FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Barby MacGowan, Media Pro Int’l for Rolex, +1 401-225-0249,
barby.macgowan@mediapronewport.com;
Marlieke de Lange Eaton, US SAILING, 401-683-0800,
MarliekeEaton@ussailing.org
US SAILING's
2008 Rolex Miami OCR
Happiness and Heartbreak on the Line
Miami, Fla. (January 31, 2008) – For another day of light-air races, 369
sailors from 34 countries took to Biscayne Bay for US SAILING's Rolex Miami
OCR, one of the world's most revered world-ranking regattas for sailors in
Olympic and Paralympic classes. With racing having started on Monday, only
one racing day remains before winners can be named in the Paralympic classes
for SKUD-18, Sonar and 2.4mR. As well, tomorrow's racing will determine
fleet racing winners in the Olympic classes for Laser, Laser Radial, Star
and Yngling, but those fleets will also advance their top-ten finishers to
compete in a single medal race on Saturday, replicating the Olympic format
that will be followed this August when the Olympic Sailing Regatta is held
in Qingdao, China.
For Star sailors John Dane and Austin Sperry (Gulfport, Miss.), their
performance today was all-important in the Gold Fleet, which was determined
yesterday after five races and now is comprised of the top 33 teams, leaving
the remaining 33 teams to compete in a consolation Silver Fleet. Dane and
Sperry, US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics members who will represent the USA in
the Olympic Games this year, posted a fourth and 13th in today's races,
bringing them up to 12th from 16th overall yesterday and putting them well
within striking distance of the top ten.
"We had a good day," said Dane, unperturbed that in the second race they
were fifth at the first mark and then lost 15 boats in a wind shift. "If you
had a bad start and chose the wrong side today you were dead. You can see
how it effected teams such as Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (NZL), who had
a 27-24 today (dropping them from fourth to ninth) and before that, they had
nothing worse than a seventh. It was somewhat humbling for everyone, but if
Austin and I have a day like today again tomorrow, we'll be in the top ten."
Leading the Star fleet now is Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De Maria (SUI). With
a 2-4 today, they displaced yesterday's leaders Rick Merriman (New York,
N.Y.) and Brian Sharp (Franklin, Mass.), who finished 9-18 today to topple
to fifth overall.
While Dane has a fighting chance to experience Saturday's medal races,
another notable sailor, Greece's Sofia Bekatorou, has conceded that her
current 20th-place position has made that option an impossibility for her in
the 28-boat Yngling class. Bekatorou, a Rolex "testimonee" and ISAF Rolex
World Sailor of the Year for 2002 and 2004, knows her focus now must be on
next week's Yngling World Championships, where that class's last four
Olympic qualifying berths will be determined.
When asked to evaluate her performance here, Bekatorou, Greece's 2004
Olympic 470 Women's Gold Medalist, answered, "I haven't fully adapted yet to
the Yngling style. Tactically, there are things you can do with a 470 (a
two-person dinghy) that you can't do with an Yngling (a three-person
keelboat). The boat does not have the privilege of speed that a 470 has, and
I'm not fighting with the weapons I used to have, but we have all the
potential to qualify our country."
Indeed, fewer unqualified countries are ahead of Bekatorou's team (which
includes Sofia Papadopoulou and Christina Charamountani) in the standings
here than are behind her. France's Anne Le Helley, Catherine Lepesant, and
Julie Gerecht are currently in 13th while Norway's Siren Sundby, Lise
Birgitte Fredriksen and Alexandra Koefoed are in 17th.
Mandy Mulder, Mary Faber and Merel Witteveen (NED) have moved to first place
in this class from second yesterday, while Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), US
SAILING's Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, remains in eighth after today's
racing and hopes to hold solid for tomorrow, so she and crew Carrie Howe
(Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) can sail in
Saturday's race, which counts double for scoring purposes and, unlike with
the fleet races, cannot be discarded as a worst-race throwout.
About the Rolex Miami OCR
Established in 1990 by US SAILING, the Rolex Miami OCR annually draws elite
sailors Olympic and Paralympic medalists and hopefuls from around the world.
