August
05 2019 – Lima, Peru - Jesse Jackson, Cayman’s Laser
Standard sailor, had a slow start to his Pan American debut after
facing multiple challenges delivered by Paracas Bay on the first two
days of the Games.

Light
air led to problematic starts for several sailing classes on
Saturday, August 3 and Sunday, August 4 causing two days of
cancellations.

Despite
another long postponement on day three of the sailing event, Jackson
and 22 competitors in the Men’s Laser Standard class were able to
complete the first two races of the Pan American Games regatta on
Monday, August 5.

Scheduled
to start at noon, with two races slated for the day the sailors began
their first sail shortly after 2:00 pm CT. Due to the light and
shifty conditions, the sailors were forced to abandon the initial
race course causing further delays for the second race.

“Today
wasn’t the best and I was kind of disappointed. I was just thinking
about the first start […], I had a perfect start, but after the
start I got some nerves in me and nerves really killed my
performance,” Jackson
comments.

Up
against 22 athletes from around the Pan American region in Laser
Standard, Jackson was the 22nd sailor to cross the finish line in
race one and finished ahead of Cuba and Paraguay in race two.

Jackson must complete
a total of 10 qualifying races. He is scheduled to compete in three
races tomorrow, Tuesday, August 6 and three races on Wednesday,
August 7. On Thursday, August 8, Jackson has two races with Friday,
August 9 reserved for the medaling race.

“With
this fleet, you need to be on your top game and need to be perfect or
else the guys will just pass you, so that’s what happened today.”
Jackson
adds,
“I got kind of frustrated. Frustration and the nerves kicked in,
which is not a good combination and it was a downhill battle. When we
started the second race I was kind of nervous still, nerves were
kicking in, memories of the last race were still there and sadly it
almost was a little bit of a repeat.”

For
the Pan American Games regatta, the top 50% of the fleet will
progress to the medal race. To advance to the final, the athletes
must collect as few points as possible; the first boat gets one
point, the second boat gets two points and so forth.

“I’m
looking forward to tomorrow, tomorrow is a new day, a new race.
Tomorrow should be a really good day, we are looking for a little
more breeze, […] even though today was not the best I took away a
lot,” Jackson
says.

Heavier
winds are predicted for tomorrow. The Race Committee of the Pan
American Games Lima 2019 has scheduled the races an hour earlier,
starting at 11:00 am CT.

About:

The
CIOC selects, organizes and sends national teams to represent the
Cayman Islands to all multi-sport Games; assists the member
associations in sports development; and promotes Olympism across the
Cayman Islands.

The
Cayman Islands Olympic Committee was founded in 1973 and was
recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1976. From the
beginning as a fledging association, undertaking but a few tasks, it
has now developed to a body representative of 22 member-sports, with
significant undertakings at home and abroad.