Day two at the Pam Am Games

Lots of action in Santo Domingo

Mistral sailor Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) held her lead today at the Pan Am Games by turning in two race victories, widening the gap between herself and Dominique Vallee (Canada), who currently stands in second. Butler is the veteran of the U.S.A.'s 13-member Pan Am Games Team-Sailing, which completed two races on the second day of competition in Santo Domingo. The Pan Am Games sailing competition is hosting a total of 114 sailors from 17 countries, sailing in seven classes (eight disciplines).

In the first race, Butler was fifth near the top mark, while Canada and Brazil were 1-2. When the J/24 class, sailing on the same circle, merged with the Mistral fleet, Canada felt the effects of a wind shadow and fell. Brazil dropped her sail.

"I snuck in and rounded the mark ahead of them," said Butler. In the second race, Butler led at all marks on the two-lap windward/leeward course, but with Argentina rounding threateningly close at the second windward mark. "It was my turn to have to wait for a J/24," said Butler, "but I had been affected by the J/24s yesterday that same way and knew to hold on tight to my sail." At the finish, Butler and Argentina were overlapped with Butler only slightly ahead.

In the J/24, Tim Healy (Newport, R.I.) and crew Nick Judson (Nantucket, Mass.), Gordon Borges (Newport, R.I.) and Davenport Crocker (Cohasset, Mass.) posted a 1-3, leaving them second overall behind their toughest adversaries, the Brazilians.

"To be honest with you," said Borges, "there are two or three other teams that can get off the line and really hold a lane going upwind. Brazil has certainly proven that they are one of those teams. Everyone else ends up having to peel off."

Brazil was first to the weather mark in race one, with Healy's team close behind. After a mishap with the spinnaker that could have proven disastrous, U.S.A. recovered and managed to pass Brazil on the second windward leg. For the second race, U.S.A. led to the first mark, with Puerto Rico and Brazil following. Still in the lead near the second weather mark, U.S.A. ultimately couldn't lay it and so jibed to clear while Brazil rounded ahead of Puerto Rico.

"Puerto Rico called that we had hit the mark," said Borges, "so to avoid a controversy we did our penalty turn and still finished third. It’s hard to shake some of these guys, which makes it fun."

Also concentrating on "holding my lane upwind" was Peter Wells (Newport Beach, Calif.), who moved up two positions to fifth overall after finishes of 5-4 in the Mistral Men's division. "It's one of the most fundamental things," said Wells, "but I realized I had to go back to it because my boat speed wasn't good yesterday."

Snipe sailors Henry Filter (Stevensville, Md) and Lisa Griffith (San Diego, Calif./Phillipsburg, N.J.) improved two positions - -to fifth -- with finishes of 7-4, while Hobie 16 sailors, Paul and Mary Ann Hess (Napa, Calif.) maintained their fifth overall with a 3-6 today. "In the first race, we had a good start and didn't make mistakes," said Hess, "but the sixth-place finish was a salvage after a terrible start."

Laser Radial sailor Sally Barkow (Pine Lake, Wisc.) also maintained her fifth-place position on a 6-4 today. "It's time in the boat," said Barkow, who has taken time off from dinghy racing to sail a Yngling in her campaign for the 2004 Olympics. "I'm fast upwind but I'm losing boats downwind. Once I get the boat speed straightened out I can focus on what I need to do about the other boats in the fleet."

Ben Richardson (Gloucester, Mass.), who yesterday finished third overall in the Laser, fell to fifth with finishes of 6-6. Brazil’s Robert Scheidt, the six-time Laser world champion, has a perfect scoreline and a solid lead.

In Sunfish, Jeff Linton (Tampa, Fla.) fell one position to seventh overall on a scoreline of 7-6. Racing continues with two races tomorrow followed by a scheduled lay day on Thursday, with racing to resume on Friday and continue through Sunday.

The Pan American Games, held every four years since their inception in 1951, are always held the summer preceding the Olympic Games and are attended by athletes from 42 nations in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean who compete in 288 events across 35 sports. The event showcases all 28 Olympic sports and seven non-Olympic events.

Day 2 RESULTS Top-Three and U.S.

Hobie 16 Open (9 boats)
1. E. Figueroa, PUR, 2-2-1-1; 6
2. J.I. Maegli, GUA, 3-3-2-3; 11
3(t). A. Noriega, MEX, 7-1-4-2; 14
3(t). B. Arndt, BRA, 1-4-5-4; 14
5. Paul/Mary Ann Hess, USA, 5-6-3-6; 20

J/24 Open (11 boats)
1. M. Santa Cruz, BRA, 2-1-2-1; 6
2. Tim Healy/Davenport Crocker/Gordon Borges,/Nick Judson, USA, 1-2-1-3; 7
3. E. Lugo, PUR, 9-6-7-2; 24

Laser Male (15 boats)
1. Robert Scheidt, BRA, 1-1-1-1; 4
2(t). M. del Solar, CHI, 4-4-2-2; 12
2(t). D.E. Romero, ARG, 2-2-4-4; 12
5. Ben Richardson, USA, 5-3-6-6; 20

Laser Radial Female (11 boats)
1. T.E. Calles, MEX, 1-1-3-1; 6
2. K. Rasa, CAN, 2-3-1-6; 12
3. F. Cerntti, ARG, 3-5-2-3; 13
5. Sally Barkow, USA, 4-4-6-4; 18

Mistral Male (10 boats)
1. M. Galvan, ARG, 2-1-1-1; 5
2. R. Santos, BRA, 3-3-2-2; 10
3. K. Stittle, CAN, 1-2-3-6; 12
5. Peter Wells, USA, 7-6-5-4; 22

Mistral Female (7 boats)
1. Lanee Butler, USA, 2-1-1-1; 5
2. D. Vallee, CAN, 1-3-3-3; 10
3. C. Walther, ARG, 5-2-5-2; 14

Snipe Open (8 boats)
1. B. Amorim, BRA, 1-3-1-3; 8
2. N. Manso, CUB, 3-1-2-2; 8
3. S. Silveira, URU, 2-4-3-1; 10
5. Henry Filter/Lisa Griffith, USA, 6-6-7-4; 23

Sunfish Open (11 boats)
1. E. Cordero, VEN, 1-5-1-1; 8
2. M.H. Smith, BER, 2-3-2-7; 14
3. M. Vezina, CAN, 9-2-6-2; 19
7. Jeff Linton, USA, 3-8-7-6; 24