UNCOOPERATIVE WEATHER UPSETS RACING AT OLYMPIC REGATTA




SAVANNAH, GA (July 25, 1996)--It was the biggest thing on every Olympic
sailors' mind at least once today: how to get back to the Day Marina safely.
For the third day in four days of racing, major thunderstorms with lightning
barrelled through the race courses on Savannah's Wassaw Sound. The race
committee on the Europes/Laser course started the day's second scheduled
race for those classes in winds that soon gusted up to 36 knots. All other
classes (except Solings and Tornados, which were not scheduled to race today)
were sent in after their first race when officials saw the storm looming.



"I'm surprised they started a race in that kind of weather," said
Europe sailor Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.). "Losing
a race to weather doesn't bother me, but sailing in conditions like this
means there's a lot more luck involved." Becker-Dey finished 7-6 today
and is in third place overall. Her counterpart on the Laser course, Nick
Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.), was direct about his concern for safety:
"I want to race in all conditions all the time, but I don't want to
die." Adamson is in 13th overall after finishing 13-14 today.



In today's single race for the 470 class, the USA's men's division team
of Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.) shot
up to 11th on the scoreboard with a ninth-place finish. On fighting back
from a 22nd at the first turning mark, Reeser commented: "The first
80 percent of the race we were slow, but then we made some changes to go
faster in the last quarter mile of the course."



The women's 470 team of Kristina Stookey and Louise Van Voorhis (Darien,
Conn./Webster, N.Y.) finished eighth today for a fourth-place spot on the
scoreboard. Their second race had started (later to be abandoned) when the
winds whipped up. The duo took down their mainsail to ride out the storm
and, in the process, capsized. "When we righted our boat, we saw that
we weren't the only ones who flipped." With only two races completed
in their 11-race series, the 470 class will give up a scheduled reserve
day tomorrow to sail. As well, the Europes-- also due for a layday tomorrow--will
sail to catch up on their missed races.



Star sailors Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.) took
a fifth today for a third in overall scoring. In Mistral Men's division,
Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) posted a fifth and made an impressive climb
to fourth overall from seventh yesterday. Mistral Women's sailor Lanee Butler
(Aliso Viejo, Calif.) is holding at 12th overall after an 11th-place finish
today while Finn sailor Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.), with a 21st today,
is in 22nd overall. 

(end)

1996 Olympic Regatta
DAY 4 Results (Top-three and USA)
July 25, 1996 

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

EUROPE (28 boats)
1, Kristine Roug, DEN, 2-1-(3)-2-1-2; 8.
2, Margriet Matthijsse, (PMS)-2-1-10-2-1; 16.
3, Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.), USA, 1-(8)-2-4-7-6; 20.

FINN (31 boats) 
1, Christoph Bergmann, BRA, (19)-2-9-1-5; 17.
2, Fredrik Loof, SWE, 8-3-1-6-(14); 18.
3, Hans Spitzauer, AUT, 4-1-10-7-(11); 22.
22. Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.), USA, (PMS*)-22-18-12-21; 73.

470 MEN (36 boats)
1, Yevhen Braslavets/Ihor Matviyenko, UKR, 2-2; 4.
2, Matteo Ivaldi/Michele Ivaldi, ITA, 9-4; 13.
3, Marchus Westerland/Henrik Wallin, SWE, 6-7; 13.
11, Morgan Reeser/Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.), USA, 20-9; 29.

470 WOMEN (22 boats)
1(t), Ruslana Taran/Olena Pakholchik, UKR, 1-5; 6.
1(t), Theresa Zabell/Begona Via Dufresne, ESP, 4-2; 6.
3, Susanne Ward/Lise Michaela Ward, DEN, 6-3; 9.
4, Kris Stookey/Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.), USA, 2-8; 10. 

 LASER (56 boats) 
1, Robert Scheidt, BRA, 2-(9)-3-6-1-3; 15.
2, Ben Ainslie, GBR, (27)-4-7-2-2-1; 16.
3, Stefan Warkalla, GER, (13)-1-2-3-12-4; 23.
13, Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.), USA, 9-(DSQ**)-13-7-13-14; 56.

MISTRAL MEN (46 boats)
1, Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, GRE, 5-1-2-(6)-1; 9.
2, Carlos Espinola, ARG, 2-(4)-4-2-3; 11.
3, Gal Fridman, ISR, 1-6-5-3-(10); 15.
4, Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), USA, 10-(16)-3-4-5; 22.

MISTRAL WOMEN (27 boats)
1, Lai Shan Lee, HKG, 3-2-2-2-(4); 9.
2, Barbara Kendall, NZL, 2-3-6-1-(10); 12. 3, Alessandra Sensini, ITA, 1-(8)-1-6-7; 15.
12, Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), USA, 9-15-(18)-7-11; 41.

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, Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA, 1-6-2-(7)-1; 10. 
2, Colin Beashel/David Giles, AUS, (11)-1-1-1-8; 11.
3, Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.), USA, 3-2-5-(5)-5; 15.

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





 
 
 
 




Copyright © 1996 - 2000

Please send your comments to:Webmaster