#OLYMPIC – Ireland will be hoping for repeat performances at this year's Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta this June having previously won medals on Olympic waters in both 2010 and 2011.

Entries for the 2012 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta are now open, with an 'early entry discount' available to those who get their entries in before the 30th April 2012. To enter online or download the Notice of Race visit the event website, which is now live at www.skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk

In 2010, Peter O'Leary won Gold in a breathtaking performance (with German stand in crew Frithjof Kleen) when he left a string of world champions and Olympic medallists including Torben Grael, Robert Sheidt and the current Olympic Gold Medallists, Britain's Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson in his wake. Last year Annalise Murphy took Bronze and showed the Laser Radial world her true speed in big breeze at the Weyomuth venue.

Skandia Sail for Gold 2012 takes place between 4th-9th June at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, the host venue for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing regattas. All 10 Olympic and three Paralympic classes will compete across seven courses in Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, in what will be the seventh installment of Skandia Sail for Gold.

"Tougher competition than the Olympics" was Ben Ainslie's summary of Skandia Sail for Gold 2011, and we can expect this years competition to be even fiercer, as the worlds best sailors – who by then should know if they have be chosen to represent their countries at the 2012 Games – battle to leave their mark on the Olympic waters for the last time before the Olympic showdown.

Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta 2012 is also the penultimate event of the 2011-12 ISAF World Cup series, meaning sailors will be looking to consolidate their place in the Series standings before the final takes place in Kiel, Germany just one week after Skandia Sail for Gold.

With a limited number of entries for the Laser Radial, only 80 places will be available in contrast to 120 in 2011, and the Women's Match Racing restricted to 18 entries, competitors are advised to register early. Entries received before the 30th April 2012 will qualify for the early entry fee. All other on-line entries must be received no later than 21st May 2012, other than the Women's Match Racing for which all applications must be received by the 30th April. Successful applicants for the Match Racing will be informed by 5th May 2012 and on-line payment must be received no later than 21st May 2012.

Skandia remains onboard as title sponsor for the event. The Southampton-based long term investment company is well known for its support of sailing, having been title sponsor since the event's inception in 2006.

Jo Rimmer, Skandia's Head of Brand Marketing said: "In terms of excitement, this year promises to be a real white knuckle ride. The eyes of the world will be on all the top sailors and the pressure will be on to do well and get on the podium."

Alongside Skandia, UK Sport continues as an official event partner. Skandia Sail for Gold is part of UK Sport's World Class Events Programme, which distributes around £3.5 million of Lottery funding each year to support the bidding and staging costs of major events on home soil, as well as providing specialist support to organisers.

RYA Event Director Tim Hall commented, "I think it is safe to say that this is the most important sailing regatta of 2012 besides the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is the last opportunity for sailors to experience the sailing waters and conditions in Weymouth and Portland before the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. We are well prepared to give the sailors and their support teams a fantastic experience both on and off the water with World Class race management and event organisation at the Olympic and Paralympic venue."

Esther Nicholls, Head of Major Events at UK Sport, added: "UK Sport is committed to bringing world class sporting events to the UK ahead of London 2012, and this event is part of what we believe to be the most comprehensive pre-Games events programme ever staged by an Olympic and Paralympic host nation.

"Skandia Sail for Gold 2012 will provide an invaluable opportunity for British athletes to experience international competition on home waters, to prepare them for their home Olympic Games, as well as a chance to build on the event staging capabilities of the sport."

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday 1st June – Event office opens for registration

Sunday 3rd June – Briefing for coaches and team leaders

Sunday 3rd June – Meeting with umpires – Women's Match Racing

Sunday 3rd June – Opening Ceremony

Monday 4th June – Racing day 1

Tuesday 5th June – Racing day 2

Wednesday 6th June – Racing day 3

Thursday 7th June – Racing day 4

Friday 8th June – Racing day 5 (final day of racing for Paralympic classes)

Saturday 9th June – Medal Races (no warning signal after 1530)

#OLYMPIC – Both of Ireland's Olympic sailing contenders are ranked fifth in the latest official world rankings released this evening by International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

Dun Laoghaire's Annalise Murphy is on equal points with world Laser Radial champion Marit Bouwmeester in fourth but the overall rankings leader is Chnia's Lijia Xu.

Mens keelboat pairing Peter O'Leary and David Burrows are also fifth in the Star rankings that is topped by world champions Robert Sheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil. The ranking result follows a fifth achieved at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta.

Ireland's 49er pair Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern who also qualified for the London Olympics in December last year are now ranked eighth in the world standings.

The 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup standings are starting to take shape after Sail Melbourne and last week's US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR, the opening two regattas in the seven series World Cup. Annalise finished ninth overall in Miami.

China's Lijia Xu has had the perfect start to her World Cup campaign winning Laser Radial gold at Sail Melbourne and the Rolex Miami OCR. With back to back victories she comfortably leads the Standings and is six points ahead of Alison Young (GBR) who has finished fourth at both World Cup regattas.

Laser Radial silver medallist at Sail Melbourne, Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) has fallen one place following her 13th place in Miami. 2010-2011 Sailing World Cup Laser Radial Champion Marit Bouwmeester (NED) is fourth, trailing Xu by 15 points.

