Pan Am Games Sailing Notes (July
29, 1999)
USA Sailing: One gold, Two Silvers, One Bronze Assured… With the sailing competition finals scheduled for tomorrow, USA is
assured of gold in the threehanded Lightning class (Andy Horton, Shelburne, Vt., Bill
Fastiggi, Burlington, Vt., and Heather Rowe, Peru, N.Y.); silver in both the singlehanded
Finn class (Russ Silvestri, Tiburon, Calif.) and the singlehanded Laser class (Mark
Mendelblatt, St. Petersburg, Fla.); and bronze in the singlehanded Sunfish class (David
Van Cleef, Newport, R.I.). All four teams secured their medal positions prematurely after
tabulations from 10 of 11 scheduled races showed them to be mathematically unbeatable.
…Another Gold and Bronze in the Wings
Today was a lay day (no racing) for all classes except the
Mistral Men’s and Women’s, which were not able to race yesterday in the light
air conditions. After winning two races this morning in brisk 18-20 knot breezes, Mistral
Women’s sailor Lanee Butler (Dana Point, Calif.) is looking good for gold, as long as
two protests filed against her by Canada’s Carol-Anne Alie are not upheld by the
international jury.
Mistral Men’s sailor Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce/Fort
Walton Beach, Fla.), posting a 1-4 today, must win tomorrow’s single race and push
the Canadian entrant back to third or worse in order to take the bronze medal for USA.
GIMLI, MANITOBA, CANADA (July 29, 1999)—Lightning
sailors Andy Horton (Shelburne, Vt.), Bill Fastiggi (Burlington, Vt.) and Heather Rowe
(Peru, N.Y.) today nailed a gold medal for the USA at the Pan Am Games sailing event, even
though there is one race to go in their 11-race series. In overall scoring after five days
of racing, the trio is mathematically impossible to catch. Their closest competitor going
into today’s two races was the Brazilian team, skippered by Claudio Biekarck, which
finished 6-3 to USA’s 2-1 and currently sits in third place. “In the first race,
we expected the wind to go left, so that’s where we went,” said Horton, who is
ranked fifth on the US Sailing Team in the Olympic Soling class. “Brazil went
right.” For the second race, USA needed only to beat Brazil. “We knew we could
win a medal. We had all the tools and we’d practiced non-stop before the event. It
was just a matter of being consistent in our series.” With two throwouts allowed,
USA’s finishes were no worse than third.
1. Lightning (8 boats) 1. Andy Horton, Shelburne, Vt., Bill
Fastiggi, Burlington, Vt., Heather Rowe, Peru, N.Y., USA, 1-2-2-(4)-3-1-(6)-1-2-1; 13.
2. Claudio Biekarck, Marcelo Silva, Gunnar Ficker, BRA, 2-4-1-1-2-2-(5)-2-(6)-3;
17.
3. A. Gonzalez Mas, G. Schacht Verdugo, Rodrigo Zuazola, CHI,
4-1-8-2-4-(9)-1-4-4-(9); 28.
4. Hector Longarela, Gabriel Berberian, Hugo Longarela, ARG,
3-3-3-5-5-(9/OCS)-2-(7)-3-5; 29.
5. Larry MacDonald, Trevor Born, (9/DNS)-(9/DNF)-5-3-1-4-9/DSQ-6-1-2; 31.
GIMLI, MANITOBA, CANADA (July 28, 1999)—It’s
crunch time for Team USA at the Pan Am Games sailing event on Lake Winnipeg, where 111
athletes from 20 nations are competing. Tomorrow is a two-race day, weather permitting,
with a lay day (no racing) scheduled for Friday and a single final race set for Saturday.
“We’re definitely doing our math to see where we need to go,” said Team
Leader Hal Haenel (Los Angeles, Calif.). With eight of 11 races completed, U.S. athletes
hold medal positions in half of the 10 classes and remain “in the hunt” in three
more. Under today’s sunny skies, two races in each class were held. Winds ranged from
15-20 knots.
Lightning sailors Andy Horton (Shelburne, Vt.), Bill Fastiggi
(Burlington, Vt.) and Heather Rowe (Peru, N.Y.) moved into the gold-medal position today
with a 7-1. They are tied in overall points (14) with the Brazilian team, skippered by
Claudio Biekarck; however, the tie-breaking system of counting greater numbers of
first-place finishes gives them the edge. Using today?s seventh-place finish as a
throwout, the team has three victories in their series tally--to Brazil?s two--and no
finishes worse than a fourth. ?We sailed too much against Brazil and not enough against
the fleet in the first race,? said Horton, explaining that Brazil took sixth in that race,
also using it as a throwout. ?In the second race, we were noticing it paid off to go
right. When we got there, there was a huge shift in our favor, and we went from fourth to
first.? Brazil finished second in the second race.
