2010 Rolex Miami OCR

[Stuart Streuli]

Registration Closes Friday, Sailors Look Forward to First Event of New Year

January 06, 2010

With only a few days left to register for US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Miami OCR, more than 525 sailors from 45 countries have registered to date, proving its prominence as a must-sail event for Olympic and Paralympic class sailors. The entry list, which has already surpassed last year's numbers, has quickly become a who's who of Olympic and Paralympic medalists and world champions. Competitors must register and submit entry fees online at the event web site, RMOCR.ussailing.org, prior to Friday, January 8. There will be no on-site registration for this event.

As the second stop on the 2009-2010 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup circuit, this popular event promises elite, international competition on the waters of Biscayne Bay from January 25 to January 30, in the classes selected for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sailors' results at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR will count towards their 2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup standings. Gold medals score 20 points, silver is 19 points, and so on. At the conclusion of the season, sailors with the highest cumulative points will be awarded in their disciplines.

At this year's Rolex Miami OCR, Great Britain's Lucy MacGregor and her Women's Match Racing team will set out to defend their 2008-2009 ISAF Sailing World Cup first place standing, as will fellow Brit Nick Thompson, who won the last year's standing in the Laser class.

"OCR is the first event of 2010 for the majority of people, so it's the first chance to see how the winter training has gone, and it's a good gauge for the year ahead," said Thompson. "The competition is always tough.

"In Miami, you get a good mix of racing conditions; it can throw anything at you, like we saw last year," he added. "It's a really tough event, which makes it stand out from some of the others."

The Rolex Miami OCR is also important to US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) members such as Stu McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.), who recently finished second in the Men's 470 at Sail Melbourne for the second year in a row. "We want to perform well at the Rolex Miami OCR because it's the only [ISAF] Sailing World Cup on our home turf and we want to back up our silver medal at Sail Melbourne," said Biehl. Sail Melbourne was the first event of the 2009-2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup, and McNay and Biehl scored 19 points towards their overall ISAF Sailing World Cup standings. The team finished second in the ISAF Sailing World Cup standings in 2008-2009.

"I think the Rolex Miami OCR is going to be a great opening event for me," said USSTAG teammate Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), who won a silver medal in the Laser Radial at last year's Rolex Miami OCR, as well as gold medals at two other ISAF Sailing World Cup events, Kiel Week in Kiel, Germany, and Princess Sofia in Palma, Spain. "I'm going to work on some new techniques, and I am interested to see how they will pan out."

Aside from its importance on the world stage, US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Miami OCR is crucial for American sailors in that it's the last qualifying event for the 2010 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, which will select the top sailors in each Olympic and Paralympic class.

About US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR
Established in 1990 by US SAILING, the Rolex Miami OCR annually draws elite sailors, including Olympic and Paralympic medalists and hopefuls from around the world. In non-Olympic/Paralympic years, the regatta is especially important as a ranking regatta for sailors hoping to qualify for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, which annually distinguishes the top sailors in each Olympic and Paralympic class.

Rolex Miami OCR is open to boats competing in events chosen for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. The 10 Olympic classes are: Laser Radial (women), Laser (men), Finn (men), Men's RS:X, Women's RS:X, 49er (men), Men's 470, Women's 470, Star (men) and Elliott 6m (women). The three Paralympic classes are: 2.4mR (open, able and disabled), SKUD18 (mixed, disabled) and Sonar (open, disabled).

For fleet racing in the Olympic classes, the 2010 event will consist of a five-day opening series and a double-point medal race. The top ten finishers in the opening series of each event will advance to the medal race. Competitors in the Paralympic classes will have five days of fleet racing and no medal race. For match racing, which makes its debut in the 2012 Olympic Games, the regatta will consist of an opening series, a knockout series, and a sail-off for boats not advancing to the knockout series. Medals will be awarded to the top three boats in each Olympic and Paralympic event on Saturday, January 30.

Regatta Headquarters will be located at the US Sailing Center Miami, an official Olympic training center, in the Coconut Grove section of Miami, Fla. Event organizers have partnered with the city of Miami to provide world-class venues for competition. Additional hosts for the event include Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Miami Rowing Club and Shake-a-Leg Miami. These sailing organizations host classes onshore, as well as help run the on-the-water racing. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

In addition to title sponsor Rolex Watch U.S.A., US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Miami OCR is also sponsored by AlphaGraphics, Sperry Top-Sider, Harken, Team McLube, Atlantis WeatherGear and the University of Miami Hospital.

