Iain Percy and Andrew 'Bart' Simpson, seen here winning Race 4, maintained their overall lead of the Star Worlds 2010 after Race 5. Image copyright Fried Elliott/www.friedbits.com
by Lynn Fitzpatrick
Rick Merriman and Phil Trinter (USA) snatched the lead from Lars Grael and Ronal Seifert (BRA) on the first run of Race 5 of the 2010 Star World Championship in Rio de Janeiro and followed up yesterday’s second place finish with a bullet. “We’re smoking downwind,” said Merriman. The pair watched regatta leaders Iain Percy and Andrew “Bart” Simpson (GBR) jibe of inside them during the initial part of the first run and lose boats. “That was the signal to continue on without jibing,” said Trinter.
Percy/Simpson have to wait another day to see if they will bag the 2010 Star World Championship title. The Brits had climbed into fifth place by the second weather mark and saw Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De Maria round in ninth place. To win the World Championship title today, their job was to try to pass more boats than the Swiss, which is not an easy feat when Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert (BRA), Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira (BRA) and Juan K. and Alejandro Colla (ARG) are your only options, because the Americans were far in the lead. Marazzi/DeMaria’s job was equally difficult with Olympians Marin Lovrovic and Sinisia Mikulicic (CRO), Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) and Gastao Brun and Gustavo Kunze (BRA) between them and the Brits. Olympians, World Champions and fast young Germans were immediately on their tail.
Percy commented on the point separation throughout the second half of the race, “We always had an eye on them. We knew that we could get fourth comfortably. We were going fast and they were fast on the runs, especially when the wind lightened."
Delighted with the day, Percy said, “I haven’t thought about tomorrow’s strategy. We hold all of the cards and will decide how to approach it. If the breeze is up, we’ll probably yacht around and try to win the race.” It’s up to Marazzi/DeMaria to win or take second and be eight points ahead of the 2002 Star World Champion and his partner in winning the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal.
To celebrate the special holiday in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Star teams put on a dazzling show on the water. There were five Brazilians in the top 10. Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert, who finished second, led the Brazilians. Toben Grael and Marcello Ferreira were third, Scheidt/Prada were fifth, Brun/Kunze were eighth and Alan Adler and Guilherme de Alemeida finished tenth.
Lars Grael remarked, “With Torben and Marcello right behind us, I knew that I had to push hard all of the time.” He took special pride in his and Torben’s consecutive finishes. “When we crossed the line, I saw both of my uncles (Axel and Erik Schmidt Grael) watching us from their boat and they were crying. They taught us how to sail and won the Snipe Worlds together three times, won a Gold and Silver medal in the Pan Am Games and represented Brazil in the Soling and the Star in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.”
Marazzi/DeMaria pulled into second place overall in the regatta and are the only team who have a chance to beat Percy/Simpson. Adler/de Alemeida are in third place, 14 points behind the Swiss with . Johannes Babendererde and Timo Jacobs (GER) are tied with Scheidt/Prada, the 2007 Star World Champions, just one point behind. Rounding out the top ten are the Grael teams, Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR), Kouyoumdjian/Colla and Diego Negri and Nando Colaninno (ITA). You can bet everyone will have their decks marked with grease pencils to help them with quick calculations during Race 6, the final, race of the 2010 Star World Championship in Rio de Janeiro.
What the leaders said about Race 5:
Rick Merriman (USA), Race 5 winning skipper
About their boat speed
“We’re smoking downwind. We’re still average upwind.”
About winning his first race at a Star World Championship regatta
“I wish that we had the 2 and the 1 at the beginning of the week.”
Phil Trinter, winning crew of Race 5
About their downwind tactics that put them in the lead
“We watched Iain Percy Bart jibe inside of the pack during the first part of the run and lose boats. “That was the signal to continue on without jibing.”
Iain Percy, regatta leader and 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist
About the point separation with the Swiss throughout the second half of the race
“We always had an eye on them. We knew that we could get fourth comfortably. We were going fast and they were fast on the runs, especially when the wind lightened."