Canada's Lee Parkhill leads the Laser Standings on 25 points and is closely followed by Charlie Buckingham (USA) who is second on 24 points. The Canadian's fifth in Melbourne and 12th in Miami is enough for him to hold an advantage over Buckingham, who came 11th in Melbourne and seventh in Miami, ahead of the third regatta in Palma, Spain.

Beijing 2008 gold medallist, Paul Goodison (GBR) and Laser World Champion, Tom Slingsby (AUS) have a regatta win each and are in third and fourth.

Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) and Stu McNay and Graham Biehl (USA) are locking horns in the Men's 470 with just two points splitting the pair after Miami. The World #1 Australians hold top spot after they won silver in Melbourne and gold in Miami. Belcher and Page have been dominant in the Men's 470 over the last year after World Cup glory and World Championship honours. But McNay and Biehl are pushing them hard early on in the World Cup having won Melbourne gold and finishing fourth in Miami to trail the Australians by a narrow margin.

Americans Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan lead the Women's 470 on 34 points with Germany's Kathrin Kadelbach and Friedrike Belcher second on 29 points and Rolex Miami OCR winners, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED), in third on 20 points.

Sebastian Wang-Hansen (NOR) has had a steady start to the World Cup with a fourth and a third place to his name. The Norwegian leads the Standings on 35 points, seven ahead of Bob Willis (USA) who has been unable to match Wang-Hansen's consistency. Nick Dempsey (GBR) comfortably won gold in Miami after winning 10 of 11 races, he is third on 20 points.

In the Women's RS:X, Demita Vega (MEX) and Jessica Crisp (AUS) are tied on 20 points with one regatta win each to their name and America's Farrah Hall is tied on 19 points with Bryony Shaw (GBR).

Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT) and Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) top the Standings on 20 points. The Austrians claimed the Miami honours with the Australians taking Sail Melbourne gold before their World Championship win at Perth

Rob Coutts (NZL) leads the Finn class on 22 points but Zach Railey (USA) and Olexsiy Borysov (UKR) are just two points behind him in second and third.

There was no Star and Women's Match Racing competition at Sail Melbourne so sailors got their campaign underway at the Rolex Miami OCR. It was business as usual for Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) who took the Star gold to lead the Standings. And in the Women's Match Racing Lucy Macgregor (GBR) overcame Olivia Price (AUS) in the final in Miami to take an early lead after one regatta.

In the Paralympic Classes, Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) are tied on 39 points with Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) in the SKUD. Matthew Bugg (AUS) leads the 2.4mR on 31 points and Udo Hessels, Marcel Van de Veen and Mischa Rossen top the Sonar Standings on 20 points.

The third ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta, Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE, in Palma, Spain, takes place from 31 March to 7 April.

#MOCR – A fourth place finish in light winds in the double points medal race saw Peter O'Leary and David Burrows move up one place to fifth overall at the Miami Olympic classes regatta in Florida yesterday. Single-hander Annalise Murphy who qualified for the medal race in the Laser Radial finished ninth overall when she placed tenth in her medal race.

The Miami results show an improvement in consistency for both members of the Irish Olympic team, O'Leary and Burrows scoring nine top ten results from 11 races. Annalise's scoresheet included two race wins and three other top ten results.

In the lightest breezes yet over six days of sailing on Biscayne Bay, ten Olympic classes racing in US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR still managed to put on quite a show as they competed in their final medal races to determine gold, silver and bronze winners.  Following the same format as the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, the event also hosted three Paralympic classes (which determined medal winners yesterday) and a total of 529 sailors from 41 countries.

In Star class, Brazil's two-time Olympic medalists and that country's most successful and celebrated sailors, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada, won the gold after finishing third in today's medal race.  "When you go into the medal race, many guys can win," said Scheidt.  "You cannot focus only on one guy, so our strategy was to try to make a clean start, especially with speed, because the wind was very light; that was more important than getting to the favored end."

Sneaking into the top-three overall, where they had not been all week, was France's Xavier Rohart/Pierre Alexis Ponso, who finished second today.  The performance secured them the silver medal with just the edge they needed over the bronze medalists Eivind Melleby/ Petter Moerland Pedersen (NOR), who finished sixth today and also had been in third at racing's end yesterday. Losing what seemed to be a sure podium position going into today was Fredrik Loof/Max Salminen's (SWE), who finished eighth in the medal race and fell to fourth overall from second yesterday, only one point out of medal reach.

"The wind made a big shift to the left on the first beat," said Scheidt, "but we weren't there. We were trying to cover the Swedish, and then we were able to tack on them two times and bounce them to the right.  Then the left paid big, and we managed to round sixth at the top mark. From then on our race was a little more comfortable, but we were still afraid of the French who were doing really well. We climbed to fourth, and they were in third; in the end, we nailed a third and the French got second."

Scheidt added that all of the top four teams plus more here will be competing at the Olympics, "and they will be stronger, so I think it was very nice for us to win the first regatta of the year. It gives us confidence but we know we have a long way to go until Weymouth."

For Paul Goodison (GBR) and Bruno Fontes (BRA), it was all equal (point scores of 20 each) going into the Laser race today, so it was literally who-beat-whom that would determine gold.

"I decided to engage a little before the start but nothing too much," said Goodison, the 2008 Laser Olympic Gold Medalist and 2009 World Champion, who finished second to Fontes's fifth.  "I won the right hand side of my competition and just pulled away from there. Once I was in front, it was just about extending the lead." With Fontes not able to sail away with anything less than a silver medal, it was David Wright's (CAN) focus to win the bronze, which he did by finishing fourth.

