Stormy Conditions Help Some, Hurt Other On U.S. Olympic Yachting Team

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Stormy Conditions Help Some, Hurt Others On U.S. Olympic Yachting Team

SAVANNAH, GA (July 24, 1996)--Another fast-moving storm disrupted racing today at the Olympic Regatta in Savannah. It delayed a second of two scheduled races for Mistrals and caused a cancellation of second races for Finns, 470s and Stars. Europes and Lasers had started their second race when the 30-knot winds charged by, giving both of the USA's entrants in those classes advantages their opponents did not foresee. (Solings and Tornados were not scheduled to race today.)

"I saw the storm and headed for it," said Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.). The move took him from 22nd to seventh place on the first leg of the course and gave him a boost to 12th in overall scoring. In Europes, Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.) made the same decision, ducking "lots of transoms" to get to the right side. When she tacked on top of the fleet, she knew it was a wise move. "I came screaming in on top of them at Mach One speed," said Becker-Dey. She finished fourth and in overall scoring is within striking distance of the class leader--Denmark's Kristine Roug.

In today's single race for the 470 class, dramatic wind shifts either made or broke performances. USA's men's division team of Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.) were with the lead pack going left when "a huge righty came in" and reseated them at the back of the bus--seat 20 to be exact. The women's team of Kristina Stookey and Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.), however, turned a "not so great start" into a second-place finish. "Keeping the boat fast was tricky," said Van Voorhis. "The wind was only moderate but the waves were big."

Star sailors Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.) are in third overall after taking a fifth today. "We beat everyone we had to beat except Colin Beashel (AUS), but it's too early to start hunting out people," said Reynolds.

In Mistrals, Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) turned in finishing positions of 3-4 to tie for sixth place with Australia. "I can't wait for tomorrow," said Gebhardt, psyching himself up. "I'm going to just 'go off!'" In Mistral Women's Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) is solidly in 12th. "She's perhaps too focused," said coach Skip Whyte (Lynne, Mass.) after Butler's first-race finish of 19. "She's wasn't trusting her instincts, but she's aware of that now." True to Whyte's prediction, Butler bounced back in race two for a seventh and stands in 12th overall. Finn sailor Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.) is currently in 23rd with a bright outlook for tomorrow. "You have to put the last bad or good thing out of your mind," he concluded.

(end)

1996 Olympic Regatta
DAY 3 Results (Top-three and USA)
July 24, 1996 

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

EUROPE (28 boats)
1, Kristine Roug, DEN, 2-1-(3)-2; 5.
2, Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.), USA, 1-(8)-2-4; 7.
3, Shirley Robertson, GBR, 3-7-(18)-2; 11.

FINN (31 boats)
1, Fredrik Loof, SWE, (8)-3-1-6; 10.  2(t), Hans Spitzauer, AUT, 
4-1-(10)-7; 12.  2(t) Christoph Bergmann, BRA, (19)-2-9-1; 12.  
23. Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.), USA, (PMS*)-22-18-12; 52.

470 MEN (36 boats)
1, Jordi Calafat/Francisco Sanchez, ESP, 1; 1.
2, Yevhen Braslavets/Ihor Matviyenko, UKR, 2; 2.
3, Ivan Kuret/Marko Misura, CRO, 3; 3.
20, Morgan Reeser/Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.), USA, 20; 20.

470 WOMEN (22 boats)
1, Ruslana Taran/Olena Pakholchik, UKR, 1; 1.
2, Kris Stookey/Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.), USA, 2; 2.
3, Yumiko Shige/Alicia Kinoshita, JPN, 3; 3.

LASER (56 boats)
1, Stefan Warkalla, GER, (13)-1-2-3; 6.
2, Peer Moberg, NOR, 1-6-(9)-1; 8.
3, Robert Scheidt, BRA, 2-(8)-3-6; 11.
12, Nick Adamson, USA, 9-(DSQ**)-13-7; 29.

MISTRAL MEN (46 boats)
1(t), Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, GRE, 5-1-2-(6); 8.
1(t), Carlos Espinosa, ARG, 2-(4)-4-2; 8.1(t) Aaron McIntosh, NZL, 4-3-1-(18); 8.
7, Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), USA, 10-(16)-3-4; 17.

MISTRAL WOMEN (27 boats)
1(t), Lai Shan Lee, HKG, (3)-2-2-2; 6.
1(t), Barbara Kendall, NZL, 2-3-(6)-1; 6. 3, Alessandra Sensini, ITA, 1-(7)-1-6; 8.
12, Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), USA, 9-14-(19)-7; 30.

SOLING (22 boats)--NO SCHEDULED RACING TODAY
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, Colin Beashel/David Giles, AUS, (11)-1-1-1; 3.
2, Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA, 1-6-2-(7); 9.
3, Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.), USA, 3-2-5-(5); 10.

TORNADO (19 boats)--NO SCHEDULED RACING TODAY
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   **DSQ=Disqualified