Brits Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson continued to dominate the 2010 Star World Championship in Brazil, with another win in Race 4. 2008 North American Champion Rick Merriman, and 1993 World Champion Phil Trinter (USA) had a solid command of second place throughout the race, while Andre Mirsky and Marcelo Jordao (BRA), finished third.
 
The breeze outside of Guanabara Bay and miles off of Copacabana circulated a bit more today than it did during Race 3, yet the majority of the fleet played a similar strategy by favoring the left side during the first windward beat in the 6-8 knot breeze. Percy and Simpson were clear leaders around the first windward mark and extended as the wind picked up and the conditions grew more to their liking.

Percy and Simpson came off the water in great spirits and reported: “We had lovely conditions. It was the first real day of sailing with 6-8 knots in the beginning and 12-14 for the last part of the race.” Careful not to jinx their run away lead and knowing that another stellar performance in Race 5 could give them a Gold Star to pair with their Olympic Gold, Percy added: “It’s about avoiding disasters in an 80-boat fleet.”
 
Merriman and Trinter have steadily improved throughout the regatta. Merriman explained: “We came down here for the South Americans and the Royal Thames and were a little frustrated with our performance. It feels better, today.” Trinter added: “We started on the upper end of the line. Within 10 minutes, we were in a different current and they (Percy and Simpson) shot up next to us.”
 
Top 10 Preliminary Results (after four races):

1. GBR, Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson, 16
2. BRA, Alan Adler/Guilherme de Almeida, 35
3. NOR, Eivind Melleby/Petter Pedersen, 39
4. SUI, Marazzi/De Maria, 41
5. ITA, Negri/Colaninno, 52
6. CAN, Ross Macdonald/Andre Lekszycki, 52
7. SWE, Fredrik Loof/Johan Tillander, 54
8. GER, Babendererde/Jacobs, 56
9. BRA, Grael/Ferreira, 58
10. BRA, Mirsky/Jordao, 64

Click here to see all results

For more information, visit www.starworlds2010.com