Wind returns to the US

Competitors experienced better conditions today at the US Olympic Sailing Trials

East Coast:

Competitors at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team Trials grappled today with shifty northeasterly winds. Sizeable shifts turned the water into a patchwork of oscillations that racers navigated carefully, like a minefield. But there were some who definitely chose to travel the right route.

Laser-class leader Brad Funk and Sonar skipper Albert Foster both sailed had two victories today. For Foster, his top performance moves him to the head of his class. For Funk, it keeps him in the number-one spot in the 33-boat Laser fleet.

Laser Radial:

Sailors gave different estimates of how big the oscillations were, but Laser Radial sailor Sarah Lihan had her own gauge: "How big were the shifts? Big enough to make a difference."

Lihan used those shifts as the ticket to her first race win in this series. In today's opening race, she led the 22-boat class to the first mark of the course. But the two sailors who stand in first and second in the Laser Radials - Anna Tunnicliffe and Paige Railey - are a hard pair to fend off. Although Lihan lost her lead, she regained it on the second windward leg, using a right-hand shift to position herself for a bullet at the finish line.

Lihan may be the first Laser Radial sailor to break the winning streak of Tunnicliffe and Railey, who have won every other race to date; but the battle for the Laser Radial Olympic berth is shaping up to be a duel between these two rivals.

The second race of the day was, as Tunnicliffe says, "one to remember." Railey had the lead at the weather mark; Tunnicliffe caught her on the run, but was yellow-flagged for pumping. Tunnicliffe did her two penalty turns and chased her opponent to eventually win her sixth race of the series. She now leads the class by five points.

Pos	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot
1	Anna Tunnicliffe	1	1	1	[3]	1	1	2	1	8.00
2	Paige Railey	2	2	2	1	2	2	[3]	2	13.00
3	Sarah Lihan	3	3	3	4	4	6	1	[11]	24.00
4	Anne Haeger	[7]	7	6	6	3	3	5	4	34.00
5	Katie Maxim	[8]	5	4	7	7	5	8	5	41.00
6	Genoa Griffin	[9]	6	8	5	9	4	7	3	42.00
7	Margaret Shea	6	4	5	9	6	8	4	[17]	42.00
8	Emily Billing	5	[9]	9	2	8	7	6	6	43.00
9	Claire Dennis	4	8	7	8	5	[9]	9	7	48.00
10	Lindsay Allen	11	10	[13]	11	13	10	11	9	75.00
11	Reguli Granger	12	[14]	11	13	10	11	10	10	77.00
12	Emily Stubbs	15	11	10	10	11	17	[18]	8	82.00
13	Caroline Wright	13	[16]	15	12	12	12	14	15	93.00
14	Allison Robin	10	12	16	14	15	[19]	12	16	95.00
15	Michelle Davis	14	13	14	15	14	14	[16]	12	96.00
16	Renee Gagne	17	19	17	[20]	17	13	17	13	113.00
17	Katie Smith	18	17	18	16	16	15	13	[19]	113.00
18	Chloe Palmer	16	15	12	17	[21]	21	15	20	116.00
19	Callie Naughton	19	[20]	19	18	19	16	20	18	129.00
20	Catherine Shanahan	20	18	[21]	21	18	20	19	14	130.00
21	Amanda Taselaar	[21]	21	20	19	20	18	21	21	140.00
22	Alec Payne	[23/DNC]	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	161.00

Paralympic classes:

Racing in the Sonar class has evolved into a close battle for the berth to the Paralympic Games in China—and these triplehanded boats are close on the water, and in the point scores. In one race today, three boats finished within half a boat length. Foster, racing with David Burdette and Jim Thweatt, now has the class lead by a slim one point over Rick Doerr, Tim Angle, and Bill Donohue.

In the 2.4mR class, Mark Bryant continues to lead by two points. Nick Scandone and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker won yet another race today to retain their lead in the doublehanded SKUD-18 class.

