FRA) on the other hand, sparkled in the fresh breeze, picking up two firsts and a third and vaulting up to fourth place. Consistency across a range of conditions is the key to long-term success and Stefania Elfutina (RUS) showed today that she can handle high winds almost as well as the lightest edges of the wind window. She leads the regatta with 33 points. Blanca Mancon (ESP) is second. Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.), is 25th.

After a tough start to the regatta, Louis Giard (FRA) has been nearly unbeatable, with two first and two thirds in his last four races in the Men’s RS:X division. With no one else in the fleet able to match that level of consistency, Giard has staked himself to a 12-point lead after six races. Teammate Pierre Le Coq (FRA), the bronze medalist in the class from the Rio 2016 Olympics is second with Kiran Badloe (NED) in third. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the regatta has been the performance of double gold medalist Dorian Van Rijsselberghe, who is returning to competition after a long layoff. He’s in 10th place, with just one single-digit result to this point in the regatta. The class has just three full-fleet races remaining before Saturday’s Medal Race. 2016 Rio Olympian Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.) struggled in today’s windy conditions and dropped to 35th overall.

For the Women’s 49erFX fleet, which didn’t start a race until 2:40 p.m., the conditions proved to be too much for most of the 21-boat fleet. Many of those who survived the windward mark found turning back upwind to be too great of a challenge and only seven boats finished the race, after which the race committee sent them in for the day. Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz (GER) extended their win streak to four races and pushed their lead to 10 points over Ragna and Maia Agerup (NOR) who are in turn 10 points ahead of Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht (AUT). No American teams finished the race. Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) are the best-placed U.S. team in ninth place in the overall standings while Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Anna Tunnicliffe Tobias (Pittsburgh, Pa.) are 13th in their first regatta together.

In the 70-boat Laser fleet, anything in the top 10 is a very good result. String together a few of them and you could well find yourself in the lead. That;s been Tom Burton’s (AUS) experience so far in this regatta. He’s had one bad race, and five no worse than seventh, and is currently leading by 10 points from Philipp Buhl (GER). Nick Thompson (GBR) is third, three points further back. 2016 Rio Olympian Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) hasn’t been able to replicate his first race, a second, but he’s sailed well enough to be inside the top 10 with four races to go before the fleet is thinned out for the Medal Race. Given how quickly points can add up in this fleet, Christopher Barnard, currently 17th, is within striking distance of the top 10. Erik Bowers (at right) is 58th.

Change of Conditions Shifts the Leaderboard on Day 3 of the 2018 World Cup Series Miami

With nine full-fleet races in the books, and just three remaining, for the Nacra 17 at the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, this much is clear: anyone hoping for a place on the podium in the Mixed Multihull is going to have to knock a defending Olympic medalist down a peg.

Five of the six sailors that won medals in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are sailing in the class this week, and showing little willingness to share the wealth, so to speak.

Rio 2016 silver medalists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) have done their homework when it comes to the lifting foils that were introduced to the class less than a year ago. Whether in near-drifting conditions on the opening two days or the full-on breeze on the third, they have been extremely hard to beat, winning five races and posting just one finish outside the top four.

All of the fleets enjoyed big winds on the third day of competition in Miami as a north eastern breeze brought 17-20 knots ensuring plenty of high flying action in the Nacra 17 and the remaining nine Olympic events.

543 sailors from 50 nations are racing on Biscayne Bay, just off Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida, USA. Three more days of competition remain with Medal Races on Saturday, January 27, and Sunday, January 28, bringing the first major event of 2018 to a close.

“Today was great, quite fresh, which is tricky on a foiling boat,” said Waterhouse. “We scored a three, two, one but we threw away a few points in the first race due an equipment malfunction, which was quite disappointing.”

With a 17-point lead, Waterhouse and Darmanin have a few points to burn. And, he added, there is an upside to the malfunction.

“We are trialing a lot of new systems and we had an issue where something got caught and we couldn’t get the spinnaker up,” he said. “We are actually pleased that happened because we can learn from it. Imagine if that happened at the World Championships or the Olympics.”

While the results indicate Waterhouse and Darmanin have a solid handle on sailing the foiling catamaran at the edges of the acceptable wind range, both acknowledge this is no time to get complacent with what is essentially a new class, even though the platform, with a traditional daggerboard and rudder, was used at Rio 2016.

“The reach from the offset to the finish is definitely quite gnarly,” Darmanin said. “Being a new class, we are all still learning to find the best way to get across the death angle. You can never know what can happen, but we try our best to stay safe but race at the same time, it isn’t easy.”

The reigning Olympic gold medalists in the class, Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) are second, though they have nearly matched the Australian team over the last five races.

“We had a tight regatta in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with Jason and Lisa, and I admire them a lot,” said Lange. “For the last six races we were neck and neck and I do love it. It’s what makes sailing enjoyable, but we look forward to catching them up tomorrow.”

The bronze medal skipper from 2016, Thomas Zajac (AUT) is sailing with a new crew in this Olympic cycle, Barbara Matz (AUT). While the consistency hasn’t been where they would like to see it, the new partnership has shown plenty of potential, winning one race and finishing second in two others.

For most of the 21-boat 49erFX fleet, which didn’t start a race until 14:40, when the wind and waves were peaking, today’s conditions proved to be too much with only one race completed.

