#sailforgold – Six Irish sailing teams race tomorrow in the medal races at the Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth and the forecast will be very much to the Irish team's liking; plenty of wind!

Winds were so strong today that overnight leaders in the 49er skiff class, Ireland's Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern now head into the medal races with a winning margin.

In the Laser Radial class Annalise Murphy goes into the medal race in third place behind the Chinese girls but the Gold medal is already a foregone conclusion. 

The Laser Radial fleet completed two of the three scheduled races, and with a race win - Lilia Xu of China's seventh of the eleven races so far – followed by a third for her efforts today, the 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the year and Olympic medal winning Xu amassed a 22-point lead at the top of the table to take the Sail for Gold crown ahead of tomorrow’s double points-scoring medal race.

Also qualifying in the radial are Irish youth sailors Fionn Lyden and Finn Lynch.

And in an auspicious start to their Rio 2016 campaign Tiffany Brien and Saskia Tidey make the 49erfx medal race in their first regatta.

 

#isaf – The medals were decided across the ten Olympic events as ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères brought the 2012-13 World Cup series to a close but there was no place for either of Ireland's London Olympic sailors who did not make the medal race finals.

Annalise Murphy's poor start to the event ultimately cost her the chance of competing in the final medal races. Another casualty was Chinese Olympic gold medallist Xu Lija whose slow start was also her downfall. Neither girl will be too worried as both the World Championships and Europeans are still to come later in the summer.

However,  Irish Sailing Association management admit 'a lot of work needs to be put in between now and then for Murphy to turn her fortunes around'.

In the end Murphy was in impressive form in the Silver fleet, as would be expected, and finished the regatta in 29th overall.

Meanwhile in the 113 boat Laser fleet, Northern Ireland's James Espey got off to an incredible start. Winning the first race, Espey was tied for second place after three races on Day 1. The solid start gave him the platform needed to qualify for the Gold fleet. He showed glimpses of his potential in gold but lacked the consistency to maintain a high overall placing. Nevertheless, he will take confidence from this performance and it sets him up well for a busy summer schedule. Overall he finished a respectable 34th.

An up and down breeze that never truly filled in at any point ensured for close knit racing on the final day in the south of France.

Although Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL) brought an 18 point 49erFX lead into the final day there was no room for complacency as three double point Medal Races could have brought dramatic changes.

Keeping out of trouble they posted a steady 5-4-5 to take their second ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta win of the 2012-13 season. "We're happy that we've won our first World Cup event in Europe," said Maloney, who with Meech won the inaugural 49erFX event at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. "It was quite stressful out there with it being so light and shifty and the lead changed all the time."

There is room for optimism with the girls, however they know the road to Rio will take time, "It's just beginning," said Meech. "Most of the girls are quite new to the boat so there's a long way to go and it's going to keep getting harder."

Charlotte Dobson and Mary Rook (GBR) take silver and Dutch team Annemiek Bekkering and Claire Blom had a great day to take the final podium spot.

Great Britain's Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign got the job done the 49er with a 2-1-3 score line. Having come into the day with a joint lead Fletcher and Sign couldn't have asked for much more in tricky conditions. David Evans and Ed Powys made it a British top two and Carlos and Anton Paz (ESP) rounded off the top three.

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) christened her return back in the Laser Radial after London 2012 with a well-deserved gold medal. Leading the first Medal Race from start to finish Bouwmeester established a seven point advantage over Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) and Alison Young (GBR) who were tied for silver.

"I just had to focus on myself and sail a good race," said the Dutch sailor. "When it is light and tricky it's a bit easier because you can only focus on yourself and I won the first race and made it a bit easy. The other two girls started racing each other in the second race so it was easy for me," she said with a smile.

"I didn't really have it as a goal to win a medal. I had a big break and came out here to see how it goes and it went a lot better than I expected," Bouwmeester added.

At the start of the final Laser Radial Medal Race Tenkanen found herself ahead of Young and made sure she kept her at bay, "I didn't get a very good start on upwind but I climbed a bit on the first downwind and chose the better gate mark," said Tenkanen. "I was before Alison and because Marit was so far in front I decided to ensure Alison stayed behind so the rest of the race I tried to cover her."

Finishing in ninth and tenth place Tenkanen and Young could not be caught so Young, who won gold at ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma took bronze.

Tom Burton (AUS) put his ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma woes behind him in Hyères to claim a hard earned gold medal. Burton lost a commanding lead in Palma but chipped away at Tonci Stipanovic's (CRO) advantage to come from behind and take Laser gold. Stipanovic (CRO) fell to third whilst Robert Scheidt (BRA) tastes silver on his Laser return.

"I was always coming from behind here whereas in Palma I was always in the front," said Burton. "It doesn't make up for it but it's good to learn from my experience and improve on it this."