Paralympic results, here.

Laser:

Most classes have sailed 8 of the scheduled 16 races, and this long regatta is now officially at its halfway point. Sailors will enjoy a lay day tomorrow - but there is at least one racer who is not yet ready to rest.

"Normally at this stage of a big event, I'm feeling the negative effects of expending a lot of physical exertion and mental energy," said Laser sailor Brad Funk. "But it feels like the regatta has just begun and I'm raring to go."

Funk has every reason to be weary. He fought hard for his two wins today. Not having the luxury of having the lead at the top mark, he used every opportunity on the successive legs to gain ground. Tomorrow he expects his "halftime" report from his coach. But he’ll be one of those players eager to get back into the game. Although he only has a three-point lead in a big class with eight more races to go, he is clearly not feeling the pressure as much as he is the joy of going racing. As Funk said after racing this evening: "I kind of wish Wednesday wasn't a lay day."

Pos	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot
1	Brad Funk	3	2	2	[9]	4	2	1	1	15.00
2	Andrew Campbell	4	4	1	[20]	1	1	2	5	18.00
3	John Pearce	7	5	3	[8]	6	6	3	6	36.00
4	Clay Johnson	1	1	4	15	2	8	7	[25]	38.00
5	Trevor Moore	2	9	7	3	5	7	5	[16]	38.00
6	Benjamin Richardson	6	8	5	10	7	[23]	13	2	51.00
7	Kyle Rogachenko	5	13	8	6	11	5	[15]	4	52.00
8	Rob Crane	13	6	6	19	8	[21]	4	3	59.00
9	Luke Lawrence	12	3	16	7	10	[19]	8	8	64.00
10	Emery Wager	[34/OCS]	7	11	2	14	3	23	10	70.00
11	Zack Marks	10	11	9	12	[18]	11	6	18	77.00
12	Royce Weber	8	[20]	15	5	15	10	12	13	78.00
13	Derick Vranzian III	[34/OCS]	10	12	4	16	13	18	11	84.00
14	Cam Cullman	18	[21]	18	14	12	12	10	7	91.00
15	Kurt Taulbee	9	12	17	13	9	[26]	9	24	93.00
16	Fred Strammer	14	18	10	1	[24]	20	14	19	96.00
17	Marc Jacobi	17	15	23	17	3	4	[28]	23	102.00
18	Chris Branning	20	14	14	11	13	15	16	[28]	103.00
19	Zeke Horowitz	15	23	21	[29]	19	9	25	17	129.00
20	Matthew Goetting	[34/OCS]	16	20	16	23	24	26	9	134.00
21	Matthew Sterett	22	17	19	[32]	20	25	11	22	136.00
22	David Hernandez	19	19	25	25	[29]	14	21	14	137.00
23	Mattia D'Errico	11	28	22	28	22	17	20	[34/BFD]	148.00
24	Erik Bowers	16	24	[32]	18	25	28	17	20	148.00
25	Ian Sutherland	21	25	29	21	17	18	19	[30]	150.00
26	Josh Garber	[34/OCS]	27	13	22	28	27	22	15	154.00
27	David Fagen	24	22	24	26	27	[29]	24	12	159.00
28	Jerry Tullo	23	32	26	[33]	21	16	30	27	175.00
29	Paul Craine	28	31	33	23	[34/DNF]	22	27	21	185.00
30	Brian Raney	27	[33]	28	24	26	33	33	26	197.00
31	Jon Singsen	[34/OCS]	26	27	27	30	31	29	34/BFD	204.00
32	Philip Hood	25	29	[31]	31	31	30	31	29	206.00
33	Ben Leibowitz	26	30	30	30	32	32	32	[34/BFD]	212.00

West Coast:

John Lovell of New Orleans and Charlie Ogletree have sailed a Tornado catamaran for their country in the last three Olympics, won silver medals at the most recent Games in Athens in 2004 and are now trying for their fourth in a deadlocked battle with Robbie Daniel and crew Hunter Stunzi. The teams have been dead even with 1-2 records after each of the four days of racing.

