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Round Two for Olympic Aspirants in Japan

The Hempel World Cup Series Enoshima started off slow thanks to a long postponement waiting for wind on day one.
Japan sailing race
U.S. Sailing Team 49erFX pair Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea put in a strong performance on the light-air opening day of the Hempel World Cup Series Enoshima. Sailing Energy/World Sailing

Sailors were postponed until the early afternoon when they were met with light and lumpy conditions. Despite holding the athletes on shore for a couple of hours, the Race Committee managed to fire off at least one race in each class before sunset. U.S. 49erFX athletes Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) are currently the highest-ranking Americans.

The pair sailed a consistent two races to secure their spot in the top ten. In addition to the light southwesterly paired with the choppy sea state, the athletes had the challenge of dodging another fleet. “Today was a bit of a tricky day. The 49er guys were coming downwind as we were coming upwind off the start,” said Roble. “Our races ended up being about getting clear air and getting out to the edge to get better pressure than the boats in the middle.”

U.S. Women’s 470 sailors Carmen and Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) had the opposite experience on their racecourse. The pair struggled early in the race but managed to climb back to 12th place in their only race of the day. “We worked hard today and had a lot of learning opportunities,” said Carmen. “Our first leg was a little rough, but we were able to keep passing boats throughout the race to end up 12th, so we’re happy with that.”

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Other standout performances from the U.S. include those of the American Laser and Laser Radial athletes. Though the scores of Radial athlete, Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), and Laser athletes, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), and Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), were inconsistent, they managed to finish one of today’s two races in fourth, fourth, and seventh, respectively.

2020 Hempel World Cup Series Enoshima – U.S. Results

  • 49erFX – Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) & Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.), 10th
  • Finn – Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.), 11th
  • Women’s 470 – Carmen Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) & Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.), 12th
  • Finn – Luke Muller (Fort Pierce, Fla.), 13th
  • Laser – Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), 13th
  • Laser Radial – Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 16th
  • Men’s RS:X – Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.), 17th
  • Women’s 470 – Nikole Barnes (Miami, Fla.) & Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, Minn.), 17th
  • Women’s 470 – Rachel Bryer (Jamestown, R.I.) & Laura Slovensky (Brookhaven, N.Y.), 18th
  • Women’s 470 – Atlantic Brugman (Winthrop, Mass.) & Nora Brugman (Winthrop, Mass.), 19th
  • Laser – Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), 20th
  • Men’s 470 – Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) & Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.), 23rd
  • Nacra 17 – Sarah Newberry (Miami, Fla.) & David Liebenberg (Livermore, Calif.), 23rd
  • Nacra 17 – Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) & Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 24th
  • 49er – Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, N.Y.) & Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.), 25th
  • 49er – Judge Ryan (San Diego, Calif.) & Hans Henken (Coronado, Calif.), 29th
  • Nacra 17 – Ravi Parent (Sarasota, Fla.) & Charlotte Mack (Miami, Fla.), 30th
  • 49erFX – Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) & Anna Tunnicliffe-Tobias (Pittsburgh, Penn.), 31st
  • Men’s 470 – Trevor Davis (Annapolis, Md.) & Trevor Bornarth (Martin County, Fla.), 31st

With a particularly windy forecast for tomorrow looming, it is possible that some or all fleets will be unable to race in the predicted twenty-to-thirty knot conditions. Racing is still currently scheduled to resume as planned at 12:00 local time, tomorrow.

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