Burton has been ranked World #1 in the Laser since December 2012 but doesn't see himself as the guy to beat, "Everyone is so good if you don't sail well it doesn't matter what your ranking is you're going to get chopped. It's good to be World #1 and at the front as well."

Daniel Mihelic (CRO) had a superb day on the water taking both race wins but being too far behind to take a medal he ended up fourth overall.

Charline Picon (FRA) lost a substantial Women's RS:X lead after she was OCS in the first Medal Race. This put Bryony Shaw (GBR) and Blanca Manchon (ESP) in the driving seat going into the second Medal Race making it winner takes all.

Ahead of racing on the final day Shaw said, "I'm really happy to be windsurfing. I had a good World Championship finished second and I want to keep the momentum going from that. That's why I'm happy to be here and doing all the World Cups."

Shaw has been prevalent on the World Cup circuit with a fourth in Miami and a second in Palma to move to World #3 and showed she is one of the best at the moment by taking the final race win in Hyères to seal gold.

Manchon finished third to take silver whilst a seventh for Picon meant she won bronze.

Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL) came back into the Men's RS:X with a bang and notched up double bullets to claim gold. Compatriot Piotr Myszka came through in silver medal position and Julien Bontemps (FRA) concluded the podium.

"It was pretty hard and I've not trained a lot in the light conditions," said Miarczynski, London 2012 bronze medallist, "I didn't expect to be so good in the light winds but preparing a lot in the winter time was helpful here."

Poland boasts a strong RS:X contingent personified by them taking the top two spots in Hyères and Miarczynski is reaping the rewards, "This is very good because we train together and it's really helpful. We also have Pawel Tarnowski and he's also very good and we're three competing against each other so it's very nice."

Andrew Mills (GBR) overcame Giles Scott (GBR) in the Finn to take gold. Going into the last race the pair had secured the top two spots so it was winner takes all. "We both needed to get a result in to secure silver at least in the first race and then the last race was just a match race between the two of us. It was whoever did the best would win," Mills said.

Coming in third Mills was ahead of Scott who finished at the back of the pack and Mills was pleased to overcome his countryman, "Giles is hard to beat at any point so to beat him and put myself up there is great."

New Zealand's Josh Junior had a great week and sailed himself to the bronze knocking Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) out of the medals.

Brazil's Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Barbachan (BRA) turned their overnight Women's 470 lead into another ISAF Sailing World Cup gold medal making it three in a row after Miami and Palma wins.  "It was so difficult today," said Oliveira. "We didn't do good races and our starts were so bad. We are happy with the result and it's good to win again. We're going to have some days of rest, relaxing at home and then we'll start training again."

Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron (FRA) took the silver medal and Great Britain's Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre took their second consecutive World Cup podium spot in third.

Double bullets on the last day for Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) secured them their fourth gold medal together since teaming up. For Belcher his unbeaten Men's 470 run, that stems from November 2011, continues, "To come into these events having won them last year and with a new partnership there's high expectations," said Belcher. "To come away with another win with today's condition and finish off by winning both Medal Races was fantastic."

Ryan added, "There's been a full range of conditions and a lot of the top sailors have really come through. Everybody has had a few bad races along the way and I think every fleet saw really close racing so it's been a really great event."

Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion (FRA) maintained their spot in second place and London 2012 Olympic bronze medallists Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente (ARG) complete the top three.

Anything was possible on the final day in the Nacra 17 as just five points divided the top five.

The fleet were delayed due to fickle breeze and testing conditions that were prevalent on the course. Once racing got underway it was Sweden's Tim Shuwalow and Hanna Klinga (SWE) who prevailed. They ended up tied on 59-points with Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA) but based on the combined score of the Medal Races the Swedes took gold to win on count back.

Matias Buhler and Nathalie Brugger complete the podium.

Regattas in Melbourne, Miami, Palma and Hyères have made up the 2012-13 ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit with some great racing seen along the way.

With a busy summer of World Championships for the ten Olympic events attentions will turn back to World Cup duties starting at Qingdao, China in October 2013.

#olympicsailing – Ireland's sole interest in Palma de Mallorca, James Espey has finished 38th overall, the third event in the ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit. The Belfast sailor scored a 26th in the final race in the gold fleet on Saturday, his best result of the tricky series.

A fantastic week of sailing has come to a close in Palma. The 44th Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mapfre delivered great racing conditions and a real test coming into the new Olympic quadrennial.

It was interesting to test here a new scoring system and format, and despite mixed opinions, the regatta has deserving winners in all classes and most of the regatta leaders conserved their yellow jersey after their medal races.

Denmark's Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard had an incredible finish and took three wins out of four Medal Races in the 49erFX.

