Poles take day one

Kusznierewicz and Zycki jave taken the lead after day one of the Star World Championships

The winds were out of the south east at ten knots with a slight chop on Biscayne Bay, the sun was shining and everyone from competitors to volunteers at the Star World Championships was in good spirits for the first race today.

The top ranked Star Class team in the world, Mateusz Kusznierewicz and crew Dominik Zycki of Poland, were in the top three from the start line and won day one. In second place was Mark Mendelblatt and crew Mark Strube (USA) and the number two ranked team in the world, Italians Diego Negri and Luigi Viale, were in third place.

Marc Pickel and crew Ingo Borkowski of Germany were first around the weather mark, followed by the Japanese team of Kunio Suzuki and Daichi Wada and Kusznierewicz and Zycki.

At the first leeward mark, the Japanese duo took the wrong gate and Kusznierewicz and Zycki seized the moment and moved into second place. Mark Mendelblatt and Mark Strube moved up to third place at the same mark.

“We were very relaxed this morning and sailed a good race,” said Mateusz Kusznierewicz. “Seeing Mark right behind me made me a little nervous, but we kept our focus on sailing.”

At the second weather mark rounding the Polish team captured first place with Mendelblatt still on their tail and Pickel dropping to third place. As Mendelblatt put it, “We had good speed today and it got down to us and the Polish team. We expect to do well here, if we don’t make any mistakes.”

This is the first time the two Marks have sailed Stars together since the 2006 Star Worlds in San Francisco. Mendelblatt said other sailing commitments have kept them apart until now. “I knew I would always come back to the Stars,” he said. “The America’s Cup was a side trip.”

John Dane and Austin Sperry of Gulfport, MS, the US Star Class team headed to the Olympics, finished in tenth place. Defending Star World Champion Robert Scheidt and crew Bruno Prado finished in 37 place.

Results, here .