SAILING: The eyes of the sailing world are back on Weymouth and Portland with Olympic medallists returning to the venue of the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition for the ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth/Portland.
It's the fourth World Cup event for the year, as part of a world-class annual series for Olympic sailing. It is open to the sailing events chosen for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.
The Australian Sailing Team (AST) and Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) are represented in Weymouth with 21 boats in nine of the ten Olympic class events.
Day 3
On day three of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth and Portland the fleets headed out with a good breeze on shore, but it was soon clear that it was a different story offshore, where the wind was dying quickly.
Only the men’s 470 got one race in – a race World Champions Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD) could have done without after posting a 14th, which let them drop one place into overall third. They will have three races on Saturday to make up points ahead of Sunday’s top ten medal race.
A race was attempted in the 49er, but was abandoned before the finish. This was especially unfortunate for Australian Sailing Team’s David Gilmour (WA) and Rhys Mara (VIC) who were leading at the top mark. With all four Australian 49er teams not having had the best day yesterday and ranking in-between 15th (Outteridge/Jensen) and 28th (Turner/Brake), this will put the pressure on for the four races scheduled for Saturday and to get much needed points in order to get into the medal race.
“We went out in a breeze of ten knots and when we were out there the wind was slowly dying. We started one race and when we got around the top mark we were in a pretty good position and leading at the top, but with the wind dying by bottom mark the race was cancelled and it was all over from there. Five minutes later there was absolutely no wind,” David Gilmour described the events of the day.
Currently sitting in 17th they have their task for Saturday mapped out as he explains: “We didn’t have the best day yesterday and with our goal to make the top ten medal race it would have been good to race today. The more races we get in the more chances we have to better our position. Now we got to do it all in the four races tomorrow. And we’ll need a good day to gain around 20 points to our competitors to make it into the top ten.”
All other fleets were sent home with no racing done and Thursday’s results standing.
The Nacra 17 fleet, including current leaders Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW), will kick-off Saturday’s last day of the four-day fleet racing series before Sunday's top ten medal race.
“We were blessed with some beautiful UK weather today, the rain came and the wind didn’t. We ended up sitting out there for a few hours with no wind. So there was no racing for us today but we’ll have four races tomorrow. So they’ve chucked in an extra race for the last day of fleet racing. We’ll kick-off at 10:30 UK time and hopefully it will be a good day for us,” Lisa Darmanin said.
Racing will resume at 10:30 a.m. local time (20:00 AEST) on Saturday, 13 June with extra races scheduled across all classes.
Day 2
It was another eventful day on the second day of ISAF Sailing World Cup racing at the London 2012 venue Weymouth and Portland with Australian Sailing Team’s Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) taking over the lead in the Nacra 17. London Olympic gold medallist Mat Belcher (QLD), who has returned to Weymouth and Portland for the first time since 2012, and World Champion crew Will Ryan move into second in the Men’s 470.
A northeasterly breeze, not shy of a shift or two, came in at 10-17 knots ensuring another day of strong competition with a full complement of racing completed.
In the first news of the day (Thursday, 11 June), Australian Sailing Team’s Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) took over the lead in the Nacra 17 after a consistent day of racing and winning the second of three races. Fellow team members Darren Bundock (NSW) and Nina Curtis (NSW) join them in the top five and made it two race wins for Australia by winning the first race of the day.
“We had really big swell and chop and the shifts were just as crazy as yesterday,” Jason Waterhouse said. “We changed our game strategy a bit as we were not happy with our 20th yesterday, which we are dropping, and it seems to have paid off. We’re happy to come away with some consistent races and are looking forward to more racing tomorrow.”
And crew, cousin Lisa Darmanin added: “We’re really happy with how we are sailing. Some of our manoeuvres are still a bit rusty as we haven’t done as much sailing as we’d have liked since Hyères, but it’s all good all around and it’s great to see the Aussies winning two races out of three.
World Champions Mat Belcher and Will Ryan climbed up the results ladder into overall second after a second place in the first race and winning the second race of the day. Mat Belcher, who is enjoying being back racing on Weymouth’s Olympic waters, was happy to gain ground over the leading Americans of Stuart McNay and David Hughes:
“It’s nice to be back on Olympic waters. It was pretty tricky out there, but we had a one and a two today, which was the nice. The Americans, who were first after yesterday, had the same score, but we’re catching up a little bit. It’s nice to not lose any points over them and good to get into second overall, which puts us in a good position and we’re looking forward to finishing strongly over the rest of the week.”