"We tried to be very relaxed and focussed going into the Medal Races," said the excitable duo. "Our main decision was to decide whether to go right or left after the start to find a position where we could be alone and able to make our moves freely. It was great fun with this stadium format to have so many tacks and gybes! It was tiring too because we needed to concentrate and anticipate our next move."

The Danes have dominated for most of the week and have shown they are the top sailors in the developing 49erFX fleet. Their skiff experience over the years together is proving to be the right recipe for success.

After a fantastic week to add the cherry on top of the cake, the pair will be awarded the Absolute Winner trophy which recognises the sailors with the best average score over the regatta. This trophy was won last year by 2.4mR sailor Thierry Schmitter (NED).

Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech (NZL), never too far behind the Danes, took the last race win to place second. Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen (DEN) complete the podium.

Germany's Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel secured their first major regatta victory in the 49er having picked up their game throughout the week. "We had an average qualification stage and got into the finals in eighth position," they said. "Our first final day was great with three wins. Today we had another win and top three results only in the four Medal Races. We have great speed and enjoy the breeze, so this was a week for us."

The pair will be following the World Cup circuit in a bid to move up the rankings, "Our objective this year is to be in the World top five. We will be doing a maximum of 200 points regattas like Hyères and the Worlds but also some of the Eurosaf circuit."

Andy Maloney (NZL) nailed the Laser Medal Races and took two race wins to overturn a huge deficit over Australia's Tom Burton (AUS) who despite a steady first race had a disaster in the second, "I was set up pretty well for the last one so I could only get beaten by one guy," said Burton. "I ended up getting an OCS and he beat me. So a few tough lessons and probably something I won't do again but these things happen."

Maloney was able to capitalise on Burton's mistake and was delighted with the way it went, "It was a really good day. With the new system there were a lot of points up for grabs and it went pretty well to get two wins and I couldn't ask for much more. It feels pretty good to come from equal third to win the event. It was a bit unfortunate for Tom Burton in the last race but that happens to all of us."

New Zealand's Sam Meech rounded off the Laser podium.

In the Laser Radial Alison Young (GBR) secured a deserved gold medal having dominated the fleet all week long.

"I am really pleased to have won. I have learnt lots of lessons from this regatta and I am looking forward to the rest of the season. Going into the final medal race, only the Danish could beat me so I had to make sure of the result."

A second in the first Medal Race gave her a handsome advantage and she kept Sarah Gunni (DEN) at bay on the last race with the Dane settling for silver. Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) won the Medal Race to pick up bronze.

Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) stepped it up in the Women's RS:X on the final day and was first past the post in both Medal Races. The World #1 was all smiles on shore after racing, "I'm super happy," she said. "I just had a perfect day. I was coming into the day in fourth so a pretty good position. I was not that close to the first but with two Medal Races everything is possible so I tried to do two good races to finish the competition and it paid off."

Her two race wins knocked overnight leader Bryony Shaw (GBR) down into second and Germany's Moana Delle into third.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami Men's RS:X champion Ivan Pastor (ESP) made it two World Cup gold's in a row after two fourths in the Medal Races. The Spaniard led coming into the final day and held on to top spot. Toni Wilhelm (GER) and Kiran Badloe (NED) took the race wins and subsequently moved up to the podium places.

Giles Scott (GBR) took gold in the Finn. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) threatened the Brits dominance when he closed the gap to one point after the first Medal Race. However, Scott made sure from the start he would leave the Dutch in his trail. "PJ and I match-raced at the start of the second race," explained Scott. "I finally succeeded in forcing him in an uncomfortable position and took a safe advance over him." On the new format Scott added, "It did work out all right for me but I don't really like it as I prefer consistency over the week and the varied conditions to be recognised in the results."

Postma (NED) ended up second with Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) in third. London Bronze medallist Jonathan Lobert (FRA) missed out on the podium in fourth.

Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Barbachan (BRA) came fifth in the days first Medal Race in the Women's 470 and finished with a bang in the last, taking the race win and the gold medal. "We are very happy," exclaimed Barbachan. "We didn't expect to win like this. We thought it would be a hardest race but these conditions seemed to be nice for us."

Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh Mcintyre (GBR) finish second with the American pair of Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) third.

With shifty conditions only one Men's 470 Medal Race could be completed on the final day and a fourth from Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) ensured they maintained their unbeaten life in the Men's 470. Belcher is the only sailor this week to keep his title won last year with Malcolm Page. Greece's Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis place second and Luke Patience and Joe Glanfield (GBR) third.

