22 points clear

Cayard and Trinter one day away from Olympic Star slot

Finally, the blustery winds that all week had plagued Biscayne Bay gave way to a more user-friendly breeze. Rejoicing at the morning forecast of 18-22 knots, organisers sent the competitors at the 2004 US Olympic Team Trials-Sailing out for an on-time start. Not only did the forecast hold true, but also it allowed three races to be completed by the Star fleet who raced for the second day in a row under the watchful eyes of VIP observers: Bill Martin, past President of US Sailing and currently Acting President of the US Olympic Committee, who was on the water yesterday and Janet Baxter, who is not only the current President of US Sailing, but also the first woman to hold that position in the organisation’s history, went out to watch today’s action.

The added attention evidently did not change the strategy of conservative sailing that continues to keep Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter in the lead position of the 22-boat fleet. Today the duo placed 4-3-5 to earn a low score of 24 points - and 22 points of breathing room over their closest competitor.

Once 12 races were completed the scoring rules allowed competitors to take a second drop in calculating the overall standings. Reaping the most benefit were Andy Lovell and Olympic Gold Medallist Magnus Liljedahl who rocketed up to second overall once they were able to discard the OCS and the DNS they earned on day one of racing - a by-product of losing their mast. Between the points they dropped and the eight they added after finishing 5-1-2 today, the pair hold second with 46 points.

George Szabo and crew Mark Strube posted finishes of 8-9-8 today to drop back from second to third in the overall standings on 48 points.

For the second day in a row, Eric Doyle and Brian Sharp won the first race of the day. They followed with a sixth and a fifth, the latter of which became an OCS. They remain fourth overall with 61 points.

Olympic Gold Medallists Mark Reynolds and Steve Erickson won the final race of the day after finishing 3-11 in the earlier races. They stand fifth overall with 61 points.

Racing will conclude tomorrow, Sunday, March 28.. The Race Committee will plan for three races tomorrow.

Results:

Pos	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	Tot
															pnts
1	Paul Cayard/ Phil Trinter	2	[6]	1	2	3	1	1	4	2	1	4	3	[5]	24
2	Andy Lovell/ Magnus Liljedahl	[23/	[23/	4	3	11	3	7	3	5	2	5	1	2	46
		OCS]	DNS]
3	George Szabo/ Mark Strube	4	5	[14]	[9]	1	4	2	1	3	3	8	9	8	48
4	Eric Doyle/	1	1	9	8	5	10	[12]	11	1	8	1	6	[23/	61
	Brian Sharp													OCS]
5	Mark Reynolds/ Steve Erickson	5	2	10	7	[13]	2	[15]	9	7	4	3	11	1	61
6	Vince Brun/ Mike Dorgan	[23/	9	2	1	4	5	3	10	[11]	6	11	7	3	61
		OCS]
7	John MacCausland/	6	8	3	6	10	[15]	5	8	4	9	[15]	8	7	74
	J Brad Nichol
8	Andrew Macdonald/ Austin Sperry	11	7	5	4	6	[13]	10	7	[12]	5	10	5	4	74
9	Rick Merriman/ Bill Bennett	7	4	[17]	13	2	7	9	5	8	7	6	[15]	9	77
10	Howie Shiebler/ Will Stout	3	3	6	[23/	12	9	6	[23/	14	15	2	2	12	84
					OCS]				DNF]
11	Peter Vessella/ Brian Fatih	10	[23/	8	[19]	8	11	4	6	9	19	9	10	6	100
			DNF]
12	Doug Schofield/ Bob Schofield	12	13	16	11	7	8	11	2	6	11	[23/	[23/	17	114
												DNF]	DNS]
13	John Dane/ Henry Sprague	9	12	[20]	16	9	17	16	[23/	10	10	7	12	10	128
									DNF]
14	Karl Anderson/ Ezra Culver	13	10	15	5	[16]	16	8	13	[17]	16	13	14	16	139
15	Jock Kohlhas/ Rick Burgess	16	14	12	[18]	[19]	6	17	12	16	12	16	4	18	143
16	Ben Cesare/ Serge Leonidov	14	11	18	10	15	14	[21]	[23/	19	14	20	18	14	167
									DNF]
17	Bill Allen/	[23/	[23/	11	15	20	12	14	14	23/	23/	14	13	11	170
	Brad Lichter	DNF]	DNS]							DNS	DNS
18	Henrik Wennerstrom/ Jon Rogers	15	15	7	[23/	14	21	13	[23/	15	17	21	19	15	172
					OCS]				DNF]
19	John Virtue/ Scott Pack	8	[23/	19	12	[23/	18	23/	23/	13	18	12	16	13	175
			DNF]			RAF]		DNF	DNF
20	Fotis Boliakis/ Chris Rogers	17	17	[22]	20	[21]	19	19	15	18	13	18	20	21	197
21	Stephen Gould/ Chris Gould	[23/	[23/	13	14	18	20	18	16	21	21	17	21	20	199
		DNF]	DNS]
22	Steve Brown/ Michael Marzahi	[23/	16	21	17	17	[22]	20	17	20	20	19	17	19	203