“Well put it this way,” said Anika Lorenz (GER), when asked about the challenge presented by the wind and waves, “only five boats finished the race without capsizing. It was tough out there with 17 to 20 knots.”

In fact, just seven boats finished the race at all. Many of those who survived the tightrope walk of rounding windward mark found turning back upwind to be a bridge too far. After one race the race committee sent the fleet in for the day.

“Sailing downwind was the biggest challenge and keeping the boat upright was difficult,” said Victoria Jurczok (GER).

Jurczok and Lorenz were one of the few teams to handle the conditions well. The duo extended their win streak to four races and pushed their lead to 10 points over Ragna and Maia Agerup (NOR) who are in turn 10 points ahead of Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht (AUT).

The strategy for the day, said Jurczok, was fairly straightforward, “To start clear and to go as fast as possible with less manoeuvres and play it safe without capsizing. The Brits and the other German team were the ones we were keeping an eye out for, they sailed really well.”

Speaking of the British, Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell (GBR) move up one place in the leaderboard and are now first in the 49er.

With challenging conditions, yesterday’s leaders, Sime and Mihovil Fantela, drop to 19th place.

However both Spanish teams in the fleet have used today’s strong winds to climb up the table.

Diego Botín le Chever and Iago López Marra (ESP) had a good day on the water, winning the first three races and getting a second in the fourth. They now sit in second place overall and Federico Alonso Tellechea and Arturo Alonso Tellechea (ESP) are third.

In the Laser, the Rio 2016 gold medalist, Tom Burton (AUS) leads with a 10-point advantage over the the German, Philipp Buhl. Nick Thompson (GBR) drops from second and now sits third on the leaderboard.

Emma Plasschaert (BEL) is top of the fleet after winning both races today in the Laser Radial.

Japan’s Manami Doi sits second and the Rio 2016 bronze medalist, Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), is third.

Luke Patience and Chris Grube (GBR) advance up the fleet after securing two firsts in two races completed by the Men’s 470.

French team, Kevin Peponnet and Jeremie Mion move up to second and Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström (SWE) drop from second to third.

Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN) continue to maintain their top spot in the Women’s 470 whilst Afrodite Zegers and Anneloes van Veen (NED) rise from sixth place to second. The 2017 470 World Champions, Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Irmina Mrózek Gliszczynska (POL) are third.

In the Finn class, the Turkish sailor, Alican Kaynar, endures his consistent performance despite the change in conditions. Kaynar edges first but is equal on points with Giles Scott (GBR), who is second. Caleb Paine (USA) takes third place overnight.

Yesterday’s races saw the Israeli RS:X windsurfer, Noga Geller, dominate the first few races however the increase in wind strength proved to be a challenge for the light wind expert and she drops down to sixth.

Nonetheless, even with the change in conditions, Stefania Elfutina (RUS) managed to claim first place. Blanca Manchon (ESP) lands second and Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) is third.

The French are controlling the Men’s RS:X fleet. Louis Giard and Pierre Le Coq are now first and second and Kiran Badloe (NED) is third.

The competition is proving to be unpredictable so far and as we draw closer to the Medal Races, Friday’s action will prove critical for the leading sailors as they look to solidify their spot in the top 10 or climb up the leaderboard.

Racing tomorrow will commence at 11:00 with the Women’s Windsurfing, Men’s One Person Dinghy and Men’s One Person Heavy Dinghy leaving land first.

Paine Is Back in the Saddle and Loving It

The first regatta of Caleb Paine’s push for a gold medal in the Finn class at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics got off to a fairly pedestrian start. And he’s just fine with that. After taking all of 2017 off, and then not sailing on Day 1 of the 2018 World Series Cup Miami, USA due to light winds, Paine (San Diego, Calif.) was tickled to be back on the water and back on the Olympic campaign trail.

“It’s great [to be campaigning again],” said Paine (right), who won a bronze medal in the Finn in the 2016 Rio Olympics. “I have Luke Muller (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) here and we have a great program, and not being by myself is quite a great thing. We’re making great progress when we sail together and I’m just looking forward to sailing. It’s an awesome sport, I’m honored and blessed to do it, and look forward to doing it a little bit more.”

Paine walked away from the first three races of his first major Finn regatta in more than a year with a third, a fifth and a seventh, leaving him sixth, of 26, in the overall standings, but just four points off the lead. Muller worked in the opposite direction, starting with a 20th and a 19th before closing the day with a 10th. But there’s plenty of racing left over the next three days before Sunday’s Medal Race for the top 10 in the overall standings. Ioannis Matikis (GRE) is the overall leader with Alican Kaynar (TUR) in second.

“It was a very tricky day of sailing,” said Paine. “It was oscillating back and forth and had different pressure differences. The downwinds were quite tough as well, just trying to stay in the pressure, which was fairly difficult to see. I had some pretty mediocre starts but was able to adjust through the shifts to get back into the race and had an okay day. [For tomorrow], just kind of cleaning up my racing and not making stupid mistakes around the race course. Focusing more on getting off the line for sure would help out my sailing.”

