Roble and Shea Win Bronze at Pre-Worlds – US Sailing Team Looks Strong Heading into Worlds

by
Stephanie Roble & Maggie Shea

Day Three: Roble and Shea Take Bronze

11/27/19

The US Sailing Team is looking solid heading into the 2019 Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships. On Wednesday, November 27, the team finished the 2019 Oceania Championships with two boats in the top 10, one of which will take home a medal.

US Sailing Team athletes Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) led the 49erFX fleet from day one. In the first race of the final series, Roble and Shea endured a black flag penalty to land them in third overall. After an impressive week of consistent performance at the top of the fleet, Roble and Shea will take home the bronze and carry some positive momentum into the World Championships, which begin on Tuesday, December 3.

Also in the top 10 were US Sailing Team Nacra 17 athletes, Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Finishing only two races outside the top ten, Gibbs and Weis also had a consistent week at the front of their fleet. The pair wrapped up the event in eighth place overall.

Top U.S. boat in the Men’s 49er fleet was the pair, Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.). Mollerus and MacDiarmid had a stellar day one, ending up in the gold medal position. Despite several finishes in the top-three, the pair, unfortunately, suffered a U flag penalty on day two, which brought them outside the top ten.

U.S. Results

  • 3rd – Steph Roble & Maggie Shea, 49erFX
  • 8th – Riley Gibbs & Anna Weis, Nacra 17
  • 15th – Andrew Mollerus & Ian MacDiarmid, 49er
  • 16th – Sarah Newberry & David Liebenberg, Nacra 17
  • 23rd – Ravi Parent & Caroline Atwood, Nacra 17
  • 25th – Judge Ryan & Hans Henken, 49er
  • 27th – Paris Henken & Anna Tobias, 49erFX
  • 29th – Harry Melges IV & Finn Rowe, 49er
  • 38nd – Ian Barrows & Mitchell Kiss, 49er
  • 46th – Nevin Snow & Dane Wilson, 49er
  • 47th – Kate Shaner & Kathleen Love, 49erFX

View the full results: 49er, 49erFX,  Nacra17

Overall, the US Sailing Team will bring some excellent momentum into all three fleets at the World Championships next week. All of the athletes have had time to familiarize themselves with the local conditions and get some practice racing in before the stakes are high.

Next week, in addition to competing for the World Championship title, U.S. athletes will be fighting for selection. This regatta will be the first to impact the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team trials in all three fleets. The Men’s 49er athletes will also be fighting to qualify the country for a berth on the Tokyo 2020 starting line.

Sky Sport will be broadcasting the 2019 Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championship, December 3 – 8, on Sky Sport 9 to their New Zealand Audience, while SidelineApp’s coverage of the worlds is available to international viewers with a subscription fee of just 9.95 euros if purchased by November 30, or 14.95 euros thereafter.

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Day Two: Leaderboard Shuffles as Scores at the Top Tighten

11/26/19

With conditions almost polar opposite of yesterday’s, the athletes were greeted with a 10-12 knot seabreeze from the north. Racing took place on the second allotted course area, located off the coast of Auckland’s North Shore.

The Nacra 17 and 49er teams endured the most variable conditions of the day. Many boats at the top of these fleets posted two solid races and one that would become their drop. U.S. Nacra 17 athletes Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) followed suit, finishing twice in the top-ten. The pair will begin the final day of racing just two points outside the podium.

Men’s 49er athletes, Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.), slid back a bit thanks to a U flag penalty and a tough race in the tricky conditions. Despite the tough day, Mollerus and MacDiarmid are securely locked into gold fleet and will be looking to move back up the leaderboard, tomorrow.

The 49erFX fleet saw more consistent conditions with gainable shifts that were hard to come by. Overnight leaders in the 49erFX fleet, Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) managed to maintain their gold medal position. Atop the leaderboard, they are tied with Rio 2016 Gold Medalists, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunz (BRA). Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) stand just three points further back in third.

U.S. Results
  • 1st – Steph Roble & Maggie Shea, 49erFX
  • 4th – Riley Gibbs & Anna Weis, Nacra 17
  • 15th – Andrew Mollerus & Ian MacDiarmid, 49er
  • 24th – Judge Ryan & Hans Henken, 49er
  • 18th – Sarah Newberry & David Liebenberg, Nacra 17
  • 21st – Ravi Parent & Caroline Atwood, Nacra 17
  • 38th – Nevin Snow & Dane Wilson, 49er
  • 27th – Paris Henken & Anna Tobias, 49erFX
  • 40th – Harry Melges IV & Finn Rowe, 49er
  • 42nd – Ian Barrows & Mitchell Kiss, 49er
  • 49th – Kate Shaner & Kathleen Love, 49erFX

View the full results: 49er, 49erFX,  Nacra17

With the teams split into gold, silver, and bronze for tomorrow’s finals racing, viewers can tune in to all the action live and free from 11:00 am (NZDT / GMT+13).

