ICSA
- 470 Olympic Trials: Day Four
Hello
race fans,
What a difference a day makes!
Perfect wind returned to Houston and powered three
excellent races for all classes. The SE breezes
that everyone had trained in for the weeks before
the trials returned with near carbon copy velocities
of those experience in training. No one had an
excuse for being unprepared for today's racing
and it showed. Boat speeds were very close and
the boat handling was exceptional. And now for
the results!
Both fleets sailed outer loops today. Ladies first,
even though they started second. The ladies had
an even start in 8+ knots of wind and still flat
water. Allison Jolly and Susie Reischmann grabbed
the lead half way up the beat with everyone else
close astern. They managed to extend slightly
approaching the weather mark as traffic slowed
the pack. McDowell/Kinsolving rounded second with
Maxwell/Morgan third and Clark/Mergenthaler fourth.
Jolly/Reischmann held their lead for the next
two legs with Maxwell/Morgan moving to second
and McDowell/Kinsolving slipping to fourth, but
it was all very close. Courtenay Dey and Linda
Wennerstrom were beginning to find their pace
and closed on the leaders on the second beat.
The whole race was on the line starting the final
run. Jolly/Reischmann still lead, but Maxwell/Morgan
were close, but so were the rest. Approaching
the leeward mark Maxwell/Morgan got an overlap
with Clark/Mergenthaler and McDowell/Kinsolving
also overlapped just a length behind. Dey/Wennerstrom
were another length or two back looking for opportunities.
It was VERY CLOSE! Jolly/Reischmann suffered badly
at the rounding, getting pinned slightly outside
of Maxwell/Morgan, opening the passing lane for
Clark/Mergenthaler. McDowell/Kinsolving and Dey/Wennerstrom
were on the same train and moved past Jolly/Reischmann
who could only watch in frustration as their race
long lead converted to a fifth in the closing
minutes.
The breeze was built slightly for race two letting
the crews get fully extended. It was a close and
even start again with Clark/Mergenthaler just
a touch faster. They moved into a nice lead at
the first mark with Maxwell/Morgan and McDowell/Kinsolving
close behind. These positions held for the next
lap with Maxwell/Morgan closing a bit. On the
second run Maxwell/Morgan pulled into an outside
overlap approaching the last mark, creating a
double jibe situation for Clark/Mergenthaler.
McDowell/Kinsolving closed as the leaders jockeyed
for position and were poised to attack. All three
teams handled their situations beautifully. Clark/Mergenthaler
pulled off the double jibe and held inside. Maxwell/Morgan
attacked with precision and only a perfect defense
would hold them back. Meanwhile McDowell/Kinsolving
attacked on the low road to the finish and nearly
pulled through, but the first two teams abandoned
their battle just in time to close the low passing
lane. All three boats finished in 6 seconds! The
fans went wild.
After catching our collective breath we were into
sequence for the third race of the day on an O2
course. Conditions were pretty stable around 9
knots, but there were some tricky shifts. Clark/Mergenthaler
had a perfect start at the boat and moved into
a controlling position over the majority of the
fleet going left. Rookies Molly Carapiet and Whitney
Besse were playing the right and right was right!
They lead at the top over Clark/Mergenthaler with
McDowell/Kinsolving third and Maxwell/Morgan fifth,
recovering nicely from a 720 after a port/starboard
miscue with Dey/Wennerstrom. The rookies' downwind
technique is still in the developing stages and
they couldn't hold back the polished teams. Clark/Mergenthaler
lead at the bottom and extended from there for
their second win of the day. McDowell/Kinsolving
held second in similar fashion while Maxwell/Morgan
moved from 4th to 3rd on the second lap. There
was plenty of battle for every position with contested
overlaps at every leeward mark.
At the end of the day Clark/Mergenthaler, with
a 2,1,1 moved to even points with McDowell/Kinsolving
with Maxwell/Morgan moving to third, 4 points
back. Dey/Wennerstrom are a somewhat distant ten
points further back. With a lay day tomorrow and
a forecast for much stronger breeze on Thursday,
it will be difficult for the teams to truly relax.
It has been a very long time since we have seen
wind over 12 knots, so there is plenty of uncertainty
about what might happen if it blows 15-20 as forecast.
Now for the men.
The men's starting line is considerably more crowded
with two more boats. Sounds strange but it is
true. Dabney/Schmidt were caught sleeping above
the line and were late for the start, but everyone
else was pushing hard. The individual recall went
up, but no one returned. Foerster/Burnham quickly
established a solid lead and went on to a convincing
win despite a near capsize when the mainsheet
left the cleat sending Burnham into the drink.
Anderson/Biehl continued to impress and grabbed
their fourth consecutive second. Tom Hall and
Jon Farrar had their best race of the series with
a third. Ivey/Cromwell and Hunt/Russell were still
trying to get on track. McNay/Kinsolving and Coberly/Johnson
were OCS.
The second race featured a bit more wind at the
start. Foerster/Burnham and Ivey/Cromwell were
both looking good shortly after the start when
Foerster/Burnham pulled up lame with a broken
jib head line which force them to drop the jib,
putting them in deep last place. Ivey/Cromwell
jumped on the opportunity and went on to a solid
win with McNay/Kinsolving second and Dabney/Schmidt
third. Anderson/Biehl were out of phase for the
entire race and finished 6th.
Ivey/Cromwell were perfect at the start of race
three and had a nice lead at the top with Foerster/Burnham
second. Ivey/Cromwell allowed Foerster/Burnham
and others escape to the left on the second beat
an paid for the mistake, dropping to fourth at
the top with McNay/Kinsolving and Anderson/Biehl
second and third. Foerster/Burnham extended to
a huge lead with a terrific battle for second
raging to the finish. McNay/Kinsolving and Anderson/Biehl
were in hand to hand combat with Ivey/Cromwell
trailing and looking for an opening. They found
it and moved into second with Anderson/Biehl winning
the wrestling match for third.
Going into the lay day Foerster/Burnham are in
command counting all firsts after a discard. Anderson/Biehl
are next 6 points back with Ivey/Cromwell another
four back.
Foerster/Burnham seem ready to accept all challenges
and any team hoping to challenge them will need
to come out with guns blazing on Thursday.
Look for complete results at http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicTrials/2004/index.asp
Rollin "Skip" Whyte