In contrast to Paine’s ability to jump back into the sharp end of the Finn fleet, the Olympic campaign treadmill generally doesn’t look too favorably on extended breaks. The pace of development—in the gear, the technique and the fitness—is unrelenting. So when American 470 crew David Hughes (Miami, Fla.) went down with an injury last fall, skipper and three-time Olympian Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) immediately started looking how to turn this unfortunate situation into a positive. The solution was to pull in a familiar face.

“Dave got injured, and we were brainstorming ways to push the ball forward for our program this month,” said McNay. “When discussion of me possibly sailing and Dave in a coach boat came up, it was really a no brainer who the first choice was, and that was Graham Biehl (San Francisco, Calif).”

McNay and Biehl (at left, USA 1) sailed together in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

“It’s super fun to be back in the boat,” said Biehl. “I haven’t set foot in a 470 for five and a half years. And it’s great to be back in the boat with Stu. You know, things are right back from what I remember. It’s really nice to still be competitive and still racing against the best in the world in the Olympic fleet. The fleet is really close racing and it’s just so much fun to sail the boats. They’re so dynamic, and that’s what makes them so great.”

After four races, McNay and Biehl are ninth, which is a bit below McNay’s recent standard. He and Hughes won this event in 2013, 2016 and 2017. McNay and Biehl were fourth in 2012. But the success of each regatta on the campaign isn’t always measured on the scoreboard. The primary goal for McNay and Hughes is to carry forward important lessons from this event, regardless of the final result.

Naoki Ichino and Hasegawa Takashi (JPN) are winning the Men’s 470 class, with Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergström (SWE) in second.

The Women’s RS:X fleet got in three races today to add to the one it completed yesterday in very light wind. Israel’s Noga Geller won all three and has a five-point lead over Stefania Elfutina (RUS). Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.), who sailed in the 2012 Olympics, is the top American, siting 18th.

The Men’s RS:X was the final fleet to start its first race of the regatta, doing so around 1:45 p.m. on Day 2 of the regatta. Matteo Sanz Lanz (SUI) won that race, and the next one for good measure. He leads the regatta by two points over Pawel Tarnoski (POL). 2016 Olympian Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.) is 29th and the best-placed of four Americans in the field.

As a team the U.S. contingent in the Nacra 17 class had a solid day and now has three teams in the top 10 of the 19-boat class. Bora Gulari and Helena Scutt lead the way in sixth, with 34 points. Ravi Parent and Christina Persson are a point behind in seventh and Riley Gibbs and Louisa Chaffee are ninth. Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) blitzed the fleet today, winning all three races to build a 9-point lead over John Gimson and Anna Burnet (GBR). Reigning gold medalists Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) has a much better Day 2 of the regatta and moved up to fourth. With the Nacra 17 fleet less than a year into the transition to the lifting foils, this class, as a whole, is on a steep learning curve.

Tom Burton (AUS) shows no signs of losing any of the speed that earning him a gold medal in the Laser class in the Rio 2016 Olympics. He’s currenly the only sailor in the 70-boat fleet with three single-digit finishes, after four races. Burton has a four-point lead over two-time world champion Nick Thompson (GBR). Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) is eighth while Christopher Barnard is 12th and rising star Henry Marshall is 18th.

A fourth and three firsts has put Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz (GER) into the lead in the 49erFX class. Sisters Ragna and Maia Agerup (NOR) are second, sixth points behind. The top two U.S. teams are closely grouped in 10th and 11th, with Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) three points ahead of 2016 Olympian Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and 2008 Olympic gold medalists Anna Tunnicliffe Tobias (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who are sailing their first regatta together.

Day 1 leaders in the 49er class, Sime and Mihovil Fantela (CRO) have maintained their overall lead after six races, despite getting tagged with a Black Flag Disqualification in Race 6 for being over the starting line before the gun. The reigning 49er World Champions, Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell (GBR), who were also a victim of an early start in Race 6, are tied on points for second with Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl (AUT). Judge Ryan (San Diego, Calif.) is sailing this regatta with Alain Sign (GBR), a substitute crew as his normal crew Hans Henken (Coronado, Calif.) is out with an injury. Ryan/Sign sit 11th with Chris Rast (Holland, Mich.) and Trevor Burd in 14th after two top-five finishes to close out the day.

Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoskioka (JPN) have won two of the four races sailed by the Women’s 470 fleet and lead the regatta by a point over Bàrbara Cornudella Ravetllat and Sara López Ravetllat (ESP) who themselves are just a point in front of third place Silva Mas Depares and Patricia Cantero Reina (ESP). Atlantic and Nora Lucia Brugman have separated themselves slightly from a pack of young, but enthusiastic, American women’s 470 teams. They are 23rd of 33.

Three sailors are tied on points at the top of the Laser Radial fleet. Viktorija Andrulyte (LTU), Vasileia Karachaliou (GRE) and Valentian Balbi (ITA) each have 10 points after three races. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla., at right), the top American, is eighth, but just nine points off the overall lead.

All photos: © Richard Langdon & Jesus Renedo/Sailing Energy/World Sailing

 

Strength and Speed Are the Key to a Physically Demanding Day 2 of World Cup Series Miami

With the wind hovering in the 8- to 12-knot range on Day 2 of the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, the sailors competing in the Women’s RS:X were forced to pump their 8.5-square-metre sails for the entirety of three 30-minute races.