Despite a mid-race mishap on the final day Mandy Mulder and Thijs Visser (NED) took gold over their team mates Renee Groenenveld and Karel Begemann in the Nacra 17. "We had some issues during the races and in the first one we capsized," explained Mulder. "One boat nose-dived just in front of us and we had starboard and I was like 'uh oh we're going to hit the boat' so I went inside very quickly and then I went swimming behind the boat and it capsized. We were top three but got upright really quick and ended up sixth."

Moana Vaireaux and Manon Audinet complete the Nacra 17 podium.

"We are happy about our speed. We made some tactical errors today on the last race, but in definite, I am happy to be able to prove myself on the Olympic circuit" said Moana Vairaux.

Sailors focus now turns to ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres in the South of France. Ireland's Annalise Murphy returns to the circuit and racing gets going on 22 April through to 27.

#olympicsailing – It's been tricky sailing in Palma for Ireland's sole entry in the second round of ISAF's World Cup series this week.

At least Belfast Lough single-hander James Espey has made it into the gold fleet of the men's single-handed Laser class this morning.

The 44th Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mapfre, ISAF Sailing World Cup Palma regatta, saw the conclusion of the qualification series after three days of fantastic racing in varied conditions in the bay of Palma.
With many new faces on the scene, the class favourites have made sure they show their full potential in the first ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta on the European circuit in front of new rivals.
The Nacra 17 fleet raced in the afternoon with a medium breeze and small waves, it was a perfect day with great conditions and after six races countries with a strong multihull culture such as the Netherlands and France are on top.
For 49erFX sailors Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen (DEN) and Alexandra Maloney with Molly Meech (NZL) training in New Zealand over the winter proved successful as they lead the fleet. Only a point separates both teams who have shared their progression in the 49erFX and they hold a clear advantage over the fleet with 20 points separating them and the Italians Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich in third place.
The Finn sailors were the first off the water, concluding their qualification series after six races. After fighting for top place with Jonathan Lobert (FRA), Giles Scott (GBR) has shown regularity on all conditions to take the lead in the 72 boat fleet. The 2011 European and World Champion is one point ahead of Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) and two points ahead from team mate Andrew Mills (GBR).
Philip Buhl (GER) has kept the lead in the Laser, distancing World #1 Tom Burton (AUS), now placed in fourth. Andy Maloney (NZL) has jump to second overall after taking two bullets in the last qualification races.
The Finals will start today for all classes with the exception of the 2.4mR who see tonight a new leader with Sailing World Cup Miami winner Megan Pascoe (GBR) who has not finished anywhere worse than second in a fleet of 23 boats.

#rio – London Olympic sailors Annalise Murphy and Peter O'Leary have been awarded €40,000 each in the annual allocation of funds by the Sports Council. Sailors were awarded a total of €168,000 with fellow London Olympians Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern. James Espey and Scott Flannigan each picking up €12,000. Paralympic sailors John Twomey and Ian Costelloe also picked up €12,000 each.

When Peter O'Leary (29) and David Burrows (34) came ashore in Miami last month having taken silver for the second time at the Bacardi Cup, the London Olympic pair showed the depth of their ambition when they left the venue disappointed at not having lifted the prestigious cup.

It moved the Cork-Dublin pairing on from Dublin bay where they won a bronze medal on home waters at the class European championships last September set them up for 12th overall and a ticket to London in Perth last December at the ISAF world championships. They are now ranked in the top five in the world.

Helmsman O'Leary's family continue to be a big influence including one Grandad who won a Bronze sailing medal for Britain at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

The pair who count six Olympic appearances between them (It is Burrow's fourth Olympics since Atlanta) are banking on an extra turn of speed from a brand new P-Star keelboat they launched in Florida to bring home the medal they are tipped for. It's their only chance for success in the Star as the class is being ditched from the Olympic line up for 2016.

Now ranked 17th in the world Belfast pair Ryan Seaton (23) and Matthew McGovern (25) shot to prominence at the ISAF World Championships in Perth last December sailing to a level some never expected in this high speed dinghy class.

For the latest news campaign news click here

Sailing together since 2009 Carrickgfergus based Seaton, a former top Laser youth helm, teamed up with Bangor man McGovern with the aim of 2012 selection but got off to a slow start in the worlds in the Bahamas finishing in the 40s.

Their steady rise into the higher echelons of the international class culminated with an eighth in the Perth medal race last December to give them a 10th overall at the ISAF World championships, a personal best result for the Ballyholme Sailing Club pair and a London Olympic ticket to boot.

They are Ireland's first Olympic representatives in the 49er class since Tom Fitzpatrick and Fraser Browne finished 16th at the Athens games in 2004.

#roadtorio – 'A bit disastrously' is how Annalise Murphy describes the outcome of Saturday's three short medal races in Florida where the Irish one time leader of the USA Olympic classes regatta went from first to fourth overall, denying her a place on the podium in her first event on the road to Rio 2016.

