by Windsurfing is mentioned at the very end. Hope I'm not
wasting too much bandwidth by posting this whole thing
SOmeone said they wanted to see the sailing info too.
It's interesting to note how well America's Michael Gebhardt
is doing considering that I was so bumbed when Ted Huang didn't
get in.
Andy
BARCELONA, Spain (UPI) -- U.S. helmsman Paul Foerster's superior
tuning and t*** Wednesday left his Flying Dutchman rivals behind
from the start to capture the third race and overall lead in the Olympic
Yachting Regatta while the Japanese Women's 470 duo clung on to first.
Displaying the most aggressive sailing, Americans led in four events
including the Star, Tornado and Men's Windsurfing while Spain dropped
from two to one in the Men's 470.
But Foerster, a 29-year-old engineer, was reluctant to predict a gold
medal.
``Nobody can say we'll definitely win,'' he said, but added the 10
knot winds over the Mediterranean courses ``were very favorable for us.''
Foster and crewman Steve Bourdow, 26, executed superb teamwork in
speeding the dinghy, known as the ``Formula One'' among centerboard
boats, through all five legs of the triangular course.
After finishing sixth and first in the initial contests, Wednesday's
first pushed the Americans ahead of Spain to the overall lead.
Spain's Luis Doreste, the 1987 world champion, and Domingo Manrique
added a ninth-place finish to their earlier first and second for second
overall. Germany's Albert Batzill, the 1989 world champion, and Peter
Lang were third.
Medals in yachting are based on points tallied from the best six of
seven races. Windsurfers compete in 10 contests, and for the first time,
a match race will be held to determine the ultimate victor in Soling.
Women's 470 Skipper Yumiko Shige, 27, and Alicia Kinoshita, 25, held
onto first overall despite finishing eighth, with their earlier fourth
and first keeping them on top.
The Japanese pair emerging second in the 1992 world championship kept
the reiging champion Spanish team in a disappointing fourth overall.
``I think we've had a lot of luck,'' said Shige. ``We had enough
strength to win one of the races, and we hope to win the regatta, but I
don't know if we can.''
The United Team combo of Larissa Moscalenko and Elena Pakholtchik
retained second in the light dinghy while France's Florence Le Brun and
Odile Barre slipped from second to third with a ninth-place finish.
The U.S. Star combo of Mark Reynolds, 37, and Hal Haenel, 34, Olympic
silver medalists at Seoul, held onto first overall. Their third place
Wednesday followed a first and second in the craft requiring the
ultimate in technical and racing skills.
New Zealand's Roderick Davis and Donald Cowie kept second and
Gibralter's David Howlett and Philip Lawrence sailed into third.
U.S. Europe helmswoman Julia Trotman, 24, was smacked with such a
huge point penalty for her premature start she plunged from first
overall to sixth despite leading around every mark.
Estonia's Krista Kruuv, 21, took over the lead with a third place
finish in the Belgium-designed boat making its Olympic debut. She was
trailed by Denmark's Dorte Jensen, 20, and New Zealander Jennifer
Armstrong, 22.
Spain's Jordi Calafat, 24, and Francisco Luna, 27, polished off
another first in the Men's 470 to retain their overall lead.
The pair had turned in first and second place performances Tuesday
for their solid hold on the No. 1 spot.
Gibralter's Paul Brotherton and Andrew Hemmings retained second,
while Japan's Shinji Otsu and Motohiro Hirobe earned third after two
fifths and an eighth.
The U.S. tornado team of Randy Smyth, 38, and Keith Notary, 32,
sliced their catamaran through its second race for the overall lead in
the fastest Olympic boat. Their second-place finish came after Tuesday's
first.
Frenchmen Yves Loday and Nicolas Henard displaced Denmark in second,
and Canada's David Sweeney and Kevin Smith took third.
----------- WINDSURFING ---------------
After five windsurfing races, America's Michael Gebhardt, 27,
resolutely hung onto first overall. His 11th place in the final race was
preceeded by a second, fifth, fourth and third.
France's David Frank replaced Israel in second and Spain's Asier
Fernandez knocked Italy out of third.
New Zealander Barbary Kendall, 25, reigned over the women windsurfers
with two firsts, a second, third and a 10th-place finish followed by
Italy's Alessandra Sensini and Dorien De Vries of the Netherlands.