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3 August 2007, 04:53 pm

HORTON Leads Stars In Vancouver

Andy HORTON and Brad NICHOL in action in Cascais

©PTVela2007/JFF

Star North American Championship 2007

Vancouver, Canada

Andy HORTON and Brad NICHOL (USA) lead after the opening four races of the ISAF Grade C1 Star North American Championship in Vancouver, Canada. Three bullets put the US pair just ahead of Olympic silver medallist Ross MACDONALD and crew Tyler BJORN (CAN).

Forty-nine crews from China, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and the USA are racing at the North Americans, hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. MACDONALD gave the fleet a lesson in navigating through the tricky English Bay current in a 6-10 knot westerly on day one to hold the early lead with 4,1 scores.

There is a very strong US presence in Vancouver and it came to the fore on the second day of racing in a shifty 8-9 knot breeze. HORTON and NICHOL won race 3 ahead of Mark MENDELBLATT and Magnus LILJEDAHL (USA), with Brian LEDBETTER and Mark BRINK (USA) third.

In race 4 MACDONALD and BJORN initially held the lead before the current got the better of them and HORTON and NICHOL seized their opportunity, taking their second bullet of the day. This puts the Americans two points clear at the top, followed by MACDONALD and BJORN, with LEDBETTER and BRINK third overall, five points further back.

ISAF (source: International Star Class Yacht Racing Association)