Contrary to the other seven boats that are currently used for Olympic sailing, the RS:X Windsurfer is at its most physically demanding in lighter air.

It isn’t so different from a 5,000-meter foot race. In fact, given the full body contraction required to fan the large sail, it may even be more taxing. And while the relentless pumping is essential to a good result, tactics do still play an integral role, requiring athletes to think clearly while at their physical redline.

“It was tough always, but it was successful,” said Stefania Elfutina (RUS, at right), the bronze medalist in the class from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “The light winds meant we had to pump more and that made it tough, because after the second race, I was so tired. I lost all my strength on the water. I am pretty happy with today’s result though, I scored a 4, 2 and 2.”

Normally, a scoreline such as that would be an express ticket to the head of the leaderboard. But Israel’s Noga Geller (ISR) showcased her superior fitness today, winning all three races, to go along with a second in yesterday’s lone race. After two days, she has a five-point lead over Elfutina, who is nine points clear of Fujiko Onishi (JPN) in third.

“I had a good day,” said Geller. “All my races were smooth, and I kept good speed and tactics in all. The offshore wind was pretty stable, so I had to find the pressure and take the right shift at the right time. I kept pumping after the start and during downwind. It was really close between [Stefania and I], especially the last race. I started second and I caught up on the gate. In the end, I went to the better side, which paid off.”

Elfutina likened the finish of the third race to a battle of wills, “We were quite close throughout the race, but we were so tired that we didn’t even fight much to win. We both sailed on different sides and met again towards the finish. I think she had more power than me and managed to use that to win.”

Israel has long been a powerhouse in Olympic windsurfing. And this cycle is no exception. For Geller, simply making the Olympic team may be just as challenging as winning a medal. Maya Morris (ISR) is sixth in the overall standings with 22 points while Hadar Heller (ISR) is seventh just a point behind. Of the seven Olympic medals Israel has won since 1996, three have come in windsurfing. Whether it’s Geller, or one of her teammates, who represent Israel in 2020 in Tokyo, there is a good chance to build upon that legacy.

That, however, is a long way down the road. The immediate future involves six more full-fleet races and then the Medal Race on Saturday. Elfutina, for one, is hoping for a little more wind.

“The next few days should be windy and I know I’ll have to pump less,” said Elfutina, “hopefully I can focus more on strategy than strength.”

In the Men’s RS:X fleet, the Swiss, Mateo Sanz Lanz finished first on the leaderboard followed by close rival, Pawel Tarnowski (POL) and Ivan Pastor Lafuente (ESP) in third.

After not even leaving the dock yesterday, the 26 competitors in the Men’s Heavyweight Dinghy division, a.k.a. the Finn class, were happy to get in three races today. This regatta marks the return to World Cup Series competition for two medalists from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, gold medalist Giles Scott (GBR) and bronze medalist Caleb Paine (USA).

However it was Ioannis Mitakis (GRE) who ruled the day, climbing the ladder with an eighth in the first race, a third in the second and finally a first to close things out.

“It was a hard day,” said Mitakis (at left), who finished 11th in the Rio 2016 Games, missing the Medal Race by a single point. “We had eight knots and free pumping conditions which made it frustrating for us. We were close into the [Rickenbacker Causeway] on the Echo course and that’s where it gets shifty. Overall it was tough, but I think I did okay.”

Paine, who sits sixth, but just four points off the lead, agreed with Mitakis’ assessment of the wind on the race course.

“It was a very tricky day of sailing,” he said. “It was oscillating back and forth and had different pressure differences. The downwinds were quite tough as well, just trying to stay in the pressure, which was fairly difficult to see. I had some pretty mediocre starts, but was able to adjust through the shifts to get back into the race and had an okay day.

After winning a bronze in Rio, Paine took some time away from the campaign trail. He started training again last fall, and this event is his first major competition on the road to Tokyo. As with the Israeli Windsurfers, Paine knows the value of a strong national training group.

“It’s great [to be campaigning again]. I have Luke Muller (USA) here and we have a great program, and not being by myself is quite a great thing. We’re making great progress when we sail together and I’m just looking forward to sailing. It’s an awesome sport, I’m honored and blessed to do it, and look forward to doing it a little bit more.”

A little further downwind from the causeway, the 49erFX fleet was relishing a steadier breeze and ideal water conditions.

“It’s not too wavy and the water is quite flat,” said Victoria Jurczok (GER), “it’s something different and really fun to sail here.”

Jurczok and teammate Anika Lorenz (right) were the class of the fleet today, picking up a fourth and three firsts and moving into the overall lead by six points.

“We found out the pattern of the shifts for the day,” said Jurzcok, “so we knew what to do and where to go.”

With six races down, the 49erFX fleet is halfway to Saturday’s Medal Race. But as well as they’ve sailed to this point, Jurzcok and Lorenz are not taking anything for granted, especially with the forecast calling for significantly more breeze over the next few days.

“The next few days are going to be windier,” Jurczok added, “so it’s going to different game for us.”

In the 49er, Croatians brothers Sime and Mihovil Fantela continue to hold their lead on day two whilst Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell (GBR) are in second, but equal on points with Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl (AUT).