In the Laser, the Australian battle between Matt Wearn (WA) and of World #1 Tom Burton (NSW) continues with Matt Wearn posting the stronger results and holding on to fifth place after winning one of the two races today.
“It was a tough day all around. The last race was good, the first one not that much,” Matt Wearn said about his race day. “But that’s just the Laser racing with a very close fleet and every mistake makes it hard to catch up. I was pretty happy I brought the first race back to 14th after I had a shocker on the first beat, rounding the first top mark in 30th.”
Tom Burton posted an eleventh and fifth place, which puts him into eighth overall. “Yesterday was a bit rusty and today a bit better, but I’m still making a few mistakes here and there, which I need to fine-tune. I think day-by-day I will get better and the decision-making will be a bit quicker,” Burton was confident to continue to improve. “If you can make the right decision really quick, you’ll be on the money, but when you’re hesitant then sometimes you get left behind. So yesterday helped today and today will help tomorrow.”
After a strong start on day one, Australia’s 49er squad, including 2012 Olympic gold medallists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, did not have the best day with all four teams dropping down the ranks. Outteridge and Jensen dropped from second into 15th after posting a 15th, 22nd and 25th. David Gilmour (WA) and Rhys Mara (VIC) follow in 17th, Will Phillips (VIC) and James Wierzbowski (VIC) in 23rd and Joel Turner and Lewis Brake in 28th.
In the 49erFX Haylee Outteridge (NSW) and Sarah Cook (NSW) hold on to 13th place after six races. The pair is the only remaining Australian 49erFX team after Tess Lloyd (VIC) and Caitlin Elks (WA) had to withdraw from the event following an injury to Tess Lloyd in Wednesday’s racing.
In other results, Australian Sailing Squad’s Women’s 470 team of Sasha Ryan (QLD) and Amelia Catt had two solid results with a seventh and ninth place moving up into overall tenth. Australian Sailing Squad’s Joanna Sterling (QLD) also moved up into fifth place in the RS:X, while fellow Queenslander and Laser Radial sailor Ashley Stoddart climbed up one spot into overall ninth.
In the Finn class Australian Sailing Squad’s Jake Lilley (QLD) sits in tenth after four races, while Oliver Tweddell (VIC) was disqualified after jumping the start in the first race of the day (OCS) and posted a 19th in the second, which sees him stay near the back of the fleet in 22nd.
Racing will resume at 11 a.m. local time (20:00 AEST) on Friday, 12 June.
The Australian Sailing Team (AST) and Australian Sailing Squad (ASS) are represented in Weymouth with 20 boats in nine of the ten Olympic class events as well as with one boat in the Paralympic Sonar class. Racing commenced on Wednesday, 10 June with a four-day series building up to the live Medal Races on Sunday 14 June.
Weymouth is the second time the Australian Sailing Team is racing in the new ISAF Sailing World Cup format. The ISAF Sailing World Cup changes were introduced at the last World Cup regatta in Hyères, France where Australia came away with three medals, one gold for Tom Burton in the Laser, silver for Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen in the 49er as well as for Mat Belcher and Will Ryan in the Men’s 470.
This ISAF Sailing World Cup is the second major event for Australia’s sailors on the road to Rio 2016 selection and the third of five 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup series events that lead up to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi later this year.
Each World Cup class has a maximum of forty entries with the world’s top 30 ranked sailors having qualified for an invitation to compete at Weymouth and Portland through their ISAF ranking (as of 27 April 2015). The remaining entries were earned at last week’s qualification event, the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, the Netherlands.
Top results at the key international regattas are required to be named in the Australian Sailing Team and to be nominated for the 2016 Olympic team and Weymouth and Portland will be a good opportunity for final preparations before heading into the major class Championships coming up in 2015 as well as the Rio Test event (August 15-24).
