Rio 2016 (Sailing): 470’s Leading the Way for Team USA

by

WATCH: The Rio Report – N.6, Mid-Olympics Update

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 12, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Day 5 of the sailing competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was a momentous one, as the RS:X fleets concluded full-fleet competition, the opening races for the Men’s 49er and Women’s 49erFX high-performance skiffs were held, and the Laser, Laser Radial and 470 events entered critical stages. Standout performances for Team USA were delivered by the American Men’s and Women’s 470 teams, and both boats remain firmly in the hunt for the podium.

With twelve races completed over four days of sailing, the Men’s and Women’s RS:X fleets have only the medal races remaining on the schedule. Each medal race is reserved for the top ten competitors, and although Americans Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.) and Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.) did not advance to that stage, there were many positive takeaways for the first-time Olympians, both aged 20. “Although I do wish I had more time to train leading up to the regatta, I’m happy with the way I raced given the skill set that I had,” said Lepert, an engineering student at Stanford University who had to balance her studies with training. “I truly gave it my all, and I have no regrets. The Rio bay was an incredibly beautiful and challenging place to race, and I will hold fond memories of my experiences here.”

The Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition

Pictured: Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.), RS:X.

Lepert finished 16th overall, and four of her twelve races were impressive top-ten finishes. Pascual, currently a student at Florida Atlantic University, finished 28th after submitting his best day of racing on Friday. “We’re really proud of the way they represented Team USA,” said Josh Adams, Managing Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing, of the two American board sailors. “They are in the beginning of their Olympic careers, and have shown sparks of success along the Olympic path this year. We’re glad to have them as teammates.  The younger athletes on our team will see that to come out on top at the end of this event, you really need to be a complete sailor, and Rio de Janeiro tests that like no other venue.”

Once again, Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.), and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) submitted a dramatic performance in the Women’s 470 class to remain firmly in the hunt for the podium. In the only race of the day on Friday, Haeger and Provancha found themselves trailing the fleet at the first mark after heading far to the lefthand side of the “Escola Naval” racecourse on the first leg. Showing resilience, the Americans passed ten boats over the course of the next three legs, and then five more at the end of the final downwind leg, to finish 5th in the day’s only race. “I would prefer if we were spending more of each race closer to the front, but I’m happy we’ve been recovering,” said Provancha. The American women are now in 4th overall, and sit five points from the overall leaders and London 2012 silver medalists Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark from Great Britain.

In the Men’s 470 fleet, Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.), Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.) submitted their best race of the event, a 4th place finish in Race 5, which moved them into 8th overall and twelve points from podium position. “Today was good for us,” said Hughes. “We knew we had to get our team back on track. We haven’t been the team we’ve been recently, or been the team we’ve needed to be at this regatta. [Today] showed us that we could do that, and we want to keep the inertia going.” Five more races are schedule in the Men’s 470 class before the medal race.
The Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition

Pictured: The Women’s 470 fleet heads downwind on the “Escola Naval” course.

Laser Radial athlete Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) endured a tough day on the open-ocean “Copacabana” and “Pai” courses. The two-time Olympian and five-time World Championship medalist scored 25, 24 to fall to 10th overall. Railey is now 36 points from podium position with two full-fleet races and one double-points medal race remaining. Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) earned scores of 15-10 today in the 46-boat Men’s Laser fleet, and remained in 15th overall.

American skiff athletes got off to a more difficult start than hoped for on the unpredictable “Pao” course nestled underneath Sugarloaf Mountain on Friday. Women’s 49erFX sailors Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.) rose as high as 3rd place in Race 1, but their move towards the left side of the 2nd upwind leg did not pay off, and the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games bronze medalists finished 13th. After a 16th in Race 2, the pair are in 14th overall. In the men’s fleet, Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I) and Joe Morris (Annapolis, Md.) stand in 20th overall after the first day.