"All week the racing has been glamour--really good breeze, but today was quite tricky with it being much lighter and quite patchy," said Goodison.  " Out of the first six races I won four of them, so I was really happy with that, and then going into the gold fleet (mid-week ), it was all about consolidating that lead."

Favored going into today's 49er race, Nico Karth/Nikolaus Resch (AUT) finished second to secure the gold, while Erik Storck/Trevor Moore (USA) won the race to maintain their second-place position from yesterday and take home silver.

"This week has been perfect for us," said Karth, who with Resch is a two-time Olympian and has qualified his country for the Olympics but has yet to be named to the Olympic Team.  "We were struggling in the first few races, but by the end of the week we made it hard for them (Storck/Moore) to catch up."  (The Austrians had a 19-point lead going into the medal race.)  Winning the bronze was Lauri Lehtinen/Kalle Bask (FIN), who had been in third overall yesterday.

Lijia Xu, China's Laser Radial Olympic Bronze Medalist from 2008 and a 2006 World Champion, won the gold here after finishing eighth today to Marit Bouwmeester's (NED) ninth, which was good for silver.

"It was very competitive," said Xu, who positioned herself as close as possible to Bouwmeester today in order to control her. "We have the medalists from the 2011 World Championships in Perth and many other good sailors from all around the world."  The Perth champions are Bouwmeester, Belgium's Evi Van Acker, and the USA's Paige Railey, and while Van Acker finished fourth today to take the bronze medal, Railey won the race.  "Weymouth (where the Olympic Sailing Regatta will take place) could be light to medium breeze, so it is good practice," added Xu.

In 470 Men's, Australia's Mathew Belcher/Malcolm Page held the lead the entire week, and in today's medal race finished tenth to clinch the gold.  Ahead of them in eighth place were Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED), who took the silver, with fourth-place finishers Panagoitis Kampouridis/Efstathios (GRE) taking the bronze.

To secure the gold in 470 Women's, Lisa Westerhof/Lobke Berkhout (NED), who are two-time World Champions and heading to the Olympic Games, had to make top-six in today's medal race and ended up taking third. "It was very tricky and very light," said Westerhof, adding that waves from spectator boats sometimes stopped them in their tracks.  After day two, Westerhof/Berkhout had jumped ahead of Great Britain's Hannah Mills and Saskia Clarke, who took the silver today after finishing fourth.  "The British spilled some points on one day, and we kept sailing very strong," said Westerhof.  The bronze was won by Sophie Weguelin/Sophie Ainsworth (GBR) after they won today's race.

Lucy Macgregor/Annie Lush/ Kate Macgregor (GBR) won the gold medal in Women's Match Racing with a 3-1 win over Olivia Price/Nina Curtis/Lucinda Whitty (AUS), who had to settle for silver after their fates were sealed in the final match of their first-to-three flight.   The race looked to be going the Aussies' way when GBR lagged as much as 12 boat lengths behind during the first lap of the twice-around course.  Their momentum was halted, however, on the second upwind leg when they hit some major waves and tried to tack with too little speed while GBR closed the gap.  Back in the game, GBR sailed to a lead that exchanged mouse for cat, and with plenty of further batting around, proved that match racing is one of the most exciting Olympic disciplines to watch.

Taking bronze in the Petit Finals after battling with Australia's Olivia Price/Nina Curtis/Lucinda Whitty was the USA's Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.)/Elizabeth Kratzig-Burnham (Miami, Fla.)/Alana O'Reilly (Charleston, S.C.).

Demita Vega De Lille (MEX) considers her gold medal here in RS:X Women's another notch in the harness she wears while pursuing her Olympic dreams."This event will not give me any points for the Olympic Games, but it is very good for me for the training," said Vega De Lille, who has not yet made her country's Olympic Team.  "I am very happy to be here, and I hope to qualify in Spain at the World Championships."

Taking the silver was Farrah Hall (USA), who has won the right among fellow teammates to go to the Olympic Games but has yet to qualify her country, while winning bronze was Dominique Vallee (CAN).

Nick Dempsey (GBR), who will represent his country at the Olympic Games, was rehearsing all week for his victory today in the RS:X Men's windsurfing race.  In fact, this was his 11th straight win in as many races here. Fellow teammate Elliot Carney clinched the silver with 31 overall points to Dempsey's 11, while Sebastian Wang-Hansen (NOR) took the bronze with 38 points overall.

If anyone else's performance here could be called decisive for the gold it would have to be Zach Railey's (Clearwater, Fla., USA) in the 25-boat Finn class. With a 12-point lead over Denmark's Jonas Hogh Christensen going into today and nothing worse than a third-place finish in his 10-race lead-up series, Railey won today's race for good measure, leaving Hogh Christensen to take fourth for silver.  With 18 points separating those two in the final standings, Canada's Greg Douglas finished third today to add six points to his score line (another 12 points behind Hogh Christensen) and post a final 45 points for bronze.

"Miami is where I went to college and it all started here, training full time and wanting to make the push towards the Olympic Games," said Railey, who graduated in 2006 and won an Olympic Silver Medal at the 2008 Games, "and now I'm going back to the Games in 2012, and to have my first World Cup victory here in Miami makes it sweeter."

