Olympic Games 1996

STAR - RACE 9 RACE REPORT - 28 July 1996

Gold, silver and bronze medals will be decided in tomorrow's 10th and final race for the Two-person Keelboat (Star) off Savannah with three crews in the running for the gold - Brazil (BRA), Australia (AUS) and Sweden (SWE).

The overall standings changed once again in today's Race 9, with Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira (BRA) finishing three places ahead of Colin Beashel and David Giles (AUS) to now be one point ahead with one race to sail.

While the final race could be virtually a match race between two outstanding sailors, both will have to watch the third placed Swedish boat, sailed by Hans Wallen and Bobbie Lohse (SWE) who are within striking distance of gold with 28 points on the board.

Still with an outside chance of a minor medal are Anastassios Bountouris and Dimitrios Boukis (GRE) on 34 points, and today's race winners Rod Davis (NZL) and Donald Cowie (NZL) on 36 points.

Going into today's vital Race 9 in the lead, were Beashel and Giles (AUS) with placings of 11-1-1-1-8-3-2-7 and Grael and Ferreira (BRA) with placings of 1-6-2-7-1-4-9-2, both on 23 points followed by Wallen and Lohse (SWE) with 28 points from placings of 4-7-7-8-2-1-3-4.

Race 9 finally got under way with a clear start after a delay of 2 hours and 53 minutes due to lack of wind. Eventually, the wind picked up to about 6 knots with the Race Committee setting a course of 175 degrees in the light sea breeze on a low Atlantic ocean swell.

Racing in the light winds called for wind tacking angles on the windward legs and near the top end of the first beat the Star fleet sailed through the Finn fleet reaching toward its wing mark.

Downwind, the Star fleet gybed their way to maintain boatspeed, with the fleet spread out across the course. The Australian (AUS) and Brazilian (BRA) boats were sailing on opposite sides of the course with Frank Butzmann and Kai Falkenthal (GER) turning in their best performance of the regatta to lead the fleet around the first two marks.

At the leeward mark at the end of the first windward/leeward legs, the fleet rounded in the following order: GER, GRE, GEO, NZL, IRL, ITA, GBR, RUS, AUS, AUT, ESP, DEN, HUN and BRA.

This gave Beashel and Giles (AUS) a vital early lead over gold medal rivals Grael and Ferreira (BRA). The two skippers had been equal on points going into this vital ninth race.

However, on the second beat to windward, the Australians allowed both the Brazilian and the Swedish crews to go to the right hand side of the course and, failing to cover, saw them sail through him as they neared the windward mark for the second and last time.

Davis and Cowie (NZL) also picked the favourable shift on the right hand side, sailing through from fourth and on to a comfortable win from Butzmann and Falkenthal (GER) with third going to Bountouris and Boukis (GRE). Then came IRL, GEO, BRA, RUS, SWE, AUS, HUN, DEN, AUT, ITA, ESP, GER, FIN and USA.

The win today was the best result by Davis and Cowie (NZL), the silver medalists at Barcelona in 1992, but the 18th place by Barcelona gold medalists Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel (USA) has put them right out of contention for a medal.

With two races being discarded after the ninth race, the provisional overall placings changed again to see Grael and Ferreira (BRA) leading with 22 points, from Beashel and Giles (AUS) on 23 points, followed by Wallen and Lohse (SWE) on 28 points, bringing them into gold medal contention.

Tomorrow's 10th final race for the Star class is scheduled to start on Charlie course at 13:00 hours. The presentation of medals for the Star, Finn and Mistral Sailboards, men and women, will be made at a Ceremony in Savannah's river front at 20:30 hours tomorrow evening.