NAUTICA 2002 STAR CLASS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
California Yacht Club/Aug. 18-23
*** Results, photos, video and more at http://www.starworlds2002.com
***
Aug. 21, 2002 For Immediate Release
REYNOLDS AND LILJEDAHL WIN ONE FOR KIMBERLY
Wednesday's weather: Wind 9-12 knots, southwest.
Thursday's forecast: Wind 12 knots, southwest.
MARINA DEL REY, Calif.---Mark Reynolds
and crew Magnus Liljedahl came back from oblivion to win an
Olympic gold medal at Sydney two years ago, and they have
a special inspiration for doing it again: a young woman lying
in a Greek hospital with a breathing tube in her throat.
"This victory was for her,"
Liljedahl said after they beat another pair of former Star
champions, Australia's Colin Beashel and crew David Giles,
by 10 seconds on the fourth day of the Nautica 2002 Star Class
World Championship---their first win of a week full of alternate
ups and downs.
Kimberly Birkenfeld, 37, of Miami, would
be happy to hear the news. Liljedahl's girlfriend, a member
of the U.S. Sailing Team, was critically injured last week
by the propeller of a chase boat while sailing her Mistral
sailboard in a test event at the 2004 Olympic sailing site.
Birkenfeld's family has been with her
in Greece after encouraging Liljedahl to sail the Star Worlds
with Reynolds, as planned. It hasn't been easy.
"One thing about sailing is it
makes you think about other things," Liljedahl said.
"Now I can send her an e-mail with good news in time
for her to speak again."
Reynolds, of San Diego, and Liljedahl,
who were ISAF's sailors of the year after sweeping the Olympics
and the Star Worlds in 2000, are still in 17th place with
two races remaining but should move up considerably by discarding
their worst finish---Sunday's 78th place---after Race 5 Thursday,
barring further missteps.
The leaders are still Brazil's Torben
Grael and crew Marcelo Ferreira with 18 points after Wednesday's
ninth place, their worst finish, but England's Iain Percy/Steve
Mitchell and San Francisco's Paul Cayard/Hal Haenel are closing
in at 27 and 28. . There also may be a sleeper lurking quietly
in ninth place. San Diego's Rick Merriman and Bill Bennett
have logged a 7-8-4 string the last three days and will discard
a 53 after Thursday.
"We still have a tough road,"
Merriman said. "We've already used our throwout so we
don't have any room to falter. But it can happen."
Percy and Mitchell, Tuesday's winners,
were third Wednesday. If the discards had already been tossed,
they would be leading Grael by one point, with Cayard 11 points
behind despite all single-digit finishes.
Percy said, "If you start thinking
about points you're in big trouble. We just need to keep sailing
well."
Consistency hasn't come easily on Santa
Monica Bay, although the winds have been steadier the last
two days. Wednesday the breeze was 9 to 12 knots. A larger
problem, most crews felt, was getting off the starting line
when the race committee---forestalling a replay of five general
recalls in the previous two days---hoisted the "I"
flag for the first start, requiring any transgressors to restart
by rounding the ends of the 1,000-meter-long line---a mortal
penalty to pay.
It worked. Nobody was over early, but
most complained later about poor starts.
The right side of the 2.1-mile windward-leeward
course was a popular destination after recent successes there,
but this time it was a minefield. Reynolds and the other top
finishers all started or went left, a move that paid off when
the wind shifted that way a few minutes after the gun.
"We got lifted and continued to
get lifted," Reynolds said.
Nautica International, the Gold Star
Title Sponsor, is a leading global fashion and lifestyle company
with products ranging from men's, women's and children's sportswear
and accessories to a complete home collection.
Nautica is a subsidiary of Nautica Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:
NAUT) which, through its subsidiaries, designs, sources, markets
and distributes apparel under the following brands: Nautica,
Nautica Competition, Nautica Jeans Company, John Varvatos,
Earl Jean, E. Magrath and Byron Nelson.
Other sponsors of the Nautica 2002 Star
Class World Championship at various levels are: Silver Star---RB
Zack and Associates and California Yacht Club; Blue Star---Bang
and Olufsen; Green Star---Samuel Adams Beer, Sea Wynde Pot
Still Rum, Quantum One-Design Sails, North One-Design Sails,
Domaine Danica Winery, Brophy Clark Cellars.
The leaders (after 4 of 6 races):
1. Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, Brazil,
(3-1-5-9) 18 points. 2. Iain Percy/Steven Mitchell, UK, (19-4-1-3),
27. 3. Paul Cayard/Hal Haenel, San Francisco, (7-9-4-8) 28.
4. Xavier Rohart/Yannick Adde, France, (6-8-2-33) 49. 5. Mark
Mansfield/Killean Collins, Ireland, (2-13-17-25) 58. 6. George
Szabo/Austin Sperry, San Diego, (1-20-10-30) 61. 7. Alan Adler/Ricardo
Ermel, Brazil, (26-3-22-17), 70. 8. Peter Bromby/Martin Siese,
Bermuda, (33-2-32-5) 72. 9. Rick Merriman/Bill Bennett, San
Diego, (53-7-8-4) 72. 10. Colin Beashel/David Giles, Australia,
(41-19-11-2) 73.
NAUTICA STAR WORLDS GENERAL CHAIRMAN
Alex Benson
California Yacht Club (310) 823-4567
alexbenson@baywoodinn.com
PRESS RELATIONS
Frank Gleberman
(310) 823-0284
FGleberman@aol.com
PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
cell phone (310) 766-6547
richroberts@compuserve.com
NAUTICA PRESS CONTACT
Mary Ellen Barone
(212) 887-8114
maryellen.barone@nautica.com
