Rolex Miami OCR: Lead Changes in Five Classes Mark Day Three

Photo by Dan Nerney/Rolex

MIAMI, FLA. (January 31, 2003) -- Today's brilliant conditions brought out the best in 526 athletes from 32 countries competing in the Rolex Miami OCR. Temperatures, which have been unusually cool this week for southern Florida, rose into the mid 70s, while the 7-10 knot breezes remained relatively constant compared to yesterday's dramatic shifts. "If you could bottle this weather for four days, you'd have the quintessential regatta," said US SAILING Olympic Director Jonathan Harley (Middletown, R.I.), who oversees the annual event for 11 Olympic and Paralympic classes. The regatta is the only ISAF Grade One ranking event in the U.S., and of the 328 boats entered, more than half are from foreign countries.

The conditions especially favored Tim Wadlow and Peter Spaulding (Branford, Conn.), who increased their margin-- from one point to six -- over Andy Mack and Adam Lowry (White Salmon, Wash.) to lead the 49er class. With 10 races under their belts, the 49er sailors are due to contest as many as three races tomorrow to conclude their series. "There are four or five teams from the U.S. that are really tight here," said Wadlow. "Last year, the same teams were here and we finished fifth, so this year we feel good that we're on top." As for Andy Mack's call for tomorrow, "I remain optimistic that we can still pull this off."

Meg Gaillard (Jamestown, R.I.), the Europe fleet's early leader and defending champion, slipped a position today when her closest competitor, Lenka Smidova (CZE), posted three first-place finishes to Gaillard's three seconds. "Lenka is faster than me downwind, but I'm faster than her upwind," said Gaillard, who seems confident about tomorrow's final races. "These are my conditions where it's light-to-moderate breezes and I'm fully powered up."

A big upset today in the Star classs for Bermuda's Peter Bromby came in the form of a black-flag disqualification (BFD) for a premature start in one race, coupled with a 34th- and an eighth-place finish in two others. The performance allowed the dark horse team of Andy Lovell/Eric Oetgen (New Orleans, La.) to move into first with a ten-point lead.

Photo by Daniel Forster/Rolex

The team of Betsy Alison/Lee Icyda/Suzy Leech (Newport, R.I.) regained its Yngling fleet lead today but by only two points, while two new teams now appear in the top three. "We were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves at the top again," said Alison, "since we thought we were off the pace in our first two races today."

Also snagging new leads today were Finn sailor Chris Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) over Chris Cook (CAN) and the Tornado team of Roman Hagara/Hans-Peter Steinacher (AUT) over Santiago Lange/Carlos Espinola (ARG)

In Paralympic 2.4 Metre class, Germany's 2000 Paralympic gold medallist Heiko Kroeger of Germany continues to rule, while In the Paralympic Sonar class, the team of John Ross-Duggan/JP Creignou/Mikey Ross (Newport Beach, Calif.) posted three second-place finishes today to maintain their early regatta lead.

Defending Laser class champion Paul Goodison (GBR) maintains his lead; Nikos Kaklimanakis (GRE) boast five bullets in his six-race series to dominate the Mistral Men's competition, while Anja Kaeser (SUI) keeps a solid hold on first place in the Mistral Women's.

Photo by Dan Nerney/Rolex

Also, still leading since day one are Steve Hunt/Michael Miller (Hampton, Va.) in the 470 Men's class and Katie McDowell/Isabelle Kinsolving (Barrington, R.I.) in the 470 Women's class.

To view the official regatta notice board and complete results, visit www.ussailing.org/Olympics/RolexMiamiOCR/

(Top Three Results Follow - Protests Pending)

 

Rolex Miami OCR - Day Three (Jan. 31, 2003)

Europe (25 boats)
1. Lenka Smidova, CZE, 2-1-2-(7)-2-1-1-1-1; 11
2. Meg Gaillard, Jamestown, R.I., 1-2-1-1-1-(11)-2-2-2; 12
3. Georgia Chimona, GRE, (11)-3-4-2-3-5-3-3-7; 30

Finn (32 boats)
1. Chris Hoegh-Christensen, DEN, (8)-2-5-6-1-4-1-1; 20
2. Chris Cook, Whitby, CAN, (6)-1-1-1-4-2-6-6; 21
3. Richard Clarke, CAN, 1-(33/OCS)-6-3-11-10-2-2; 35