It is all to play for in the Laser Radial fleet as the top three sailors are locked on equal points. Viktorija Andrulyte (LTU), champion of the 2017 Laser Europa Cup held in Lithuania, is first followed by Valentina Balbi (ITA) and Vasileia Karachaliou (GRE) in second and third.

The Laser finished the day with Tom Burton (AUS) in first place on the leaderboard. Nick Thompson (GBR) progressed to second and Thomas Saunders (NZL) is in third.

Australian Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist Nacra 17 sailors, Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin, dominated today’s races winning all three. They hold a nine-point lead over the Great Britain’s, John Gimson and Anna Burnet.

The Japanese maintained their dominance in the Men’s and Women’s 470.

The opening day leaders, Naoki Ichino and Hasegawa Takashi (JPN), defend their top spot in the men’s and in the women’s fleet, Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN) remain first.

Thursday’s racing is scheduled to commence at 10:30, local time, starting with the 49er. Schedule, results and live tracking is available here.

Day #2 Morning Report – How to Follow World Cup Series Miami

Scattered clouds remain over Coconut Grove, Miami, USA but wind speeds are picking up. The first of the classes are making their way out to their racing areas and will hope for more sailing on day two of the 2018 World Cup Series.

It was a similar start on the first day of competition with cloudy skies but the sunshine eventually pierced through. The breeze remained fickle, 4-6 knots, and made for a frustrating start to the Series. Particularly for the Finn class, RS:X Men and Women’s Laser Radial who didn’t manage to race.

The 543 sailors, representing 50 nations, will experience a much improved breeze on day two with predicted highs of 15 knots. The fleets will be hoping to complete all their scheduled races.

Wednesday 24 January Schedule*

*Subject to change

Event / Class

Race Area

Warning

Number of Races

Men’s Windsurfer – RS:X M

Bravo

13:30

3

Women’s Windsurfer – RS:X W

Bravo

11:00

3

Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser

Charlie

14:30

2

Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial

Charlie

12:00

3

Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn

Echo

11:00

3

Men’s Skiff – 49er

Alpha

14:00

4

Women’s Skiff – 49er FX

Alpha

11:00

4

Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470 M

Delta

11:40

3

Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470 W

Delta

11:30

3

Mixed Two Person Multihull – Nacra 17

Echo

15:00

3

How to follow:

ENTRIES / RESULTS / SCHEDULE
27 Olympic medallists as well as World and Continental Champions have registered to compete in Miami. Click here to view the entry list in full.
Results will be available from Tuesday 23 January here – http://sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php
All fleets will commence racing on Tuesday 23 January. To view the full schedule click here.

WATCH
Daily highlights and live streamed Medal Races on Saturday and Sunday will be available across the World Sailing Network. Click here to subscribe.

Set yourself a reminder for the Medal Races below:
Saturday Live
Sunday Live

SAP SAILING ANALYTICS
SAP Sailing Analytics will be available from Tuesday 23 January. Live tracking, sailor analytics, live weather data and racing status will be available on the platform here – https://wcs2018-miami.sapsailing.com/

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the event on World Sailing’s social networks and get involved in the conversation using #WCSMiami
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/worldsailingofficial/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/worldsailingofficial/
Twitter – @worldsailing

PRESS RELEASES
All World Sailing international press releases throughout the duration of the World Cup Series, including the latest news and reports, are available to read here – http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/news/index.php

LIVE ALERTS
Click here to sign up to receive all of the latest alerts and announcements from Miami.

WORLD CUP SERIES
The World Cup Series is a world-class, annual series of Olympic sailing for elite and professional sailors. Over 2,000 of the World’s leading sailors, representing over 75 nations have competed in the World Cup Series which offers a definitive guide to the best-of-the-best in the Olympic sailing world.

Miami Breeze Plays Hide and Seek on Day 1 of World Cup Series Miami

For athletes looking to burst out of the blocks and vigorously shake off any holiday rust at the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, the opening day was a struggle.

The wind played hide and seek for all of the morning—tempting at least one race officer into starting a race that would eventually be abandoned—before filling in the afternoon and allowing six of the 10 fleets to get in at least one race.

Miami is welcoming 543 sailors from 50 nations and when the wind did fill it, it remained light and fickle, and the challenge on Biscayne Bay was more mental than physical. But the mantra was still the same for any first day of a big regatta: minimize risk and avoid the big mistakes.

“We managed to play it conservatively and we did well,” said Sime Fantela, who races the 49er with his brother Mihovil. “We came fifth in the first race, but first in the second, so we are pleased.”

The Fantela brothers are veterans of the Olympic sailing circuit. Mihovil spent two Olympic cycles campaigning in the RS:X Windsurfer while Sime competed in three Olympic Games in the Men’s 470, finishing fourth in London 2012 and earning a gold medal at Rio 2016. They started competing in the 49er class last summer and are quickly climbing the skiff’s significant learning curve.

While Biscayne Bay didn’t show its best face today, the brothers are happy to be in Miami for at least two reasons.

“Miami is great, it’s enjoyable to sail here,” said Sime. “[The competition] is quite tough. All the best are here, and I think the rest of week will be challenging.”

Sime and Mihovil hold an early lead over 2016 Miami World Cup winners Diego Botin and Iago Lopez Marra (ESP).

