Annalise Moves into the Lead in Miami

29th January 2013

#mocr – Annalise Murphy shot to the top of the leaderboard in Florida today after four races sailed in the Miami Olympic classes regatta. Murphy who was placed eighth going into today's second day of racing in the Laser Radial class took a second and a well earned win in race four in her 29-boat fleet. The Dun Laoghaire sailor now has the same points as world number five, Finnish sailor Tuula Tenkanen but takes the edge under the tie break rule. Canada’s Isabella Bertold trails by just a point. Racing continues tomorrow. Results below.

Similar to Monday, breezes were relatively consistent and strong at 13 to 15 knots throughout the day. Sunny skies were accompanied with temperatures in the high 70s.

A strong contingency of the top sailors in the world are in Miami testing themselves against familiar rivals and incoming talent from a new generation of racers. The RS:X Men's and Women's events are back in Miami for 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup and these two fleets feature the best of the best in an early season clash of Olympic medalists and new challengers.

Most elite board sailors enjoyed some much needed time off following their intense Olympic campaigns for London 2012. However, a quick turn around and immediate focus is in order with the RS:X World Championships in Brazil this February. Up and comers are looking to assert themselves in the class this week in Miami, while other more seasoned veterans are trying to re-capture the magic they sustained in their successful performances in Weymouth.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist Dorian Van Rijssbelberghe of The Netherlands surged ahead of the fleet with two wins today to take a two point lead over Brazil's Ricardo Santos. Great Britain's Nick Dempsey dropped two spots from Monday, and is in third. The 2012 Olympic silver medalist and 2004 bronze medalist commented on the upcoming schedule and training for Rio 2016. "Following the World Championships in February and March, it will be about focusing on the Olympic campaign for Rio 2016," said Dempsey. "I'm just trying to get back out on the water now and get as fit as possible for the World Championships."

Dempsey is intrigued about the venue in Rio. "If you look at Rio as a light wind venue, as windsurfers we're going to have to be light, strong, fit, and technically good. It's going to be a difficult venue. There is a lot of current and with it being light winds it's going to be very physical. I like to mix up my training, because it can be a bit monotonous. Anything you can do to keep it interesting and different to keep you inspired."

Van Rijssbelberghe, the three-time ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami Champion, was reserved, yet focused on the new challenge. "There is some great build up for these events, but I want to keep it fun," said Van Rijssbelberghe. "Miami is such a great place to sail. It has always been one of my favorite destinations. We've got some breeze going on and it's quite tricky out there. "I do a lot of cross training and it's great to get on that mountain bike and start ripping some trails."

Defending RS:X Women's Champion Demita Vega of Mexico is out to defend her crown against the world's best this year. She won race four and finished second in race three to take a one point lead. 2012 Olympic silver medalist Tuuli Petaja-Siren of Finland has won two of four races, including race three. She trails Vega by a point.

Petaja-Siren has had a surreal offseason following her outstanding performance in Weymouth. She was honored as the Finnish Athlete of the Year. "My name and face is now in a lot of newspapers and TV channels," said Petaja-Siren. "Not many people thought a windsurfer could get that much publicity in Finland, which is more about the winter sports."

"I didn't surprise myself that much. I knew from the training I did earlier in the summer in Weymouth I was capable of racing with the very best girls. The first goal this year is to compete in the World Championships, so that's going to be my first visit there and I don't know much about Rio yet."

Spain's gold medalist and World #5 Marina Alabau, who has won the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami event in 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2007, is currently in sixth place. "My goal is to qualify for the Olympics, but it's not easy in my country to qualify," said Alabau. "So this is really good motivation to keep going. I'll be spending a lot of time training in Rio." Spain also features board sailing standout Blanca Manchon.

Alabau prefers participating in other sports and activities as a source of training. "I like to play other sports like kite sailing, cycling, and swimming. I'm not going to the gym much, because it is boring to me. I'm just trying to do fun activities, because when you have fun you don't realize how much you are pushing yourself and that's how I enjoy training."

World #13 and 2012 Olympians from Austria, Matthias Schmid and Floran Reichstaedter had a big day in the Men's 470 event. They evened up with Monday's leaders Stuart McNay and David Hughes of the U.S. by winning race four and finishing third in race three.

Despite sustaining a Black Flag in race four, Brazil's Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachan of the Women's 470 event hold a two point lead over China's Xiaomei Xu and Chunyan Yu, who finished sixth and third today. Oliveira and Barbachuan won race three.

Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich of Italy won two of three races in the 49er FX event are clinging to a one point advantage over Brazil's Kahena Kunze and Martine Grael. Four teams are within three points of each other atop the leaderboard.

Caleb Paine (USA) has caught fire in the Finn event. He won both races today and has come out on top in three of four races. He leads World #1 Brendan Casey (AUS) by five points and Star legend Bruno Prada (BRA) by six. Paine has been ranked as high as #4 in the world. He won the U.S. Finn National Championship in October and the Delta Lloyd Regatta World Cup event in May. He's looking to improve on his fifth place finish last year in Miami.

Fred Strammer and Zach Brown (USA) leaped into first place by finishing strong on Tuesday in the 49er event. They won races five and six to take a one point lead over Sebastian Oestling and Kalle Torlen (SWE).

