Human Interest
Who's going to the 2008 Olympics?
By Lynn Fitzgerald, World Regattas.com
Apr 10, 2008, 18:08

On their way to Qingdao from www.worldregattas.com

Eleven countries have qualified teams for the 2008 Olympics. They are Brazil, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Italy, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Portugal and the United States. China, as the host country, automatically qualifies for the Men's Keelboat event.

All of these countries have completed their Olympic Trials with the exception of Germany. These teams are more concerned about training for the fifteen-boat Olympic Regatta than a regatta with nearly ten times as many teams competing. The men who have already made their shipping arrangements for Qingdao are:

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BRA
Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada

It seems that nothing can stop this pair. Not only did they win the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships in the Men's Keelboat last year to be crowned the Star World Champions but they won two other tough regattas that give a clear indication of how they will perform at the Olympics — the 2007 Pre-Olympic Regatta and the Star Rio de Janeiro Championship, which doubled as the Brazilian Trials. Even though two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and past Star World Champion skipper wasn't competing, the regatta was a close one, because Brazil is the home country of many Star World Champions. Robert and Bruno had one of the most stunning horizon jobs in the heaviest air race of the 115-boat Bacardi Cup. They are focused, strong and fantastic in every condition.

FRA
Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau

They wear the gold star on their sail for their victories in the 2003 ISAF World Championship and their 2005 Star World Championship. These gentlemen are consistent. They sail with stock equipment. They are not flashy and they say that they are sailing their last Star World Championship together before Pascal Rambeau becomes a coach. They are usually among the top pack at the first weather mark and their conservative sailing, impeccable fleet management skills and tactics enable them to hold their lead or pull into the top three.

GBR
Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson

Percy and Simpson came off America's Cup campaigns, hopped into the Star and qualified Great Britain for the Olympics. Their focus on making their new Mader go fast has had them a bit preoccupied and they've recently decided to return to a proven boat. The team sailed a spectacular Bacardi Cup in March in Miami where they finished second in the same sized fleet.

NZL
Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams

The 2006 Star World Champions rarely fall out of the top five. They won the Miami sailing season opener, the 2006 Star North American Championship, and finale during 2007. They've had an impressive string of Star and other keelboat regattas during the past year. They are in good hands with coaches, Rod Davis, who just won the Star Masters Regatta and David Giles, who has an Olympic medal and would love to be sailing this regatta with his compatriot Colin Beashel.

ITA
Diego Negri and Luigi Viale

Diego Negri and Luigi Viale just punched their ticket to the Olympics during the Bacardi Cup. While they were the top placing team at the first Olympic qualifier, the 2007 ISAF World Championships, they have been in a multi-regatta sail off against the other Italian teams. No longer concerned about their cumulative points vis a vis all of their countrymen, the pair can focus on sailing well. A strong performance at the Worlds will give them a nice start on the road to Qingdao.

POL
Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki

They have their ups and downs during regattas, but they are on the leader board so often that I can spell their names. They went for a period of nearly two years without finishing out of the top ten at any major regatta. They just finished fourth in the warm up regatta for the Worlds, the Bacardi Cup.

GER
Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski and Robert Stanjek and Marcus Koy

Germany is qualified, but the Men's Keelboat Trials are not over. To meet the national qualifying criteria to be considered for the Olympic Team, the German Star sailors must have a top 6 finish in a Grade 1 event or finish in the top 5 at the European Championships and they must have a top 10 finish in a World Championship. The German qualification calendar started ticking last year at the World Championships. Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski have met the criteria. Robert Stanjek and Marcus Koy are still hunting for a top 10 finish at the World Championships. If they achieve a top 10 finish at this year's World Championship, then their Trials will be in May at the Breitling Regatta. If Stanjek and Koy don't qualify, then it's still up to the German federation to determine whether they think their Men's Keelboat candidate will have the potential to do well at the Olympics. Pickel/Borkowski have been training as if they are going to the Olympics, having sailed the 2007 Olympic Test Event and spending a lot of energy on building their custom designed P-Star.

SWE
Freddy Loof and Anders Ekstrom

Two-time Star World Champion, Freddy Loof, would love to three peat. Anders Ekstrom would love to repeat. They have been sailing well, but their efforts are so focused on the Olympics that they were home in Scandinavia during the Bacardi Cup. They go into this World Championship ranked #2 by ISAF.