About today's race, Railey said, "I definitely knew that there was going to be some pressure from the Danish sailor.  We were locked in a pretty tight match race there before the start, but I was able to break away from him and sail my own race. The goal going in was to capitalize on my performance this week and go out in a good dominating fashion."

US Sailing's Golden Torch Award

US Sailing's Golden Torch Trophy, awarded to the U.S. sailor with the best overall performance at US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR, this year went to Finn Gold Medalist Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.).  The torch, from the 1980 Moscow Olympics, was presented by the Russian Olympic Committee to Andrew Kostanecki – United States Olympic Sailing Committee from 1985 to 1988.  Mr. Kostanecki gave the torch to US Sailing as an award for aspiring Olympians and Paralympians.  This is the first time that Railey has received this award.

US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR, established in 1990, is open to boats competing in events chosen for the Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. The event is significant as the second of seven stops on ISAF's Sailing World Cup circuit and is the only of those to be hosted in North America. The USA was represented with the largest contingent of teams (135), followed by Canada (85), Sweden and The Netherlands (25 each), Great Britain (22), then Argentina and Norway (both 14).  Fifteen nations were represented in Saturday night's Medal Ceremony. Taking away the most medals was Great Britain with eight (3 golds, 4 silvers, 1 bronze), followed by the USA and The Netherlands with five each (respectively, 3 silvers, 2 bronze, and 2 golds, 2 silvers, one bronze). Canada claimed four medals, while Norway and Australia each came away with three; Brazil and France with two, and Austria, Finland, China, Belgium, Greece, Denmark and Mexico each with one apiece.

(top-three finishes follow)

Sonar (10 boats) – 10 races

Gold: Udo Hessels/ Marcel van de Veen/ Mischa Rossen (NED) 3, [6], 4, 3,

5, 3, 1, 1, 1, 2 (23)

Silver: John Robertson/ Hannah Stodel/ Steve Thomas (GBR) 4, 2, 3, [6], 3,

4, 2, 4, 3, 3 (28)

Bronze: Aleksander Wang-Hansen/ Marie Solberg/Per Eugen Kristiansen (NOR)

[7], 7, 2, 5, 1, 5, 3, 2, 2, 4 (31)

Skud-18 (6 boats) – 10 races

Gold: Daniel Fitzgibbon/Liesl Tesch (AUS) [5], 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 1, 1, 4, 1

(18)

Silver: Alexandra Rickham/Niki Birrell (GBR) 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, [3], 2, 2, 3,

3 (19)

Bronze: Jennifer French (St. Petersburg, Fla.)/Jean-Paul Creignou

(St.Petersburg, Fla.,USA) 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 1, 3, [OCS], 1, 2 (23)

2.4mR (25 boats) – 10 races

Gold: Damien Seguin (FRA) 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3, 1, [9], 3, 1 (17)

Silver: Paul Tingley (CAN) 6, 7, 2, [9], 7, 5, 2, 4, 2, 7 (42)

Bronze: Barend Kol (NED) 5, 16, 4, 5, 3, 2, [DNF], 5, 4, 4 (48)

49er (23 boats) – 15 races + Medal Race

Gold: Nico Luca Marc Delle Karth/Nikolaus Resch (AUT) 5, 4, 5, 1, 4, 7, 1,

1, 1, 2, 4, 1, 1, 1, [9], 4 (42)

Silver: Erik Storck(Huntington,N.Y.)/Trevor Moore(Naples, Fla., USA) 1, 2,

6, 2, 3, [OCS], 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 3, 8, 14, 2 (59)

Bronze: Lauri Lehtinen/Kalle Bask (FIN), 2, [BFD], 7, 13, 2, 3, 2, 5, 7,

10, 9, 7, 2, 3, 1, 6 (79)

Star (29 boats) – 10 races + Medal Race

Gold: Robert Scheidt/ Bruno Prada (BRA) 1, [8], 7, 5, 2, 1, 3, 7, 4, 1, 6

(37)

Silver: Xavier Rohart/Pierre Alexis Ponsot (FRA) 4, 9, 9, 8, 5, [12], 1,

1, 5, 2, 4 (48)

Bronze: Eivind Melleby/ Petter Moerland Pedersen (NOR) 8, 2, 4, 3, 8, 4,

5, 3, 1, [13], 12 (50)

Laser Radial (60 boats) – 10 races + Medal Race

Gold: Lijia Xu (CHN) 5, [35], 2, 1, 6, 2, 1, 2, 5, 2, 16 (42)

Silver: Marit Bouwmeester (NED) 1, 2, 1, 5, [9], 6, 7, 3, 2, 5, 18 (50)

Bronze: Evi Van Acker (BEL) 4, [18], 10, 2, 10, 9, 2, 1, 1, 6, 8 (53)

470 Men (22 boats) – 10 races + Medal Race

Gold: Mathew Belcher/Malcolm Page (AUS) 3, 2, 1, 6, [7], 1, 6, 1, 1, 1, 20

(42)

Silver: Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED) 1, 3, 3, [7], 5, 6, 3, 3, 2, 6, 16

(48)

Bronze: Panagoitis Kampouridis/Efstathios (GRE) 9, 6, 8, 2, 4, 3, 1, [12],

5, 5, 8 (51)