Event organizers will post the latest information, news, real-time results and photos on the newly-launched event web site, RMOCR.ussailing.org, Facebook fan page and Twitter page.

About Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc.
Since Rolex Watch U.S.A. first presented timepieces to America's Cup defenders in 1958, the company has consistently recognized and encouraged excellence in every important arena of competitive sailing, including supporting the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, US SAILING championships, disabled sailing, and offshore, one-design and women's events. In 2010, Rolex will sponsor over 20 prestigious yachting events globally, including the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex Big Boat Series, Rolex Capri Sailing Week, Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, Rolex Fastnet Race, Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race and the New York Yacht Club Race Week presented by Rolex.

About US SAILING
US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR is organized by the United States Sailing Association (US SAILING), the national governing body for sailing, which provides leadership for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US SAILING is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US SAILING offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics.For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org. For more information about the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, please visit: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org.

[Stuart Streuli]

National Pride at Stake for World’s Best Olympic and Paralympic Sailors

Portsmouth, R.I. (January 20, 2010) – The world’s best Olympic and Paralympic sailors are counting down the days to US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Miami OCR <http://rmocr.ussailing.org/> , the second of seven stops of the 2009-2010 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup <http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/> and this year’s first showcase for the major talents looking to represent their countries at the 2012 Olympic/Paralympic Games in Weymouth, England. The event kicks off Sunday, January 24, with six days of racing beginning on Monday. This event annually draws elite sailors from around the world, and this year is no different: Approximately 640 registered sailors from 44 nations are ready to battle for medals on Miami’s Biscayne Bay.

“Our athletes on the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) have spent a lot of hours training and competing over the winter leading up to this event, and I know their hard work will pay off,” said High Performance Director Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). “We’ll see some tough competition across the fleets, so this will be a good test to see where our athletes stand -- and assess where they need to improve in order to win medals at the 2012 Games.”

The Rolex Miami OCR is not only an elite international competition but also an especially important regatta for American sailors hoping to qualify for the 2010 US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, which annually distinguishes the top sailors in each Olympic and Paralympic class.

Andreasen and Olympic Coach Luther Carpenter (LaPorte, Texas) pointed to some of the American stand-outs, including 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) who has transitioned from single-handed fleet racing to skippering a Women’s Match Racing team of Molly Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) in the new Elliott 6m. Women’s Match Racing will make its debut as an Olympic event at the 2012 Games. Tunnicliffe, who dominated the Laser Radial class over the past several years, is the current ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year and was just named US SAILING’s Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year for the second year in a row, as well as US SAILING’s SportsWoman of the Year for the second year in a row.

“Anna knows what it takes,” said Carpenter. “She’s a strong athlete with an experienced team.”

USSTAG’s Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.) and 2008 Olympian Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) will also skipper teams in the Elliott 6m, competing against 22 other teams, including those from France (skipper Claire Leroy is a 2007 and ’08 match racing world champion), Great Britain (skipper Lucy MacGregor was the winner of the recent Busan Cup), Sweden (skipper Anna Kjellberg was a bronze medalist at the ’09 ISAF Women’s Match Racing Worlds), and The Netherlands (skipper Renee Groeneveld with crew Annemieke Bes and Brechtje van der Werf won Sail for Gold in 2009, while a second skipper Mandy Mulder was NED’s 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist in the Yngling).

Overall, the Dutch are expected to come on strong across many classes. Last November, the Royal Dutch Sailing Federation presented its new Delta Lloyd Kernploeg, an elite program that has grown from six sailors to 18 in six different Olympic classes. The federation’s long-term ambition is to compete in all ten Olympic yachting classes during the 2020 Games with a fighting chance to win a medal in each class. During the Rolex Miami OCR, all 18 sailors of the “Delta Lloyd Team NED” will compete, including the match racing team of Groeneveld/Bes/van der Werf; Laser sailors Roelof Bouwmeester, Marc de Haas, Gijs Pelt; Laser Radial sailor Marit Bouwmeester (fourth at the 2009 Worlds and first at 2009 Sail Melbourne); the Women’s 470 teams of Lisa Westerhof/Lobke Berkhout (2009 World Champions) and Margriet Fokkema/Marieke Jongens (second at 2009 French Sailing Week in Hyeres); the Men’s 470 teams of Sven and Kalle Coster (first in ISAF’s world rankings) and Steven LeFevre and Steven Krol (the 2008 Junior World Champions); and RS:X sailor Dorian van Rijsselberge (third at the 2009 Worlds).