© Richard Langdon/Sailing Energy/World Sailing

The 49erFX fleet also squeezed in two races despite the wind challenges faced today. Victoria Travascio and Maria Branz (ARG, at right) hold first place overnight followed by the Norwegian twins, Ragna and Maia Agerup.

The Nacra 17 was the only class to fit three races in. There is no separation in the top three as they are all tied on five points.

Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, Thomas Zajac and his crew for the Tokyo 2020 quadrennial, Barbara Matz (AUT) sit on top after discarding their first race. Rio 2016 silver medalists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) are second and Italians, Lorenzo Bressani and Cecilia Zorzi are third.

If British Men’s 470 skipper Luke Patience hasn’t seen everything Biscayne Bay can throw, then he’s darn close. Patience first sailed this event in 2006.

“It was long,” he said of his day. “We waited many hours for one race but it’s often like that here in Miami. Some days are good and some days you wait a long time. It was a good race in the end. It was tight, nose-to-tail for the whole fleet.”

© Richard Langdon/Sailing Energy/World Sailing

Patience and crew Chris Grube (at left) finished second, grinding from fourth after the first mark and started their regatta off on a strong note.

“Everyone on the top of the fleet are here,” he said, “so it’s going to be a tough week. But we are looking forward to it.”

The men’s and women’s Japanese 470 Japanese made a great start. Ai Kondo Yoshida and Miho Yoshioka (JPN), who sail in the women’s 470 fleet, secured their win today. The men’s Japanese 470 team, Naoki Ichino and Hasegawa Takashi, also managed to gain first place in their fleet on day one with the British team following in second.

In the Laser class, Philipp Buhl (GER) sits top after two races and is has a eight point advantage over Loïc Queyroux (FRA). The discard comes into play after three races so tomorrow’s action could see some significant shifts in the leader board.

With very light winds and a compact race schedule, the Laser Radial didn’t get a chance to race. The Finn and Men’s RS:X fleets were also unable to compete.

The Women’s RS:X sailors squeezed in a single race and yet again the Japanese managed to claim another race win. Fujiko Onishi (JPN) scored first followed by Noga Geller (ISR), and Hélène Noesmoen from France.

The Race Committee will look to catch up on races missed on Wednesday, in a bid to get back on schedule. Competition is due to commence at 11:00 local time.

International Debut is Worth the Wait for Gulari and Scutt

The international regatta debut for Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.) came nearly a half-year after it was initially scheduled. Not surprisingly, the Nacra 17 duo (above) was chomping at the bit to get going on Day 1 of the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, which is taking place on Florida’s Biscayne Bay through Sunday, January 28. The regatta is the second of four stops on World Sailing’s 2018 World Cup Series tour.

A lack of wind this morning made them wait just a little bit longer, but it eventually filled in enough for three light-air races. Of the 10 classes competing on Biscayne Bay in the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, the Nacra 17 fleet was one of just two to get in the scheduled number of races, with four classes getting completely shut out.

“Today was our first international regatta together ever, so we were very excited about that,” said Scutt, who finished 10th in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the 49erFX class before switching the coed Nacra 17 catamaran. “We were postponed on shore for a while because it was very light, but it ended up getting sailable. I thought the committee did a great job of getting off three races with the conditions that we had.”

While the breeze never built into the double digits, it was enough for the catamarans to utilize their lifting foils—a new addition for this Olympic cycle—on the downwind legs, hitting speeds in the low to mid-teens.

“It was definitely too light to foil upwind, and honestly sometimes we were just trying to even fly one hull,” said Scutt. “But except for the last race, we could foil downwind. These boats can get foiling downwind in very light air. Then it’s a game of looking for the puffs and just trying to stay on the foils as long as possible, which is not easy when it gets that light.”

The difference in speed between a boat up on the foils and one still dragging a hull through the water is dramatic.

“Downwind most people pop up [on the foils] at the same time, after the offset mark,” said Scutt. “The real game is coming out of a gybe—how good is your gybe, and how soon can you get back foiling because you can’t foil-to-foil gybe—so there’s definitely some focus demanded there.”

As for Gulari and Scutt’s overall results, it was a bit of a mixed bag: a second in Race 1, followed by a 16th in Race 2 and a fifth to close out the day. But that was the case for most of the fleet, with all but one of the 19 teams recording a double-digit result. With their lowest score dropped from the results, Gulari and Scutt currently sit sixth, two points off the lead.

“It was a fun day for us,” she said. “Our middle race was not great, but our other two were really solid. We’re happy and we’re excited for more.”

The highest-placed American after Day 1 is Laser sailor Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif., at left), who started off strongly with a second in the first race and then had to grind out of the cheap seats in Race 2 to score a 21st. He is fifth in the 70-boat fleet, the largest of the regatta.

Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Graham Biehl (San Francisco, Calif.), who sailed in two Olympic Games together and have reunited for this event while McNay’s regular crew, David Hughes (Miami, Fla.) recovers from a knee injury, finished ninth in the single Men’s 470 Race.

In the Women’s 49erFX, Stephanie Roble (Easy Troy, Wis.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmiette, Ill.) are sixth after two solid races, while in the 49er class, Judge Ryan (San Diego, Calif.) and Alain Sign, who is substituting for Ryan’s normal crew Hans Henken (Coronado, Calif.), are 13th of 38.