AUS
Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey

Murray and Palfrey are rarely in the limelight, but they are usually just in the shadows. Big Fella is training so hard that he's fitter than ever. The pair has spent a fair amount of time in Miami this season and they seem to be happy with their boats and coaching program. Their eyes are set on the Olympics, but Iain's upcoming birthday wish may just be to win the Star World Championship, one of the few championships this celebrated Australian sailor has yet to capture.

POR
Afonso Domingos and Bernardo Santos

Domingos and Santos just did something that no other Star sailors have ever done. With trophies raised over their heads, their Bacardi Cup victory picture was lit up in Times Square. The 2008 Bacardi win following a 5th place finish at the Rolex Miami OCR and some rest and relaxation back home, have them in a good frame of mind and they could best their 2005 Star Worlds 8th place performance.

USA
John Dane III and Austin Sperry

You may have heard that John Dane III will be the oldest sailor among the 400 sailors at the 2008 Olympics. John's seven winner take all US Olympic Trials over 40 years finally ended the way he wanted it to; with a victory. Austin Sperry was a training partner for Paul Cayard at the Athens Olympics and his athleticism and youthful exuberance are an interesting combination with Dane's experience. What you may not know is that they have blazing upwind speed. They also proved that they are solid in the breeze by leapfrogging a lot of other teams with their final two finishes at the 2008 Bacardi Cup. Their single digit races skyrocketed them to third in the regatta. They are sailing well, but Dane is fixated on stealing the show at his first and final Olympics.

CHN
Honquan Li and He Wang

What a thrill to represent your country in the Olympics when you are a citizen of the host country! Li and Wang have been spending a lot of time drinking up the fresh air, sparkling water and sunshine in Miami while they try to figure out one of the most technical one design boats and compete against the who's who of sailing. They've made progress on their boat handling, equipment and tuning, but they have a long way to go to shift gears as well as the rest of the teams that have qualified for the Olympics.

Knocking on the Door

Teams from several countries are salivating over the opportunity to go to the 2008 Olympics. While they didn't make the cut last year, it's completely possible that some of them will do as they have done throughout most of this sailing season and beat several of the teams that are already going to Qingdao. If everybody sees them as a threat, they may not get the breaks that they are used to and may find themselves ping ponged by other teams that are trying to claw their way into an Olympic berth, teams that are already going to Qingdao and in some cases, their compatriots who would really like the opportunity to go to the Olympics themselves. Qualifying for the 2008 Olympics during the 2008 World Championship is no cakewalk. The following countries are listed in the order in which they finished at the 2007 ISAF World Championships, where only ten countries made the cut.

IRL
Maurice O'Connell and Ben Cooke, Maxwell Treacy and Anthony Shanks, Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne

Ask any of the Paddies how it's determined who goes to the Olympics if one of the teams qualifies Ireland for the Games and you won't get the same answer. All are excellent sailors and an asset to the Star Class. Youngsters and newcomers to the Star Class, Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne are on fire. They've spent the season trying to keep up with their training partners, Brits Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson, and they are closing in on them.

CRO
Marin Lovrovic Jr. and Sinisa Mikulicic and Dan Lovrovic and Marin Lovrovic Sr.

It's a family affair! Marin Sr. started sailing with his youngest son, Dan, when the family concluded that Marin Jr. had a shot at qualifying the country for the Olympics if he had a more agile and younger crew. The Lovrovics have a two team Olympic campaign to be proud of. Marin Jr. and Sinisa finished 4th at the Rolex Miami OCR and 17th at the Bacardi, which would have been good enough to qualify them for the Games.

SUI
Flavio Marazzi and Enrico deMaria

In difference to the other Swiss teams, Marazzi and deMaria are the team to beat ...by everybody. Marazzi has sailed the Star at the Olympics twice and he partnered with deMaria at the Athens Games. Marazzi has been working closely with Wilke to build a custom Star. He had speed to burn at the light air Olympic Test Event and led for nearly the entire regatta. Had it not been for a bad start in the short course Medal Round, Marazzi would have won the regatta. By the time the Olympics rolls around he and deMaria will have been teamed up for 15 months, if they qualify. They will be a force to be reckoned with if they make the cut at this World Championship. Except for the Bacardi Cup, they've had all top 5 finishes in Miami this season.

BER
Peter Bromby and Lee White

Peter Bromby and Lee White have been to the last four Olympic Game. During the 1992 Games, White was the alternate for the Bermudian team, but since then he has been Bromby's crew. They love Miami and pin end starts. If everything goes their way, 65,000 people on the rock in the North Atlantic will have another reason to celebrate a holiday.

