Finals approaching

Some teams have already won their class at the Rolex Miami OCR whilst others prepare for the first ISAF grade one finals

The stakes were high today as 610 sailors from 40 countries at the US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR made their last bid for a berth in tomorrow's finals at US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR. It will be the second time ever and the first time in the U.S. that the new Olympic format - which calls for a single "Medal Race" to conclude the series for each of nine classes - will be applied at a major Olympic preparation regatta like this. The jury is far from out, since no one quite knows what to expect, but certainly the new system is foremost in competitors' minds as they strategize for tomorrow.

Whereas a throwout has been allowed in the series leading up to it, the Medal Race must be counted in the scoreline and also counts double (for two races). Regardless of the size of a class's fleet, only the top ten go into the Medal Race. Umpires resolve all protests on the water, and the results are final almost immediately. (Since the Paralympic Games have not adopted the new format, the Sonar class competing here will sail the last two races planned for their series.)

"So many things can happen" said George Szabo, who with Eric Monroe is in second behind France's Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau, and in front of defending champions Andrew Horton and Brad Nichol. "Horton could have a really good day. The worst we could finish is sixth. It's fun though; it has been a fun week. Not often can you have so many mid-teen finishes and be in second place. It means it was a difficult regatta."

In the typically small fleets at the Olympic Games, the odds are slim of someone sitting out their last race because they've mathematically won, but in the 69-boat Star fleet here, Rohart and Rambeau built up a whopping 48-point lead that mathematically does allow them to sit out tomorrow's race.

"There are positives and negatives on every team, but for us we are consistent always," said Rohart, who with Rambeau claims two Star World titles, including the current one, and won the Star-class bronze medal in Athens. "There are no bad things--never. This is good, especially here, because everyone is great."

Another team who does not have to sail tomorrow is that comprised of reigning Yngling world champions Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe and Deborah Capozzi. With a lead of 23 points over their closest competitors, they, too, are mathematically untouchable but will sail in the finals in the spirit of supporting the change.

"We were on it tactically all week," said Barkow, recently named US Sailing's Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. "Our team has been in the boat the longest, which is not to say the competition wasn't tough, but when we make a mistake we try to only make it once."

The UK's 49er team of Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks, Olympic bronze medalists, also clinched their series early.

Several of yesterday's leaders used today's 16-18 knot breezes to continue their lead. In the Laser class, British sailor Paul Goodison increased his point spread, standing 11 points ahead of France's Felix Pruvot going into tomorrow's finals. Goodison's fellow countryman Nick Dempsey, the leader since day one in the Neil Pryde RS:X Men's fleet, won all three races of the day. The week's consistent leaders in the Women's 470, Great Britain's Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark have also maintained their lead. In the Tornado class, John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree started off the day with a win and followed it with an 11th, but counted it as their dropout.

The day didn't go as well for Paige Railey, who until today was the consistent leader in the Laser Radial class. She started out by winning the first race of the day, but an OCS in today's second race for starting prematurely caused her to lose her grip on the regatta, adding 48 points to her total score. She now stands in third place overall with no chance of winning. That battle for the regatta title will now be between today's new leader Anna Tunnicliffe and Canada's Jennifer Spalding.

In the Paralympic class Sonar, skipper Rick Doerr is closing in on leader David Schroeder. With two wins in the two races of the day, Doerr is only two points overall behind Schroeder, who has been leading the fleet since day two.

The Spanish teams of Rafael Trujillo and Marina Alabau took new leads in the Finn and Neil Pryde RS:X Women's classes, respectively, while Israel's Gideon Kliger and Udi Gal rose to first overall in 470 Men's class.

