Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson too close to Star World Championship title

British team wins Gol Airlines Regatta and moves closer to sealing the Star World Championship title in Rio de Janeiro.

Competition leaders, British sailors Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, won the Gol Airlines Regatta this Tuesday and got another step closer to the title of the Star World Championship. The fifth and second final race will take place this Wednesday in a course outside of Guanabara bay.
photo credit: Marcelo Rhenius / Regattapix-ICRJ
The reigning Olympic champions have only 16 lost points and dominated the entire race (10.5 nautical miles/approx.19.4km).
The winds increased significantly during the race, starting out at 6 knots and reaching gusts of 12 knots in an easterly and northeasterly direction by the end of the race, benefitting the Brazilian sailors who performed much better than in the two previous races. André Mirsky and Marcelo Jordão finished in third place, two positions ahead of Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada. Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira grabbed seventh place, Lars Grael and Ronald Seifert came in 10th and Alan Adler and Guilherme de Almeida finished the race in 13th position.
All athletes seem to agree that Percy and Simpson have pretty much locked in the World Championship title, although the discard of the worst race results doesn’t begin until the fifth regatta. The biggest threats to the British team are Swiss sailors Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De Maria, currently in 4th place overall with 41 lost points, but discarding their worst race so far (30th place) could make a huge difference.
photo credit: Hector Echebaster/ZDL-ICRJ
"As much as I would like to be sure of the title, we still have two races to go," said a straight-faced Percy, donning a pair of Brazilian flip-flops. "We don’t have to fight to win anymore. We just need to remain among the first ten to achieve our goal."
Alan Adler regretted his boat’s lack of speed. "On a few occasions we got quite close to the British team, but we weren’t able to keep up, especially on the starboard tacks," explained the runner up in the World Championship.
photo credit: Marcelo Rhenius / Regattapix-ICRJ
Tuesday was a very hot and sunny day in Rio de Janeiro, with temperatures reaching 38 degrees Celsius. The race course was set up again between Pai e Mãe Island, near Niteroi and Leme Point, in Rio de Janeiro. In today’s race the fleet only needed one start, unlike the previous three races. Wednesday’s forecast calls for more hot weather and stronger winds.

Race 4
1- Iain Percy / Andrew Simpson (GBR) - 1
2- Rick Merriman / Phil Trinter (USA) - 2
3- André Mirsky / Marcelo Jordão (BRA) - 3
4- Flavio Marazzi / Enrico De Maria (SWI) - 4
5- Robert Scheidt / Bruno Prada (BRA) - 5
6- Diego Negri / Fernando Colaninno (ITA) - 6
7- Torben Grael / Marcelo Ferreira (BRA) - 7
8 - Johannes Babendererde /Timo Jacobs (GER) - 8
9- Max Treacy / Anthony Shanks (IRL) - 9
10- Lars Grael / Ronaldo Seifert (BRA) - 10
11- Papathanasiou, Aimilios / Papastefanou Pachos, (GRE) - 11
Results - after four races
1- Iain Percy / Andrew Simpson (GBR) - 16 (2+11+2+1)
2- Alan Adler / Guilherme de Almeida (BRA) - 35 (6+5+11+13)
3- Eivind Melleby / Petter Pedersen (NOR) - 39 (9+10+4+16)
4- Flavio Marazzi / Enrico De Maria (SWI) - 41 (30+1+6+4)
5- Diego Negri / Fernando Colaninno (ITA) - 52 (23+18+5+6)
6- Ross MacDonald (EUA) / André Lekszycki (BRA) - 52 (10+13+14+15)
7- Fredrik Loof / John Tillander (SWE) - 54 (8+9+18+19)
8- Johannes Babendererde /Timo Jacobs (GER) - 56 (1+8+39+8)
9- Torben Grael / Marcelo Ferreira (BRA) - 58 (5+25+21+7)
10- André Mirsky / Marcelo Jordão (BRA) - 64 (33+6+22+3)
13- Lars Grael / Ronald Seifert (BRA) - 72 (35+15+12+10)
15- Robert Scheidt / Bruno Prada (BRA) - 77 (3+19+50+5)
20- Gastão Brun / Gustavo Kunze (BRA) - 91 (21+7+15+48)
26- Papathanasiou, Aimilios / Papastefanou Pachos, (GRE) - 106 (16+49+30+11)
full results here.