Kusznierewicz/Zycki Win Star World Championships

MIAMI, April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) won the 2008 Star World Championships at Coral Reef Yacht Club with a fifth place in the sixth race and a total of 14 points overall. "We sailed and fought with the best sailors in the world today'" said Kusznierewicz. According to his crew Zycki they have dreamed of putting a gold Star on their sails.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080417/CLTH140 )

Second place went to Diego Negri/Luigi Viale (ITA) who crossed the finish line 18 seconds behind the leader with a total of 23 points. Both Kusznierewicz and Negri started at the signal boat end of the line and went after the start. Unfortunately, the wind went left and they got hosed. With 100 boats racing, they rounded mid-fleet at the first weather mark.

Third place went to Robert Scheidt/Bruno Prada (BRA) who finished the Star Worlds in fourth with 33 points.

Today's sixth race was won by the Irish team of Patrick O'Leary and Stephen Milne who could be deemed the comeback kids of the series. They were a solid candidate for a top five finish in race four but they lost their mast on the second downwind run.

"We chipped away at every opportunity after an awful start and we are absolutely delighted to have won today's race," O'Leary said.

Flavio Marazzi/Enrico De Maria (SUI) not only finished in second place today, but qualified Switzerland for one of the four remaining Olympic slots in the Star Class event. The three other countries qualifying today were Croatia, Ireland and Austria.

Marazzi and De Maria sailed together in the Athens Olympics and placed fourth. They were also fourth in the 2007 European Championships. Said Marazzi, "We're always fourth but we hope to change that at the 2008 Olympics."

Rick Merriman/Brian Sharp (USA) took third place today, their best finish in the series. "Being at the top of fleet today felt great the last couple of days," said Merriman. "We had a good start mid-line and we stayed high around the weather mark and went left. We had great pressure and clear air around three quarters of the way down where we got ahead of the fleet," he said.

Today's final race got off in 10 knot winds with seven boats black flagged

Day Six Overall Top 10 Standing after five races and lowest score discarded:

1. Kusznierewicz, Mateusz/Zycki, Dominik (POL) 1, 1, (44), 3, 4, 5 TP
1400
2. Negri, Diego/Viale, Luigi (ITA) 3, 3, (25), 9, 2, 6 TP 23.00
3. Scheidt, Robert/Prada, Bruno (BRA) (37), 12, 2, 1, 14, 4 TP 33.00
4. Marazzi, Flavio/De Maria, Enrico (SUI) 6, 14, (47), 10, 8, 2 TP 40.00
5. Pickel, Marc/Borkowski, Ingo (GER) 5, (105/BFD), 6, 18, 5, 11 TP 45.00
6. Pepper, Hamish/Williams, Carl (NZL) 12, (105/BFD), 3, 2, 15, 19 TP
51.00
7. Mendelblatt, Mark/Strube, Mark (USA) 2, 6, (32), 17, 11, 20 TP 56.00
8. Murray, Iain/Palfrey, Andrew (AUS) 11, 11, 5, 24 (31), 18 TP 69.00
9. Rohart, Xavier/Rambeau, Pascal (FRA) (26), 21, 1, 4, 20, (27) TP 72.00
10. Merriman, Rick/Sharp, Brian (USA) (58), 20, 29, 19, 6, 3 TP 77.00

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080417/CLTH140
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN20
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: 2008 Star World Championships

CONTACT: Janet Maizner for 2008 Star World Championships,
+1-954-599-8023

2008-04-17 23:32:51 0339320 PRNEWSWIRE