Australian Sailing Team (AST) members Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (470 class) have won Australia’s second Gold medal at the ISAF World Sailing Championship which wrapped up in Cascais, Portugalon the weekend. 

AST members Nathan Outteridge and Ben Austin picked up a Bronze medal in the 49er class. Australia’s total medal haul at the conclusion of this event is two Gold (Laser & 470 Men) and two Bronze (RS:X Women & 49er).

Australia finished the event as the second top nation with four medals overall, just behind Great Britain with a total of six medals. Spain came in third with a total of two medals.

Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page had already done the hard work, going into the race with an 18-point lead. As long as they didn’t finish last they were assured of the title and they duly delivered, crossing the line in third place.

It is the third World title in four years for the Aussie pair. Both Wilmot and Page are Olympians, competing at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in which they finished 12th place in the 470 Men’s class.

Fellow AST members Mat Belcher and Nick Behrens (470) suffered a major head on collision on Thursday and looked unlikely to compete in the final medal race. Both were taken to hospital with Behrens suffering a slight leg fracture and Belcher badly bruised. They remarkably finished the medal race in 5th place overall.

Australia’s medal hopes in the 470 Women’s class were with Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson however they finished 18th overall but have qualified Australia for an Olympic berth on countback.

Nathan Outteridge (49er) who only moved into 49ers in 2005 with Ben Austin, spoke of his game plan and delight at winning a Bronze medal.

“We were looking for a clear start. It was good but we were slow off the start. We were about fifth or sixth for almost the whole race with the Austrians and Italians behind us which is where they needed to be if we were to stand a chance for a medal”.

“We were pretty much watching all the boats at all times, making sure that we stayed in our position. We were hoping to make Gold fleet last year and we made sixth and this year we were hoping for top ten and we made the podium which is fantastic. Hopefully we can do it again!”.

At the conclusion of this regatta, Australia has now qualified for one Olympic berth in the following classes; 470 Men, 470 Women, Laser, Laser Radial, Finn, RS:X Women, Tornado, Yngling, 49er and Star.

The AST will now head back to Australia for a short break before embarking on the Qingdao International Regatta from 11th – 25th August; the sailing test event for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Yachting Australia