Results:

470 Men

Pos	Sail	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Tot
1	ISR 7	KLIGER, Gideon/GAL, Udi	7	4	4	[9]	2	2	1	9	5	2	2	38.00
2	GBR 816	ASHER, Nic/WILLIS, Elliot	4	1	3	1	3	7	8	1	3	9	[10]	40.00
3	FRA 2651	BONNAUD, Benjamin/BONNAUD, Romain	3	3	1	2	7	5	3	8	[22/OCS]	4	9	45.00
4	ITA 2	GABRIO, Zandon༯a>/ANDREA, Trani	1	[12]	6	10	10	1	11	3	1	3	1	47.00
5	USA 1734	ANDERSON-MITTERLING, Mike/HUGHES, David	5	[13]	2	5	5	6	13	2	6	1	3	48.00
6	AUT 3	SCHMID, Matthias/REICHSTAEDTER, Florian	8	2	[22/DNF]	3	8	3	9	7	2	6	5	53.00
7	POR 22	MARINHO, Alvaro/NUNES, Miguel	9	5	5	6	6	4	4	5	[11]	5	8	57.00
8	FRA 8	CHARBONNIER, Nicolas/BAUSSET, Olivier	2	6	[22/DNF]	4	1	9	2	12	4	7	11	58.00
9	GBR 826	PATIENCE, Luke/GRUBE, Chris	10	11	[22/DNF]	11	11	8	5	4	12	8	6	86.00
10	USA 1713	MCNAY, Stuart/BIEHL, Graham	6	8	[22/DNF]	14	4	10	12	10	9	12	7	92.00

470 Women

Pos	Sail	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Tot
1	GBR 819	BASSADONE, Christina/CLARK, Saskia	2	5	2	2	1	[8]	3	3	1	1	5	25.00
2	FRA 4	PETITJEAN, Ingrid/DOUROUX, Nad觥	3	1	5	4	3	2	[9]	6	2	2	1	29.00
3	USA 1736	CLARK, Amanda/MERGENTHALER, Sarah	1	[12]	1	10	7	1	11	2	6	3	3	45.00
4	AUT 431	VOGL, Sylvia/FLATSCHER, Carolina	5	[10]	4	1	2	10	1	5	8	6	8	50.00
5	NED 11	KONING, Marcelien/BERKHOUT, Lobke	[17/OCS]	4	8	9	5	6	2	4	5	4	4	51.00
6	USA 1757	MAXWELL, Erin/MANARD, Alice	4	2	[12]	3	10	5	4	1	11	8	6	54.00
7	CZE 1	SMIDOVA, Lenka/KRATZIG, Elizabeth	6	3	9	[13]	6	7	8	7	3	5	2	56.00
8	CAN 630	PROVAN, Jennifer/LUTTMER, Carol	7	7	[11]	11	4	3	10	8	7	7	7	71.00
9	DEN 143	KOCH, Henriette/SOMMER, Lene	8	6	6	6	8	4	5	10	[13]	12	11	76.00
10	GBR 824	WILSON, Pippa/CRAIG, Sheena	[17/OCS]	9	3	8	9	9	7	9	4	9	10	77.00

49er

Pos	Sail	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Total
1	ITA 3	PIERO, Sibello/GIANFRANCO, Sibello	3	6	4	[33/OCS]	4	7	2	1	1	1	1	30.00
2	GBR 2	DRAPER, Chris/HISCOCKS, Simon	1	3	1	[7]	1	1	4	7	5	2	5	30.00
3	USA 840	LARSON, Morgan/SPAULDING, Peter	2	1	5	8	7	10	1	6	9	8	[11]	57.00
4	UKR 1	LUKA, Rodion/LEONCHUK, George	5	12	3	9	2	[14]	6	2	7	6	7	59.00
5	GBR 5	MORRISON, Stevie/RHODES, Ben	4	14	10	4	5	[33/OCS]	3	4	2	12	2	60.00
6	USA 795	BERGAN, Dalton/MAXAM, Zack	12	7	9	1	6	5	13	[15]	10	3	8	74.00
7	GBR 9	PINK, John/HOPSON, Alex	7	[13]	7	2	3	2	12	10	12	13	12	80.00
8	USA 48	WADLOW, Timothy/KARAS, Michael	6	11	[19]	14	8	6	7	5	11	10	9	87.00
9	AUT 10	DELLE KARTH, Nico/RESCH, Nikolaus	10	4	6	3	[33/OCS]	9	5	13	4	33/OCS	4	91.00
10	POL 16	CZAJKOWSKI, Marcin/KIERKOWSKI, Krzysztof	13	9	2	10	[33/OCS]	33/OCS	9	9	3	5	3	96.00