470 Women (15 boats) – 10 races + Medal Race

Gold:Lisa Westerhof/Lobke Berkhout (NED) 2, 3, 5, [OCS], 2, 1, 5, 4, 1, 1,

6 (30)

Silver:Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR) 1, 1, 1, 7, 4, 7, [OCS], 2, 6, 7, 8

(44)

Bronze:Sophie Weguelin/Sophie Ainsworth (GBR) 4, 10, 2, 4, 3, 6, [OCS], 9,

7, 6, 2 (53)

Laser (Gold) (37 boats)-10 races + Medal Race

Gold:Paul Goodison (GBR) 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, [11], 5, 2, 3, 4 (24)

Silver:Bruno Fontes (BRA) [7], 2, 4, 5, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 10 (30)

Bronze:David Wright (CAN) 1, 1, 1, 4, 1, 2, 5, 15, 8, [16], 8 (48)

Finn (25 boats) – 10 races + Medal Race

Gold:Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla., USA) 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, [3], 3, 1, 2

(15)

Silver:Jonas Hogh Christensen (DEN) 3, 4, 2, 3, 2, 1, 4, 4, 2, [5], 8 (33)

Bronze:Greg Douglas (CAN) [26/BFD], 3, 10, 7, 3, 3, 5, 1, 5, 2, 6 (45)

RS: X Men (14 boats) –  10 races + Medal Race

Gold:Nick Dempsey (GBR) 1, 1, [OCS], 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 (11)

Silver:Elliot Carney (GBR) 2, 3, [OCS], 3, 2, 2, 5, 2, 3, 5, 4 (31)

Bronze:Sebastian Wang-Hansen (NOR) 5, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 2, 4, [6], 3, 8 (38)

RS: X Women (12 boats) – 10 races + Medal Race

Gold:Demita Vega De Lille (MEX)  1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, [3], 1, 1, 4 (16)

Silver:Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md., USA) 2, 1, 6, 6, [OCS], 2, 1, 4, 2, 3,

10 (37)

Bronze:Dominique Vallee (CAN) 5, 5, 2, 3, 2, 5, 6, [7], 5, 5, 2 (40)

Women's Match Racing

Gold:Lucy Macgregor/Annie Lush/ Kate Macgregor (GBR)

Silver:Olivia Price/Nina Curtis/Lucinda Whitty (AUS)

Bronze:Sally Barkow (Nashotah, WI., USA)/ Alana O'Reilly (Charleston SC,

USA)/ Elizabeth Kratzig-Burnham (Miami Beach FL, USA) (USA)

#MOCR – Two top ten results overall at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta means medal race participation is guaranteed for Ireland's Star and Laser Radial tomorrow even though medals are most likely just out of reach for both Peter O'Leary/David Burrows in the Star or Laser sailor Annalise Murphy.

With nine of the top 15 from December's Star World championships in Perth racing this week in Miami, including the world champions Robert Sheidt and Bruno Prada from Brazil, just getting into the medal race has been a tough job this week. It is something O'Leary and Burrows failed to achieve in Australia but have done so today and shown some consistent form too as the week progressed. An understated entry on the team facebook page simply says: '2 & 3 today. Medal race tomorrow'.

Today was the last day of fleet racing and conditions were not as favourable on Biscayne Bay as previous days with moderate winds of 9 to 12 knots in the morning, dropping to six knots this afternoon. The Cork-Dublin pair had a superb performance though coming home second and third in today's two races. They round up the fleet racing in sixth overall, poised for tomorrow's final race.

Annalise Murphy finished her final fleet race today with a race win, her second of the regatta. It's a result that moves her right up to seventh overall in the fleet of 60 Laser Radials and earns her a place in the Medal Race tomorrow.

Belfast's James Espey finished his racing in the regatta today. He was competing in the 78 boat Laser feet, the largest in the championship. Espey scored a 26th and a 20th which left him 24th overall.

At the front of the Star class, the neck-and-neck race between Brazil's Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada and Sweden's Fredrik Loof/Max Salminen was further complicated by Norway's Eivind Melleby/ Petter Moerland Pedersen when that team won the first of two races today.  With the Brazilians taking fourth and the Swedes taking third, the performance tied Melleby/Pedersen with Scheidt/Prada going into the second race, while Loof/Salminen had a one-point edge on their closest competitors.  The nod went to Scheidt/Prada in the end, however, when the Brazilians, who are the current World champions, won the second race, putting Loof/Salminen two points behind them in fourth (with 33 points) and Melleby/Pedersen in third (38 points).

Melleby had said earlier in the week that the top ten here are so good that getting to the medal race would be tough. "We have here nine of the top 15 teams from Perth (where the most recent World Championships were held), so the fleet is quite strong."  With five of those now off the final-race roster, Melleby's goal tomorrow will be to power through for a podium position.

#MOCR – A place in this weekend's medal race is the likley prize for Olympic Star keelboat pair Peter O'Leary and David Burrows who have scored top ten results for the third day in a row at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. The Cork–Dublin duo, now in seventh overall after a seventh and a sixth scored yesterday, need to continue the consistent performance into today's final round of fleet racing to secure a top ten placing overall.

Dun Laoghaire's single-hander Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial now in ninth overall is also set for a place in Saturday's medal race having discarded her worst result of  27th, scored yesterday afternoon on Biscayne Bay.