The Finn and Nacra 17 classes had reserve days on Friday, and were inactive. Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.), Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.) and Louisa Chafee return to racing tomorrow on Saturday, August 13.

The Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition

 

Pictured: Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.), 49erFX.

U.S. Sailing Team Results: Day 5 (Friday, August 12)

Women’s 470 (Top 10):

  1. GBR – MILLS Hannah / CLARK Saskia: 12
  2. JPN – KONDO YOSHIDA Ai / YOSHIOKA Miho: 15
  3. FRA – LECOINTRE Camille / DEFRANCE Helene: 15
  4. USA – HAEGER Annie / PROVANCHA Briana: 17
  5. SLO – MRAK Tina / MACAROL Veronika: 17
  6. NZL – ALEH Jo / POWRIE Polly: 18
  7. BRA – OLIVEIRA Fernanda / BARBACHAN Ana Luiza: 22
  8. AUT – VADLAU Lara / OGAR Jolanta: 26
  9. NED – ZEGERS Afrodite / VAN VEEN Anneloes: 32
  10. POL – SKRZYPULEC Agnieszka / MROZEK-GLISZCZYNSKA Irmina: 36

Men’s 470: (Top 10)

  1. CRO –  FANTELA Sime / MARENIC Igor: 7
  2. AUS – BELCHER Mathew / RYAN Will: 9
  3. GBR – PATIENCE Luke / GRUBE Chris: 17
  4. GRE – MANTIS Panagiotis / KAGIALIS Pavlos: 18
  5. FRA – BOUVET Sofian / MION Jeremie: 20
  6. SWE – DAHLBERG Anton / BERGSTROM Fredrik: 22
  7. AUT – SCHMID Matthias / REICHSTAEDTER Florian: 27
  8. USA – MCNAY Stuart / HUGHES Dave:  29
  9. SUI – BRAUCHLI Yannick / HAUSSER Romuald: 32
  10. ESP – XAMMAR HERNANDEZ Jordi / HERP MORELL Joan: 37

Women’s Laser Radial: 

10. USA – RAILEY Paige: 81

Women’s 49erFX:

14. USA – HENKEN, Paris / SCUTT, Helena: 29

Men’s Finn:

15. USA – PAINE Caleb: 55

Men’s Laser: 

15. USA – BUCKINGHAM, Charlie: 37 points

Women’s RS:X: (Final)

16. USA – LEPERT, Marion: 156.9 points

Mixed Nacra 17:

16.  USA – GULARI Bora / CHAFEE Louisa: 23

Men’s 49er:

20. USA – Barrows, Thomas / MORRIS, Joe: 37

Men’s RS:X: (Final)

28. USA – PASCUAL, Pedro: 286 points

Note: Full results can be found at the Rio 2016 homepage. 

Viewing Guide

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will feature unprecedented coverage of sailing for fans in the United States. Between NBC’s world-class television and online programming, US Sailing’s multi-channel coverage, and comprehensive daily email reports sent directly to fans, anyone hoping to follow the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team will have a better view than during any previous Olympics.

For more details on how to follow the action, check out the US Sailing Team’s viewing guide.

Quick Links:

U.S. Olympic Sailing Team:

Social Media: 

Rio 2016:

About The U.S. Olympic Sailing Team

The Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team is comprised of fifteen sailors hailing from eight U.S. States and territories including California, Washington, Maryland, Michigan, Rhode Island, Florida, Wisconsin, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each athlete qualified for the team based on the results of US Sailing’s Rio 2016 Athlete Selection Series. The Games of the XXXI Olympiad will take place from August 5-21, 2016, and the sailing events will be based at Marina da Gloria on Rio de Janeiro’s harbor front. The largest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games will feature approximately 10,500 athletes from over 200 countries competing in 306 medal events. The sailing events will feature approximately 380 athletes competing in ten classes. Learn more about the U.S. Olympic 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

– end –

Contact: Will Ricketson, Press Officer (Sailing)

Email: willricketson@ussailing.org

Phone: +1 978 697 2384 (Brazil + USA)

Phone: +21 992 458 664 (Brazil Only)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 10, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Rio 2016 Olympic sailing

Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)

Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)

Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)

Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.), Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.)

Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.).

U.S. Sailing Team Results: Day 2 (Tuesday, August 9)

Men’s Finn: (Top 10)

  1. SLO – ZBOGAR Vasilij: 4 points
  2. TUR – KAYNAR Alican: 7 points
  3. ARG – OLEZZA BAZAN Facundo: 10 points
  4. BRA – ZARIF Jorge: 10 points
  5. CRO – KLJAKOVIC GASPIC Ivan: 14 points
  6. DEN – HOGH-CHRISTENSEN Jonas: 15 points
  7. ITA – POGGI Giorgio: 15 points
  8. USA – PAINE Caleb: 17 points
  9. EST – KARPAK Deniss: 19 points
  10. GBR – SCOTT Giles: 20 points

Women’s Laser Radial: (Top 10)

  1. CHN-  XU, Lijia, 7 points
  2. IRL – MURPHY, Annalise: 12 points
  3. DEN – RINDOM, Anne-Marie: 13 points
  4. NED – BOUWMEESTER, Marit: 14 points
  5. BEL – VAN ACKER, Evi: 16 points
  6. LTU – SCHEIDT, Ginter: 18 points
  7. FIN – TENKANEN, Tuula: 22 points
  8. CRO – MIHELIC, Tina: 25 points
  9. HUN – ERDI, Maria: 26 points
  10. USA – RAILEY, Paige: 27 points

Women’s RS:X: (Top 10)

  1. ITA – TARTAGLINI, Flavia: 12 points
  2. FRA – PICON, Charline: 13 points
  3. RUS – ELFUTINA, Stefaniya: 18 points
  4. NED – DE GEUS, Lilian: 20 points
  5. ISR – DAVIDOVICH, Maayan: 24 points
  6. ESP – ALABAU NEIRA, Marina: 31 points
  7. FIN – PETAJA-SIREN, Tuuli: 31 points
  8. CHN – CHEN, Peina: 39 points
  9. USA – LEPERT, Marion: 45 points (unofficial)
  10. BRA – FRETS, Patricia: 47 points (unofficial)

Men’s Laser:

16. USA – BUCKINGHAM, Charlie: 37 points

Men’s RS:X:

30. USA – PASCUAL, Pedro: 136 points

Note: Full results can be found at the Rio 2016 homepage. 

Viewing Guide

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will feature unprecedented coverage of sailing for fans in the United States. Between NBC’s world-class television and online programming, US Sailing’s multi-channel coverage, and comprehensive daily email reports sent directly to fans, anyone hoping to follow the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team will have a better view than during any previous Olympics.

For more details on how to follow the action, check out the US Sailing Team’s viewing guide.

Quick Links:

U.S. Olympic Sailing Team:

Social Media: 

Rio 2016:

About The U.S. Olympic Sailing Team

The Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team is comprised of fifteen sailors hailing from eight U.S. States and territories including California, Washington, Maryland, Michigan, Rhode Island, Florida, Wisconsin, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each athlete qualified for the team based on the results of US Sailing’s Rio 2016 Athlete Selection Series. The Games of the XXXI Olympiad will take place from August 5-21, 2016, and the sailing events will be based at Marina da Gloria on Rio de Janeiro’s harbor front. The largest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games will feature approximately 10,500 athletes from over 200 countries competing in 306 medal events. The sailing events will feature approximately 380 athletes competing in ten classes. Learn more about the U.S. Olympic 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

– end –
Contact: Will Ricketson, Press Officer (Sailing)
Email: willricketson@ussailing.org
Phone: +1 978 697 2384 (Brazil + USA)
Phone: +21 992 458 664 (Brazil Only)