In non-Olympic years, the regatta is especially important as a ranking
regatta for sailors hoping to qualify for the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics,
which annually distinguish the top three sailors in each Olympic or
Paralympic class. The 2008 Rolex Miami OCR consists of five days of fleet
racing from Monday January 28 through Friday, February 1, and one day of
top-ten medal racing (for Olympic classes only) on Saturday, February 2,
replicating the new Olympic format that will debut in Qingdao.
Regatta Headquarters are at the US Sailing Center, where the Laser classes
also will be located. The Stars will be hosted at Coral Reef Yacht Club, the
Ynglings at Key Biscayne Yacht Club, and all Paralympic classes at
Shake-A-Leg Miami’s facilities. The City of Miami has also joined to support
the event.
In addition to title sponsor Rolex Watch U.S.A., the 2008 Rolex Miami OCR is
also sponsored by: AlphaGraphics, Nautica, LaserPerformance, Gill, New
England Ropes, Sperry Top-Sider, Extrasport, RIBCRAFT, Nikon, Harken, Team
McLube, and Trinity Yachts.
On-demand video will be available after 9 p.m. each evening starting
Thursday, January 31, at
www.RolexMiamiOCR.org, where complete results
also can be found.
(end)
US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR Top-Three Results
Day 4
Laser (23 boats) -- 10 races
1. Maciej Grabowski (POL), 2-1-6-4-2-5-[8]-1-2-3, 26
2. Kyle Rogachenko (Collegeville, Penn., USA), 1-4-1-[24/OCS]-6-1-7-7-1-1,
29
3. Marcin Rudawski (POL), [11]-3-4-2-4-4-2-5-7-2, 33
Laser Radial (39 boats) -- 9 races
1. Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla., USA), 3-1-3-2-1-[12]-2-1-9, 22
2. Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla., USA), 1-4-1-1-3-5-7-2-[16], 24
3. Penny Clark (GBR), 6-2-6-9-9-2-[10]-5-4, 43
Star (66 boats) – 7 races
1. Flavio Marazzi/Enrico De Maria (SUI), 2-1-6-[11]-4-2-4, 19
2. Eivind Melleby/Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR), 6-2-1-5-7-1-[8], 22
3. Xavier Rohart/Pascal Rambeau (FRA), 7-1-4-[34/BFD]-5-3-3, 23
Yngling (28 boats) -- 10 races
1. Mandy Mulder/Mary Faber/Merel Witteveen (NED), 10-5-[22]-5-2-11-1-7-2-4,
47
2. Ekaterina Skudina,/Diana Krutskikh/Natalia Ivanova (RUS),
19-2-3-3-9-1-5-[24]-4-12, 58
3. Song Xia Qun/Li Xioa Ni/Yu Yan Li (CHN), 2-8-5-[21]-20-4-4-1-17-11, 72
2.4mR (25 boats) -- 10 races
1. Damien Seguin (FRA), 4-2-1-3-1-3-[11]-4-4-4, 26
2. Stellan Berlin (SWE), 2-7-2-4-2-6-7-2-[18]-8, 40
3. Paul Tingley (CAN), 1-9-[26/OCS]-2-4-1-3-10-8-7, 45
SKUD-18 (10 boats) -- 9 races
1. Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Fountain Valley,
Calif./Marblehead, Mass., USA), 1-1-1-1-1-2-[3]-1-2, 10
2. Scott Whitman/Julia Dorsett (Brick, N.J./Boca Raton, Fla., USA),
[5]-3-2-2-2-5-1-2-1, 18
3. John McRoberts/Stacie Louttit (CAN), 3-2-3-4-4-1-[6]-4-3, 24
Sonar (11 boats) -- 8 races
1. Jens Kroker/Tobias Schuetz/Siegmund Mainka (GER), 1-[3]-2-2-1-2-2-1, 11
2. Bruno Jourden/Herve Larhant/Nicolas Vimont Vicary (FRA), 2-4-3-7-[12/DSQ]-1-7-5,
29
3. John Robertson/Hannah Stodel/Steve Thomas (GBR), 6-2-1-5-4-7-6-[8], 31