Lightning (8 boats)
1. Andy Horton, Bill Fastiggi, Heather Rowe, USA,
1-2-2-4-3-1-(7)-1; 14.
2. Claudio Biekarck, Marcelo Silva, Gunnar Ficker, BRA, 2-4-1-1-2-2-(6)-2; 14.
3. A. Gonzalez Mas, G. Schacht Verdugo, Rodrigo Zuazola, CHI, 4-1-8-2-4-(9)-1-4;
24.
4. Hector Longarela, Gabriel Berberian, Hugo Longarela, ARG, 3-3-3-5-5-(9/OCS)-3-7;
29.
5. Larry MacDonald, Trevor Born, (9/DNS)-9/DNF-5-3-1-4-2-6; 30.
GIMLI, MANITOBA, CANADA (July 26, 1999)Lightning
sailors Andy Horton (Shelburne, Vt.), Bill Fastiggi (Burlington, Vt.) and Heather Rowe
(Peru, N.Y.) had another good day, taking a 2-4 to maintain a silver-medal position. The
second-place race finish was despite a 720 degree turn the trio took to exonerate itself
from a port-starboard infringement shortly after the start. "Getting back to fourth
was real important," said Horton. "A fourth is a keeper, not a throwout."
As in all of the classes, with four races completed, each team is allowed to discard one
race. Most are using the privilege to eliminate an ill-fated race posted in either today's
or yesterday's high winds. "Our mistake today didn't cost us," added Horton,
explaining that USA and Argentina are the only two entrants in the Lightning class that
have not capsized during this regatta.
Results (July 26)
Lightning (8 boats)
1. Claudio Biekarck, Marcelo Silva, Gunnar Ficker, BRA,
2-(4)-1-1 4
2. A. Horton, Vermont, B. Fastiggi, Vermont, H. Rowe, New York, 1-2-2-(4)
5
3. G. Schacht Verdugo, A. Gonzalez Mas, Rodrigo Zuazola, CHI, 4-1-(8)-2
7
4. Hector Longarela, Gabriel Berberian, Hugo Longarela, ARG,
3-3-3-(5) 9
5. Camilo Salcedo, Solmar Bermudez, Nicolas Deeb, COL,
(9/DNF)-5-4-6 15
GIMLI, MANITOBA, CANADA (July 25, 1999)--A
30-knot southerly breeze, with gusts reaching 40 knots, delayed racing today at Lake
Winnipeg, site of the sailing competition for the 1999 Pan Am Games. Sailors-111 of them
from North, South and Central America as well as the Caribbean Islands--arrived at Gimli
Yacht Club this morning, prepared for an 11:00 start. Instead, they got a long-lasting
blast of fresh air. A postponement flag was lowered at 12:30 and sailors zipped out to the
race course, utilizing the tail end of the passing front. After shifting west, the wind
moderated to a shifty 15-20 knots for the rest of the afternoon and showcased solid
performances from Team USA. The Americans posted medal worthy top-three finishes in six of
ten classes, all of which completed two races on this opening day of sailing competition.
Topping the scoreboard today were Lightning sailors Andrew Horton (Shelburne, Vt.), Bill
Fastiggi (Burlington, Vt.) and Heather Rowe (Peru, N.Y.). The trio led early in the first
race to win. An early lead in the second race, however, was lost on the last run to the
Chilean team. "They are good in a breeze," said Horton, "but we feel good,
too, even if we are a bit sore."
Lightning (8 boats)
1. Andrew Horton, Shelburne, Vt., Bill Fastiggi, Burlington, Vt., Heather Rowe, Peru,
N.Y., USA, 1-2; 3.
2. G. Schacht Verdugo, A. Gonzalez Mas, Rodrigo Zuazola, CHI, 4-2; 5.
3. Claudio Biekarck, Marcelo Silva, Gunnar Ficker, BRA, 2-4; 6.
4. Hector Longarela, Gabriel Berberian, Hugo Longarela, ARG, 3-3; 6.
5. Gaston Vedani, Rafael Lecaro, Juan Santos, ECU, 5-6; 11. |
