Three USA Teams In Second At Olympic Regatta

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  U.S. Olympic Committee Press Attache Barby MacGowan, 
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Three USA Teams In Second At Olympic Regatta

Oregon Sailor Becker-Dey Wins the First Race of her Series while Californians Reynolds/Haenel and Madrigali/Massey/Barton Hold Strong

SAVANNAH, GA (July 23, 1996)--USA's Europe sailor Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.); the Star skipper/crew combination of Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.); and Soling sailors Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.) are all in second overall at the Olympic Regatta being held on the waters off Savannah, Ga. The regatta began yesterday for eight of ten divisions but thunderstorms pre-empted two of two scheduled races in the Europe class and one of the two races scheduled for Stars and Solings. Today was the day for Becker-Dey to start off with a bang and for both sets of Californians to show that the impressive performances they turned in yesterday were not a fluke.

Becker-Dey won today's first race by 13 seconds, fending off the current overall leader from Denmark. "She (Kristine Roug) is the best in the world downwind and it made me feel good that I could hold her off," said Becker-Dey. In today's second race, when Becker-Dey's vang (hardware with a line that snubs the boom down) uncleated itself, she lost control of her sail and capsized. "I was very pleased with the day as a whole," said Becker-Dey, "but personally disappointed to have a mistake that cost me so much." She was in fifth place at the time of the mishap.

Reynolds/Haenel, Olympic gold medalists from 1992, posted a 2-5 today. "We were fast but not as fast as Colin Beashel," said Reynolds. Beashel skippered his Australian entry to two victories today but still lags three points behind USA in overall scoring. Brazil leads USA by one point.

Madrigali/Massey/Barton considered their finishes of 4-9 part of a "good day," and look forward to more of the same windy conditions tomorrow.

Tornado sailors John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Tex.), who were in third place yesterday when their single race of the day was cancelled, finished the job today by taking third in race one and a fourth in race two for a third-place tie in overall scoring with Austria.

Laser sailor Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.) did not finish his second race today because of a collision that left a gaping hole in the side of his boat. "I was trying to make a mark and there was a pack of boats on starboard (right of way) tack. I got in their way. I had a smart day otherwise."

The 470 class begins racing tomorrow. Sailing for the USA are 1992 Olympic Silver Medalists Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.) and Kristina Stookey and Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.). The 1996 Olympic Regatta is hosting 458 sailors from 73 countries.

Yachting Notes

Star Shines on USA . . . Yesterday's protest by Star sailor Mark Reynolds against Canadian Ross MacDonald for failure to give room at a turning mark resulted in a DSQ (disqualification) for the Canadians and a lift for the USA from fourth to third in the first race of the series. MacDonald and Reynolds are both on the Star class "A" list for having a shot at Gold. A protest hearing was held last night, with the result issued after 11 pm.

A Doozy of a Regatta . . . With 458 sailors from 73 countries, this is the largest Olympic Regatta ever to be held since the inception of Olympic sailing in 1900. (Barcelona hosted 443 sailors from 68 nations in 1992.) A major boost to the numbers comes from the Laser class, which makes its Olympic debut with more entries (56) than any other class.

Full complements . . . The national teams in the Olympic Regatta range from one athlete to full teams of 16 athletes. The countries with full teams are: Australia, Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, New Zealand and the United States.
(end)

1996 Olympic Regatta
DAY 2 Results (Top-three and USA)
July 23, 1996 

Position, Skipper/Crew (Hometown), Country, Finish Positions, Cumulative Score.

EUROPE (28 boats)
1, Kristine Roug, DEN, 2-1; 3.
2, Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.), USA, 1-8; 9.
3, Shirley Robertson, GBR, 3-7; 10.

FINN (31 boats)
1, Fredrik Loof, SWE, 8-3-1; 12.
2, Hans Spitzauer, AUT, 4-1-10; 15.
3, Richard Clarke, CAN 16-6-3; 23.
26, Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.), USA, PMS*-23-18; 73.

470 MEN (36 boats)--no scheduled racing today

470 WOMEN (22 boats)--no scheduled racing today

LASER (56 boats)
1, Peer Moberg, NOR, 1-6; 7.
2(t), Vasco Serpa, POR, 8-2; 10. 
2(t), Robert Scheidt, BRA, 2-8; 10.
2(t) John Harrysson, SWE, 3-7; 10.
2(t), Michael Blackburn, AUS, 5-5; 10. 33, Nick Adamson, USA, 9-DNF**, 66.

MISTRAL MEN (46 boats)
1(t), Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, GRE, 5-1; 6.
1(t), Carlos Espinola, ARG, 2-4; 6. 3(t), Gal Fridman, ISR, 1-6; 7.
3(t) Aaron McIntosh, NZL, 4-3; 7.
12, Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), USA, 10-16; 26.

MISTRAL WOMEN (27 boats)
1(t), Lai Shan Lee, HKG, 3-2; 5.
1(t), Barbara Kendall, NZL, 2-3; 5.
3, Alessandra Sensini, ITA, 1-7; 8.
13, Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), USA, 9-14, 23.

SOLING (22 boats)
1, Jochen Schuemann/Thomas Flach/Barnd Jaekel, GER, 5-5-2; 12. 
2,  Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.), USA, 1-4-9; 14.
3, Andrew Beadsworth/Barry Parkin/Adrian George Stead, GBR, 7-1-8; 16.

STAR  (25 boats)
1, Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA, 1-6-2; 9.
2, Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.), USA, 3-2-5; 10.
3, Colin Beashel/David Giles, AUS, 11-1-1; 13.

TORNADO (19 boats)--
1, Fernando Leon/Jose Luis Ballester, ESP, 2-2; 4.
2, Mitch Booth/Andrew Landenberger, AUS, 1-5; 6.
3(t), Andreas Hagara/Florian Schneeberger, AUT, 4-3; 7.
3(t), John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas), USA, 3-
4; 7.

*PMS=Premature Start   **DNF=Did Not Finish