'So things didn't go to plan today. Actually they went a bit disastrously...but I had a good week, learned a lot and felt like I really improved, the top Irish sailor concluded last night on her facebook page.

The video above from race organisers shows yesterday's medal race finals with the Laser radial action, inlcuding Annalise's start in the final race at 8:18 on the timeline and some upwinds shots of Annalise at 8:25.

The medal race results were in stark contrast to last Friday when Murphy stormed back to regain the overall lead with two race wins to go in to yesterday's medal races as the top sailor after a week long battle of 13 races in her 29-boat Laser Radial fleet.

Sparkling conditions on Biscayne Bay and 20-knot winds had given Ireland's 'Breeze Queen' the perfect opportunity to strike home her heavy air advantage.

But on Saturday Murphy who celebrated her 23rd birthday on Friday suffered against American rival Paige Railey as winds that had offered up steady breeze of 15-20 knots all week dropped as low as eight knots and were very shifty for the medal race finale.

In the second medal race, Annalise was leading into the finish line but along with a Canadaian sailor received a yellow flag penalty.

Last night there was annoyance expressed in the Irish camp with ISAFs complex new scoring system trialled at Miami for the first time. The contention is that the new system is unfair because Annalise was one of the most consistent throughout the week yet ended up losing out only in the final very short medal race rounds.

It is likely team management will focus now on improving Annalise's performances outside of the big wind conditions in which she clearly dominates.

Railey, the Florida local was outstanding in the medal rounds. The 2012 Olympian and 2006 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year was the most consistent sailor. She won the first two races of the day and placed fourth in race 15. She won by 14 points over World #5 Tuula Tenkanen (FIN), who won silver. Canadian Isabella Bertold secured the bronze medal. She won race 15. Murphy had to make do with scores of 10,16,14 in the double counting, no discardable three medal races pushing her into fourth. The final score in the new format competition is the six race series plus the medal race scores.

Murphy who was racing for Ireland's first ever World Cup win in the Laser Radial class, a feat that would have been a terrific boost on her road to Rio 2016 will get another chance on March 30 at the next round of the ISAF World Cup in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Eight Olympic class events raced for medals on Saturday's finale of the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami. Once again, conditions on the emerald waters of Biscayne Bay mixed with the high level of competition and medal race urgency, allowed these sailors to evaluate their abilities and determine where they rank among the world's best.

Sarah Newberry and John Casey (USA) capped a fantastic regatta in the intriguing Nacra 17 event. For nearly the entire week, Newberry and Casey were at the top of the leaderboard. They were fifth in today's medal race and won the gold medal by five points. Finishing with silver was Sarah Streater and Matthew Whitehead (USA). Taylor Reiss and Sarah Lihan (USA) won bronze.

"Throughout the event we were focused on communication," said Newberry. "What carried us through was communicating about what was happening on the boat immediately on the race course, and in the end the ability to explain the situation. I'm sure at the highest end of sailing, especially when you're a woman and a man you don't always speak the same language."

"It was such a tough medal race. One minute we thought we were dead last and had to crawl back. In the end John told me we won, but I needed a minute to take it in," said Newberry.

Making another serious run at her fifth Olympic Games is Women's 470 sailor Fernanda Oliveira. The Brazilian skipper is a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist. Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachuan captured gold here in Miami this week. They finished second in today's medal race and won by 15 points. The Chinese teams performed well in the Women's 470. Xiaoli Wang and Xufeng Huang won the silver medal and Xiaomei Xu and Chunyan Yu will take home bronze.

Like so many Brazilian sailors, Oliveira is eager to compete for Olympic gold in her home country in Rio 2016. "This is different for me because I did four Games, each time with a different crew, but now I'm with the same crew," she explained. "It starts easier for us, but we don't live in Rio, so we need to go there often to train and we have a lot of work to do. It's a difficult place to race and the conditions are special."

Americans Stuart McNay and David Hughes finished strong in the Men's 470 medal race. Their second place result granted them the gold medal. McNay and Hughes won by a five point margin over medal race winners and silver medalists Matthias Schmid and Floran Reichstaedter (AUT). Another Austrian team reached the podium, as David Bargehr and Lucas Maher claimed the bronze.

"The bottom line was that we were trying to stay close to the Austrians today," said McNay. "We got a good start on the pin, but they still had an early lead. Some tacking ensued that drove the action back into the fleet, so we had to fight for our regatta win."

The top six teams in the 49er and 49er FX events advanced to Saturday's respective medal races. The medal races were conducted using a unique format and challenging course. The theater style course included two enclosed parallel lanes approximately 400 meters long and 220 meters wide. The first boat to win two races wins the regatta. Teams entering the medal races with the lead from the fleet series will begin this stage with a win.

