Day 1-3 – 2012 Paralympic Sailing Events

Its been no vacation for our Paralympic Sailors this weekend.

All three fleets have completed a 6 of 11 races already.  The event started on Saturday and they now have three days of racing completed with three more to go.

2.4M
Our Gold Medalist for Beijing – Paul Tingley – has shown some flashes of brilliance but has really been having a tough event.  His is sitting in 5th overall with 5 races to go.  With 30 points, he is only 10 points out of 3rd but it will not be an easy margin to make up.  So far his finishes have been 6, 7, 2, 10,9, and 6.  The racing is quite tight and he will need a few more top 3 results to put himself in a medal position by race 11.  Good Luck Paul!  We know you can do it. Great Britain is currently leading the 2.4M class.

SKUD
In the SKUD Class, John McRoberts and crew Stacie Louittit have been having a pretty good event but are sitting 4th overall.  They have 18 points and are only 8 points out of 3rd.  With results of 4, 3,3,4, OCS and 4, they are obviously media contenders.  The OCS stands of "On Course Side", which is sailing terminology for  a "False Start".  In sailing you get to go back and restart if you realize that you were over early.  The Race committee raises a special flag when one or more boats is over early but the problem is that competitors need to figure out for themselves who was over early.  If you don't go back you are disqualified with an OCS.  Many major championships are won with an OCS, so don't count this pair out.  They also have 5 races left to go and if they keep sailing consistently as they have done, they will be in medal position by race 11.  Go John and Stacie GO!!!  Australia is currently leading the Skud Class.

Sonar
The 3 person boat is called a Sonar.  Canada's Sonar team is skippered by Bruce Millar with crew Logan Campbel and Scott Lutes.  This team was very late in forming as Bruce was in contention to win the 2.4 M berth until late June of last year.  Once Tingle had secured the spot, Millar quickly assembled a team, qualified for the Games and have continued to make progress right until the first gun at the Paralympics.  They are sitting in 9th overall.  The Dutch team has a commanding lead in the Sonar Fleet.

Reprinted from: John Curtis, Wind Athletes Canada Website

www.windathletes.ca/

Image: Sonar fleet – London 2012 Paralympic Sailing Competition    

Image credit: David Staley – IFDS copyright

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