Skandia Team GBR, with the 2012 Olympics slated for its own backyard in Weymouth, has incentive to build on its already formidable reputation as a powerhouse in sailing.

“Competing at a home Olympic Games is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any athlete,” said the Royal Yachting Association’s Olympic Manager Stephen Park, “and certainly it’s something which every day motivates our sailors and the support team around them to be the best they can be.”

Park said GBR’s windsurfer Nick Dempsey, who will compete in Miami, is a great example of that drive and determination to succeed on home waters. “After the heartbreak of placing fourth in Beijing, his sole focus in 2009 was to become the RS:X World Champion in his hometown of Weymouth. And that’s exactly what he did, laying down an early marker that he’s the man to beat come 2012.”

In the Men’s 470 class, GBR’s Nick Rogers, with two Olympic silver medals to his credit, will be sailing with his new campaign partner Pom Green. Teammates Nic Asher and Elliot Willis, who are two-time 470 World Champions, are certain to provide some stiff competition, since they have been working hard to make sure they get their chance at an Olympic medal after missing out on the team berth for Beijing.

“For others, there have been new challenges along the road to Weymouth,” continued Park. “With the Yngling having been removed as an Olympic class, those sailors are weighing up their options, while Penny Clark has made the switch to the 470 from the Laser Radial.” Park notes that a strong contingent of his country’s Finn sailors -- Giles Scott, Andrew Mills and Mark Andrews -- has signed up for the Rolex Miami OCR.

“With the talent we have within the team and the groundwork we’re putting in place, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be looking for another great Olympic regatta in 2012, and hopefully we’ll inspire our next generation of medal winners in the process!”

In the Rolex Miami OCR’s three Paralympic classes – 2.4 mR, SKUD18 and Sonar – the fleets may be relatively small compared to the Olympic events, but they are deep with talent. “We may not have quantity, but we definitely have quality,” said USSTAG’s Paralympic Coach Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.).

The current 2.4 mR World Champion and 2008 Paralympic Bronze Medalist John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.) will once again face Paralympic Gold Medalist Paul Tingley (CAN) and 2009 IFDS Disabled Sailing World Champion Thierry Schmitter (NED). Alison also predicts the competition will be tight at the front end of the SKUD-18 fleet, where she expects to find USSTAG’s Scott Whitman (Brick, N.J.) and Julia Dorsett (West Chester, Pa.), who were undefeated at last year’s Rolex Miami OCR and who won a gold medal at Sail for Gold last summer, and GBR’s John McRoberts and Brenda Hopkin, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games.

The Rolex Miami OCR hosts the same 10 Olympic and three Paralympic classes chosen for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. At the same time, it closely replicates the format and feel of what sailors can expect at those regattas. The classes are: Laser Radial (women), Laser (men), Finn (men), Men’s RS:X, Women’s RS:X, 49er (men), Men’s 470, Women’s 470, Star (men) and Elliott 6m (women), 2.4mR (open, able and disabled), SKUD18 (mixed, disabled) and Sonar (open, disabled).

The Rolex Opening Ceremony takes place at Coral Reef Yacht Club on Sunday, January 24. Staggered-start racing is scheduled for Monday through Friday in all Olympic and Paralympic classes. For fleet racing in the Olympic classes, the event will include a double-point medal race on Saturday. The top ten finishers in the opening series of each event will advance to the medal race. Competitors in the Paralympic classes will have five days of fleet racing and no medal race. For the five-day women’s match racing event, the regatta will consist of an opening series, a knockout series, and a sail-off for boats not advancing to the knockout series.

Medals will be awarded to the top three boats in each Olympic and Paralympic event on Saturday, January 30, at the Rolex Awards and Closing Ceremony at Coral Reef Yacht Club.

Regatta Headquarters will be located at the US Sailing Center Miami, an official Olympic training center, in the Coconut Grove section of Miami, Fla. Event organizers have partnered with the city of Miami to provide world-class venues for competition. Additional hosts for the event include Coral Reef Yacht Club, Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Miami Rowing Club and Shake-a-Leg Miami. These sailing organizations host classes onshore, as well as help run the on-the-water racing. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. In addition, the University of Miami Hospital will provide on-site medical care during the event.

In addition to title sponsor Rolex Watch U.S.A., US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Miami OCR is also sponsored by AlphaGraphics, Atlantis WeatherGear, Sperry Top-Sider, Harken, Team McLube, and the University of Miami Hospital.