In a compelling medal race series, Fred Strammer and Zach Brown (USA) edged Ryan Pesch and Trevor Burd (USA) for the gold medal. Strammer and Brown entered the medal races with a carryover win from their first place fleet racing series. Pesch and Burd finished just ahead of Strammer and Brown to win the first medal race. They finished first and second again in the second medal race, with Strammer and Brown prevailing. Sebastian Ostling and Kalle Torlen (SWE) joined the Americans on the podium as bronze medalists.

The 49er FX medal race series lasted just one race. Fleet series leaders Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze won the first medal race, which put an end to an impressive run this week by the Brazilians. They totaled seven wins this week. Anna Tunnicliffe and Molly Vandemoer were third today and won the silver medal. Finishing second today and earning the bronze was Kristen Lane and Molly Carapiet (USA).

It was a tremendous week for Finn sailor Caleb Paine (USA). He won today's first medal race to seal the gold medal by 14 points. Canadian Greg Douglas won the silver medal and was third today. Jorge Zarif (BRA) finished third overall for bronze. He got off to a great start this week by winning four of his first seven races.

It was a great three-race medal series today for Estonia's Lasor sailor Karl-Martin Rammo who won two of three races and finished second in race 14. However, Sweden's Jesper Stalheim collected gold medal honors. Rammo earned the silver and Charlie Buckingham (USA) garnered bronze medal honors.

"Miami is really shifty," said Stalheim. "There was a bit more breeze in Miami than usual, so there was a lot of hiking. I was super fast on the downwind so that was great. It felt like the last day was super important, maybe a bit too much."

For the final standings, visit the results section of the event website.

Final top three by class

2.4
1. Megan Pascoe, GBR, 18 points
2. Allan Leibel, CAN, 21
3. Bruce Millar, CAN, 22
49er
1. Strammer / Brown, USA, 4.0 points
2. Pesch / Burd, USA, 5.0
3. Oestling / Torlen, SWE, 10.0
470
1. Stuart McNay / David Hughes, USA, 22
2. Matthias Schmid / FLorian Reichstaedter, AUS, 27
3. David Bargehr / Lukas Mahr, AUS, 57
Finn
1. Caleb Paine, USA, 20
2. Greg Douglas, CAN, 34
3. Jorge Zarif, BRA, 43
49er FX
1. Martine Soffiatti / Kahena Kunze, BRA, 2.0
2. Anna Tunnicliffe / Molly Vandemoer, USA, 5.0
3. Kristen Lane / Molly Carapiet, USA, 8.0
Laser
1. Jesper Stalheim, SWE, 46
2. Karl-Martin Rammo, EST, 50
3. Charlie Buckingham, USA, 54
Laser Radial
1. Paige Railey, USA, 20
2. Tuula Tenkanen, FIN, 34
3. Isabella Bertold, CAN, 40
Nacra17
1. Sarah Newberry / John Casey, USA, 22
2. Sarah Streater / Matthew Whitehead, USA, 27
3. Taylor Reiss / Sarah Lihan, USA, 35
RSX Men
1. Ivan Pastor, ESP
2. Nick Dempsey, GBR
3. Dorian Van Rijssbelberghe, NED
RSX Women
1. Maayan Davidovich, ISR
2. Tuuli Petaja-Siren, FIN
3. BLannca Mancon Dominguez, ESP
Sonar
1. Wang-Hansen / Solberg / Kristiansen, NOR, 19
2. Fisher / Hersey / Levinson, USA, 28
3. Doerr / Kendell / Freund, USA, 29

The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event due to be celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The host city of the Games will be Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They are scheduled to be held from August 5 to 21, 2016, making these the first Summer Olympics to be held during the host city's winter. There will be 30 competition venues mainly in Barra da Tijuca, but also in three other zones: Copacabana, Deodoro, and Maracanã. It will mark the first time a South American city hosts the event, the first to host the hemisphere's winter, and also the first time a Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country hosts the event.

#annalisemurphy – Annalise Murphy has extended her lead at the ISAF Sailing World Cup series yesterday, winnning two of the last three races in medium to fresh conditions.

Murphy now has a three point lead over America's Paige Railey, a former world champion, both sailors won a race in the 29-boat Laser Radial class but the Dun Laoghaire sailor took a third in the last race to extend an overall lead she established on Tuesday.

Once again, Biscayne Bay was graced with strong winds that reached 20 knots by the afternoon and significant chop. The weather included mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s.

The Laser Radials are using experimental scoring this week. Sailors will receive a bonus point for each race they win, another boost for the sole Irish competitor. Their first fleet series standings will translate into a single race score for each competitor. Five more races will be sailed in a new series starting today (Thursday) through Friday. Following the five races and six total scores, the top ten will advance to medal race on Saturday. There will be one discard after the second race.  Top three results overall are below.