About the strategy for the final race
“I haven’t thought about tomorrow’s strategy. We hold all of the cards and will decide how to approach it. If the breeze is up, we’ll probably yacht around and try to win the race.”
Lars Grael, who led at the first weather mark and finished second in Race 5
About his Race 5 strategy and tactics
“We thought that the Race Committee boat was favored for the start and we won the start at the committee boat. We wanted to finish the top of the first beat on the left side and we crossed the fleet and rounded first.”
About Rick Merriman and Phil Trinter’s performance
“Rick and Phil made a good decision by going low and having better current and better air on the run.”
About having his brother, the 1990 Star World Champion, right behind him for most of the race
“With Torben and Marcello right behind us, I knew that I had to push hard all of the time.”
About his boat and Torben’s finishing second and third
“When we crossed the line, I saw both of my uncles (Axel and Erik Schmidt Grael) watching us from their boat and they were crying. They taught us how to sail and won the Snipe Worlds together three times, took a Gold and Silver medal in the Pan Am Games and represented Brazil in the Soling and the Star in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.”
Provisional Results after 5 Races with one discard:
Place Boat Skipper Crew Sail #: Fleet 1 2 3 4 5 Total
1 GBR 8371 Percy Iain Simpson Andrew 8371 Sol 2.0 11.0 2.0 1.0 4.0 9
2 SUI 8364 Marazzi Flavio De Maria Enrico 8364 TB 30.0 1.0 6.0 4.0 6.0 17
3 BRA 8210 Adler Alan Almeida Guilherme 8210 RdJ 6.0 5.0 11.0 13.0 9.0 31
4 GER 8378 Babendererde Johannes Jacobs Timo 8378 Moh 1.0 8.0 39.0 8.0 15.0 32
5 BRA 8255 SCHEIDT ROBERT PRADA BRUNO 8255 Gua 3.0 19.0 50.0 5.0 5.0 32.0001
6 BRA 8397 Grael Torben Ferreira Marcelo 8397 GuB 5.0 25.0 21.0 7.0 3.0 36
7 BRA 8392 GRAEL LARS SEIFERT RONALD 8392 Par 35.0 15.0 12.0 10.0 2.0 39
8 NOR 8317 Melleby Eivind Morland Pedersen Petter 8317 Nor 9.0 10.0 4.0 16.0 16.0 39.0001
9 ARG 8381 Kouyoumdjian Juan Colla Alejandro 8381 Lar 4.0 30.0 8.0 22.0 7.0 41
10 ITA 8266 Negri Diego Colaninno Fernando 8266 VE 23.0 18.0 5.0 6.0 13.0 42
11 FRA 8237 Rohart Xavier Ponsot Pierre Alexis 8237 NI 66.0 14.0 1.0 18.0 12.0 45
12 SWE 8387 Loof Fredrik Tillander Johan 8387 Bk 8.0 9.0 18.0 19.0 11.0 46
13 BRA 8283 Brun Gastao Kunze Gustavo 8283 RdJ 21.0 7.0 15.0 48.0 8.0 51
14 CAN 8398 Macdonald Ross Lekszycki Andre 8398 EB 10.0 13.0 14.0 15.0 20.0 52
