US Sailing Team at the Ready Steady Tokyo test event - Day 3
by US Sailing Team 20 Aug 2019 02:02 NZST
15-22 August 2019
U.S. Women's 470, Nikole Barnes and Lara Dallman-Weiss - Ready Steady Tokyo, day 3 © Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy / World Sailing
The third day of Ready Steady Tokyo - Sailing, the official Test Event for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 delivered challenging conditions. Sailors were met with shifty winds from the east-northeast at about eight-12 knots. After a variety of conditions over the past three days, it seems adaptability will shine at the 2020 Olympic venue.
Luckily, several U.S. athletes are ready to tackle sailing here, one step at a time. Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.) were in 19th after the first day of racing in the Women's 49erfX fleet. Thanks to some strong performances over the past two days, the pair has managed to climb to eighth overall.
After a long day of fighting to move up the leaderboard, Roble is pleased with their results, "Today was a long day, we sailed four races, but we're really happy with how things are going. We started off the event in kind of a rough place with the results, but our focus is just on getting better with each race and taking it one at a time."
Taking each day one race at a time, Roble and Shea are optimistic that this process will deliver results by the time Tokyo 2020 rolls around. "We're really excited to be here at the Olympic venue and to have a chance to race here and race against the top girls in the world. We're going to keep doing what we can to put our best out there," Roble continued. "We trust the work we've put in this year and in previous years, and we believe the results will follow."
U.S. Women's 470 athletes Nikole Barnes (Miami, Fla.) and Lara Dallman-Weiss (Shoreview, Minn.) are also pleased with their time learning at the Olympic venue. The pair has been training and competing in Enoshima since July 15th. Dallman-Weiss attested to the variety of conditions they've encountered so far, "We've now had one month of sailing at the Olympic venue and have seen such wide a range of conditions."
Despite the tricky conditions, they are excited by their time on the water at the 2020 venue. "Every day, we love being on the water here. It's filled with a lot of energy and Olympic spirit. We're especially proud to represent the U.S. at this event," said Barnes. "While we're on a very steep part of our learning curve still, we're taking in information every day so that next year we can proudly represent the U.S. at the Games. It's one race at a time, one tack at a time, until then." Barnes and Dallman-Weiss managed to finish today with a solid race, crossing the finish line in fifth place.
Other highlights for the U.S. representatives include performances from Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.), Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), and Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale Fla.). All three boats are ranked in the top-ten in their respective fleets. McNay and Hughes currently stand in sixth place in the Men's 470 fleet after finishing race five in second place. Barnard is ranked ninth overall in the Men's Laser fleet and finished his day with another first-place finish. Reineke is ninth in the Women's Laser Radial fleet and managed to finish race five in third.
Ready Steady Tokyo Sailing - U.S. Results
Men's 470 - Stu McNay (Providence, R.I.) and Dave Hughes (Miami, Fla.), 6th
Women's 49erFX - Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.) and Maggie Shea (Wilmette, Ill.), 8th
Men's Laser - Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.), 9th
Women's Laser Radial - Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 9th
Men's Laser - Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.), 14th
Men's Finn - Luke Muller (Fort Pierce, Fla.), 14th
Mixed Nacra 17 - Riley Gibbs (Long Beach, Calif.) and Anna Weis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 15th
Women's Laser Radial - Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.), 16th
Women's RS:X - Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.), 18th
Women's 470 - Nikole Barnes (Miami, Fla.) and Lara Dallman-Weis (Shoreview, Minn.), 18th
Men's RS:X - Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.), 19th
Men's 49er - Andrew Mollerus (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Ian MacDiarmid (Delray Beach, Fla.), 20th
Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow at 12:00 local time.