That probably means that even with Wednesday's lay day off Lovell and Ogletree won't have time to celebrate a special occasion. They both turn 40 on Thursday, but they're less concerned about blowing out candles than how the wind is going to blow. Yes, they were born on the same day in 1967, which just about puts them in their primes for a sport where Olympic medalists tend toward maturity, and their rapport remains strong.

Both are married and Lovell has a 2 1/2-year-old son, Nick. "We've been good friends for a long time," Lovell said, "and we've been successful."

After Monday's flameouts, all five venues enjoyed their windiest days of the week today, Tuesday, and there were three perfect days posted. Tim Wadlow and crew Chris Rast won all four 49er races at San Diego to strengthen their lead, while Zach Railey in the Finns and Farrah Hall in the women's RS:X sailboards scored three and two race sweeps to take over first place at Newport Beach and Long Beach, respectively.

At midweek with a lay day due in all classes except Finns, who are one race behind schedule, it was a time for partial absolution of sailing's sins: the single discards kicked in after seven of 16 scheduled races to tighten some contests a bit. The 49ers, with 24 scheduled races, already tossed their worst and will have one more to drop after 17 races.

Finn

Suddenly, with three breezy races following Monday's total dud, strong performances by 23-year-old Zach Railey (sraight firsts) and veterans Darrell Peck and Geoffrey Ewenson turned this 42-boat scramble into a three-way battle at the top. The next nearest competitor is 21 points back. The wind arrived early and blew 10 to 14 knots all afternoon. "I like sailing when it’s windy," said Railey, who has won the last four races and five of the seven overall. He tossed his worst race, a 12th. Ironically, Railey, lost 15 to 20 pounds before the Trials "looking forward to light winds here at Newport Beach, but it's not so much the weight as it is being strong enough to hold the boat down." His rivals range up to 72 years in age. "That says a lot about the class," Railey said. "They have a lot more experience than I do. You can't buy experience. You have to earn your stripes."

Pos	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
1	Zachary Railey	1	2	12	1	1	1	1	19
2	Darrell Peck	4	4	1	3	2	3	4	21
3	Geoffrey Ewenson	2	3	10	4	3	2	2	26
4	Bryan Boyd	3	5	11	5	9	5	9	47
5	Andrew Casey	13	13	2	2	5	10	3	48
6	Andrew Pimental	7	1	21	10	4	9	5	57
7	Henry Sprague	6	7	5	8	6	28	7	67
8	Charles Rudinsky	9	9	3	21	10	11	10	73
9	Chris Raab	10	17	6	9	7	7	27	83
10	Andrew Kern	5	11	7	6	43\OCS	14	6	92
11	R. Phillip Ramming	15	6	16	7	16	8	24	92
12	John Harrop	12	16	23	20	12	12	11	106
13	Ian Cook	8	12	15	12	43\OCS	4	19	113
14	Forrest Gay	20	8	39	13	11	22	8	121
15	George Twist	17	23	4	22	21	19	16	122
16	Kenneth Luczynski	11	27	13	11	43\OCS	6	12	123
17	Thomas Springer	23	29	20	14	14	17	13	130
18	Mike Visser	19	10	18	15	43\OCS	13	14	132
19	Brian Huntsman	26	18	14	17	18	24	15	132
20	Conrad Brown	16	15	37	18	8	16	29	139
21	Phil Toth	21	20	34	27	15	20	18	155
22	William Bissell	32	28	9	36	13	26	22	166
23	Donald Jesberg	18	14	26	25	43\OCS	23	17	166
24	Darren Mason	14	19	8	23	43\OCS	31	30	168
25	Louie Nady	22	35	35	16	25	18	21	172
26	Phil Tate	25	34	32	24	17	21	23	176
27	Peter Connally	30	22	22	34	20	27	31	186
28	Glenn Hansen	27	31	31	29	19	32	28	197
29	Charles Heimler	33	25	19	31	24	34	32	198
30	Robert Kinney	34	36	28	19	43\OCS	15	26	201
31	Peter Macdonald	24	32	29	28	28	36	25	202
32	Andras Nady	38	37	17	26	29	30	34	211
33	Michael Orr	37	24	38	30	27	29	33	218
34	Glenn Selvin	28	21	27	39	31	38	36	220
35	Michael Arrigo	29	33	25	38	26	33	37	221
36	Bill Upthegrove	43\DNC	43\DNC	36	35	22	25	20	224
37	Bryan Nickel	36	30	24	33	30	35	38	226
38	Paul Erickson	35	26	40	32	23	43\DNF	35	234
39	Jim Hunter	40	39	33	37	32	39	39	259
40	Robert Carlen	39	38	30	40	33	37	43\DNS	260
41	Robert Mendenhall	31	43\DNS	43\DNC	43\DNC	43\DNC	43\DNC	43\DNC	289
42	David Stouffer	41	43\DNF	43\DNC	43\DNC	43\DNC	43\DNC	43\DNC	299