Finn

Pos	Sail	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Total
1	ESP 100	TRUJILLO, Rafael	1	1	5	3	4	[9]	2	5	1	1	1	24.00
2	CAN 41	COOK, Christopher	3	2	3	1	[7]	4	1	1	4	3/RDG	4	26.00
3	DEN 2	CHRISTENSEN, Jonas Hoegh	5	[26/OCS]	4	4	1	6	6	4	3	4	3	40.00
4	GBR 111	WRIGHT, Edward	2	[26/OCS]	1	6	2	7	5	2	7	7	2	41.00
5	NZL 1	SLATER, Dan	4	3	2	2	5	1	[10]	3	5	9	7	41.00
6	IRL 10	O GRADY, Aaron	6	4	13	5	10	[14]	4	6	2	2	6	58.00
7	USA 4	RAILEY, Zachary	7	5	6	8	9	[10]	3	7	6	6.6/RDG	5	62.60
8	USA 80	LEDBETTER, Brian	12	8	8	[26/DNF]	3	5	7	8	10	10/RDG	13	84.00
9	USA 11	EWENSON, Geoff	8	6	7	10	11	8	[26/OCS]	9	12	11	8	90.00
10	USA 1140	BOYD, Bryan	[26/OCS]	7	10	7	8	12	9	15	9	6	9	92.00

Laser

Pos	Bow/Sail	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Total
1	3551/ 183551	GOODISON, Paul	2	1	1	3	1	4	[5]	3	1	3	19.00
2	1582/ 181582	PRUVOT, felix	[8]	2	8	1	2	2	1	6	3	5	30.00
3	4167/ 184167	GRABOWSKI, Maciej	3	1	1	4	4	7	[13]	2	7	12	41.00
4	6193/ 176193	LEIGH, Mike	2	[15]	7	12	9	5	6	1	4	4	50.00
5	4519/ 184519	FUNK, Brad	3	3	[46/BFD]	2	1	3	15	5	5	15	52.00
6	0817/ 170817	CAMPBELL, Andrew	6	8	2	2	4	1	11	[15]	15/ZFP	9	58.00
7	5364/ 185364	CASEY, Brendan	1	4	7	[26]	25	12	7	4	11/ZFP	11	82.00
8	8598/ 178598	LUTTMER, Bernard	1	4	9	16	15	11	17	[20]	9	1	83.00
9	5127/ 165127	MYRDAL, John	7	14	5	11	10	8	12	11	14	[20]	92.00
10	1892/ 181892	WRIGHT, David	4	10	4	10	[22]	17	16	21	8	6	96.00

Laser Radial

Pos	Bow/Sail	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Total
1	4454/ 184454	TUNNICLIFFE, Anna	[9]	6	2	4	8	4	3	2	4	7	40.00
2	2095/ 182095	SPALDING, Jennifer	12	2	[17]	3	6	2	2	9	2	12	50.00
3	3275/ 183275	RAILEY, Paige	1	1	1	10	[48/OCS]	1	1	1	48/OCS	1	65.00
4	4705/ 184705	BALDWIN, Laura	2	[48/OCS]	29	5	10	3	14/ZFP	4	1	3	71.00
5	2457/ 142457	BRENNAN MYRDAL, Danielle	4	4	6	[25]	5	12	9	8	13	10	71.00
6	2213/ 182213	BREWSTER, Andrea	[13]	3	13	6	4	10	12	7	11	9	75.00
7	2352/ 182352	RASA, Keamia	3	[20]	20	15	7	13	15	3	3	8	87.00
8	3250/ 183250	SOLENNE, Brain	10	[48/OCS]	3	48/BFD	2	6	4	6	5	4	88.00
9	2730/ 182730	ROSS, Lisa	23	8	12	[28]	24	7	7	5	6	5	97.00
10	1569/ 181569	BONNEAU-MARCIL, Magalie	6	15	28	[31]	19	11	6	10	7	2	104.00

