In the first race of the U.S. Olympic Yachting Trials, Sam Kerner's sail detached from his mast except at the top and bottom, almost creating enough pressure to snap the piece of carbon fiber. But the mast didn't break, and his good fortune allowed him to race and finish fourth in that day's second race. Fortune continued to smile on the 29-year old Hawaiian Sunday as he won both Finn class races to launch himself back into contention after two days of racing. Kerner said after joyously explaining his second win on the makeshift day marina. Kerner moved up to fifth place overall, but the scores don't include throw outs yet.
Sailors get to discard their worst three finishes from their scores at the end of the regatta.
With just one throw out, the two wins would put Kerner in first, one point ahead of Mark Herrmann. Without the throw outs, however, Herrmann leads the class overall, two points better than 1992 Olympic silver medalist and two-time U.S. Olympic Finn representative Brian Ledbetter. Sailors get one point for first, two for second, and so on. Savannah native John Porter III remained in sixth place overall after finishing fourth and seventh in Sunday's two races, while fellow Savannahian Eric Oetgen dropped to 10th after a premature start in the first race and a fourth in the second race. After failing to complete a single race Saturday, the Star Class team of Eric Doyle and Brian Terhaar won both of Sunday's races, while John Kostecki and Tom Olsen had two second-place finishes to remain in first place overall.