A young group of U.S. women’s 470 teams struggled in today’s lone race, with Madeleine Rice and Laura Slovensky leading the way in 25th.

Day 1 results can be found here.

All photos: © Jesus Renedo/Sailing Energy/World Sailing

Day #1 Morning Report – How to Follow World Cup Series Miami

Day one of racing at Sailing’s World Cup Series Miami, USA, will be mostly cloudy and sailors will face light winds throughout the day.

For practice racing on Monday, Coconut Grove was blessed with glorious sunshine but on the morning of the first day of the competition there was a distinct contrast with grey skies throughout Miami.

The cloud cover is expected to increase through the day and there is also a possibility of isolated showers during the morning.

For the 561 sailors from 50 nations, Tuesday’s racing will be a chance to ease into the competition, as Biscayne Bay will deliver light wind speeds of 5–10 knots. The wind direction will be coming in from east south east and will eventfully move in further south.

Tuesday 23 January Schedule* 
*Subject to change

Event / Class Race Area Warning Number of Races
Men’s Windsurfer – RS:X M Bravo 11:05 3
Women’s Windsurfer – RS:X W Bravo 13:35 3
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Charlie 12:35 2
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial Charlie 14:35 2
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn Delta 14:05 2
Men’s Skiff – 49er Alpha 11:05 3
Women’s Skiff – 49er FX Alpha 13:35 3
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470 M Delta 11:35 2
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470 W Delta 11:45 2
Mixed Two Person Multihull – Nacra 17 Echo 13:35 3
 

How to follow:

ENTRIES / RESULTS / SCHEDULE
27 Olympic medallists as well as World and Continental Champions have registered to compete in Miami. Click here to view the entry list in full.
Results will be available from Tuesday 23 January here – http://sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php

All fleets will commence racing on Tuesday 23 January. To view the full schedule click here.

WATCH
Daily highlights and live streamed Medal Races on Saturday and Sunday will be available across the World Sailing Network. Click here to subscribe.

Set yourself a reminder for the Medal Races below:
Saturday Live
Sunday Live

SAP SAILING ANALYTICS
SAP Sailing Analytics will be available from Tuesday 23 January. Live tracking, sailor analytics, live weather data and racing status will be available on the platform here – https://wcs2018-miami.sapsailing.com/

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the event on World Sailing’s social networks and get involved in the conversation using #WCSMiami

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/worldsailingofficial/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/worldsailingofficial/
Twitter – @worldsailing

PRESS RELEASES
All World Sailing international press releases throughout the duration of the World Cup Series, including the latest news and reports, are available to read here – http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/news/index.php

LIVE ALERTS
Click here to sign up to receive all of the latest alerts and announcements from Miami.

WORLD CUP SERIES
The World Cup Series is a world-class, annual series of Olympic sailing for elite and professional sailors. Over 2,000 of the World’s leading sailors, representing over 75 nations have competed in the World Cup Series which offers a definitive guide to the best-of-the-best in the Olympic sailing world.

Familiar Faces Looking for a Return to Form at 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA

The sparkling athletic career of Anna Tunnicliffe Tobias, which includes a gold medal in the singlehanded Laser Radial class, a world match racing championship, an appearance au naturel in ESPN the Magazine’s The Body Issue and a transition to an elite-level Crossfit career, bears the hallmarks of someone in full control of her destiny.

But if the next phase is to be successful, Tunnicliffe Tobias (Pittsburgh, Pa.) must come to grips with having someone else at the helm, at least on the race course. After a five-year layoff, she is contemplating a return to Olympic-level sailing, but not as a skipper. This week, she will test out a new partnership by crewing for 2016 Olympian Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) in the 49erFX class in the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA. Racing starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday, January 28. The Medal Races on Saturday and Sunday will be streamed live to the web and via a Jumbotron in Coconut Grove’s Regatta Park.

“The transition, it’s harder going to the front of the boat,” says Tunnicliffe Tobias. “I haven’t really ever crewed in a permanent position before so that’s a little different, but what’s fun about the FX is that there’s so much going on at the front. You kind of forget that you’re not driving. There are times when it feels odd, like we’ll be in close quarters and I want to do something. But you know, I trust [Paris], she’s very good at what she does. Coming into it, being able to trust her right away is a pretty good feeling.”

The 49erFX class (right) is one of 10 sailing disciplines that will compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Regatta. Medal contenders in all 10 will be competing at the 2018 World Cup Series Miami, USA, the second stop, of four, on World Sailing’s 2017-’18 World Series Cup tour. Among the more than 540 sailors competing in the 29th edition of this regatta are 27 Olympic medalists.

Henken and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.) finished 10th in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games—an impressive Olympic debut—but Scutt is now sailing in the coed Nacra 17 class with Bora Gulari. That leaves the 49erFX class without a clear favorite for the lone U.S. berth. Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.), US Sailing’s 2014 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) have been the most active U.S. team in the early part of this Olympic cycle, earning a bronze at last year’s test event for the 2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, this coming summer. And there are two younger teams competing in Miami this year as well. While this coming week should serve to clarify the pecking order amongst the four teams as well as where the U.S. group stands relative to the rest of the world, Tunnicliffe Tobias, a veteran a numerous Olympic campaigns, knows the importance of not looking too far ahead.

