In the Mistral Women's event, boardsailor Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) topped the scoreboard for the third straight day on finishes of 1-3. She led at all marks during the first race and faltered in race two when she and her closest competitor, Canada, started prematurely. After restarting, Butler trailed the fleet before rallying back to a fifth-place finish, which became her discard score.

“Now Argentina, Canada and Brazil are so close in scores that they'll be more worried about each other than me,` said Butler, whose point-spread on her closest competitor is now seven. Argentina and Canada, in second and third, respectively, are separated by one point, while Brazil is two points behind in fourth.

In the J/24 class, Tim Healy (Newport, R.I.) with crew Nick Judson (Nantucket, Mass.), Gordon Borges (Newport, R.I.) and Davenport Crocker (Cohasset, Mass.) posted a 6-1 today and used the sixth-place finish as their discard. Their long-standing battle with leader Brazil continued.

`We feel comfortable with our speed, but we made a mistake in the first race and did a 720 (degree turn), which hurt us,` said Healy, who redeemed himself in race two with a victory. `Brazil won the first race but then had a really bad second race, so we're both right where we were yesterday, with one point separating us for first and second overall.`

Peter Wells (Newport Beach, Calif.), held his own today in the Mistral Men's class with finishes of 3-6 to remain fifth overall. `In the first race, I rounded the top mark in second, but in the second race, I got caught on the bad side of the course and rounded seventh or eighth,` said Wells. That's the key--getting ahead to the first mark. It's a real advantage because the next leg is downwind, and you can get a huge jump on the fleet by accelerating on the big waves.`

Laser Radial sailor Sally Barkow (Pine Lake, Wisc.) also maintained a fifth-place position with scores of 3-4 today. Overall, she felt better about her performance, but admitted her improvements in downwind speed were only minimal. `I'm still getting used to the swells, which I'd say are anywhere from two to four feet.`

`This is a pure boat speed regatta,` said Assistant Coach Geoff Becker (Annapolis, Md.). `The sailors who know how to deal with the waves are making huge gains downwind. Our dinghy classes are certainly struggling with it, because the sailors are more used to the kind of waves you might see in a Bay. These are real ocean waves: steeper, more of them and sometimes more confused.`

Snipe sailors Henry Filter (Stevensville, Md.) and Lisa Griffith (San Diego, Calif./Phillipsburg, N.J.) were the only ones to drop a position today, to sixth on finishes of 4-6. `It's a drag race out to the left side of the course,` said Griffith. `We have good speed now and we're communicating well, but there are a lot of world-class sailors in our fleet.`

Hobie 16 sailors Paul and Mary Ann Hess (Napa, Calif.) solidified their fifth place position today, finishing 5-4, while Sunfish sailor Jeff Linton (Tampa, Fla.) posted a 7-8 to keep his seventh overall. Ben Richardson (Gloucester, Mass.) discarded an 11th in race two and kept his fifth in race one to maintain fifth overall.

Tomorrow is a scheduled lay day. Racing will resume Friday and continue through Sunday, with a minimum of two races planned for each day. If 12 races are completed, scoring rules allow an additional discard.

The Pan American Games, held every four years since their inception in 1951, are always held the summer preceding the Olympic Games and attended by athletes from 42 nations in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean who compete in 288 events across 36 sports. The event showcases all 28 Olympic sports and eight non-Olympic events.

Source: Media Pro Int`l