Tornado

Two teams have swapped first and second finishes the first four days in as tight a two-boat contest as possible in the Tornado fleet. John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree won Tuesday's first race in eight to ten knots of breeze by 29 seconds, and Robbie Daniel and Hunter Stunzi won the second in 12-14 by 49 seconds. Lovell said, "We're a little bit frustrated, but Robbie's sailing excellently. The boat speed's about the same, and it seems like the one that gets off to the favored side on the first beat can stay in front." Lovell and Ogletree have been match-racing their rivals for the favored side in the pre-starts, "but they've been good at getting out of the pins," Lovell said. "We're hoping for stronger wind. The forecast is for 20 knots [on the day off Wednesday]. That's just our luck."

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot
1	Robbie Daniel	Hunter Stunzi	1	-2	2	1	1	2	2	1	10
2	John Lovell	Charlie Ogletree	-2	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	10
3	Colin Merrick	John Sampson	4	3	-5	3	4	4	3	4	25
4	Olli Jason	Patrick Gilles	3	4	3	5	-6	5	4	3	27
5	Norman Chu	Gary Chu	5	-6	4	6	3	3	6	5	32
6	Sarah Newberry	Drew Wierda	-6	5	6	4	5	6	5	6	37

Star:

The wind swings daily from low single digits to as strong as 18 knots, as it did Tuesday, for the Star class but while their closest contenders shuffle positions daily they haven't found any cracks in Mark Mendelblatt and crew Magnus Liljedahl's steady performance through nine of the 16 scheduled races. Andy Horton and Brad Nichol jumped into third place with two firsts and a third, while George Szabo and Andrew Scott held onto second with single-digit finishes in all but one race. But they couldn't stop the Floridians from increasing their lead to ten points with a second, a fifth and a sixth today. With a lay day Wednesday, principal race officer Bill Stump has managed a range of conditions well to remain one ahead of the two-a-day schedule.