RS:X Men

Pos	Sail	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Total
1	GBR 21	DEMPSEY, Nick	2	1	1	1	1	[5]	1	1	1	9.00
2	FRA 8	NICOLAS, Huguet	1	2	5	2	6	1	3	4	[10]	24.00
3	ESP 7	PASTOR, Ivan	5	4	[12]	3	4	2	5	8	12	43.00
4	POR 75	RODRIGUES, Jo㯼/a>	7	6	[9]	5	3	9	6	2	9	47.00
5	FRA 1	HASSEN, Fabrice	10	8	4	[12]	7	6	2	9	3	49.00
6	GRE 8	KOKALANIS, Byron	11	5	2	6	10	3	9	[12]	4	50.00
7	ARG 6	BENITEZ, Martin	3	3	8	10	9	8	[11]	6	5	52.00
8	CAN 33	PLAVSIC, Zachary	8	10	16	[19]	5	16	4	5	2	66.00
9	MEX 1	MIER Y TERAN, David	9	12	7	[14]	14	10	8	3	14	77.00
10	USA 25	BARGER, Ben	4	11	13	9	[18]	4	15	11	11	78.00

RS:X Women

Pos	Sail	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Total
1	ESP 5	ALABAU, Marina	3	[21/OCS]	4	1	1	5	1	1	1	17.00
2	GBR 94	SHAW, Bryony	1	3	1	3	2	1	[6]	2	4	17.00
3	GBR 95	HORWOOD, Lucy	2	5	5	[11]	3	2	2	3	2	24.00
4	GRE 1	FREY, Antonia	4	4	2	2	[6]	6	3	6	6	33.00
5	CAN 5	VALLɅ, Dominique	6/RDG	1	3	4	5	4	[7]	5	7	35.00
6	GBR 93	JOHNSTON, Christine	5	2	7	[12]	4	3	5	7	3	36.00
7	CAN 17	GIRKE, Nikola	8.2/RDG	7	[14]	6	7	7	4	4	5	48.20
8	BRA 95	BORGES, Carol	14/RDG	[21/OCS]	6	10	12	11	8	8	8	77.00
9	MEX 6	CAMPOS, Maria Del Mar	11.6/RDG	8	10	5	14	12	[21/DNF]	10	10	80.60
10	MEX 5	VEGA, Demita	11/RDG	9	17	8	11	10	9	9	[21/DNF]	84.00

Star

Pos	Bow/Sail	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Total
1	58/ 8107	ROHART, Xavier/RAMBEAU, Pascal	1	9	[26]	1	6	3	1	5	2	28.00
2	11/ 7995	SZABO, George/MONROE, Eric	14	4	5	10	[19]	13	12	1	17	76.00
3	56/ 8156	HORTON, Andrew/NICHOL, J. Brad	2	[25]	2	19	4	6	23	13	13	82.00
4	18/ 8227	LOOF, Fredrik/EKSTROM, Anders	13	1	19	[22]	5	10	15	11	16	90.00
5	59/ 8116	PRESTI, Philippe/SALIOU, Jean-Philippe	3	10	31	11	11	2	[36]	15	10	93.00
6	41/ 8187	PEPPER, Hamish/WILLIAMS, Carl	5	14	22	8	[70/OCS]	4	3	22	18	96.00
7	63/ 8230	DANE, John/SPERRY, Austin	20	13	9	6	[28]	8	22	19	1	98.00
8	74/ 8170	KUSZNIEREWICZ, Mateusz/ZYCKI, Dominik	12	[70/OCS]	16	36	1	20	8	6	3	102.00
9	23/ 8168	MACDONALD, Ross/WOLFS, Mike	10	8	[51]	3	10	1	39	23	9	103.00
10	32/ 8239	REYNOLDS, Mark/HAENEL, Hal	[70/DNF]	2	10	14	16	23	6	14	23	108.00