In a further boost for the Irish team John Twomey/Ian Costelloe/Bradley Johnson lie six points off the lead in second place overall in the Paralympic Sonar keelboat.

The stage is set for mixed multihull racing at Rio 2016. As one of two new Olympic events, the Nacra 17 is making its first appearance in the ISAF Sailing World Cup series this week in Miami.

These doublehanded teams are sorting out new strategies and techniques as they become more comfortable with this fast, light catamaran and its featured curved dagger boards. Many of the sailors competing in the Nacra 17 are making the adjustment from another boat or class. In some cases, sailors are getting acquainted with new teammates as well.

Perhaps no team has made a smoother transition than Sarah Newberry and John Casey (USA). The duo has been dominant through three days of racing on Biscayne Bay. They have won five of the six races, including the last five. Sarah Streater and Matthew Whitehead (USA) have four second-place finishes and trail by four points.

"We've done a lot of training in the F16 and F18, and we're finding the Nacra 17 to fit in terms of power, but not in terms of how the boat actually sails," explained Newberry. "It's a whole new game with the curved foils."

"We worked really hard to find good settings for the breeze. The real challenge for the whole fleet has been dealing with the boats in bigger chop, which is more than what we see when training in the inner bay. When going downwind, the lift in the boat with the chop has made it challenging," she added.

Newberry and Casey have their sights set on the 2013 Nacra 17 World Championship this July in The Netherlands, which will serve as the selection event for US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider.

Puerto Rico's three-time Olympian, Enrique Figueroa, is ecstatic about the fact that multihull racing is back as an Olympic event. "I think it is one of the most exciting events in the Olympics, so having the catamaran come back was good for everybody especially as the sailing world nowadays has a big focus on catamarans," he said.

Figueroa is planning an Olympic campaign with wife Carla Malatrasi. He is making the switch from the Tornado to the Nacra 17. "Getting back into a spinnaker boat was a challenge, especially with a new crew and she's not used to the spinnaker and all it entails. It's been a learning experience for both of us. The Nacra is very physical. The curved boards and the way the boat is going to be sailed eventually is going to require a lot of balance and strength, so of course you've got to hit the gym hard," explained Figueroa.

Fred Strammer and Zach Brown (USA) extended their lead on Wednesday. A DNF in race nine halted their win streak at four. They lead the 49er fleet by nine points over Sweden's Sebastian Oestling and Kalle Torlen and American's Ryan Pesch and Trevor Burd.

Strammer commented on how please he is at the progress the team is making so far in their training. "Our big goal for 2013 was to focus on improving our speed and we've seen already, that our four months of hard work towards that goal has paid off this week. We had more speed yesterday than we really knew what to do with, so it was fantastic," explained Strammer.

"We are planning on racing the other World Cup events his year. Our training includes the World Championships in September and some training in San Francisco with the America's Cup.  We're just trying to work on our fitness and gain some weight. One of the other goals is to do some other sailing, like team racing in the summer and other dinghy sailing," he said.

Brazil's Kahena Kunze and Martine Grael surged into the lead with a tremendous afternoon of racing in the 49er FX event. They finished second in race seven and won races eight and nine to take a four point lead. Anna Tunnicliffe and Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer (USA) also made a run today with third- and second-place finishes. Tunnicliffe, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the Laser is also one of the top Women's Match Racers in the world. Tunnicliffe and Vandemoer are in second place.

The World #7 Stuart McNay and his crew David Hughes continue to challenge in the Men's 470. The Americans hold an edge over World #13 Matthias Schmid and Floran Reichstaedter (AUS). McNay and Hughes won the second of two races to take the lead. These two teams are pulling away from the rest of the fleet.

In the Women's 470, Brazil's Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachan hold a seven point lead over China's Xiaomei Xu and Chunyan Yu.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist Dorian Van Rijssbelberghe of The Netherlands continued his dominant ways today in the Men's RS:X. He captured first place in both races and has tallied four consecutive wins to take a seven point lead over Brazil's Ricardo Santos.

Defending champion Demita Vega of Mexico held on to the lead with her third place finishes. Today's top women's board sailor was Great Britain's Bryony Shaw. The 2012 Olympian won race five and trails Vega by a point.

Sweden's Jesper Stalheim pulled into the lead with a pair of wins in the Laser event. He took the lead over World #3 Bruno Fontes (BRA). Both Stalheim and Fontes have three wins in six races this week. Stalheim holds a close tie-breaker edge over Fontes. Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA) is just one point behind the leaders. He won race five today.

