USA, Argentina and Bermuda in Optinam top five

USA, Argentina and Bermuda occupy the top five positions at the 2013 IODA North American Championships after 3 races were completed on Friday.  

American Shawn Harvey sits on top of the podium after finishing 1, 1, 6 for the day while Argentine Dante Cittadini is second, tied on 8 points with finishes of  4, 1, 3.  Harvey's two "bullets" versus Cittadini's one, break the tie.  3 points back is the USA's Ripley Shelley (1, 1, 9) followed closely by Bermuda's Chase Cooper (7, 3, 2).  The championship's top female, Martina Pisani (1, 8, 6) from Argentina, completes the top five in the tightly packed group.  

Rounding out the top ten is Argintine female Luiza Cruz (2, 12, 5), Chile's Dante Parodi (11, 5 , 3), Japan's Kogiso Ryo (16, 2, 2), Singapore's Shyn Ee Phuaa (6, 6, 9) and the USA's Luke Arnone.

Ideal "Bermuda Chamber of Commerce" conditions - sunny skies and northerly winds from 10 - 16 knots made it a sailor's (and photographer's) dream and allowed officials to easily execute the 3 scheduled races with only one major wind shift after Race 1, which required some time time for course alterations.
 
The 177 sailors are divided into three color coded "flights" or groups of approximately 60 boats each, in order to properly manage a fair start with such a large fleet, a Bermuda record.  Three completed "flights" result in a completed single race.  Other sailors recording "bullets" in their respective flights on Friday include Bermuda's Ceci Wollmann (11th overall), Singapore's Isaac Tang and Bermuda's Joe Arrowsmith.

Team Bermuda's highlights for the Day 1 included Chase Cooper's three top ten finishes, Ceci Wollmann's  "bullet" in race 3 of her flight and Joe Arrowsmith's "bullet" in race 3 of his flight.  This is Arrowsmith's first IODA event.  Race 2 for the day saw some of Team Bermuda's less experienced sailors shine as Yannick Hillier had a standout 16th place and Tayte Stefaniuk had a 19.  In Race 3 there was even more with Alice Reeves finishing 10th, Michah Thomas Raynor finishing11th and Tre Maxwell finishing 16th.  

Racing continues on Saturday in the Great Sound.

Preliminary results available at 
http://amneweb.com/Results050713.htm


Team Bermuda Standings:
4th - Chase Cooper (7, 3, 2)
11th - Ceci Wollamnn (22, 3, 1)
52nd - Campbell Patton (28, 16, 21)
55th- Joe Arrowsmith (37, 29, 1)
57th - Peter Dill (14, 35, 20)
75th - Tre Maxwell (28, 34, 16)
80th - Alice Reeves (41, 31, 10)
90th - Micah Thomas-Raynor (24, 53, 11)
91th - Tayte Stefaniuk (40, 19, 30)
105th - George Buckley (50, 25, 25)
123rd - Jordan Etemadi (37, 54, 20)
131st - Yannick Hillier (50, 16, 53)
133rd - Camille Chin-Gurret (47, 36, 37)
137th - Felix Cutler - (40, 25, 58)
138th - Adriana Penruddocke - (52, 28, 44)
139th - Matilda Nicholls - (33, 48, 43)
151st - Benn Smith (53, 38, 47)
153rd - Sami Dill (48, 45, 46)
157th - Mikey Wollmann (29, DNC, BFD)
160th - Thomas Penruddocke (49, 55, 48)