470 Men Mixed (12 boats)
1. Steve Hunt/Michael Miller, Hampton, Va., 1-1-(6)-1-6-3-3-1; 16
2. Paul Foerster/Kevin Burnham, Rockwall, Texas, 2-9-1-3-2-4-1-(22/OCS); 22
3. Mark Ivey/Howard Cromwell, Huntington Beach, Calif., 3-2-4-6-1-(7)-2-4; 22

470 Women (9 boats)
1. Katie McDowell/Isabelle Kinsolving, Barrington, R.I., 4-(6)-3-2-3-6-5-5; 28
2. Erin Maxwell/Jen Morgan, Stonington, Conn., 9-(13)-2-8-13-1-4-3; 40
3. Amanda Clark/Sarah Mergenthaler, Shelter Island, N.Y., 12-8-11-12-7-9-(15)-7; 66

49er (17 boats)
1. Tim Wadlow/Peter Spaulding, Branford, Conn., 2-1-1-3-(5)-2-1-2-3-1; 16
2. Andy Mack/Adam Lowry, White Salmon, Wash., 1-2-2-1-4-4-3-(5)-1-4; 22
3. Dave Fagen/Bora Gulari, St. Petersburg,Fla., 3-5-4-2-2-(8)-2-1-2-6; 27

Laser (49 boats)
1. Paul Goodison, GBR, 7-6-5-4-1-8-1-(50/DNF)-7; 39
2. Mark Mendelblatt, St. Petersburg, Fla., 8-1-1-(24)-4-17-5-1-4; 41
3. Andrew Campbell, San Diego, Calif., (16)-10-6-9-5-3-3-5-2; 43

Mistral Men (22 boards)
1. Nikos Kaklimanakis, GRE, 1-1-1-1-1-(11); 5
2. David Mier y Teran, MEX, 3-2-2-3-5-(6); 15
3. Kevin Stittle, CAN, 2-(34/OCS)-3-10-2-1; 18

Mistral Women (11 boards)
1. Anja Kaeser, SUI, 6-9-5-2-3-(13); 25
2. Dominique Vallee, Trois-Rivieres, CAN, 11-3-8-12-(34/OCS)-3; 37
3. Swaine Gregoire, Montreal, CAN, 13-8-14-(16)-9-12; 56

Star (68 boats)
1. Andy Lovell/Eric Oetgen, New Orleans, La., 7-20-1-(31)-11-15-3; 57
2. Peter Bromby/Lee White, Sandys, BER, 6-7-11-1-34-(69/BFD)-8; 67
3. Vince Brun/Brian Terhaar, San Diego, Calif., 24-6-17-3-6-19-(53); 75

Tornado (28 boats)
1. Roman Hagara/Hans-Peter Steinacher, AUT, 1-6-(8)-1-3-8-1-8; 28
2. Santiago Lange/Carlos Espinola, ARG, 2-3-6-3-2-3-9-(14); 28
3. Robbie Daniel/Eric Jacobsen, Clearwater, Fla., (17)-1-1-9-11-1-5-7; 35

Yngling (24 boats)
1. Betsy Alison/Lee Icyda/Suzy Leech, Newport, R.I., 1-8-1-9-3-(25/OCS)-3-8-3; 36
2. Sally Barkow/Carrie Howe/Debbie Capozzi, Nashotah, Wisc., (25/OCS)-10-2-1-11-2-4-2-6; 38
3. Katerina Giakoumidou/H. Dimitrakopoulou/E. Mantzaaki, Glyfada, GRE, 2-7-10-4-12-1-1-(14)-4; 41

2.4 Metre (20 boats)
1. Heiko Kroeger, GER, 1-1-1-(5)-1-2-2-3; 11
2. Hans Meyer, Pewaukee, Wis., 3-(4)-2-1-3-1-3-1; 14
3. Stellan Berlin, SWE, 2-6-(7)-2-2-3-1-4; 20

Sonar (7 boats)
1. John Ross-Duggan/JP Creignou/Mikey Ross, Newport Beach, Calif., 1-1-1-(4)-2-2-2-2; 11
2. Rick Doerr/Richard Hughes/Tim Angle, Clifton, N.J., (4)-3-4-2-1-3-1-1; 15
3. Paul Callahan/Keith Burhans/Mike Hersey, Providence, R.I., 2-2-3-3-4-1-(5)-4; 19