15 USA 8361 Campbell Andrew Nichol Brad 8361 SDB 12.0 3.0 24.0 26.0 14.0 53
16 CRO 8339 Lovrovic Marin Mikulicic Sinisa 8339 Kv 17.0 34.0 13.0 14.0 10.0 54
17 USA 8362 Merriman Rick Trinter Phil 8362 LH 49.0 36.0 17.0 2.0 1.0 56
18 BRA 6475 Mirsky Andre JORDÁO MARCELO 6475 RdJ 33.0 6.0 22.0 3.0 35.0 64
19 GER 8340 Stanjek Robert Stanjek Philipp 8340 BF 14.0 12.0 27.0 23.0 19.0 68
20 GER 8140 Schlonski Alexander Kleen Frithjof 8140 Lub 24.0 2.0 74.0 [BFD] 20.0 24.0 70
21 GER 8109 Polgar Johannes Koy Markus 8109 Ess 26.0 4.0 42.0 24.0 17.0 71
22 ARG 8211 Rigoni Alejo Percossi Juan Pablo 8211 BA 29.0 31.0 7.0 12.0 26.0 74
23 POR 8276 Lima Gustavo Nankin Charles 8276 Por 7.0 74.0 [BFD] 9.0 46.0 21.0 83
24 IRL 8385 Treacy Max Shanks Anthony 8385 Isol 13.0 32.0 33.0 9.0 30.0 84
25 POR 8309 Domingos Afonso Melo Frederico 8309 CP 25.0 29.0 16.0 17.0 28.0 86
26 BRA 8145 Bodra Fabio Barbosa Lopes Arthur 8145 SP 20.0 24.0 19.0 45.0 23.0 86.0001
27 BRA 8337 Cunha Renato Mascarenhas Marcos 8337 RdJ 34.0 27.0 3.0 33.0 42.0 97
28 ITA 8155 Poggi Giampiero Corsi Manlio 8155 Rom 22.0 23.0 20.0 38.0 34.0 99
29 USA 8267 Mendelblatt Mark Von Schwarz JOhn 8267 TaB 44.0 17.0 25.0 31.0 27.0 100
30 GER 8299 Miller Matthias Wenk Benedikt 8299 UB 62.0 20.0 31.0 25.0 25.0 101
31 GRE 8138 Papathanasiou Emilios Papastefanou Pachos 8138 GR 16.0 49.0 30.0 11.0 45.0 102
32 ARG 7966 Labandeira Julio Thompson Valentin 7966 OL 15.0 26.0 23.0 43.0 39.0 103
33 USA 8273 Szabo George Peters Rick 8273 SDB 53.0 39.0 10.0 42.0 22.0 113
34 ITA 8384 Celon Nicola Natucci Edoardo 8384 SG 41.0 21.0 43.0 21.0 31.0 114
35 BRA 8282 PASCOLATO ALESSANDRO Boening Henry 8282 Gua 28.0 22.0 51.0 30.0 44.0 124
36 BRA 8300 FICKER PETER Oliveira Ubiratan 8300 San 19.0 33.0 56.0 28.0 46.0 126
37 BRA 7590 King John A Spear Macpherson Norman 7590 Cop 11.0 56.0 45.0 27.0 74.0 [BFD] 139
38 BRA 8049 Raulino Guilherme LAGOA MARCO 8049 Par 51.0 16.0 48.0 39.0 36.0 139
39 CRO 8280 Lovrovic Dan ARAPOVIC Antonio 8280 Kv 27.0 37.0 44.0 50.0 32.0 140
40 ITA 8242 Boggi Lucio Lambertenghi Sergio 8242 Gar 43.0 74.0 [BFD] 28.0 32.0 38.0 141
41 BRA 8393 Carabelli Horacio Ilha Fernando 8393 RdJ 57.0 46.0 40.0 40.0 18.0 144
42 GBR 8396 Razmilovic Ante Hammersley Brian 8396 NB 40.0 40.0 38.0 58.0 29.0 147
43 USA 8067 HORNOS Tomas HORNOS Luis 8067 BH 39.0 48.0 32.0 44.0 33.0 148
44 ESP 8297 Echavarri Erasum Fernando Rodriguez Rivero Fernando 8297 Lar 18.0 74.0 [BFD] 29.0 65.0 37.0 149
45 GBR 8025 Gimson John Greig Ed 8025 Sol 37.0 41.0 37.0 36.0 74.0 [BFD] 151