Pos	Helm/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Tot
1	Mark Mendelblatt	3	3	1	[ 8]	1	3	6	2	5	24
	Magnus Liljedahl
2	George Szabo	2	1	[ 11]	7	3	4	9	6	2	34
	Andrew Scott
3	Andy Horton	[ 18]	7	7	1	5	11	1	3	1	36
	Brad Nichol
4	John Dane III	1	10	6	2	8	1	5	4	[ 12]	37
	Austin Sperry
5	Mark Reynolds	[ 12]	2	2	6	2	6	10	8	6	42
	Hal Haenel
6	John MacCausland	9	6	3	3	6	9	2	[ 11]	10	48
	Robert Schofield
7	Rick Merriman	[ 15]	13	13	9	4	5	3	5	3	55
	Phil Trinter
8	Joe Londrigan	[ 14]	11	9	5	7	7	8	1	11	59
	Mark Strube
9	Andrew Macdonald	11	5	10	4	[ 15]	12	7	10	8	67
	Brian Fatih
10	Jim Buckingham	6	8	4	10	14	13	[ 14]	9	4	68
	Eric Monroe
11	Erik Lidecis	8	14	5	13	9	2	11	[ 16]	7	69
	Michael Marzahl
12	Will Stout	5	4	12	15	13	14	4	7	[ 15]	74
	Richard Peters
13	Steve Brown	7	[ 19]	17	11	10	8	13	14	14	94
	Timothy Ray
14	Karl Anderson	17	[ 17]	8	12	16	16	12	12	13	106
	Edward Morey
15	Chuck Driscoll	4	16	[ 19]	18	11	10	18	18	17	112
	Jim Oberg
16	Jock Kohlhas	16	12	18	16	[ 19]	18	16	13	9	118
	Trevor Nederlor
17	Fotis Boliakis	[ 19]	15	14	17	12	15	15	15	18	121
	Mike Nichol
18	Mike Hanna	13	9	16	14	17	17	17	19	[ 19]	122
	Stephan Cohen
19	Robert Teitge	10	18	15	19	18	19	[ 19]	17	16	132
	James Darin Jensen

470:

After no finish worse than second, Stuart McNay and crew Graham Biehl scored a fourth and a first in the mixed 470 fleet today, and the fourth immediately became their throwout. Rivals Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and David Hughes had worse luck. After winning the first race in winds of 12 knots building to 19 on the day, Anderson-Mitterling said, "We were holding onto second place [in the second race] and thought we had a good chance to win when we hit a trash bag" - a big, black plastic trash bag that wrapped around their rudder. By the time they got it cleared they had lost three boats and wound up fifth. McNay blamed bad tactics for his first race result. "We went left because we thought it was the thing to do, but there was a pretty big [right] shift." They were seventh at the windward mark before fighting back to fourth. The next race they followed the building breeze to the right. "The right was better," McNay said. His plans for the lay day Wednesday: "I'm going go play some Frisbee and relax."

Not much changed on a very windy day as the top two boats logged so-so finishes - a second and a fourth for Amanda Clark and crew Sarah Mergenthaler and a fifth and a third for Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving - but Clark was satisfied with an eight-point lead in the mixed fleet. "We wanted to go into the lay day [with a good lead] and have it going when we come back [Thursday]," she said.

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot	Net
1	Stuart McNay	Graham Biehl	2	2	2	2	1	2	-4	1	16	12
2	Amanda Clark	Sarah Mergenthaler	4	3	1	-6	3	3	2	4	26	20
3	Mikee Anderson-Mitterling	David Hughes	5	1	-6	3	4	4	1	5	29	23
4	Erin Maxwell	Isabelle Kinsolving	-9	7	5	5	2	1	5	3	37	28
5	Justin Law	Mike Miller	11	4	(14 DSQ)	1	6	6	8	2	52	38
6	Keith Davids	Brad Rodi	1	-9	8	8	5	7	3	8	49	40
7	Adam Roberts	Nick Martin	6	6	-9	4	8	5	6	6	50	41
8	Charles Modica	Hans Jensen	3	5	3	9	-11	9	9	7	56	45
9	Molly Carapiet	Molly O'Bryan	7	8	4	7	7	8	7	-9	57	48
10	Nicole Breault	Casey Williams	8	-11	7	10	9	10	10	10	75	64
11	Frank Tybor	Joe Markee	-12	10	10	11	10	11	11	11	86	74
12	Charles Fox	Alexander Kraebel	10	12	11	12	-13	13	13	13	97	84
13	Sara Fox	Lauren Sinclair	13	13	12	(14 DNF)	12	12	12	12	100	86

RS:X Men:

It was a workout in big winds from 12 to 19 knots in the RS:X fleet as Michael Gebhardt and Robert Willis had the best days, but Ben Barger made the biggest gain by dropping his opening eighth place for sailing the wrong course to move into a first-place tie with Gebhardt.

