SAILING: Australian Youth Olympic sailors Tom Cunich and Elyse Ainsworth have made the most of tricky conditions on day one at the Youth Olympic Games.

Showing no signs of nerves, Cunich bolted into third place behind Pedro Luiz Marcondes Correa of Brazil and Justin Vittecoq of Canada in the first of two races today.

“I was really happy with my first race- it really lifted my confidence for the whole day and how I hope I will go for the rest of the regatta,” the 16-year-old said.

“It was really fun- I learnt heaps and the conditions weren’t that great but it was really fun.”

Precarious winds presented a challenge when the 30 boys in the Byte CII class lined up for their second race of the day.

“My second race was really tough- the wind died right out and it was just a tough race,” Cunich said.

“The wind was really light and it was always shifting around and little puffs of breeze would come over in different parts of the day.”

In the girl’s event, Ainsworth opened with a 17th place and improved to 11th in her second race at the Jinniu Lake Sailing Venue.

“I was so happy with my second race. My first one was alright but towards the end I made a few silly mistakes which cost me a few places,” the 15-year-old said.

“In my second one I had an okay start and then I dropped back a bit. But when the wind died off I made a few good decisions and made up a bit of ground.”

Just like Cunich, Ainsworth is riding the waves of the learning curve here in Nanjing, China.

“I’m learning different things every race. Anything can happen with the conditions and what’s going on and how people play the strategies right- but the medals are up for grabs and anyone can get them.”

Sailing uses a “low point” scoring system whereby the winner of each race is awarded one point; second place is awarded two points and so on.

Ainsworth sits on 28 points overall in 12th position while Cunich prefers to simply race without that equation in his head. The leader in the girl’s Byte CII is Alexandra Dahlberg from Finland while Correa looks strong in the boy’s event after just two races.

Racing continues over the next three days (two races daily) with the medal races on day 7- Saturday 23rd August. All competitors carry their series scores into the medal race where the stakes are higher- points are doubled in the medal race and added to the series score.

Taya Conomos
Olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam