Sailing at the Olympics - Star Class Race Results

Boating and Sailing News 15 Aug

Qingdao, China - The "torture rack" has finally been put to good use in China, as the Star Class keelboats hit the water in Qingdao today. The heavyweights of the Olympic sailing fleet, the Star showed some interesting performance on the course as it was able to plow through the chop and holes that will sometimes set a lighter dinghy on its stern. After waiting for some air, and with the fluky breezes hitting up to nine knots (and down to what looked like nothing in some spots), the racing began, and the battle for Olympic gold in the Star Class was on.

Initially, the right side of the course looked to have the better breeze, and many from the fleet, including Australia, Austria, Brazil and Italy, chased it. However, only about two-thirds of the way down the course, the wind shifted 20 degrees, and it was the boats on the left that had the advantage, while those on the right were becalmed. All four of the teams mentioned above protested to the committee's not abandoning the race, and were denied. That's Olympic sailing in Qingdao, where the wind comes in puffs and the dice are rolled with each tactical decision.

The benefactor of the wind shift was Sweden, who barely made the first mark with sails flapping, and then went on to take the second mark as well. Portugal kept the pressure on, and swooped in to take the third mark, but it was Germany's turn for some luck as they shot up from fifth in the last leg to take second place from Portugal by a mere 4 seconds, while Sweden regained the lead for the win. As Sweden's Fredrick Loof said of the day's sailing, “It was not about boat speed. It was about selecting a route. If you go the wrong way, it doesn’t matter how fast you go.”

Olympic Sailing Race Results

Star Olympic Class - Men's Keelboat - After 1 Race

1 SWE Fredrik Loof, Anders Ekstrom

Star Class Sailing Olympics

2     GER     Marc Pickel, Ingo Borkowski
3     POR     Afonso Domingos, Bernardo Santos
4     NZL     Hamish Pepper, Carl Williams
5     POL     Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Dominik Zycki
6     IRL     Peter O'Leary, Stephen Milne
7     GBR     Iain Percy, Andrew Simpson
8     USA     John Dane, Austin Sperry
9     SUI     Flavio Marazzi, Enrico De Maria
10     BRA     Robert Scheidt, Bruno Prada
11     AUS     Iain Murray, Andrew Palfrey
12     FRA     Xavier Rohart, Pascal Rambeau
13     ITA     Diego Negri, Luigi Viale
14     AUT     Hans Spitzauer, Christian Nehammer
15     CRO     Marin Lovrovic Jr, Sinisa Mikulicic
16     CHN     Hongquan Li, He Wang

Star class Olympics
John Dane and Austin Sperry of the US Olympic Sailing Team (photo by Walter Cooper)

BOOKMARK THIS PAGE, WHICH WILL BE UPDATED DAILY WITH STAR CLASS SAILING AT THE OLYMPICS NEWS & RESULTS!

- YachtPals Crew for YachtPals.com

READ MORE ABOUT THE Star Class Sailboats CLASS SAILBOAT, OR SAILING AT THE Olympics:

OLYMPIC SAILING RSS FEED

-- Sailing at the 2008 Olympics - Quick Look at Olympic Sailing Classes --

Multihull Sailboat = Tornado
Skiff Doublehanded Open Sailboat = 49er
Women's Windsurfer = RS:X
Women's One Person Sailing Dinghy = Laser Radial
Women's Two Person Sailing Dinghy = 470
Women's Keelboat = Yngling
Men's Windsurfer = RS:X
Men's One Person Sailing Dinghy = Laser
Men's One Person Sailing Dinghy = FINN
Men's Two Person Sailing Dinghy = 470
Men's Keelboat = Star

Submitted By YachtPals on 15 Aug

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Olympic Star Update - USA's Dane & Sperry Take the Lead

On August 16th, 2008 YachtPals says:

Persistence, that's what's making the Star Class event so far. None of the top three boats have a win, but they've been patient, and tenacious. This may be precisely the quality the US team has in spades, as skipper John Dane has been trying out for the Olympics since 1968, and never qualified until this year, at the age of 58. Now that is sticking to a goal.

Star Class Results - After 3 Olympic Events

1 USA
John Dane
Austin Sperry
14 14

2     NZL
Hamish Pepper
Carl Williams
15     15

3     POR
Afonso Domingos
Bernardo Santos
16     16

4     GER
Marc Pickel
Ingo Borkowski
17     17

5 FRA
Xavier Rohart
Pascal Rambeau
18 18

6 POL
Mateusz Kusznierewicz
Dominik Zycki
19 19

7 SWE
Fredrik Loof
Anders Ekstrom
20 20

8 GBR
Iain Percy
Andrew Simpson
23 23

9 IRL
Peter O'Leary
Stephen Milne
25 25

10 SUI
Flavio Marazzi
Enrico De Maria
25 25

11 BRA
Robert Scheidt
Bruno Prada
27 27

12 ITA
Diego Negri
Luigi Viale
33 33

13 CRO
Marin Lovrovic Jr
Sinisa Mikulicic
34 34

14 AUT
Hans Spitzauer
Christian Nehammer
35 35

15 AUS
Iain Murray
Andrew Palfrey
39 39

16 CHN
Hongquan Li
He Wang
48 48

John Dane and Austin Sperry Video Interview - Olympic Sailing

On August 17th, 2008 YachtPals says:

John Dane and Austin Sperry of the USA Olympic sailing team (Star Class) interviewed on American television.

John Dane and Austin Sperry of the US Olympic Sailing Team - Star Class Sailboat.

READ MORE ABOUT THE Star Class Sailboats CLASS SAILBOAT, OR SAILING AT THE Olympics:

Olympic Sailing 2008 - The Star Class Sailboats

Star Class Sailing at the Olympics - Star Class Results Race 4

On August 17th, 2008 YachtPals says:

John Dane and Austin Sperry have moved down to 5th place on the overall standings, after a disappointing 12th place finish in the Star class races at the Olympics today.

2     FRA
Xavier Rohart
Pascal Rambeau
    12
    1
    5
    4
Total Points: 22

3     SWE
Fredrik Loof
Anders Ekstrom
    1
    4
    15
    3
Total Points: 23

4     GER
Marc Pickel
Ingo Borkowski
    2
    14
    1
    8
Total Points: 25

5     USA
John Dane
Austin Sperry
    8
    2
    4
    12
Total Points: 26

STAR CLASS OLYMPIC RACE

On August 18th, 2008 Sailor (anonymous) says:

WE WANT TO SEE STAR CLASS RACING ON TV. PLEASE BR0ADCAST IT! WE HOPE DANE AND SPERRY WIN ONE FOR MISSISSIPPI AND THE USA.

anonymous sailor and friend of Leslie Weatherly Dane

On August 18th, 2008 Sailor (anonymous) says:

It would be great to broadcast the star class racing . I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and would love to see Dane and Sperry on T.V.n

Star Sailing - John Dane and Austin Sperry

On August 19th, 2008 Sailor (anonymous) says:

What a great pair, John Dane and Austin Sperry. They have represented our country, state and city with great class and dignity. We are VERY proud of them in Gulfport, Mississippi. Got our fingers crossed for Wed.

Star Class Olympic Sailing Update

On August 18th, 2008 YachtPals says:

Star Class Results - After 7 Olympic Sailing Events

[worst race finish (15) is ignored in net score`(23) for each team]

1 SWE
Fredrik Loof
Anders Ekstrom
1,4,(15),3,6,1,8 =38(23)

2 GBR
Iain Percy
Andrew Simpson
7,(13),3,5,8,2,1 =39(26)

3 FRA
Xavier Rohart
Pascal Rambeau
(12),1,5,4,7,6,9 =44(32)

4 POL
Mateusz Kusznierewicz
Dominik Zycki
5,6,8,2,(10),9,3 =43(33)

5 GER
Marc Pickel
Ingo Borkowski
2,(14),1,8,3,8,14 =50(36)

6 POR
Afonso Domingos
Bernardo Santos
3,3,10,(17)OCS,13,3,5 =54(37)

7 NZL
Hamish Pepper
Carl Williams
4,9,2,11,1,(12),11 =50(38)

8 BRA
Robert Scheidt
Bruno Prada
10,(11),6,1,9,10,2 =49(38)

9 SUI
Flavio Marazzi
Enrico De Maria
(9),7,9,9,5,5,6 =50(41)

10 ITA
Diego Negri
Luigi Viale
(13),8,12,7,11,7,7 =65(52)

11 CRO
Marin Lovrovic Jr
Sinisa Mikulicic
(15),5,14,13,4,14,4 =69(54)

12 USA
John Dane
Austin Sperry
8,2,4,12,15,15,(16) =72(56)

13 AUT
Hans Spitzauer
Christian Nehammer
(14),10,11,6,14,4,12 =71(57)

14 IRL
Peter O'Leary
Stephen Milne
6,12,7,10,12,(13),13 =73(60)

15 AUS
Iain Murray
Andrew Palfrey
11,(15),13,15,2,11,10 =77(62)

16 CHN
Hongquan Li
He Wang
(16),16,16,14,16,16,15 =109(93)

2008 Olympic Races 8, 9 and 10 for the Star Class are scheduled for Wednesday, August 20th.

Olympic Star Class Update - Heading to Medal Race

On August 20th, 2008 YachtPals says:

Today's standings of the Star Class, heading for the medal race scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, August 21. Only the top ten teams will compete in the Olympic Star Class medal race.

Star Class Standings - After 10 Olympic Sailing Events

1 SWE
Fredrik Loof
Anders Ekstrom
48 33

2 GBR
Iain Percy
Andrew Simpson
48 35

3 BRA
Robert Scheidt
Bruno Prada
58 47

4 FRA
Xavier Rohart
Pascal Rambeau
63 51

5 SUI
Flavio Marazzi
Enrico De Maria
66 55

6 POL
Mateusz Kusznierewicz
Dominik Zycki
70 57

7 POR
Afonso Domingos
Bernardo Santos
77 60

8 GER
Marc Pickel
Ingo Borkowski
76 62

9 NZL
Hamish Pepper
Carl Williams
79 66

10 ITA
Diego Negri
Luigi Viale
89 76

11 USA
John Dane
Austin Sperry
102 86

12 AUT
Hans Spitzauer
Christian Nehammer
101 87

13 IRL
Stephen Milne
104 91

14 AUS
Iain Murray
Andrew Palfrey
111 96

15 CRO
Marin Lovrovic Jr
Sinisa Mikulicic
113 98

16 CHN
Hongquan Li
He Wang
156 140

The Medal Race is Thursday August 21 for the Star Class.