“I think our main goal for the week is to kind of get comfortable racing with each other,” she says. “We’ve got nine days in the boat coming into the regatta, so obviously still have got a huge learning curve to climb and to get more comfortable with boat handling. Then from that, get our heads out so we can race smart. So, we’re gonna go have fun and try to let results take care of themselves.”

For Olympic class sailors, Miami has become something of a home away from home. The combination of an established event with great onshore facilities and South Florida’s reliable mid-winter weather have made this area a popular training destination for sailors from all over the Northern Hemisphere.

“When everywhere else in the world is cold and difficult,” says American Finn sailor Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.), who broke an 8-year medal drought for the U.S. Sailing Team with a bronze in the Rio 2016 Olympics. “Miami always brings great conditions, beautiful weather, and world-class competition.”

After winning his bronze medal, Paine took some time away from the Finn dinghy, the oldest of the eight boats that will be used for Olympic competition in 2020. This event will mark his return to top-level competition and his eyes are squarely focused on moving up a step or two on the podium in two years time. Luke Muller (Ft. Pierce. Fla.) has been the top American Finn sailor in Paine’s absence. Muller is still climbing the learning curve, but his progress at this regatta—27th in 2015, 14th in 2016 and fourth last year—hints at his potential.

Muller’s rise up the ranks also highlights another important aspect of this event, the value it has for the US Sailing Team and its Olympic Development Program. While the spotlights are focused at the head of the results table in each class, further down the standings the future of the American sailing is learning the ropes or even just trying Olympic classes on for size. Muller’s experience in this event goes back to 2012, when he competed in the Laser class. Scutt also sailed in this event for the first time while still in college. While she’s since graduated, she still relishes the opportunity to compete on home turf each January.

“Since the world circuit is very Euro-centric, it’s an asset to have a regatta on home soil because the world comes to you,” says Scutt. “Especially being at the beginning of the season, it means we have a more extended time ‘at home’ than we would otherwise.”

Scutt and her partner, 2016 Olympian Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.), will be sailing the Nacra 17 multihull (at right), which debuted at the 2016 Olympics and has since added lifting foils that allow the boat to often sail with boat hulls clear of the water. The duo was set to sail together at last summer’s class world championship, but an injury to Gulari’s hand forced them to skip that event. Though Gulari has perhaps as much experience as anyone in the world in foiling dinghies—he was an early pioneer in the foiling Moth class and a two-time world champion—this event will be their first chance to really test themselves against the best in the world.

by Stuart Streuli, World Sailing

All photos: © Will Ricketson/US Sailing Team

Olympic Medalists Descend on Miami for 2018 World Cup Series

Over 540 sailors have gathered in Regatta Park, Miami, USA, for the second round of the 2018 World Cup Series, running from 21-28 January 2018.

The event marks the start of a big year for Olympic class sailors, as they prepare for the Hempel Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark this summer.

Sailors from over 50 nations will race over six days in all ten Olympic events on Biscayne Bay, just off Coconut Grove in Miami. The fleets will feature 27 Olympic medallists and they, along with all competitors, will come up against a moderate 12 knot breeze, warm temperatures and intermittent showers during the week.

Erika Reineke (USA) is a local Laser Radial sailor and she is very familiar with the waters. As sailors get set up in Regatta Park, Reineke welcomes the international competitors and is looking forward to the event. “It’s great to see so many faces from across the world come here,” says Reineke.

Linda Fahrni and Maja Siegenthaler (SUI). © Jesús Renedo/Sailing Energy/ World Sailing

Reineke and Women’s 470 sailor, Maja Siegenthaler (SUI) both relate to the thought of Dolphins whenever they think of sailing in Miami.

Siegenthaler will be sailing with Linda Fahrni. The pair also competed at the first event of the Series in Gamagori, Japan, and just missed out on a podium spot. However, they are looking to improve on that showing, ready for the Worlds in Aarhus.

In the Men’s Laser fleet, the finest sailors in the class are here in Miami ready to fight for World Cup Series medals. The ones to beat will once again be Rio 2016 gold medallist, Tom Burton, reigning World Champion, Pavlos Kontides (CYP) and 2017 European Champion, Nick Thompson (GBR).

Ahead of the competition Kontides was at ease in Miami and when asked what he thought about the Sunshine State he responded, “Beautiful, warm and vibrant.”

Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus won a silver medal in the Laser class in 2012. @Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy / World Sailing

However, Kontides says the competition in Miami isn’t easy, “It’s always tricky. As you can see from the results, sailors finish with high points and competition is very close. It can be unpredictable.”

The London 2012 Olympic medallist, has his sights firmly set on Aarhus as well.

“I have nice memories from Aarhus from 2008. I was able to win the Youth Worlds back then. Right now, my main focus is on training as much as I can and using this event to prepare for the Worlds,” said Kontides.

Racing is scheduled to commence on Tuesday 23 January with the regatta culminating with the LIVE Medal Race days on Saturday and Sunday, 27 and 28 January. Click here to view the latest Race Schedule.

By Aadil Seedat – World Sailing

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