Caleb Paine (USA) has maintained his lead in the Finn event by six points. He was fourth and second today. Paine has won three of the six races. World #1 Brendan Casey (AUS) is in second place.

The 2012 Paralympic bronze medalists Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen of Norway expanded their lead from two to four points on Wednesday in the Sonar event. Their day featured a win in race five.

Canadian Bruce Millar won race six to cap another strong performance in the 2.4 mR event. He leads fellow countryman Alan Leibel (CAN) by four.

For the most updated standings, visit the results section of the event website at http://mocr.ussailing.org/index.php/results/.

Regatta Headquarters is located at the US Sailing Center Miami, an official Olympic training center, in the Coconut Grove section of Miami, Fla. Event organizers have partnered with the city of Miami to provide world-class venues for competition. Additional hosts for the event include Coral Reef Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Miami Rowing Club and Shake-a-Leg Miami. These sailing organizations host classes onshore, as well as help run the on-the-water racing. The Coral Reef Yacht Club also hosts the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Overall after day 3

Radial Top 3:

1. Annalise Murphy (IRL), 5-[6]-2-0-0-3:10

2. Paige Railey (USA), 4-3-[5]-3-3-0:13

3. Tuula Tenkanen (FIN), 2-2-3-[6]-2-5:14

Sonar Top 3:

1. Aleksander Wang-Hansen/Marie Solberg/Per Eugen Kristiansen (NOR), 1-1-[4]-3-1-2:8

2. John Twomey/Ian Costelloe/Bradley Johnson (IRL), 3-5-2-2-2-[6]:14

3. Rick Doerr/Brad Kendell/Hugh Feierd (USA), 4-3-5-1-[6]-3:16

49er Top 3:

1. Frederick Strammer/Zach Brown (USA), 2-5-4-2-1-1-1-1-[17/DNF]:17

2. Sebastian Oestling/Kalle Torlen (SWE), 1-3-2-3-3-2-8-4-[9]:26

3. Ryan Pesch/Trevor Burd (USA), 3-4-5-1-2-[6]-5-2-4:26

470 Men Top 3:

1. Stuart McNay/David Hughes (USA), 3-1-[4]-2-3-1:10

2. Matthias Schmid/Florian Reichstaedter (AUT), 2-[4]-3-1-2-2: 10

3. David Bargehr/Lukas Mähr (AUT), 4-5-2-[20/BFD]-5-4: 20

470 Women Top 3:

1. Fernanda Oliveira/Ana Luiza Barbachan (BRA), 5-2-1-[20/BFD]-7-7: 22

2. Xiaomei Xu/Chunyan Yu (CHN), 1-11-6-2-[20/DNF]-8: 29

3. Renata Decnop/Isabel Swan (BRA), 12-3-7-8-4-[13]: 34

Laser Top 3:

1.Jesper Stalheim (SWE), 0-[6]-2-3-0-0:5

2. Bruno Fontes (BRA), 3-[4]-0-0-2-0:5

3. Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (FRA), 2-2-0-[4]-0-2:6

Nacra17 Top 3:

1. Sarah Newberry/John Casey (USA), [3]-1-1-1-1-1:5

2. Sarah Streater/Matthew Whitehead (USA), 1-[3]-2-2-2-2:9

3. Taylor Reiss/Sarah Lihan (USA), 2-[6]-3-3-6-3:17

RS:X Men Top 3:

1. Dorian van Rijssbelberghe (NED), [3]-2-1-1-1-1:6

2. Ricardo Santos (BRA), 1-3-3-2-[8]-4:13

3.Nick Dempsey (GBR), 2-1-4-[8]-5-5:17

RS:X Women Top 3:

1. Demita Vega (MEX), 3-[7]-2-1-3-3:12

2. Bryony Shaw (GBR), 2-[5]-5-3-1-2:13

3. Maayan Davidovich (ISR), 6-4-4-2-2-[7]:18

 

2.4mR Top 3:

1. Bruce Millar (CAN), 2-3-1-1-[5]-1:8

2. Allan Leibel (CAN), 1-4-[5]-3-1-3:12

3. Megan Pascoe (GBR), [18/BFD]-2-2-4-2-2:12

Finn Top 3:

1. Caleb Paine (USA), [7]-1-1-1-4-2:9

2. Brendan Casey (AUS), 2-[14]-4-2-2-5:15

3. Jorge Zarif (BRA), 6-[8]-3-3-1-3:16

49erFX Top 3:

1. Martine Soffiatti/Kahena Kunze (BRA), 2-1-3-3-2-[4]-2-1-1:15

2. Anna Tunnicliffe/Molly Vandemoer (USA), 3-2-5-[6]-1-2-1-3-2:19

3. Giulia Conti/Francesca Clapcich (ITA), 1-[5]-2-1-5-1-3-5-3:21