Campbell beats Scheidt

US Sailing reports on their sucess at the Pan American Games

USA sailors will bring home a stash of medals - two gold, a silver and a bronze - from the XV Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which concluded today.

After a week of tight competition and less-than-ideal weather conditions, Andrew Campbell and Paige Railey won the Laser and Laser Radial fleets, respectively. The Lightning trio of David Starck, Bill Faude and Jody Starck earned a silver medal, only five points behind Chile. Three-time Olympic medalist Paul Foerster won a bronze medal in the Sunfish. Overall, the U.S. earned the second highest medal count behind Brazil, which pulled in three gold and two silver medals.

Sailors endured delayed and cancelled races throughout the week, due to rain and a lack of breeze. Unfortunately the weather for Saturday's Medal Races was more of the same: drizzle and light air. But that didn't quell the excellent competition. "We did a lot of waiting for the weather to calm or pass, but the actual races were high quality," said David Starck. "We were patient and waited for prime sailing conditions and the staff out at the venue could not have been better."

In the final, double-point Medal Races, Campbell stumbled his first beat, but scrambled to catch up to Brazil's Robert Scheidt, a two-time Olympic champion and eight times world champion, who led the entire final race. Campbell rounded the last windward mark before the downwind finish in fourth place, but after a self-described risky split, he was able to get around the Argentinean and Chilean boats to finish overlapped with third and take second in the race behind Scheidt. "He made it pretty tough on me," said Campbell, whose second place in the double-point Medal Race translated into a gold medal.

Railey, US Sailing's 2006 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, enjoyed single digit scores, including three bullets, throughout the week. Her impressive performance caused her to secure a gold medal ahead of Mexico's Tania Elias Calles Wolf, who shared 25 overall points.

The Lightning crew of David Starck, Bill Faude and Jody Starck enjoyed a silver medal, only five overall points behind the gold medal winner, Chile. "It really came down to the Medal Race for the gold medal: Chile, Brazil and us," said helmsman Starck. "Ultimately, whoever won the Medal Race would win gold. It was really exciting."

The Sunfish and Hobie 16 classes were unable to race Saturday, due to weather, so the final result of the first eight races, ending Friday, stuck. In the Sunfish, Foerster finished third behind Venezuela and Peru. Foerster's bronze medal is his second Pan Am Games medal: He won a gold medal in the J/24 class at the 1995 Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

The Snipe duo of Augie Diaz and Tracy Smith barely missed a medal, landing in fourth place, only three points behind the third place team, Mexico. The J24 crew including Dan Borrer, Nate Vilardebo, Patrick Wilson and Josh Putnam finished in fifth place, as did Nancy Rios in the RS:X Women and Ben Barger in the RS:X Men.