Sky Sport will be broadcasting racing from the 2019 Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championship, December 3 – 8, on Sky Sport 9 to their New Zealand Audience, while SidelineApp’s coverage of the worlds is available to international viewers with a subscription fee of just 9.95 euros if purchased by November 30, or 14.95 euros thereafter.

Day One: USA Leads Overall Performance

11/25/19

As the US Sailing Team athletes prepare for the upcoming 2019 Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships, they have a chance to measure up against the competition at the 2019 Oceania Championships. After day one, the U.S. is the top-performing country with teams in podium positions in all three fleets.

The USA 49er and 49erFX skiff teams blitzed day one of the Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 Oceania Championship, the women’s pairing of Stephanie Robel and Maggie Shea posting an ominous low score, thanks to two wins and a third, to lead the fleet and Rio 2016 gold medalists Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze of Brazil by 7 points.

On their opening performance, Roble said, “It was 10-15 knots and as the day went on the current started building from the north, and that made it choppy and tricky all-round. We really focused on good start execution, keeping eyes forward looking at what pressure was coming down the course and trying to sail big lanes upwind, to let it rip and get to the pressure. We are excited about how we sailed.”

The talented FX duo spent a couple of weeks learning the course areas at the beginning of the month and the first day of the Oceanias, Monday, November 26, was also their first day back on the water after that intensive training block.

“When we were last here we learned a good bit about the current and just tried to spend time getting familiar with the racecourses. I think it’s a pretty unique venue with all the land, so it’s hard to make ‘rules’ for different courses,” Roble admitted.

Many of the teams competing at the warmup Oceania Championship and then the World Championship, December 3 – 8 hosted by Royal Akarana Yacht Club, not only have to concentrate on reining in the best sailors in the world, some have to beat up on their mates to be selected for Tokyo 2020.

“This is the start of our trials, a two-event series made up of these worlds and the next at Geelong in February. The team with the lowest points will go to the Games,” Roble added. When asked about the pressure of internal qualification she commented: “We’ve just been focusing on our own processes and getting better each day, and each event. It’s a world championship and we are here to win.”

Also wrestling for selection to the U.S Olympic Sailing Team is Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Anna Tobias (Pittsburgh, Penn.) who had a day one outing they will put down to experience, posting an 18th, UFD (black flag disqualification) and rounding out with a very promising second in race 3.

For the USA’s men’s 49er teams, the world championship is particularly important as the Olympic country qualifier, as well as being part of the U.S. Olympic trials.

Leading the 49er fleet three races into the three-day Oceania Championship is Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.) and second on the Nacra 17 scoresheet is another USA team, Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

U.S. Results
  • 1st – Steph Roble & Maggie Shea, 49erFX
  • 1st – Andrew Mollerus & Ian MacDiarmid, 49er
  • 2nd – Riley Gibbs & Anna Weis, Nacra 17
  • 18th – Ian Barrows & Mitchell Kiss, 49er
  • 19th – Sarah Newberry & David Liebenberg, Nacra 17
  • 20th – Ravi Parent & Caroline Atwood, Nacra 17
  • 28th – Judge Ryan & Hans Henken, 49er
  • 30th – Paris Henken & Anna Tobias, 49erFX
  • 39th – Harry Melges IV & Finn Rowe, 49er
  • 40th – Nevin Snow & Dane Wilson, 49er
  • 45th – Kate Shaner & Kathleen Love, 49erFX

The full schedule of Oceania Championship day one racing was streamed live to a global audience by broadcast partner SidelineApp. Hosted by New Zealand’s Jesse Tuke and featuring commentary from the likes of three-time Olympian PJ Postma and match racing expert Chris Steele, viewers were treated to previously unseen coverage of a continental championship.

Live and free coverage will continue over the next two days of racing, (find at 49er.org/live) with viewers tuning in from 10:00 am Auckland time (NZDT / GMT+13).

Live coverage of the 2019 Hyundai World Championships will be available for a one-time purchase of 9.95 euros if purchased before November 30, or 14.95 euros thereafter.