46 ITA 8400 Santoni Silvio Toccoli Fabio 8400 NG 32.0 43.0 74.0 [BFD] 35.0 47.0 157
47 CAN 8143 Cramer Brian Johnston Matt 8143 WLOC 31.0 52.0 41.0 37.0 54.0 161
48 ITA 8383 Augelli Marco Rocca Leone 8383 FdiT 74.0 [DSQ] 42.0 49.0 29.0 43.0 163
49 SUI 8085 Zimmermann Lorenz Hollweg Nils 8085 LUV 56.0 60.0 26.0 41.0 61.0 183
50 BRA 8391 Gonzaga Neto Admar Figueiredo De Freita Alexandre 8391 Par 46.0 47.0 52.0 54.0 41.0 186
51 BRA 8284 Raulino Gabriel Camargo Rosas Juliano 8284 Par 59.0 54.0 35.0 49.0 51.0 189
52 BRA 8251 Conrad Reinaldo Pomerantzeff Paulo Andre 8251 San 45.0 50.0 46.0 74.0 [DNF] 48.0 189
53 ITA 8370 Simeone Luca La Porta Manuele 8370 Rom 42.0 62.0 36.0 60.0 52.0 190
54 ARG 7700 Della Torre Daniel Barroso Julian Gazari 7700 BA 60.0 28.0 54.0 53.0 59.0 194
55 ITA 7556 Fornaro Andrea Tarabella Andrea 7556 LdB 48.0 35.0 63.0 63.0 50.0 196
56 AUT 8368 Tomasini Grinover Roberto Bahr Gunnar 8368 AU 55.0 44.0 55.0 51.0 56.0 205
57 BRA 8287 Almeida Reis Luiz Andre Moura Renato 8287 Par 64.0 58.0 34.0 57.0 74.0 [BFD] 213
58 BRA 7441 Bueno Mauricio Zarif Jorge Joao 7441 Gua 69.0 45.0 58.0 55.0 55.0 213
59 USA 8279 Bonanni Claude Burgess Richard 8279 TaB 36.0 74.0 [BFD] 61.0 64.0 53.0 214
60 ARG 7777 Della Torre Gerardo Latour Guillermo 7777 BA 67.0 38.0 59.0 52.0 74.0 [BFD] 216
61 SUI 8009 Gautschi Christoph Koenig Juerg 8009 Bod 70.0 61.0 65.0 34.0 57.0 217
62 POR 8048 De Barros Patrick M Plantier Santos Bernardo 8048 FdeL 63.0 57.0 60.0 47.0 58.0 222
63 ARG 7909 Perez Jorge Oscar Tufarolo Marcelo 7909 OL 54.0 55.0 53.0 70.0 60.0 222
64 GER 8016 Rauch Hubert Schappeler Ingo 8016 And 52.0 51.0 64.0 61.0 74.0 [BFD] 228
65 SRB 7888 Erac Branislav Tosic Ozren 7888 Isol 47.0 66.0 57.0 71.0 63.0 233
66 CHI 7972 Gimeno Pablo Calegari Frederico 7972 Val 38.0 65.0 66.0 [66.0, RDG] 66.0 74.0 [BFD] 235
67 BRA 7284 Castro Cezar Montezuma Afonso 7284 Par 68.0 53.0 47.0 67.0 74.0 [BFD] 235
68 ITA 7551 Graciotti Vincenzo Cisbani Paolo 7551 Con 74.0 [DNS] 64.0 66.0 56.0 49.0 235
69 BRA 7772 Siemsen Francisco Floricke Manfredo 7772 Cop 65.0 74.0 [BFD] 74.0 [BFD] 69.0 40.0 248
70 ITA 8382 Irrera Renato Cristaldini Corrado 8382 Pal 58.0 67.0 62.0 62.0 74.0 [BFD] 249
71 BRA 8117 Caruso Bruno Manzoli Bremer Rolf 8117 Gua 71.0 59.0 67.0 59.0 64.0 249
72 BRA 7823 De Almeida Joao Marcos Bunge Manuel 7823 Cop 61.0 63.0 74.0 [BFD] 68.0 65.0 257
73 BRA 8212 Goretkin Sergio Cruz Renato 8212 RdJ 50.0 74.0 [DSQ] 74.0 [DNS] 74.0 [DNS] 62.0 260
World Regattas
Star Class
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