The Irish Paralympic team in the Sonar class had their best day so far of the championship with two fifth places. A protest yesterday evening resulted in their disqualifcation from yesterday's final race but that didn't prevent them from moving up one place on the leader board to seventh overall.

Laser sailor James Espey from Belfast Lough slipped to 22nd overall following two 35th places.

Additional reporting by organisers:

Miami, Florida, USA: A final showdown awaits three Paralympic classes tomorrow and ten Olympic classes on Saturday at US Sailing's Rolex Miami OCR, which has, thus far, gifted sailors with four days of sublime sunshine and satisfying winds. The event is the only one of seven ISAF Sailing World Cup events to grace a shore on this continent and has attracted 529 sailors from 41 countries from as close as Canada and as far away as New Zealand and China.
"It's looking pretty exciting," said Brazil's Star sailor Robert Scheidt, who with crew Bruno Prada has perhaps one of the most impressive sailing records here. (Together, they are two-time Olympic medalists and just off their second straight title win at the Star World Championships). "Some of the guys who have already got a spot in the Olympics are here and they are really sailing well."
No one has been proving that theory better than Sweden's Fredrik Loof/Max Salminen who yesterday trailed Scheidt/Prada by two points and today tied on points with the Brazilians after finishing 6-2 to their 3-7. With both teams posting 26 points, Norway's Eivind Melleby/ Petter Moerland Pedersen are nipping at their heels with only 29 points.
As will happen at the Olympics, only the top-ten boats after tomorrow's racing will be allowed to progress to Saturday's single medal race, which will determine gold, silver and bronze medals.
For the Paralympic sailors here, tomorrow will be the final day of racing (two races each scheduled for Skud-18, Sonar and 2.4mR classes) and determine who takes home medals. (This is the same format that will be followed at their Games.)
Top three podium positions:
Sonar, 10 boats, - 8 races
1. Jourden Bruno / Vimont Vicary Nicolas / Flageul Eric, FRA, 19 points
2. Udo Hessels / Marcel van de Veen / Mischa Rossen, NED, 20
2. John Robertson / Hannah Stodel / Steve Thomas, GBR, 22
Star, 29 boats, - 8 races
1. Robert Scheidt / Bruno Prada, BRA, 26
2. Fredrik Loof / Max Salminen, SWE, 26
3. Eivind Melleby / Petter Moerland Pedersen, NOR, 29
49er, 23 boats, - 12 races
1. Nico Luca Marc Delle Karth / Nikolaus Resch, AUT, 29
2. Erik Storck / Trevor Moore, USA, 33
3. Allan Norregaard / Peter Lang, DEN, 61
Skud-18, 6 boats, - 8 races
1. Daniel Fitzgibbon / Liesl Tesch, AUS, 13
2. Alexandra Rickham / Niki Birrell, GBR, 13
3. Jennifer French / Jean-Paul Creignou, USA, 20
2.4mR, 25 boats, - 8 races
1. Damien Seguin, FRA, 13
2. Paul Tingley, CAN, 33
3. Megan Pascoe, GBR, 39
Laser Radial, 60 boats, - 8 races
1. Lijia Xu, CHN, 19
2. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 25
3. Evi Van Acker, BEL, 38
470 Men, 22 boats, - 8 races
1. Mathew Belcher / Malcolm Page, AUS, 20
2. Sven Coster / Kalle Coster, NED, 24
3. Lucas Calabrese / Juan Maria de la Fuente, ARG, 32
470 Women, 15 boats, - 8 races
1. Lisa Westerhof / Lobke Berkhout, NED, 22
2. Hannah Mills / Saskia Clark, GBR, 23
3. Maria Fernanda Sesto / Consuelo Monsegur, ARG, 31
Laser, Gold,, 37 boats,- 8 races
1. Paul Goodison, GBR, 15
2. David Wright, CAN, 17
3. Bruno Fontes, BRA, 18
Laser, Silver,, 37 boats,- 8 races
1. Marcin Rudawski, POL, 100
2. Ricardo Montemayor, MEX, 103
3. Matthew Ryder, CAN, 114
Finn, 25 boats, - 8 races
1. Zach Railey, USA, 9
2. Jonas Hogh Christensen, DEN, 19
3. Brendan Casey, AUS, 25
RS: X Men, 14 boats, - 8 races
1. Nick Dempsey, GBR, 7
2. Elliot Carney, GBR, 19
3. Mariano Reutemann, ARG, 20
RS: X Women, 12 boats, - 6 races
1. Demita Vega De Lille, MEX, 10
2. Carolina Mendelblatt, POR, 21
3. Farrah Hall, Annapolis, Md., USA, 22
Women's Match Racing
TOP FOUR ADVANCING TO SEMIFINALS
Sally Barkow / Alana O'Reilly / Elizabeth Kratzig-Burnham, USA, 3 wins- 0 losses
Silja Lehtinen / Silja Kanerva / Mikaela Wulff, FIN, 3 wins- 0 losses
Olivia Price / Nina Curtis / Lucinda Whitty, AUS, 3 wins- 0 losses
Lucy Macgregor / Annie Lush / Kate Macgregor, GBR, 3 wins- 2 losses

#MOCR –A second scored in yesterday afternoon's light conditions puts Peter O'Leary and David Burrows into the top ten after four races of the 33-boat mens keelboat fleet racing at the Rolex Miami Olympic classes Regatta. 'We got the finger out' the duo declared last night in a post on Facebook, a reference no doubt of the desire to move their campaign up a gear as the Weymouth Olympic regatta looms. The pair lie ninth overall with Norway's Eivind Melleby/Petter Moerland Pedersen taking an early lead in the regatta that ends on Sunday.

