Aiming for the top 10

Andy Beadsworth reports from the second day of Star racing at Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta

Race 3 - 4-6 knots

After a couple of hours postponement we left the dock in very light air.

Approaching the start with 10 seconds to go we suddenly felt exposed with a risk of being over the line. We played it safe and pulled the bow down and ended up too close to the boat to windward. A second gun was fired giving us cause for concern but we were safe. I think we were probably fine and just too cautious especially after talking to the coaches. Consequently it was not a good start and it was impossible to find clear air. It didn't get much better and we bounced around in the 40's for the whole race.

A very difficult race with both left and right sides paying. Andy Horton, the race leader at the windward mark started three boat lengths to windward of us. Our speed was fine and we kept passing boats but others made bigger gains around us. A very frustrating race.

Race 4 - 6-10 Knots

Again we made the same mistake on the start in the last 10 seconds, lost confidence and pulled the bow down putting us tight on the hip of Loof. We hung there for a minute before it started to really hurt, then reached through to a slot to leeward of him and managed to keep the boat going for four or five minutes. A small head gave us an opportunity to tack and we took it. Dipping a few boats and suddenly we popped out into clear air. The left of the course was paying and we were crossing most on the right and we had speed on many of the boats to the left. For a while it looked like we might round in the top 10 or higher. Eventually we rounded mid-teens.

A good run took us up to top 10 but then a shift to the right which we missed suddenly put 10 boats or more ahead of us. We rescued a few in the run to the finish but it was pretty painful. We finished 14th.

Overall we are in 14th place. Counting our 42nd still. Not a disaster although there are some with worse results than us to discard.

Tomorrow we are expecting 3 races in 12-15 knots. A different day.

We are sailing under the new format for this regatta where there will be a one race sail-off for the top 10 to decide the medals so that is the goal in the first nine races - to be in the top 10.

Top 50 results:

Pos	Skipper/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
1	SZABO, George/MONROE, Eric	14	4	5	10	33.00
2	ROHART, Xavier/RAMBEAU, Pascal	1	9	26	1	37.00
3	MURRAY, Iain/PALFREY, Andrew	6	3	30	5	44.00
4	HORTON, Andrew/NICHOL, J. Brad	2	25	2	19	48.00
5	DANE, John/SPERRY, Austin	20	13	9	6	48.00
6	PEPPER, Hamish/WILLIAMS, Carl	5	14	22	8	49.00
7	MERRIMAN, Richard/PETERS, Rick	21	18	7	7	53.00
8	LOOF, Fredrik/EKSTROM, Anders	13	1	19	22	55.00
9	PRESTI, Philippe/SALIOU, Jean-Philippe	3	10	31	11	55.00
10	MACDONALD, Andrew/FATIH, Brian	9	5	33	9	56.00
11	MACDONALD, Ross/WOLFS, Mike	10	8	51	3	72.00
12	MODENA, Luca/MARCHESINI, Michele	19	12	1	44	76.00
13	BEADSWORTH, Andrew/David, "	7	15	42	17	81.00
14	SCHEIDT, Robert/PRADA, Bruno	26	6	13	38	83.00
15	MENDELBLATT, Mark/STRUBE, Mark	8	28	24	25	85.00
16	DOMINGOS, Afonso M/SANTOS, Bernardo	23	16	27	21	87.00
17	OCONNELL, Maurice/PEEL, Edmund	17	17	23	35	92.00
18	DOYLE, Eric/SHARP, Brian	25	22	17	29	93.00
19	LIDECIS, Erik/MARZAHL, Michael	43	24	14	13	94.00
20	REYNOLDS, Mark/HAENEL, Hal	70/DNF	2	10	14	96.00
21	MAC GOWAN, Fabian/ENGELHARD, Federico	16	20	48	12	96.00
22	HEINONEN, Eki/MAKILA, Jali	37	29	15	15	96.00
23	FOGH, Hans/CAESAR, David	44	33	20	2	99.00
24	VESSELLA, Peter/BRINK, Mark	40	7	18	41	106.00
25	CONDE, Peter/HUNN, Andrew	18	23	12	57	110.00
26	BRUNI, Francesco/NOBILI, Gilberto	15	30	50	16	111.00
27	PERCY, Iain/MITCHELL, Steve	4	70/OCS	6	33	113.00
28	CRAMER, Brian/BJORN, Tyler	27	35	8	43	113.00
29	LOVELL, Andy/LILJEDAHL, Magnus	11	70/OCS	39	4	124.00
30	BRUN, Vince/BROPHY, Douglas	24	70/OCS	4	34	132.00
31	KELLERHOUSE, Leland/BENNETT, Bill	38	26	44	24	132.00
32	KUSZNIEREWICZ, Mateusz/ZYCKI, Dominik	12	70/OCS	16	36	134.00
33	ANDERSON, Karl/NORRIS, Scott	22	11	58	46	137.00
34	ALLEN, Bill/LICHTER, Brad	36	37	25	40	138.00
35	DIAZ, Augie/GOTSULYAK, Roman	32	34	28	45	139.00
36	SUZUKI, Kunio/WADA, Daichi	41	70/DNF	11	20	142.00
37	VANDERMOLEN, Jon/BELCO, Tc	30	46	41	27	144.00
38	VANDERMOLEN, Thomas/JACKSON, Dave	57	39	29	26	151.00
39	PERCE, Hyde/CORRIGAN, John	45	36	38	32	151.00
40	KELLY, Steven/DE CARDENAS, Fernando	56	49	35	18	158.00
41	KAHN, Philippe/LONDRIGAN, Joseph	58	19	47	37	161.00
42	STANJEK, Robert/KLEEN, Frithjof	33	70/OCS	32	30	165.00
43	BOLIAKIS, Fotis/TRINTER, Phil	39	38	36	55	168.00
44	HORNOS, Tomas/HORNOS, Luis	55	42	3	70/OCS	170.00
45	LANDENBERGER, Andrew/MCCARTHY, James	52	31	43	50	176.00
46	GAY, Todd/ANDERSON, Scott	42	40	40	54	176.00
47	ROWSE, Samuel/BOWERS, Robert	49	43	61	31	184.00
48	JONES, Michael/MERRINGTON, Peter	35	70/OCS	21	59	185.00
49	PAHUN, Jimmy/BERENGUIER, Vincent	48	70/OCS	45	23	186.00
50	MILNER, Mike/JOHNSTON, Matt	28	47	60	51	186.00