USA Keeps Eye On Medal Positions At Olympic Regatta

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USA KEEPS EYE ON MEDAL POSITIONS AT OLYMPIC REGATTA

SAVANNAH, GA (July 27, 1996)--Weather once again played a critical role at the Olympic Regatta, but this time instead of thunderstorms it was too little wind that caused cancellation of races in the Mistral class and only one of two scheduled races to be sailed in Finn and Star classes. In the three classes that managed two races each--470s, Solings and Tornados--the USA showed its prowess and is poised for medals.

The 470 men's team of Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.) shot from ninth to fourth today when they won their first race and finished 11th in race two. "We can start getting excited about this again." said Reeser, who admitted he got off to a slow start. "Every 470 regatta we go to, though, comes down to the last race."

In women's 470 division, Kris Stookey and Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.) staked their territory at the top of the scoreboard early on. Today the duo had mixed feelings about their performance, although they remain in first place overall, now tied with Spain. "We fought back from ninth to fourth in the first race--that was good. Then we got a ninth in race two. That wasn't so good. Our speed is fine but it was really tactical in the light wind, so boat speed alone isn't enough."

Soling sailors Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.) also showed tempered emotions about today's performance (a throwout 19th and a fifth) vs. their first-place position in the overall standings. "We had a bad day but good results," said Madrigali. "The upside is that we beat Great Britain and Germany. The downside is that a lot of good guys caught up to us." Yesterday, USA was tied with Great Britain for first, with Germany following. The top six boats after 11 races proceed to a match racing series.

Tornado sailors John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas) are tied for a silver-medal position with France and believe there are at least seven teams who have a crack at winning the regatta.

Having one rather than two races today in the Star class dashed medal chances for Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.). The defending champions fell from sixth to ninth with a 22nd place. "We had a bad start and it forced us to go the wrong way," said Reynolds. "We came to win a gold medal, so I'm a little disappointed. Our first five races were pretty good, but even in those, we weren't hooked into the wind shifts."

The Mistral cancellations mean Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) has fewer races in which to catch up with the leaders. "Tomorrow Mike has to smoke everybody and they have to cooperate," said coach Skip Whyte. Gebhardt's counterpart in the Women's division, Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), is in 12th overall.

Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.) took a 25th in today's single Finn race for 25th overall. Europe sailor Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.) and Laser sailor Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.), who had no scheduled racing today, are in third and 17th place respectively.
(end)

1996 Olympic Regatta
DAY 5 Results (Top-three and USA)
July 26, 1996 

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

EUROPE (28 boats)-- NO SCHEDULED RACING TODAY
1, Kristine Roug, DEN, 2-1-3-2-1-2-(8)-1; 12.
2, Margriet Matthijsse, (PMS)-2-1-10-2-1-1-4; 21.
3, Courtenay Becker-Dey (Rye, N.Y./The Dalles, Ore.), USA, 1-8-2-4-7-6-3-(14); 31.

FINN (31 boats)
1, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL, 10-4-(20)-4-9-1-2-1; 31.
2, Hans Spitzauer, AUT, 4-1-10-7-11-4-5-(DNS); 42.
3, Sebastien Godefroid, 13-24-5-5-4-3-(16)-7; 53.
25, Will Martin (Charleston, S.C.), USA, (PMS*)-22-18-12-21-2-PMS*-25; 132.

470 MEN (36 boats)  
1, Yevhen Braslavets/Ihor Matviyenko, UKR, 2-2-3-1-(16)-5; 13. 
2, Dmitriy Beryozkin/Yevgeniy Burmatnov, RUS, 13-(25)-5-2-3-1; 24.
3, Vitor Rocha/Nuno Barreto, POR, 5-10-(17)-7-4-8; 34.
4, Morgan Reeser/Kevin Burnham (Wilton Manors/Coral Gables, Fla.), USA, (20)-9-6-9-1-11; 36.

470 WOMEN (22 boats)   
1(t), Theresa Zabell/Begona Via Dufresne, ESP, 4-2-(11)-8-2-1; 17.
1(t), Kris Stookey/Louise Van Voorhis (Darien, Conn./Webster, N.Y.), USA, 2-8-2-1-4-(12); 17.
3, Yumiko Shige/Alicia Kinoshita, JPN, 3-7-(13)-6-1-3; 20.

 LASER (56 boats) --NO SCHEDULED RACING TODAY
1, Ben Ainslie, GBR, (27)-4-7-2-2-1-2-1; 19.
2, Robert Scheidt, BRA, 2-(9)-3-6-1-3-7-2; 24.
17(t), Nick Adamson (Newport Beach, Calif.), USA, 9-(DSQ**)-13-7-13-13-10-PMS; 122.

MISTRAL MEN (46 boats)--RACING CANCELLED TODAY
1, Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, GRE, 5-1-2-6-1-(9)-1; 16.
2, Carlos Espinola, ARG, 2-4-4-2-3-6-(DNS); 21.
3, Gal Fridman, ISR, 1-6-5-3-(10)-1-9; 25.
8, Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.), USA, 10-16-3-4-5-(23)-4; 42.

MISTRAL WOMEN (27 boats)--RACING CANCELLED TODAY
1, Lai Shan Lee, HKG, 3-2-2-2-4-2-(7); 15.
2, Barbara Kendall, NZL, 2-3-6-1-(10)-5-5; 22.
3, Jorunn Horgen, NOR, 7-(9)-4-4-3-1-8; 27.
12, Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), USA, 9-15-(18)-7-11-13-1; 55.

SOLING (22 boats)
1,  Jeff Madrigali/Kent Massey/Jim Barton (San Anselmo/Santa Barbara/Fairfax, Calif.), USA, 1-4-8-2-5-(19)-5; 25.
2, Andrew Beadsworth/Barry Parkin/Adrian George Stead, GBR, (7)-1-7-7-4-1-6; 26.
3,Jochen Schuemann/Thomas Flach/Barnd Jaekel, GER, 5-5-2-4-1-(9)-9; 26.

STAR  (25 boats)
1(t), Colin Beashel/David Giles, AUS, (11)-1-1-1-8-3-2-7; 23.
1(t), Torben Grael/Marcelo Ferreira, BRA, 1-6-2-7-1-4-(9)-2; 23.
3, Hans Wallen/Bobbie Lohse, SWE, 4-7-7-(8)-2-1-3-4; 28.
9, Mark Reynolds/Hal Haenel (San Diego/Los Angeles, Calif.), USA, 3-2-5-5-5-21-15-(22); 56.

TORNADO (19 boats)
1(t), Fernando Leon/Jose Luis Ballester, ESP, 2-2-4-(5)-5-2; 15.
2, Andreas Hagara/Florian Schneeberger, AUT, 4-3-5-6-1-(8); 19.
3(t), Frederic LePeutrec, FRA, (8)-1-3-7-8-4; 23.
3(t), John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree (New Orleans, La./Kemah, Texas), USA, 3-4-8-4-4-12; 23.

*PMS=Premature Start   **DSQ=Disqualified