Pictured: Paige Railey races in light air in Toronto, Canada on Day Four of the Pan American Games.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Toronto, Canada – Lake Ontario teased the Pan American Games fleet with a fresh breeze during the morning of Day Four, but despite the Race Committee’s efforts to get all competitors out to their racing areas early, much of the wind had vanished by the time the first starting signals sounded. The result was lengthy delays to racing on all courses, followed by light and tricky races in the afternoon.
On Day Four it was the singlehanded classes’s turn to face the difficult tactical puzzles presented by the inner harbor race course. Laser Radial overall leader Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) successfully kept herself towards the top of the fleet all day, despite a nearly continuous reshuffling of her competitors during each race. “Today was a pretty good day on the inner harbor course, even though the conditions were a bit crazy,” said Railey. “It was still early in the series heading into today, and I’ve been pretty conservative tactically so far. The conditions have been tough, but if the points spread stays similar to how it is now, we will probably stick to the current game plan.”
It was an up-and-down day for Laser sailor Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) who scored 6,14,4 in three races and relinquished his overall lead. “There really was no favored side today,” said the North American Champion. “There were just areas of more or less pressure. It was tough to be consistent. This is a long series, and there is lots of racing left. I need to keep chipping away and minimize mistakes.” Buckingham now sits in 5th overall.
On the race courses farther out on Lake Ontario, all fleets faced longer delays waiting for the wind to strengthen and stabilize than the classes racing in the harbor. “We were out there for over eight hours today,” said RS:X board sailor Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.). “It was the kind of day where we had to keep pumping our sails to stay moving, and it was a lot of work. But I’m happy to be getting more experience in the light conditions.”
The Hobie 16 team of Mark Modderman (Long Branch, N.J.) and Grace Modderman (Rumson, N.J.) regained a share of the lead, and are tied on points with reigning Pan Am gold medalist Enrique Figueroa from Puerto Rico, who is sailing with a new crew. In the Lightning, Justin Coplan (Nyack, N.Y.), Danielle Prior (Mechanicsburg, Penn.) and Caroline Patten (Barnegat Light, N.J.) won the final race today to move up to second overall. They are now just five points from the lead. Snipe sailors Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) and Kathleen Tocke (Buffalo, N.Y.) turned in another solid day with a pair of 3rd place finishes and are in 3rd overall.
Racing continues on Thursday, July 16 (Day Five) at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. Two races are scheduled to be held each day in the Laser, Laser Radial, Sunfish, Snipe, Lightning and Hobie 16 classes. Three races per day will be held in RS:X Men, RS:X Women and 49erFX classes. The first races of the day are scheduled to start at 11:30AM local time. A medal race will be held at the end of the regatta for each class, which will count for double points.
Pictured: USA Lightning sailors waiting for breeze on Day Four.
Results: U.S. Pan American Sailing Team
Full results (pending protests)
Laser Radial Women:
- 1st overall, Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
Hobie 16:
- 2nd overall (tied for 1st), Mark Modderman (Long Branch, N.J.) and Grace Modderman (Rumson, N.J.)
Lightning:
- 2nd overall, Justin Coplan (Nyack, N.Y.), Danielle Prior (Mechanicsburg, Penn.) and Caroline Patten (Barnegat Light, N.J.)
49er FX:
- 2nd overall (tied for 2nd), Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.)
Snipe:
- 3rd overall, Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) and Kathleen Tocke (Buffalo, N.Y.)
RS:X Women:
- 4th overall (tied for 3rd), Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.)
Laser Men:
- 5th overall, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Sunfish:
- 6th overall, Conner Blouin (Tampa, Fla.)
RS:X Men:
- 6th overall (tied for 5th), Carson Crain (Houston, Texas)
Athletes must be American citizens to qualify for the US Pan American Sailing Team. Since sailing was included in the Pan American Games in 1955, the United States has won 78 medals in sailing: 33 gold, 27 silver and 18 bronze.
Event Reports:
- Day 3: USA Takes the Lead in Laser and Radial
- Day 2: Three More Race wins for USA
- Day 1: USA Leads Three Classes
- US Sailing Pan Am Games Preview
- US Sailing Announces Pan Am Games Team
Schedule:
- Saturday, July 11: Practices Races
- July 12-17: Qualifying Races
- July 18-19: Medal Races
- July 20: Reserve Day
ESPN Broadcast:
ESPN and ESPN Deportes will offer an Olympic-style TV production and complete multi-platform coverage of the 2015 Pan American Games from Toronto, starting Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Opening Ceremony live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and with replays available on ESPN3.
ESPN3 will carry 580 hours of Pan American Games programming, with live access to almost every competition in more than 15 different sports. While sailing will not be covered live, regatta updates will appear in event highlight reels during the broadcast.
Pan Am Games Media Guide:
About the Pan American Games
Held every four years in the year before the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games are the third largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The history of the Pan American Games dates back to 1951 when the Games were first hosted by Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 2015 Pan American Games mark the 17th celebration of the Pan American Sports Organization event. The U.S. has hosted the event twice, in Indianapolis in 1987 and Chicago in 1959.
About US Sailing
The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and growth for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the US Sailing Team Sperry. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org
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Press Contact: Will Ricketson, Olympic Communications Manager, US Sailing. willricketson@ussailing.org, +1 (978) 697-2384.