JUNIOR SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS : Twist Drops to Third With One Race to Go

Jory Twist of Newport Harbor Yacht Club dropped to third place with one race remaining after a premature start disqualified him from the seventh race in the U.S. Yacht Racing Union/Rolex Junior Sailing Championships Thursday off Newport Beach.

In the day’s second race (eighth in the series), Twist, Orange County’s only entry, placed second, putting him in third overall. Despite Thursday’s setback, Twist still has a chance; only four points separate the series’ top three sailors. Twist could regain the lead if he wins today’s final race and if Houston Yacht Club’s Scott Elting, the series leader, finishes sixth or worse.

As required by race rules, officials hailed three premature starters--Twist, Amy Rosenfeld of Island Heights (N.J.) Yacht Club and Manning Montagnet of Pass Christian (Miss.) Yacht Club--in the seventh race, but only Rosenfeld responded and restarted. Rosenfeld finished seventh in the race. Officials said that neither Twist nor Montagnet responded to the hail and continued to sail the course. A premature start is treated as a DNS (did not start) and Twist and Montagnet were each penalized 10 points, which is worse than a last-place finish.

“I am not sure yet the results are final,” Twist said after Thursday’s races. “I did not know I was over (the start line).” Twist expects to protest the premature start, he said, and if his protest is upheld, it could nullify the penalty.

In the tightly contested Laser class, only one point separates the top three racers. With only one race remaining, the leaders are Mike Hare of Houston Yacht Club, first place; David Houser of Coronado Yacht Club in San Diego, second place, and Brett Davis of St. Petersburg (Fla.) Yacht Club, third place.

Davis started slowly in the five-day, 10-race series but won four consecutive races before placing second in the ninth race Thursday. He has 23 points to 22 for Hare, who won the ninth race, and 22 3/4 for Houser.

In the Flying Junior class, Bill Hardesty of Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego slipped to fourth--his worst finish all week--in the first of two races but won the second to retain first place, with two races remaining today.

In second place, 3 1/2 points behind Hardesty is Jesse Andrews of American Yacht Club in Rye, N.Y. Andrews’ next closest competitor is trailing by 15 1/2 points.

Wind for Thursday’s two races was eight to 10 knots from the south-southwest. Seas were flat, but a substantial swell was running.

The five-day racing event ends today with final races that will determine the series winners. Winners will become part of the 1990 U.S. Junior sailing team.

Times staff writer Rich Roberts contributed to this story.