Australian Sailing Team crews have had a mixed day four at the opening round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, Sail Melbourne at Sandringham Yacht Club.

Jessica Crisp was the standout Australian Sailing Team member with two wins and a second place in the light and variable conditions to be in second overall, one point behind Hualz Zhu of China.

The RS:X fleet had a disrupted day with race one at 11am before being sent back to shore at the completion due to the light breeze. Late in the afternoon the sailors returned to Port Phillip Bay for another two races, with the second finishing in the twilight at 8.30pm.

470 men’s crew Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page had a tough day at the office with a fourth and two fifth places seeing them slip from first to fourth overall.

“We just didn’t pick it right today,” said Belcher. “We didn’t get off the line in any of the races and couldn’t respond to where we wanted to be and were often dictated by the fleet.”

“It was probably our worse day together since we teamed up two years ago but at least in sailing when you have those days there’s always tomorrow where you can put it all behind you and start afresh,” he said.

“The racing has been really close throughout the fleet and we’re just three points off the lead so it’s all still to play for,” said Belcher.

The Australian Sailing Development Squad crew of Sam Kivell and Will Ryan were the standout performers on day four in the 470 fleet with a race win and two seconds leaving them in third overall.

Kivell and Ryan are now just two points off the lead, with Americans Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl tied on 13 points with Matthias Schmid and Florian Reichstaedter of Austria.

Tom Slingsby had mixed results on the first day of Gold fleet racing in the Laser fleet with a 19th, 13th and a race win to finish the day in fourth position.

“I was a little slow today in the sub five knots stuff but once it got up a little and I was able to get out on the side it was ok,” said Slingsby.

ASDS member Tom Burton continued his great run at Sail Melbourne with a race win, an eighth and a third giving him an eight point lead over Great Britain’s Nick Thompson.

“The goal today was to try and keep the yellow leaders bib for more than one day and I managed to do that,” said Burton. “I was happy with all the keepers today, can’t ask for more than that.”
In the 49er fleet Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen had a tough day by their standards with a ninth, fifth, 10th and 12th to be seventh overall, 16 points off third position with four more races scheduled for Friday.

Skud 18 crew Ame Barnbrook and Lindsay Mason are in second following a pair of second places behind the runaway leaders, Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell of Great Britain. Daniel Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox are in third position, four points behind their fellow Australians.

ASDS sailors Matthew Bugg and Greg Hyde are third and fourth respectively in the 2.4mR class with three races remaining on Friday.

Yachting Australia