Battling for wind at Pan Am Games

Paracas, Peru (August 4, 2019) – Once again, the Bay of Paracas delivered challenging conditions for the Race Committee of the Pan American Games Lima 2019 Sailing events. Despite another long postponement, several more classes were able to complete the first races of the 2019 Pan American Games Regatta.

Sailors were postponed on shore today until the late afternoon. The Men’s and Women’s RS:X, Mixed Nacra 17, Mixed Snipe, Mixed Lighting, Open Sunfish, Men’s Laser, and Women’s Laser Radial Athletes were sent out at 1430 local time. The athletes were further postponed on the water into the late afternoon while the race committee waited for the west-southwesterly breeze to stabilize.

Finally, the southwesterly sea breeze solidified and the Race Committee was able to score two races in the Men’s and Women’s RS:X and Nacra 17 classes, and one race in the Snipe and Lightning classes.

However, the southwesterly remained too light and unstable for racing on the Laser, Laser Radial, and Sunfish course. In addition to the Open Formula Kites, those athletes will be looking to complete their first race of the regatta tomorrow. The 49ers and 49erFXs each finished one race yesterday, in similar conditions.

Despite the light and shifty conditions, many sailors were eager to race. “I was really hoping we would race today, since we were on shore all day yesterday,” said Team USA Men’s RS:X athlete, Pedro Pascual (West Palm Beach, Fla.). Pascual is tied for first place after scoring a total of three points in his two races today.

Despite conditions falling short of perfect, he was pleased to earn some solid scores, “Even though the conditions were puffy and light, I managed to get some good results, so I’m happy with how today went.”

Heavier winds are predicted for tomorrow. In hopes that the conditions deliver the forecasted 10-to-14-knot southerly, the Race Committee has scheduled racing for an hour earlier. Assuming the marine layer burns off early and the breeze fills on time, the first races will start at 1100 local time.

Details – Results – Tracking – Facebook

Top North Americans:
Men’s RS:X (2 races): 2nd Pedro Pascual (USA)
Women’s RS:X (2 races): 3rd Olivia Mew (CAN)
Men’s Laser (0 races):
Women’s Laser Radial (0 races):
Open Sunfish (0 races):
Mixed Snipe (1 race): 1st Ernesto Rodriguez/ Hallie Schiffman (USA)
Men’s 49er (1 race): 4th Andrew Mollerus/ Ian MacDiarmid (USA)
Women’s 49erFX (1 race): 3rd Stephanie Roble/ Maggie Shea (USA)
Mixed Lightning (1 race): 2nd Jody Swanson/ Ian Jones/ Skip Dieball (USA)
Mixed Nacra 17 (2 races): 5th Riley Gibbs/ Anna Weis (USA)
Open Formula Kite (0 races):

Team rosters: Canada – USA

Sailing is among the 51 sports to be contested at the 2019 Pan Am Games, with the 11 medal events to be held from August 3 to 10 in Paracas, Peru. A total of 168 athletes will be competing in Men’s and Women’s RS:X, Men’s Laser, Women’s Laser Radial, Open Sunfish, Mixed Snipe, Men’s 49er, Women’s 49erFX, Mixed Lightning, Mixed Nacra 17, and Open Formula Kite. Held every four years, the Pan Am Games attracts athletes from nations of the Americas in the year before the Summer Olympic Games.

Source: US Sailing Team, Sail Canada, Scuttlebutt