Dun Laoghaire's Annalise Murphy also moved up in her 60-boat Laser Radial fleet from 13th to 11th overall, having finished 8th and 19th respectively in her two races.

Yesterday's 8-11 knot breeze on Biscayne Bay allowed three of the Rolex Miami OCR’s 10 Olympic classes to catch up on the races they lost due to dying winds yesterday afternoon, and 529 sailors from 41 countries now have two days behind them in this important ISAF Sailing World Cup event. Three Paralympic classes also are competing here, adding to a total of 354 boats scattered across four racing circles plus a separate arena for women’s match racing.

Belfast Lough's James Espey remains in the top 20 in what is the largest of the classes, the 78–boat Laser fleet. He is currently 19th overall having secured a sixth followed by a 14th.

The Irish Paralympic trio John Twomey, Anthony Hegarty and Ian Costello in the Sonar class slipped one place from sixth to seventh overall following a sixth and a seventh in their two races.

US SAILING’s 2012 Rolex Miami OCR

Top-three Finishes
Day 2
Sonar (11 boats) – 4 races
1. Jourden Bruno/ Vimont Vicary Nicolas/ Flageul Eric (FRA) 1,5,1,1 (8)
2. Paul Callahan (Newport, R.I.)/ Tom Brown (Castine, Maine)/ Bradley Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla., USA) 1,3,5,2 (12)
3. John Robertson/ Hannah Stodel/ Steve Thomas (GBR) 4, 2, 3, 6 (15)

Star (30 boats) – 4 races
1. Eivind Melleby/ Petter Moerland Pedersen (NOR) 8, 2, 4, 3 (17)
2. Mark Mendelblatt (Miami, Fla.)/ Brian Fatih (Miami, Fla., USA) 3,4,6,4 (17)
3. Fredrik Loof/ Max Salminen (SWE) 2, 5, 2, 9 (18)

49er (23 boats) – 6 races
1. Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.)/Trevor Moore (Naples, Fla., USA) 1, 2, 6, 2, 3, [24/OCS] (14)
2. Nico Luca Marc Delle Karth/Nikolaus Resch (AUT) 5,4,5,1,4,[7] (19)
3. Lauri Lehtinen/Kalle Bask (FIN) 2, [24/BFD], 7, 13, 2, 3 (27)

Skud-18 (6 boats) – 4 races
1. Alexandra Rickham/Niki Birrell (GBR) 1, 2, 2, 2 (7)
2. Daniel Fitzgibbon/Liesl Tesch (AUS) 5, 1, 1, 1 (8)
3. Jennifer French (St. Petersburg, Fla.)/Jean-Paul Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.,USA) 2, 3, 3, 3 (11)

2.4mR (29 boats) – 4 races
1. Damien Seguin (FRA) 2, 1, 3, 2 (8)
2. Paul Tingley (CAN) 6, 7, 2, 9 (24)
3. Megan Pascoe (GBR) 7, 4, 10, 3 (24)

Laser Radial (60 boats) – 4 races
1. Marit Bouwmeester (NED) 1, 2, 1, 5 (9)
2. Charlotte Dobson (GBR) 3, 8, 11, 4 (26)
3. Tania Elias Calles (MEX) 13, 4, 5, 7 (29)

470 Men (23 boats) – 4 race
1. Mathew Belcher/Malcolm Page (AUS) 3, 2, 1, 6 (12)
2. Sven Coster/Kalle Coster (NED) 1, 3, 3, 7 (14)
3. Lucas Calabrese/ Juan Maria de la Fuente (ARG) 5, 8, 2, 4 (19)

470 Women (16 boats) – 4 race
1. Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR) 1, 1, 1, 7 (10)
2. Kathrin Kadelbach/ Friederike Belcher (GER) 9, 4, 4, 1 (18)
3. Sophie Weguelin/ Sophie Ainsworth (GBR) 4, 10, 2, 4 (20)

Laser (74 boats) – 4 races
1. Paul Goodison (GBR) 3, 1, 1, 1 (6)
2. David Wright (CAN) 1, 1, 1, 4 (7)
3. Chris Dold (CAN) 2, 3, 3, 2 (10)

Finn (27 boats) – 3 races
1. Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla., USA) 1, 1, 1 (3)
2. Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif., USA) 2, 2, 4 (8)
3. Jonas Hogh Christensen (DEN) 3, 4, 2, (9)

RS: X Men (14 boats) – 4 races
1. Mariano Reutemann (ARG) 3, 4, 1, 2 (10)
2. Sebastian Wang- Hansen (NOR) 5, 2, 3, 4 (14)
3. Nick Dempsey (GBR) 1, 1, 15/OCS, 1 (18)

RS: X Women (12 boats) – 4 races
1. Demita Vega De Lille (MEX) 1, 2, 1, 2 (6)
2. Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md., USA) 2, 1, 6, 6 (15)
3. Dominique Vallee (CAN) 5, 5, 2, 3 (15)

#RMOCR – Ireland's Star and Laser Radial sailing teams stay in the top third of their respective fleets after the first day of racing at the 2012 Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta but only just. After a mixed opening day's performance from Peter O'Leary and David Burrows the keelboat pair are 11th from 33. Annalise Murphy fares better in13th after two races from a fleet of 60 boats competing on Biscayne Bay.