Pos	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot	Net
1	Benjamin Barger	(8 RAF)	1	2	1	2	1	3	2	20	12
2	Michael Gebhardt	2	-3	1	2	1	2	1	3	15	12
3	Robert Willis	1	2	5	3	-6	3	2	1	23	17
4	Jimi Sobeck	3	4	3	4	3	4	4	-5	30	25
5	Mark Powell	4	5	6	5	4	5	6	-7	42	35
6	Ryan Suits	5	7	4	6	5	(8 RAF)	7	4	46	38
7	Eric Rahnenfuerher	6	6	-7	7	7	6	5	6	50	43

RS:X Women:

Farrah Hall was hard to find after winning both races and jumping into first place today. Long after the racing was done she was still out on the race course practicing. "I enjoy sailing in big wind," she said. She also picked up some local knowledge that Long Beach regulars know well: "I learned yesterday that when the wind starts to blow you want to go right here in Long Beach. Not everybody did."

Pos	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot	Net
1	Farrah Hall	-4	1	4	1	3	3	1	1	18	14
2	Lisa Kremer	1	2	2	4	4	1	-5	2	21	16
3	Nancy Rios	2	-4	1	3	2	2	4	4	22	18
4	Monica Wilson	3	3	3	2	1	-4	3	3	22	18
5	Karen Marrriott	5	5	-6	6	5	5	2	5	39	33
6	Denise Parris	-6	6	5	5	6	6	6	6	46	40

49er:

Launched by a solid breeze of 12 to 14 knots, Tim Wadlow and crew Chris Rast won all four races today to blunt a comeback by Morgan Larson and Pete Spaulding. They flew into the second half of their 24-race Trials with a commanding 15-point lead over Dalton Bergan and Zack Maxam, with Larson and Spaulding at 42 after a three seconds and a fifth, following Monday's triple-bullet sweep. Wadlow and Rast have won eight of 13 races and count no finishes worse than third.

Pos	Helm/Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	Tot
1	Tim Wadlow/	1	2	1	1	3	1	[4]	3	3	1	1	1	1	19
	Chris Rast
2	Dalton Bergan/	2	4	3	4	1	2	2	2	[14/OCS]	3	4	3	4	34
	Zack Maxam
3	Morgan Larson/	[14/OCS]	1	2	2	9	14/OCS	1	1	1	2	2	2	5	42
	Pete Spaulding
4	Joey Pasquali/	3	7	8	3	10	3	[10]	7	4	7	6	5	3	66
	Rory Giffen
5	Erik Storck/	8	3	6	6	2	7	[12]	6	2	6	7	4	11	68
	John Storck III
6	John Heineken/	4	5	4	5	11	[14/OCS]	7	4	14/DSQ	5	3	7	2	71T
	Matt Noble
7	Jonathan Goldsberry/	6	8	[14/DNF]	7	4	4	6	9	5	4	5	6	7	71T
	charles smythe
8	Patrick Rynne/	5	6	5	9	7	5	3	5	6.3/RDG	9	[10]	8	8	76
	Frank Ustach
9	Hans Henken/	7	11	10	10	5	[14/OCS]	9	10	7	11	8	9	6	103
	Diego Gomez Hall
10	Chad Freitas/	11	10	7	8	6	9	5	8	8	10	12	10	[12]	104T
	JV Gilmore
11	Danny Cayard/	9	9	9	11	8	6	8	11	6	8	9	[11]	10	104T
	Pike Harris
12	Mat Bryant/	12	12	[14/DNF]	12	12	8	11	12	9	12	11	12	9	132
	Patrick Murray
13	Dave Houser/	10	13	14/DNF	14/DNC	14/DNC	14/DNC	14/DNC	14/DNC	[14/DNC]	13	13	13	13	159