Sea, Sail & Surf newsVOLVO OCEAN RACE
American Double Olympic Gold Medallist joins Team SEB
jeudi 11 avril 2002 –
The official crew lists have to be filed to the organisers by mid day on Friday, but Team SEB are happy to make the announcement early, that American Star boat sailor, Mark Reynolds, is joining their team, replacing Scott Beavis, aged 21 and the youngest sailor in this race.
Reynolds has won two Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal and has twice won the Star boat world championships. He is typical of the short course tactician specialising in the waters of the east coast of America.
Skipper Gunnar Krantz explains, "Mark’s role will be primarily as a tactician and helmsman, to keep the momentum going and the short course thinking and the footwork versus other boats. Just keeping an eye that we are up there on tactics and strategic choices."
"We need some experience and fresh blood onboard, quick footwork is needed for these shorter legs, and I had the pleasure of working with Mark on the 50 foot circuit some years ago, so it felt really good to make the call and he responded positively," Krantz continued.
Mark Reynolds, 46 years old from San Diego, has competed in four Olympic Games in the Star boat class. At the 1988 Games in Korea he took the silver medal together with Hal Haenel and they came back four years later in the Barcelona Games and became Olympic Champions. After a sixth place in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics he teamed up with ex-Swede Magnus Liljedahl and came back to Sydney in 2000 to win the gold again.
Reynolds says that onboard he will be listening a lot and doing what he is told ! "I have sailed out in the Gulf Stream a few times, and I have sailed in Miami and Annapolis a lot - just not in between" he says, modestly, adding, "It’s a dream of all sailors to be able to do what I am getting to do."
Krantz is expecting the next leg to be tough. "There is a plateau of boats that are all within a few points and they will fight it out on the border. It is anybody’s leg and we know that all the boats have the capacity to win it. There are a couple of boats that are really, really focusing ; at the end of the race they want to be on the podium. We are looking to climb back to try and get the chance, maybe a third place overall."
This 875-mile leg will be one of strategic choices and tactics. Some boats will try and consolidate their positions by covering themselves, whilst also taking the opportunity to take more. Others, in the mid pack, will want to get out in front and shoot for the first three places ; and finally there are the back markers who will take any sort of chance just to win this leg and get into the heat again.
Krantz says he has no real concrete perception of how this leg will be. "We will just have to get in there, stick our head into the fight, and tough it out."
Leg six from Miami to Baltimore starts on Sunday April 14th at 1300 local time. The fleet is estimated to arrive in Baltimore on Wednesday 17th April.
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