ISAF Worlds, Day 9: US 470’s Earn Career-Best Finishes, Paine (Finn) Goes Through to Medal Race

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VIDEO: US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider 470 athletes react to career-best performances at the ISAF Worlds in Santander, Spain. McNay and Hughes finished higher than any US men’s 470 team at the Worlds since Olympic medalists Paul Foerster and Bob Merrick in 2000. WATCH: http://youtu.be/WWpfCRDFr-A

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 20, 2014

Santander, Spain – In light and tricky weather and in front of a cheering crowd of thousands, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider athletes Stuart McNay (Providence, R.I.) and David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.) secured the best overall finish by an American men’s 470 team at the World Championship since 2000. McNay and Hughes finished 5th overall at the 2014 ISAF World Championships in Santander, and combined with the 7th overall result from teammates Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) in the women’s 470, Saturday was a standout day in the long and successful history of US 470 Class sailing. In the Finn class, Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.) qualified for Sunday’s medal race.

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McNay and Hughes engineered an impressive beginning to their regatta in Santander, winning the first two races of the 2014 Worlds, and bucking a previous trend for the team. “Traditionally we’ve been slow starters in events, and we made a concerted effort to come out of the blocks hot,” said McNay, a 2-time Olympian. “We accomplished that goal, and it’s a great building block for us for events in the future.” McNay, who finished 13th at Beijing 2008 and 14th at London 2012, seems to be hitting his stride with Hughes as a partner. The veteran dinghy sailors teamed up after the Olympics in 2012. “Our strength as a team is that we are each other’s best coaches, and we enormously enjoy sailing together,” explained McNay. Hughes noted that this event is yet another positive step in their campaign for Rio 2016. “Our goal was the same as everyone’s, in that we wanted to come away with a medal [in Santander], but an improvement on last year’s [6th place] result was another goal. We’re making the right strides in the right amount of time out from the Olympics, so we’re really happy with our preparation.” The 470 World title was won for a 5th time by London 2012 gold medalist Mathew Belcher and crew Will Ryan of Australia. For Ryan, who teamed up with Belcher following the Olympics in 2012, it was his second win at the Worlds. Taking silver was Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia, and winning bronze was Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis of Greece.

WATCH: Medal Race, Men’s 470 Class, ISAF Worlds Santander 2014, with host Gary Jobson.

ESPN3 Link: http://es.pn/YYV2rr 

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American progress in the 470 class at Santander 2014 was not limited to the men’s fleet, as US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider athletes Haeger and Provancha also recorded a career-best result at the World Championships. In finishing 7th overall, the pair capped a remarkably consistent 2014 campaign which saw them compete near the top of each event they entered. After finishing 15th at the 2013 Worlds, Haeger and Provancha were eager to have another shot at the top, an attitude they echoed after today’s medal race. “Even though we just finished here, I just can’t wait to get back on the water,” said Haeger. “We are going to do whatever it takes, and put in however much work we need to in order to reach the podium.” Provancha echoed her teammate’s message of commitment. “While we would have liked to finish higher here, we are going to figure this out,” said the ISAF Youth World Champion. Winning the Worlds this year was the Austrian team of Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar. Close behind were London 2012 gold medalists Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (New Zealand) in 2nd, and London 2012 silver medalists Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (Great Britain) in 3rd.

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Pictured: Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha, Women’s 470.

With no races completed in the Finn class on Day 9, the US Sailing Team Spery Top-Sider’s Caleb Paine remained in 9th overall and advanced to Sunday’s medal race against the best heavyweight dinghy sailors in the world. Like his 470 and Laser teammates, Paine has also secured a career best result, as his previous top finish was the 23rd he recorded in 2013. Paine also succeeded in qualifying the United States for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in the Finn Class. While US Olympic Sailing Team athlete selection will happen at a later date, qualifying the country is a significant milestone.

Tune in tomorrow as Paine, a 2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion, competes in front of a worldwide TV audience in Santander.

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Pictured: Caleb Paine, Finn.

Sunday Medal Race Schedule:

Finn Class Medal Race:
Race Start: 2:10PM (Santander Time), 8:10AM EST, 5:10AM PST

Live Updates: www.twitter.com/USSailingTeam
Live Tracking & Race Replay: http://bit.ly/1m7H4xI
Live TV Feed and Race Replay, ESPN3 with Gary Jobson: http://es.pn/1wAjiLu
Live TV Feed and Race Replay, ISAF on Youtube: www.youtube.com/isafchannel

Full Results: http://bit.ly/1s3FKhN

Notable US Results, Overall: 

470 Men (73 boats): Final

  • 5th, Stuart McNay and David Hughes, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

470 Women (54 boats): Final

  • 7th, Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

Laser Men (147 boats): Final

  • 7th, Charlie Buckingham, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider
  • 15th, Chris Barnard, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

Finn (78 boats):

  • 9th, Caleb Paine, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

Laser Radial Women (120 boats): Final

  • 14th, Erika Reineke, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

49er Men (40 boats raced on Day 4, 80 total boats):

  • 24th, Brad Funk and Trevor Burd, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

49erFX Women: 

  • 29th, Paris Henken and Helena Scutt, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

Nacra 17 (67 boats):

  • 35th, Sarah Newberry and John Casey, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

RS:X Women: Final

  • 40th, Farrah Hall, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

RS:X Men: Final

  • 73rd, Carson Crain, US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

Santander 2014 Media Guide:

Event Website: http://www.santander2014.com

US Sailing Team Live Updates: www.Twitter.com/USSailingTeam

US Sailing Team Daily Reports: www.ussailing.org/olympics

Social Media (Facebook): www.Facebook.com.USSailingTeam

Social Media (Instagram): www.Instagram.com.USSailingTeam

Photos (Daily): www.usst.photoshelter.com

The Medalist Newsletter: September Issue

The Medalist is out! We are in championship season, and the biggest Olympic sailing event of the year is taking place at the ISAF World Championships in Santander, Spain. The Medalist, September Issue: http://bit.ly/1qHG82Q Subscribe: http://eepurl.com/EZH6D

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Featured In This Issue:
– SANTANDER WORLDS: The Biggest Event Before Rio 2016
– VIEW FROM RIO, by Charlie McKee
– SNAPSHOTS: Images from Training and Racing
– QUOTABLES: Social Media Roundup
– DISABLED SAILING WORLDS, by Betsy Alison
– RISING TIDE, Episode 3: “A Technical Direction.”
– THE GOLDEN SPINNAKER REGATTA & GALA: Support your team! Event details inside.
– FAN & MEDIA GUIDE

About the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider

The US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider is managed by the United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for the sport of sailing and sailboat racing. The top boats in each Olympic and Paralympic class are selected annually to be members of the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider. US Sailing helps these elite athletes with with financial, logistical, coaching, technical, fitness, marketing and communications support. The title sponsor of the team is Sperry Top-Sider; other sponsors include Harken and Team McLube. Yale Cordage is a team supplier. The US Sailing Center Miami is an Olympic training site. Oakcliff Sailing and Clearwater Community Sailing Center are US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider training centers. Chubb Personal Insurance sponsors US Sailing’s National Team Tour, a nationwide presentation program for US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider athletes.

The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and growth for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org

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Press contact: Will Ricketson, Olympic Communications Manager, US Sailing. willricketson@ussailing.org, +1 978 697 238