SAILING REPORT FROM WORLD SAILING’S ANDY RICE

The US Sailing Team continued to be paced by Men’s RS:X athlete Pedro Pascual (Miami, Fla.), who retained his top-10 position through six races. Pascual logged scores of 9,5,15 and noted that guessing where the next band of breeze would appear was key to racing near the front of the fleet today. “The conditions were interesting, to say the least,” said Pascual. “There were huge shifts and wind gusts, and it was all about staying in pressure. I managed to do pretty well, especially the first and second races, just [in terms of] the feeling the pressure and playing out in the front of the pack.”

With the wind dropping in the later races of the day, and with ocean swells populating the course, the board athletes found themselves in marginal planing conditions. Pumping became crucial to boatspeed, and the athletic challenge of sailing in an Olympic windsurfing event was on full display. “RS:X racing is one of the most physical events here,” said Pascual. “You get huge speed changes between pumping or not pumping. With the big swells, the goal was to pump as much as possible. We could surf waves today on the upwind legs, and staying on those waves as long as possible through pumping hard was key. On the downwinds, you’re able to go a little lower and faster if you’re pumping. So, it was a pretty physical day and working to manage those loads on the race was very important.”

A defining challenge of singlehanded sailing is maintaining an optimal balance in terms of energy expenditure, focus on speed, and tactical awareness. “I was definitely looking around a lot today, and making sure that I had some mental capacity to devote to tactics,” said Pascual. “I can tell my training paid off because I was able to balance a stronger physical and mental load than during my last Olympics in Rio.”

In the Men’s Laser, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) fell from 9th overall to 18th after scoring 22, 18 on the day. Women’s RS:X athlete Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) scored 12, 18, 18 and remained 17th overall. In the Women’s Laser Radial event, Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) continued to struggle in the unstable offshore conditions. Railey added a 25, 36 to her scoreline and is in 39th overall.

The third day of racing will see the addition of the Finn, 49er and 49erFX classes to the events off Enoshima. Team USA will be represented by Luke Muller (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) in the Finn, who finished 6th at the Finn Gold Cup (World Championship) in 2021. Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.), who won bronze at the most recent 49erFX World Championship in 2019, will compete in the women’s skiff event. Team USA will not be represented in the Men’s 49er event at Tokyo 2020.

RESULTS

The NBC Olympics website is hosting the Tokyo 2020 sailing events for U.S. audiences starting at 11:00 PM EDT (8:00 PM PDT). There are two televised race areas per day, the “Enoshima” and “Kamakura” courses. As the classes rotate through each course daily, different athletes will be featured on the broadcast.

The post Pascual Remains Top of the Fleet; U.S. Laser sailors Struggle on Day 2 appeared first on Sailing World.

The sailing events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games began on Sunday, with the US Sailing Team in action in four singlehanded classes. American sailors are in the top ten overall in two events, with Laser athlete Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) and RS:X sailor Pedro Pascual (Miami, Fla.) both in 9th. In the Men’s RS:X sail board, Pascual had a career-best day of Olympic racing with a 6,12,7.

After five years of training and racing at the highest level, Pascual demonstrated significant improvement since competing at his first Games in Rio 2016. “Well, being transparent, at my first Olympics I wasn’t sleeping. I was too excited,” said Pascual. “I was 20 years old. And that definitely took a toll on me. This time around, I know what to expect. I’ve experienced these feelings before and I’m just looking forward to racing.”

Pascual sits in 9th overall after three races. “I got off the [starting] line pretty well in the first and third races,” said the 2020 Sailing World Cup Miami winner. “Tactically, the shifts and the puffs were super small. So staying in pressure was key to me. I was a lot more confident, especially in the last race with a bit more breeze. I’m happy with my first day and looking forward to improving in the next.”

In the Men’s Laser, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) finished 9th in the only race that was completed on the first day of racing. The Lima 2019 Pan American Games bronze medalist started cleanly near the pin and sailed with the front pack throughout the race. A single-digit finish on a light and tricky day in Enoshima represents a solid start in the deep 35-strong Laser fleet.

RS:X athlete Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) scored 21, 21, 7 across the opening races, and her single-digit finish in race three is a career-best to date for the two-time Olympian and 2011 Pan American Games medalist. After rounding the first mark in race three in 16th, Hall mounted a comeback that saw her pass 13 boards on the third leg. Leg four saw her drop slightly to 7th, a position she defended until the finish. 

In the Women’s Laser Radial event, three-time Olympian Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) endured one of the toughest days of her long and accomplished career. The five-time World Championship medalist started the first race strong, but after ending up on the wrong sides of large shifts on both upwind legs, Railey found herself deep in the fleet despite showing her typically-strong speed. A score of 40 in race one was followed by a UFD (over the starting line early) penalty in race two, which prematurely ended her efforts to bounce back. 

“I’m disappointed, to be honest,” said the 2006 World Sailor of the Year. “It was a rough day for me, so I’m just going to go out and do my best for the next few races. I just need to take one race at a time and just do as well as I can.”

The NBC Olympics website is hosting the Tokyo 2020 sailing event for U.S. audiences starting at 11:00 PM EDT (8:00 PM PDT) during the event. There are two televised race areas per day, the “Enoshima” and “Kamakura” courses. As the classes rotate through each course daily, different athletes will be featured on the broadcast.

The post Top Results for Buckingham and Pascual on Olympic Opener appeared first on Sailing World.