Tornado

Pos	Sail	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Total
1	USA 808	LOVELL, John/OGLETREE, Charles	1	1	2	8	2	4	1	7	1	[11]	27.00
2	GER 1101	POLGAR, Johannes/SPALTEHOLZ, Florian	7	5	1	[10]	4	5	4	9	4	8	47.00
3	FRA 6	BACKES, Olivier/SEVESTRE, Paul-Ambroise	3	11	7	1	7	8	[12]	3	8	1	49.00
4	ESP 1	ECHAVARRI, Fernando/PAZ, Anton	2	4	14	2	5	13	3	1	9	[26/DNF]	53.00
5	FRA 1	XAVIER, Revil/CHRISTOPHE, Espagnon	[26/OCS]	2	6	6	3	10	13	6	2	5	53.00
6	GBR 1	MCMILLAN, Leigh/HOWDEN, William	[11]	10	11	7	6	3	2	5	5	6	55.00
7	CAN 7	JOHANSSON, Oskar/STITTLE, Kevin	6	6	3	[11]	11	7	5	8	6	7	59.00
8	USA 804	DANIEL, Robbie/RODRIGUEZ, Enrique	4	3	5	4	10	1	[16]	15	14	10	66.00
9	SWE 1	SUNESON, Karl/SVENSSON, Fredrik	9	7	4	[12]	8	2	8	11	7	12	68.00
10	GBR 420	BULKELEY, Mark/WILSON, Rob	8	13	[15]	9	9	9	9	4	12	2	75.00

Yngling

Pos	Sail	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Total
1	USA 337	BARKOW, Sally/CAPOZZI, Deborah/HOWE, Carrie	1	1	1	3	1	1	2	[5]	1	1	1	13.00
2	ESP 3	AZON, Monica/AZON, Sandra/PISONERO, Graciela	3	2	2	[9]	2	4	1	6	3	7	6	36.00
3	GBR 12	AYTON, Sarah/WEBB, Sarah/RAWLINSON, Victoria	2	4	4	4	[11]	3	3	4	4	2	7	37.00
4	USA 3	SWETT, Hannah/PURDY, Melissa/FILTER, Elizabeth Merrifield	9	3	3	1	3	2	4	2	5	[15/DSQ]	9	41.00
5	FRA 6	LE HELLEY, Anne/LE HELLEY, Anne/LEPESANT, Catherine	6	5	5	2	6	5	[8]	1	6	5	4	45.00
6	NZL 4	FERRIS, Sharon/SMEAL, Raynor/HOLTUM, Ashley	8	[9]	8	5	4	6	5	7	2	8	8	61.00
7	USA 341	CRONIN, Carol/COURANZ, Kimberly/PODLICH, Margaret	5	7	9	[13]	8	9	12	3	11	3	2	69.00
8	FRA 4	ANNE-CLAIRE, Le Berre/ALICE, Ponsar/JULIE, Gerecht	4	6	7	10	[12]	7	11	8	8	6	5	72.00
9	GBR 14	FARRELL, Gemma/HOWE, Rachel/SHANKS, Diana	7	8	6	11	14	[15/OCS]	6	12	7	10	3	84.00
10	USA 340	PILLEY--LOVELL, Katy/SCHMIDT, Laura/GOCHBERG, Kimberly	12	11	12	6	9	[15/OCS]	9	9	12	4	12	96.00