The sailors are Ireland's best hopes for a sailing medal at the London Olympics and are funded by the Irish Sports Council.

Conditions on the blustery Florida race courses, often judged to be one of the best race tracks in the world, blew from the north east and 12-20 knots in strength across the five courses. Over 700 sailors are competing, drawn from over 50 countries and ten Olympic classes.

It's the second round of ISAF's Sailing World Cup Regatta and as such represents one of the most important build up regattas of the year in advance of the Olynpic Games in less than 200 days time. Both Irish crews, who qualified for London in Perth last December, are fighting hard to post consistent results but yesterday's opening two rounds, although solid performances, wil not be the post Christmas boost they were looking for.

The Irish keelboat took a yellow flag Yellow flag penalty in the first race and did well to get back to tenth  O'Leary and Burrows scores of 10th and a 12th place them 11th overall.

Annalise Murphy concluded the day in 13th overall having secured a 17th and a 19th in her two races of the day.

Independent non-carded sailor James Espey got off to a consistent start in the largest of the classes, the 78 boat Laser fleet. He sits just outside the top 10 at 11th overall having finished 12th in both of his races of the day.

Also competing are the Irish Paralympic sailors John Twomey, Anthony Hegarty and Ian Costello in the Sonar class. The trio lie in the middle of the 11 boat fleet at 6th overall following a 9th and a 4th in their two races.

#PERTH2011 – Annalise Murphy's World Championships ended in Perth today with a personal best result of sixth overall for the Dun Laoghaire single-hander. She also takes home the all important ticket to the London 2012 regatta, the first Irish sailor to win Olympic qualification. Overall the National Yacht Club sailor had four race wins to her credit, more than any other sailor in her 102-boat fleet.

Annalise on her way to a personal best performance in Perth. Photo: Richard Langdon

While Murphy had put herself back in contention with two firsts on the penultimate day, a  Laser Radial medal was always going to be a long shot. In the end hitting the last windward mark in the medal race put paid to the bronze medal which went to America's Page Railey, eight points clear of Murphy.

Conditions were light and  difficult for the medal race and Annalise lead for a time but was overtaken by the overall winner Marit Bouwmeester (NED). Annalise also sailed in to a wind hole before finishing eighth in the race to secure a sixth place overall in the championship.

Annalise in action off Fremantle. Photo: Richard Langdon

'I sailed very well at this event but I was very unlucky at the end but I have achieved my objectives which were to qualify for the Olympics and finish in the top 10',  Annalise said.

The battle for the world title was fought out between Murphy's biggest rivals.

Evi van Acker (BEL) fought till the very end, but it was not enough to beat an ecstatic Bouwmeester.

"I feel awesome. I said I wanted to dominate the week. It was a really really tough week and I was happy," Bouwmeester said.

"Fight back yesterday and now fight back today. Yea I feel awesome," she said.

It's Bouwmeester's first world title. "I'm going to give my family and friends a big hug, celebrate and say thank you." Many of them were on the grandstand breakwater, cheering her on with flags and cheers of encouragement.

Evi van Acker worked her way to a point where she could have taken the world title, but her efforts weren't enough.

"I keep getting second, it's sad but it keeps me motivated to work more for the Olympics," van Acker said.

Paige Railey (USA) won the bronze by the smallest of margins, taking the medal by a single point. "It's a huge relief. I'm extremely happy to see all the hard work pay off," she said.

The Laser Radial Medal Race sailors had winds of 8-13 knots, but the pressure constantly changed. The spectator breakwater also played a role in defining race tactics.

Veronika Fenclova (CZE) came from 6th to win the medal race.

There were many lead changes before that though. Annalise Murphy (IRL) led leg one, but was overtaken by Bouwmeester on leg two. Sara Winther (NZL) led leg three but was disqualified for breaching rule 42 (pumping).

She was overtaken by van Acker on the second last leg of the race.

It appeared the Belgian sailor was going to win the race but the umpires gave her a penalty for pumping, putting Bouwmeester ahead on points.

"I think I could have won. Some mistakes were made, that's what cost me the gold medal," a dejected van Acker said.

Bouwmeester's fourth place in the Medal Race was enough to win the world title.

"I just had to stay with the front fleet and everything is going to be decided in the last down wind and it worked to my advantage," she said.

Paige Railey spent most of the race at the back of the fleet. "I went pretty risky in the beginning and it didn't pay off." the bronze medallist said.

#PERTH2011 – Irish sailor Annalise Murphy needs to beat America's Paige Railey by at least four places to win a bronze medal in tommorrow's Laser Radial final following a stunning performance in Perth today with two further race wins at the ISAF World Championships.

18 knot winds gave the Natonal Yacht Club Sailor (who qualified for the London Olympics this week) the chance to shine again today and significantly narrow the point's gap going in to Sunday's Medal Race.

A breathaking 63–metre lead by Annalise Murphy in the second race of the ISAF worlds in Perth this week is captured on youtube (below), The 16-knot performance by the 6 foot 1inch Dun Laoghaire single-hander is well worth a peek. Join the clip around the 20 minutes mark for race commentary,aerial shots and some impressive moves from Annalise! Yes that's a race win against the best in the world!