Canadians
Thrive In Windy O.C.R Start
LONG
BEACH, Calif.---Strong winds and lumpy seas greeted
competitors on the first day of the Olympic Classes
Regatta, hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. Canadian
sailors, mostly escaping the early spring chill
of British Columbia, seem to have taken the windy
conditions--clocked at 18 knots at one point--well
in stride and hold six of the top 12 places in
the four classes competing.
Canadian
women hold the top three places in the seven-boat
Europe class. Jennifer Spaulding and teammate
Tanja Smutny traded the top two places in the
three races Friday. Spaulding's two wins to Smutny's
one put Spaulding one point ahead. The Europe
is the singlehanded women's boat in the Olympic
Games.
Canadians
sailing the Laser class, an open singlehanded
class, hold second and third places, but the top
spot belongs to Andrew Lewis, a native of Hawaii
living in California. Lewis carded three wins
in the three races run on the Olympic-style course
laid off the Seal Beach Pier in the waters of
San Pedro Bay.
The
international flavor of the regatta continued
as Australian Geoffrey Beck leads the Laser Radial
class. His two wins and one second-place finish
puts him ahead of Jake Sorosky, a Southern California
youth sailor. The Laser Radial differs only from
the Laser in that the sail is smaller, a definite
advantage for smaller sailors--or anyone on a
blustery day like Friday.
It
was the venerable Finn class that suffered most
in the conditions. American Glenn Selvin won the
first race, one that saw fellow American Brad
Neiwstad roll his singlehanded boat over and nearly
sink. After being rescued by an attending boat,
Neiwstad skipped the second race of the day.
In
that race it was Selvin's turn to roll over, but
with a less-happy ending: his swamped boat had
to be towed ashore and bailed out on the beach
inside Alamitos Bay. The Finn is a singlehanded
men's class in the Olympics.
A
total of 59 entrants signed up by the start of
racing on Friday. Racing continues on Saturday
and Sunday and ends with the awarding of medals
in gold, silver and bronze hues in an Olympic-style
medal ceremony on Sunday.
Photos
are posted on the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club website,
www.abyc.org.
Alamitos
Bay Yacht Club
562-434-9955
abyc@abyc.org
www.abyc.org