World #3 Bruno Fontes (BRA) won both races today in Laser action to take the lead. He has a slight edge over France's Jean-Baptiste Bernaz who had a lead after three races. American Charlie Buckingham and Sweden's Jesper Stalheim are one point behind the leader.

The Lasers and Laser Radials are using experimental scoring this week. Sailors will receive a bonus point for each race they win. For all events, discards are in effect after two races.

Sarah Newberry and John Casey (USA) continued their success from Monday with two more wins in the Nacra 17 event. They have won the last three races, including three of four. Americans Sarah Streater and Matthew Whitehead remain close and just two points back. They were second in both races.

The 2012 Paralympic bronze medalists Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen of Norway kept their status as the leaders through Tuesday. After winning both races on Monday, they were fourth and third on Tuesday to hold on to a two point lead.

Canadian Bruce Millar moved into the lead by posting a pair of bullets in the 2.4 mR racing today. Millar was seventh at the 2.4 mR World Championship in September. He leads World #4 Byornar Erikstad of Norway by two points and Alan Leibel (CAN) by four.

1	9417/ 199417	MURPHY, Annalise	IRL	5	[6]	2	0	7.00	1
2	8219/ 198219	TENKANEN, Tuula	FIN	2	2	3	[6]	7.00	2
3	0605/ 200605	BERTOLD, Isabella	CAN	0	[8]	6	2	8.00	3
4	7111/ 197111	RAILEY, Paige	USA	4	3	[5]	3	10.00	4
5	1831/ 201831	DONERTAS, Cagla	TUR	7	0	4	[9]	11.00	5
6	4454/ 184454	REINEKE, Erika	USA	3	[11]	7	5	15.00	6
7	6986/ 196986	DROZDOVSKAYA, Tatiana	BLR	[30/BFD]	12	0	4	16.00	7
8	2669/ 202669	TENKANEN, Heidi	FIN	6	4	[8]	8	18.00	8
9	4946/ 194946	CHAN, Victoria	SIN	11	5	[15]	7	23.00	9
10	2841/ 182841	DENNIS, Claire	USA	9	9	9	[10]	27.00	10
11	9535/ 199535	NEVILLE, Christine	USA	[15]	7	10	12	29.00	11
12	5913/ 195913	RAFUSE, Erin	CAN	8	10	[19]	17	35.00	12
13	6755/ 186755	YIN, Elizabeth	SIN	12	[25]	12	11	35.00	13
14	1571/ 191571	BOWSKILL, Brenda	CAN	10	[19]	16	16	42.00	14
15	9929/ 199929	MONTEMAYOR, Natalia	MEX	17	18	11	[19]	46.00	15
16	6196/ 176196	ALDANA, Andrea	GUA	13	15	18	[23]	46.00	16
17	5591/ 195591	STAFFORD, Violet	CAN	[18]	16	17	13	46.00	17
18	0614/ 200614	OETLING RAMÃREZ, Elena	MEX	19	13	[25]	15	47.00	18
19	4542/ 184542	ROLLER, Mayumi	ISV	16	[20]	13	18	47.00	19
20	2023/ 192023	MERRY, Ingrid	CAN	[30/BFD]	17	20	14	51.00	20
21	5628/ 195628	ABELSON, Rebecca	CAN	22	14	[26]	22	58.00	21
22	4521/ 194521	RICHARDSON, Bronwyn	CAN	14	23	22	[24]	59.00	22
23	4224/ 204224	WEAVER, Hanne	USA	[30/BFD]	22	14	25	61.00	23
24	0252/ 190252	REA, Samantha	CAN	20	[26]	23	20	63.00	24
25	5889/ 195889	SHANAHAN, Catherine	USA	21	21	21	[27]	63.00	25
26	1912/ 191912	NORWOOD, Rae-Anne	CAN	23	[27]	24	21	68.00	26
27	9400/ 199400	PERSSON, Christina	USA	24	24	27	[28]	75.00	27
28	4042	DEVAUX-LOVELL, Stephanie	LCA	[30/DNS]	30/DNS	28	26	84.00	28
29	2036/ 192036	LUNA, Andrea	VEN	[30/BFD]	28	29	29	86.00	29

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Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

How long has Ireland been sailing at the Olympics?

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

Who has sailed for Ireland at the Olympics, and when?

How many Olympic medals has Ireland won in sailing?

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

Who is on the current Irish Sailing Olympic team?

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

What is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland?

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Who is responsible for selecting Ireland’s Olympic sailors?

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

What is the Performance Pathway?

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Who is the Irish Sailing Performance head coach?

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

Who is Irish Sailing’s Performance Director?

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Who is the most famous Irish Olympic sailor?

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021.

Who are the Irish Sailing Performance coaching staff?

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

How is performance sailing in Ireland funded?

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

What is the Irish Sailing Foundation?

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

How are the funds raised for the Performance Pathway spent?

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

What is the organisation structure of the Performance Pathway?

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

What is the governance structure for performance sailing?

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

What is the Olympic Steering Group?

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

How is progress monitored on the Performance Pathway? Who decides when sailors are selected or dropped?

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.