Rio 2016 (Sailing): Team USA Sonar Climbs Leaderboard

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 14, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil –  A strong breeze filled in early on the third day of racing at the 2016 Paralympic Games sailing competition, providing an exciting change of pace for the adaptive athletes in the Sonar, SKUD-18 and 2.4mR fleets. Team USA made gains in two classes on Day 3, and remains firmly in the hunt for the podium.

Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Maine) had an excellent day of racing, with a 2, 3, 3 scoreline. The Americans were the second-best performers on Day Three, behind only the British boat, which won all three races in moderate to heavy breeze. Wednesday’s action moved Doerr, Kendell and Freund, the reigning World Champions, from 7th overall to 2nd with three days remaining in the regatta.

See Also: U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team Viewing Guide

“One thing we did well today was keep our cool,” said Doerr, a two-time Paralympian, two time Para Sailing World Champion and member of the U.S. Sailing Team for over 18 years. “We were fouled twice, but we didn’t let it get in the way. We stayed patient, kept our heads out of the boat, and placed ourselves well on the course. We probably weren’t the fastest boat out there today, but we sailed smart.”
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Pictured: Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund, Sonar Class, on Wednesday.

Ryan Porteous (San Diego, Calif.) and Beijing 2008 gold medalist Maureen McKinnon (Marblehead, Mass.) had finishes of 5, 6, 2 to move up to 5th place overall. The team sailed well despite dealing with some equipment problems in the high winds. “We broke our boom vang at the beginning if the second race today, which made it hard to sail upwind,” said Porteous. “Our main was flogging in the heavy breeze [after the breakdown], and we weren’t fast. We eventually passed a few boats though, and were happy about that.” McKinnon said that after they got the problem fixed, they were pleased to submit their best performance of the regatta to date, a 2nd place in Race 6. “It was nice to get everything working, and sail the way we know we can.”

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Pictured: Ryan Porteous and Maureen McKinnon (at left), SKUD-18 class.

Dee Smith (Annapolis, Md.) had an up-and-down day in the 2.4mR, with scores of 8, 6, 1, his second race victory of the regatta. The 8th is now Smith’s discard race, and he moved from 3rd overall to 5th. The standings remain quite tight, with only six points separating 1st overall from 6th. Smith described Thursday, with three races scheduled, as “moving day,” and said he’s focused on staying consistent.

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Pictured: Dee Smith, 2.4mR class.

Standings: Rio 2016 Paralympic Sailing Competition (Day 3)

Full Results: Rio 2016

Sonar (Three-Person Keelboat) Top 10:

  1. AUS – HARRISON Colin, HARRIS Jonathan, BOADEN Russell: 12
  2. USA – DOERR Rick, FREUND Hugh, KENDELL Brad: 18
  3. NZL – DODSON Richard, MAY Andrew, SHARP Chris: 21
  4. NOR – WANG-HANSEN Aleksander, SOLBERG Marie, KRISTIANSEN Per Eugen: 22
  5. GBR – ROBERTSON John, THOMAS Stephen, STODEL Hannah: 23
  6. CAN – TINGLEY Paul, LUTES Scott, CAMPBELL Logan: 25
  7. GRE – CHRISTOFOROU Vasileios, ALEXAS Theodoros, NOTAROGLOU Anargyros: 25
  8. GER – KLOTZING Lasse, KROKER Jens, MAINKA Siegmund: 30
  9. ISR – COHEN Dror, BEN YAKOV Shimon, EFRATI Arnon: 31
  10. IRL – TWOMEY John, O’CARROLL Austin, COSTELLOE Ian: 49

SKUD-18 (Two-Person Keelboat) Top 10:

  1. AUS – SITZGIBBON Daniel, TESCH Liest: 6
  2. GBR – RICKHAM Alexandra, BIRRELL Niki: 14
  3. CAN – MCROBERTS John, GAY Jackie: 16
  4. POL – GIBES Monika, CICHOCKI Piotr: 24
  5. USA – PORTEOUS Ryan, MCKINNON Maureen: 25
  6. ITA – GUALANDRIS Marco Carlo, ZANETTI Marta: 32
  7. SIN – TAN Wei Qiang Jovin, YAP Qian Yin: 32
  8. NED – SCHRAMA Rolf, NAP Sandra: 32
  9. BRA – LANDGRAF Bruno, DE ALMEIDA Marinalva: 34
  10. ESP – ROIG ALZAMORA Sergi, DEL REINO Violeta: 40

2.4mR (One-Person Keelboat) Top 10:

  1.  GBR – LUCAS Helena: 10
  2. AUS – BUGG Matthew: 12
  3. GER – KROGER Heiko: 12
  4. FRA – SEGUIN Damien: 13
  5. USA – SMITH Dee: 15
  6. NOR -ERIKSTAD Bjornar: 16
  7. ITA – SQUIZZATO Antonio: 26
  8. AUT – REIGER Sven: 26
  9. ESP – MONTES VORCY Arturo: 32
  10. FIN – SALOMAA Niko: 34

U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team:

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Rio 2016 Links:

About The U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team

The Rio 2016 U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team is comprised of six sailors hailing from six different U.S. States. Each athlete qualified for the team based on the results of US Sailing’s Rio 2016 Athlete Selection Series. The Games of the XV Paralympiad will take place from September 7-18, 2016, and the sailing events will be based at Marina da Gloria on Rio de Janeiro’s harbor front. The Paralympic Games will feature approximately 4,300 athletes from 161 countries competing in 22 sports. The sailing events will feature 80 athletes from 23 nations competing in three classes. Racing is scheduled to run from September 12-17. Learn more about the U.S. Paralympic Sailing Program at www.ussailing.org/olympics

About US Sailing

The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and growth for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the US Sailing Team. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org

Contact: Will Ricketson, Press Officer (Sailing)

Email: willricketson@ussailing.org
Phone: +1 978 697 2384 (Brazil + USA)
Phone: +55 21 992 458 664 (Brazil Only)