AUT
Hans Spitzauer and Christian Nehammer

After finishing 24th at the 2007 ISAF World Championships, Hans Spitzhauer made sailing their full time job. Spitzauer, who finished 4th in the Finn in Savannah and has been to the Olympics three times already, knows what it takes to campaign the right way. Their coach, Alfred Pelinka, has dissected every aspect of their sailing and has been working closely with them since they arrived in Miami in December. They are sailing well in Miami and recently posted a 5th place finish at the Bacardi Cup.

NOR
Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen

Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen have been within one point of Flavio Marazzi and Enrico deMaria during the entire Miami sailing season. Melleby was ranked #1 in the world in the Laser, finished second in the Laser Trials in 1996. Norway medaled in the '96 Games in the Laser, but it was little consolation for him. The pair made their debut in the Star and in Miami at the 2006 North Americans where they finished 32nd. They are a force to be reckoned with and they are a fun, friendly and very competitive addition to the class.

CAN
Brian Cramer and Tyler Bjorn and Ross MacDonald and Steve Mitchell

Only the four of them know the definitive answer, but what do you get when you put two past Star World Champions who have both been to the Olympics together? Add this to the equation, MacDonald has been there five times and took home a Silver Medal from Athens, he's also won the Star World Championships a couple of times. Like MacDonald, Mitchell is a member of the Star World Champion fraternity. He's also engaged to a Canadian. They've teamed up and are quite capable of winning the regatta especially since MacDonald and Mitchell have been coaching this season, so it's not as if they have lost touch with top level competition and... Mike Wolfs, who has been to the Olympics 3 times with MacDonald is coaching the pair. Just how long does it take to get citizenship in Canada?

The list goes on and there are sure to be some surprises and upsets. More importantly there is going to be great sailing and unparalleled displays of athleticism, camaraderie and sportsmanship at 2008 Star World Championships.

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The Star and the Olympics
By Lynn Fitzpatrick

The Star made its Olympic debut in 1932. Star sailors stole the show that year at Los Angeles, three out of the four yachting events being won by Star skippers. Aside from their own series, Jacques Le Brun, of France, won the little single-handed one-design (Monotype) crown. Owen Churchill was at the helm of Babe, U.S. winner among the Eight Metres. In contrast to other yachtsmen from different countries, Star members were old friends and spent much of their time ashore together. It was the first time that the rest of the yachting world was able to witness the comradeship already developed by the I.S.C.Y.R.A.

Originally scheduled as an exhibition, a sort of unofficial test of popularity, Stars were eventually included as one of the regular classes on the Olympic program. It is doubtful if that could ever have been accomplished without the cooperation of the N.A.Y.R.U., which was recognized as the national authority of the U.S.A.

Getting back to Star competition, Gilbert Gray, of New Orleans, sailed Jupiter to a decisive victory. With Andrew Labino as crew, he won five firsts and was never seriously threatened. Gray rose to the occasion and sailed the best series of his career, giving the U.S. its first Olympic Star champion. By coincidence, John Dane III, the US Olympic Men's Keelboat skipper for the 2008 Games hails from the same yacht club as the first Olympic Gold Medalist in the Star.

The Star Class has participated in the Olympic Games since 1932, when it was a test even. Out of the 17 times the Star has been an Olympic Class, two skippers have won the gold medal twice. They are Mark Reynolds of the USA and Torben Grael of Brazil. Mark will be sailing the 2007 Star Worlds with Hal Haenel, his gold medal winning teammate in the 1992 Olympics. Torben Grael and crew, Marcello Ferreira of Brazil won the gold medal at the Savannah and Athens Games.

The following table is lists the Olympic Gold Medalists in the Star Class.


Year Skipper Crew Country Notes
1932 Gilbert Gray Andrew Labino USA Exhibition
1936 Bischoff GER
1948 H. Smart USA
1952 Straulino ITA
1956 H. P. Williams L.E. Low USA
1960 T. Pineguin F. Shuthov USSR
1964 D. Knowles C. Cooke BAH
1968 Lowell North Peter Barret USA
1972 David Forbes John Andersen AUS
1976 Star replaced by Tempest
1980 V. Mankin A. Muzychenko USSR
1984 Bill Buchan Steve Erickson USA Crew Coaching
1988 M. McIntyre P. Bryn Valle GBR
1992 Mark Reynolds Hal Haenel USA Competing
1996 Torben Grael Marcelo Ferreira BRA Crew Competing
2000 Mark Reynolds Magnus Lijedahl USA Competing Crew Assisting
2004 Torben Grael Marcelo Ferreira BRA Crew Competing



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