A complete roster can be viewed at the event web site, rmocr.ussailing.org <http://rmocr.ussailing.org/> , where real-time regatta results, photos and updates will be posted daily once racing begins. Video highlights, produced by T2Productions, will air Wednesday through Saturday and can be viewed on the event web site. Fans can also visit the Facebook fan page <http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/US-SAILINGs-Rolex-Miami-OCR/165109312842> and Twitter page <http://twitter.com/rolexmiamiocr> .

About the ISAF Sailing World Cup

The ISAF Sailing World Cup is an annual series that brings together the existing major events on the Olympic and Paralympic sailing circuits, starting in Australia (Sail Melbourne) in December before moving to the U.S. (US Sailing’s Rolex Miami OCR) in January and then on to Europe (Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia MAPFRE in Palma, Spain; Semaine Olympique Francaise in Hyeres, France; the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, The Netherlands; and Kieler Woche in Kiel, Germany) and Great Britain (Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue at Weymouth). More than 2,000 of the world’s leading sailors representing 65 nations competed in the first season of the World Cup, 2008-2009. By scoring competitors across all events included in the season, the ISAF Sailing World Cup offers a definitive guide to the best-of-the-best in the Olympic and Paralympic sailing worlds.

[SW Editor]

Miami, Fla. (January 24, 2010) – If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. That’s what 630 of the world’s best sailors are counting on as they prepare for tomorrow’s opening day at US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Miami OCR <http://rmocr.ussailing.org/> , the second of seven stops of the International (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2009-2010 <http://www.sailing.org/worldcup> and one of the most competitive regattas in the U.S., if not the world, for elite Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls. For six days, Miami’s Biscayne Bay will populate with the spectacle of 440 boats representing 45 nations and competing in the 13 classes selected for the 2012 Olympic/Paralympic Games in Weymouth, England.



“This is the third largest fleet we’ve had in the event’s 21-year history,” said Event Co-Organizer Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.). “Usually our bigger years are right before the Games; right now we’re a full two years out. It speaks to the commitment sailors must make to their campaigns throughout an entire four-year quadrennium.”


Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and Trevor Moore (Naples, Fla.), the top 49er team on the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, epitomize Bodie’s contention. They are looking forward to getting back on the water after finishing fourth in the 49er North American Championship last week and 24th at the 49er World Championship in the Bahamas two weeks ago. In the past six months, they have shown marked improvement, progressing from silver-fleet status to earning their place among the best in the world in gold fleets (at competitions where the class is so large it must be split into several groups). At the 49er worlds, they saw stiff competition and long races, and they learned valuable lessons they plan to put to use this week.


“We need to make sure we take advantage of our upwind speed and knowledge of our home venue as we move forward,” said Moore. “We made some mistakes at the Worlds, and we’ll try to improve on those and hopefully come away with making the top 10 and competing in the medal race.”


In the largest class, the Lasers with 104 boats, American sailors will have the most at stake, since it is this event that will qualify two of them for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. From coaching/training to shipping to funding, valuable extra support is the incentive for making the USA’s national team. (The Women’s RS:X competition here will also qualify two U.S. sailors for the team.)



Many from the recently named US Sailing Development Team are competing here and turned out en masse for training camps this week led by High Performance Director Kenneth Andreasen (Tampa, Fla.). These US Sailing Development Team members are “on the radar” as having made commitments to launching Olympic campaigns in the future, and they went head-to-head this week with such established sailing stars as 2006 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year] Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), who has already found her spot on the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics in the Laser Radial class. She will sail in the Rolex Miami OCR against such standouts as Sari Multala (FIN), who won the 2009 Laser Radial World Championship, Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and Sophie de Turckheim (FRA).



According to Rick Peters (Venice, Calif.), the 2009 Star World Champion with George Szabo: “Miami is a sailing mecca. I always tell people if they want to sail, they should come to Rolex Miami OCR, because you’ll learn more here in a week of sailing than you will anywhere else.” The duo arrived yesterday from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they competed at the 2010 Worlds. “Everyone comes here to Miami to train because it’s warm, it’s fun and the competition is the best in the world.”


The Star class will be missing some of its Star power because of the timing of the Worlds, but there will still be plenty of tough competition among the 24 teams. Among the ones to watch are Norway’s Elvind Melleby and crew Petter Morland Pedersen, who also competed in the Worlds and finished eighth.


Morland Pedersen says it’s because his team has two boats that he and Melleby were able to put the Rolex Miami OCR in their lineup. “There are some good boats here, and we came to Miami to see where we were going and what we have missed,” he explained, adding that he has not sailed with Melleby for two years while Melleby sailed the Volvo Ocean Race.



