Olympic Classes Regatta
March 25 - Long Beach
Mo Hart and Meg Gaillard reinforced their
top rankings in the singlehanded Finn and Europe classes, respectively,
with runaway victories in the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's 43rd
Olympic Classes Regatta held March 21-23 in Long Beach.
Europe winner Meg Gaillard
Photo Courtesy US Sailing
"I learned a long time ago not to
say a word because everything changes at the Trials," Gaillard,
from Jamestown, RI, said after winning the last three races and
8 of 10 overall. Hart, of Santa Cruz, agreed. "Only one
thing matters, and that's the Trials," he said.
Gaillard's strongest threat in the Europe
class is Alameda's Krysia Pohl, 27, her frequent training partner,
who was a distant second this time. "Krysia is sailing well,"
said Gaillard, who was second to Courtenay Dey in the 2000 qualifiers,
"and everybody sails their best at the Trials."
Pohl, a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard,
resigned her commission to pursue her Olympic ambition. "I
really ramped up my program in 2001 and started campaigning full-time,"
she said. "I'm still fine-tuning my equipment and techniques.
I'm getting better."
Pohl admitted that sailing wasn't the only
thing on her mind over the weekend. "If I was still in [the
Coast Guard] I'd probably be doing security inspections to make
sure that what's coming in is legal. Everyone's duties are double
now. I support everyone who's [in Iraq]. That's the most I can
do. I pray for them that they'll come home safely."
After winning 5 of 9 Finn races, Mo Hart
dropped out of the last race after a pre-start collision with
the veteran Henry Sprague of Long Beach. Final results were delayed
until their two-way protest was resolved by the race jury in
Hart's favor.
Only one boat in each class qualifies for
the Olympics. While Hart, 27, and
Gaillard, 29, remain favorites in their groups, competition in
the 49er skiffs took another hitch in pressure when Dalton Bergan
and crew Zack Maxam of Coronado won the last three races in light
to moderate breeze to overhaul frontrunners David Fagen, St.
Petersburg, FL, and crew Bora Gulari, Detroit, at 28 points each.
They almost had to flip a coin to determine
the winner. After 15 races over three days, each team had the
same number of first, second, third and fourth places, so the
tiebreaker was Bergan's fifth place in Race 3, which he actually
discarded as one of his two throwouts.
Andy Mack of White Salmon, WA, and crew
Adam Lowry, San Francisco, were five
points back. They are ranked No. 2 behind Tim Wadlow and Peter
Spaulding,
who remained on the East Coast this weekend. Bergan/Maxam are
third and
Fagen/Gulari fourth.
Fourth place finishers in the 49ers, Pat Whitmarsh and Paul Allen
on USA 37 battle Canadians Andrew Walther and Mark Lutz
Photo Charlie McElfresh
Winds Sunday were 6 to 10 knots southwest
and shifty. Those who played the
shifts best were most successful.
Top finishers:
EUROPE (20 boats)
1. Meg Gaillard, Jamestown, RI, 1-(2)-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1, 10 points.
2. Krysia Pohl, Alameda, 2-3-2-(6)-2-2-5-6-4-DNC, 32.
3. Tanja Smutny, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 5-9-(10)-2-5-3-1-4-2-2,
33.
FINN (11)
1. Mo Hart, Santa Cruz, (2)-1-2-1-1-1-1-3-2-DNF, 14.
2. Geoff Ewenson, Annapolis, MD, 1-(3)-1-2-3-3-2-(4-1-1, 17.
3. Henry Sprague, Long Beach, 3-2-(4)-3-2-2-3-2-3-1-5-DNC, 25.
49ER (13)
1. Dalton Bergan/Zack Maxam, Coronado
3-1-(5)-2-2-1-8-3-4-1-4-4-1-1-1, 28.
2. David Fagen, St. Petersburg, FL/Bora Gulari, Detroit,
2-3-1-1-4-(8)-1-1-(10)-2-1-1-3-4-4, 28.
3. Andy Mack, White Salmon, WA/Adam Lowry, San Francisco,
1-2-2-(6)-1-4-3-2-(6)-3-2-2-2-6-3, 33.
LASER (43)
1. Mike Leigh, Vancouver, B.C., 2-1-1-7-2-3-(15)-10-14-9, 49.
2. Brendon Piovesan, Vancouver, B.C., 1-8-2-(OCS)-4-15-8-5-7-7,
57.
3. Greg Helias, Marina del Rey, 12-11-13-2-8-(ZFP)-7-1-4-3, 61.
LASER RADIAL (28)
1. Parker Shinn, San Diego, 1-1-4-2-(5)-5-2-3-3-1, 22.
2. Doug Hart, San Diego, (9)-4-3-3-2-1-4-1-5-5, 28.
3. Bob Falk, Long Beach, (8)-2-1-8-4-6-3-2-2-3, 31.
STAR (10)
1. Mike Dorgan/Eric Weintraub, San Diego, 1-1-1-(9)-2-1-6, 12.
2. Jeremy Davidson/Jessica Costa, Long Beach, 3-2-3-3-(4)-4-4,
19.
3. Eric Lidecis, Newport Beach, 2-3-2-2-3-(5)-5, 17.
SNIPE (9)
1. Rick Arneson/Gus Wirth, San Diego, 1-1-1-2-(5)-2-4, 11.
2. David Tillson/John Fretwell, San Diego, 2-2-3-4-(6)-1-3, 15.
3. Ken Redler/Barbara Tillson, Marina del Rey, 3-4-1-6-3-(8)-1,
18.
Complete results and photos, see www.abyc.org.
See also www.ussailing.org.
|