The Rolex Miami OCR hosts the same 10 Olympic and three Paralympic classes chosen for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. At the same time, it closely replicates the format and feel of what sailors can expect at those regattas. The classes are: Laser Radial (women), Laser (men), Finn (men), Men’s RS:X, Women’s RS:X, 49er (men), Men’s 470, Women’s 470, Star (men) and Elliott 6m (women), 2.4mR (open, able and disabled), SKUD18 (mixed, disabled) and Sonar (open, disabled).

[SW Editor]

Miami, Fla. (January 25, 2010) – All but two of 13 classes were told to stand by on land this morning at US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Miami OCR <http://rmocr.ussailing.org/> , the second of seven stops of the International (ISAF) Sailing World Cup 2009-2010 <http://www.sailing.org/worldcup> . Though it seemed to be shaping up as a beautiful day, nasty thunderstorm activity was on its way, due to bombard Biscayne Bay by mid to late afternoon. As a result, race organizers opted to ensure the safety of the 633 sailors who are competing here on 448 boats and representing 45 nations at one of the world’s most competitive regattas for Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls.



According to Principal Race Officer Ross Wilson from Australia, only the race courses for the 49er class (Men’s Two Person Dinghy - High Performance) and Elliott 6ms (Women’s Match Racing) were deemed close enough for racing to begin, as the sailors could be called home safely, ahead of the storm threat. “The 49ers were sailing very close to a beach where they could retreat, but in the case of the Star (Men’s Keelboat) course, it was three miles away, which was too far.” After the storms -- true to predicted force -- had passed, Laser Radials (Women’s One Person Dinghy) and Lasers (Men’s One Person Dingy) joined the lucky classes that got to compete, completing a single race each. For the balance of classes, racing had already been cancelled for the day.



“We had three very good races today and a good start to the regatta,” said 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year and US SAILING’s Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), who, with crew Molly Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.), is one of the USA’s shining stars in the women’s match racing event, which will debut at the 2012 Olympics. “We had some aggressive pre-starts and we’re very happy with our boat handling in the big breeze.”


The match racing event features 24 teams divided into three groups of eight, sailing round-robin in a complex series of over 200 races, which eventually pare down the fleet to two boats, dueling for gold on Saturday, the last day of competition for the Olympic classes. (Paralympic classes finish on Friday.)



“We’re really looking forward to racing the higher seeds tomorrow,” said Tunnicliffe, who added that in today’s last race, the Israelis led them off the line, but the Americans had slightly better speed upwind and were able to get control of them on the right hand side. “It was quite shifty today – no side was ever favored.”

Vandemoer added: “It was action-packed and close at every mark. A lead in the Elliott 6m is never a comfortable thing. You have to be ‘game on’ at all times.”


In the 49er class, Australia’s Will and Sam Phillips led after posting victories in three of three races today, which were held in 14-19 knots of breeze. Following in second are Manu Dyen and Stephane Christidis of France.



The Laser Radials and Lasers were able to squeeze one race in after a long postponement on-shore. Due to shifty breeze and several course changes, the Radials were able to start their one race around 4:45 pm in medium to light puffy air. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) held a strong lead throughout the race to finish first, followed by Alberte Holm Lindberg (DEN) and Alison Young (GBR). “Paige rounded the leeward mark first and sailed a flawless second beat extended,” said USSTAG Coach Luther Carpenter (LaPorte, Texas).


The Laser fleet, which was split into two fleets, was also at the mercy of shifting breeze, and the Race Committee scrambled to adjust the race course and quickly started the race before sunset. During the first sequence, the first wave of the front appeared and the temperature dropped 10 degrees, while the wind shifted from the South to the West. At the beginning of the race, the wind was blowing in the high teens but dropped to 3-5 knots by the end. Canada’s Luke Ramsay and Chris Dold finished first and second in the blue fleet, while Nick Thompson (GBR) and Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) led the yellow fleet.



As for those who didn’t sail today, most adopted the attitude that Laser sailor Brad Funk (Plantation, Fla.) had while he was waiting on shore this morning. “It is what it is,” he said. “There’s plenty of good racing left to be had here.”


In this overwhelmingly international event, the USA has the largest contingent of sailors with 169, followed by Canada (83), France (46), Great Britain (41), The Netherlands (24), Germany (23), Denmark (18), and Sweden (18). Racing continues through Friday for Paralympic classes and Saturday for Olympic classes.

[Stuart Streuli]

Challenging Races in All Classes

January 26, 2010

Today counted as a perfect day at US SAILING's 2010 Rolex Miami OCR, the second of seven stops of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF)Sailing World Cup 2009-2010 . Especially after yesterday's weather interruptions, no one minded this morning's slight cold snap that gave way to brilliant conditions on Biscayne Bay and allowed multiple races to be completed in the 13 Olympic and Paralympic classes represented here. The annual event, in its 21st year, has 45 nations represented on its roster of 448 teams (633 athletes), most of whom are top contenders for 2012 Olympic or Paralympic berths.

Israel's Gideon Kliger and Eran Sela took pleasure in "three good races" that launched them to the top of the scoreboard in the 470 Men's class that runs 34 teams deep. (Racing was cancelled for this class yesterday.) Even with an impressive scoreline of 2-6-4, however, Kliger was humble about his team's performance. "We only started sailing together one month ago, so I wouldn't have put ourselves in 'the teams to watch,' but it was a good day." Kliger skippered in two Olympic Games (Athens and Beijing) and has claimed three bronze medals at 470 class world championships. He was quick to point out that his crew also holds a bronze medal from the Junior World Championship. "All the best guys are here, like at the worlds," said Kliger. Nipping at his heels in overall standings is Luke Patience with crew Stuart Bithell (GBR), showing 17 points to Israel's 12, followed by Sven and Kalle Coster (NED) with 22 points.

Mikee Anderson-Mitterling (San Diego, Calif.) and David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.), comprising the top-finishing U.S. team (12th place) in this class, also felt a bit like newcomers today. "It was our first day back after not sailing for 2 ∏ years since the Olympic Trials," said Anderson-Mitterling. "We're going to try to see at this point if we still think we have it, and if we feel we can do well, we might go full bore again for an Olympic campaign." As for holding their own, he admitted, "It's a deep fleet (in talent); if you make a mistake they make you pay."

Only four points separated the top seven Women's 470 teams, proving how experience ruled the day as sailors played to the shifty conditions. Two French teams and two U.S. teams rose to the top: Ingrid Petitjean and crew Nadege Douroux posted the fewest points (13) in the low-point scoring system, with Erin Maxwell (Norwalk, Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar (New York, N.Y.) following close behind with 14. After that, it's the same trade-out with France's Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron posting 15 points, followed by Amanda Clark (Shelter Island Heights, N.Y.) and Sarah Chin (Hoboken, N.J.), also with 15 (but showing fourth because of tie-breaking rules).

"It was difficult, with very shifty winds," said Petitjean, who noted that she knows Maxwell and Kinsolving almost as well as her own teammates here on the French national team. Such is the way of making friends the world-over while sailing an Olympic campaign. When asked who she would watch most closely tomorrow, Petitjean said, "After only three races, we are not watching anyone, we are competing against the whole fleet."

Kinsolving Farrar agreed the conditions were tricky but exciting: "You had to keep your head out of the boat and look around the whole time. It's never over until it's over. There's always room to be gained."

This is Clark and Chin's first major event after taking the last year off after competing at the 2008 Olympic Games, and they're eager to get back into the mix. "Changing places with other teams was really fun," said Clark. "The pumping flag was up, so we were able to be physical and play the waves."

In the 24-boat Star class, four American teams finished in the top five after three races today, with Andy Horton (South Burlington, Vt.) and James Lyne (Granville, Vt.) in the lead. On their course, the wind shifted 60 degrees right by the end of the day. "The U.S. teams did what they needed to do today: they hit about 75 percent of the shifts and had single digits for the majority of the races," said Mark Ivey (San Francisco, Calif.), who is here coaching the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics' Star teams. "The goal for everybody was for everyone in the top eight at all mark roundings ... which is what you have to do in a small boat fleet."

"It was pretty crazy," said Horton, whose goal is to finish in the top five this week. "It was pretty shifty and puffy, so [we had to] change gears a lot."

Horton said he felt lucky with their top results today, considering this is only the third regatta they've sailed together. "We're still trying to figure things out working as a team. There's so much communication in a Star boat - there's two of you, big sails and lots of kinetics in a big boat."

2009 Star World Champions George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Rick Peters (Venice, Calif.) finished the three races in fourth overall today. Szabo noted that it was a tough day to catch all the shifts and he was glad they didn't make any big errors that would take them out of the race. "It was really hard on the crews today; they had to work extra hard," he said.