Results as of Thursday, 11 June 2015
Men’s Two Person Dingy – 470M
- Mathew Belcher (QLD/QAS) & Will Ryan (QLD/QAS) – AST: 10, 7, 2, 1 – 2nd
- Alexander Conway (NSW) & Patrick Conway (NSW) – ASS: 24, 4, 20, 17 – 16th
Mixed Multihull – Nacra17
- Jason Waterhouse (NSW) & Lisa Darmanin (NSW) – AST: 4, 2, (20), 7, 1, 5 – 1st
- Darren Bundock (NSW) & Nina Curtis (NSW) – AST: 13, 5, 11, 7, 1 – 1, 8, 6 – 4th
- Euan McNicol (NSW) & Lucinda Whitty (NSW) – ASS: (23), 1, 17, 19, 4, 22 – 15th
Men’s Skiff – 49er
- Nathan Outteridge (NSW) & Iain Jensen (NSW) – AST: (30), 1, 7, 15, 22, 25 – 15th
- David Gilmour (WA/WAIS) & Rhys Mara (VIC/VIS) – AST: 18, 12, 5, (27), 18, 20 – 17th
- Will Phillips (VIC/VIS) & James Wierzbowski (VIC/VIS) – ASS: 11, 5, 13, 29, 30, (37) – 23th
- Joel Turner (AST – QLD/QAS) & Lewis Brake (ASS – QLD/QAS) – ASS: 1, 28, 22, (40OCS), 35, 22 – 28th
Women's Skiff – 49erFX
- Haylee Outteridge (NSW) & Sarah Cook (NSW – ASS: 19, 20, 2, 14, (25), 5 – 13th
- Tess Lloyd (VIC/VIS) & Caitlin Elks (WA/WAIS) – ASS: 18, (24), 19, DNC: withdrawal due to injury.
Men's One Person Dinghy – Laser
- Matthew Wearn (WA/WAIS) – AST: 8, 7, (14), 1 – 5th
- Tom Burton (NSW) – AST: 10, 6, (11), 5 – 8th
- Luke Elliott (WA/WAIS) – ASS: 21, (34), 9, 34 – 25th
- Ryan Palk (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 23, 18, (30), 26 – 28th
- Mitchell Kennedy (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 32, 26, 36, (37) – 36th
Other non-AST/ASS Australian crews: Jeremy O’Connell (VIC): 11, 13, 22, (28) – 16th
Women's One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
- Ashley Stoddart (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 8, 13, 5, 11 – 9th
Men's One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight) – Finn
- Jake Lilley (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 11, 8, 11, 5 – 10th
- Oliver Tweddell (VIC/VIS) – ASS: 22, 22, 25 (OCS), 19 – 22nd
Women's Two Person Dinghy – 470W
- Sasha Ryan (QLD/QAS) & Amelia Catt (TAS/TIS) – ASS: 21, 13, 7, 9 – 10th
Women's Windsurfer – RS:X
- Joanna Sterling (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 1, (19 OCS), 12, 4, 7, 5 – 5th
Day 1
The first day of racing at ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland sprung a few surprises with an uncommon north eastern breeze ranging from 10-17 knots increasing during the day testing the fleet.
The 49er, including 2012 Olympic gold medallists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen and a total of four Australian crews in the 39-boat fleet, were the first ones out on the London 2012 waters and got three races in.
The glory of winning the first race of the regatta went to Australian young guns Joel Turner (QLD) and Lewis Brake (QLD). Outteridge and Jensen did not have the best start and finished the first race in 30th, but a win in race two and a seventh in race three put them into overall second.
“It was great to get sailing again and this is a very familiar place for us,” Iain Jensen said after the race. “We had a bit of an up and down day with our first race being pretty average and two good results after that. It was a tricky day and a lot of boats had similar issue as us with very inconsistent results across the fleet. Anyone with half decent results today had a good day. We have a drop now with the 30th so will have to try and sail a consistent regatta from here on.”
New combination of Australian Sailing Squad’s Will Phillips (VIC) and James Wierzbowski (VIC) sailed a strong first day posting an eleventh, fifth and thirteenth to be in eighth overall.
“We’re rapped with a first day like this and if we can have a few more races in the top ten then that would be fantastic. We’ll continue to fight for a position on the leader board and will come back tomorrow and aim to have another good day. We both need a bit of recovery now as James just flew in from Australia on Monday and I’m a bit sick so if we can recover properly for tomorrow it will be a good outcome.”
Australian Sailing Team’s David Gilmour (WA) and Rhys Mara (VIC) follow in tenth with Joel Turner and Lewis Brake finishing the day in 15th.
Olympic gold medallist Mat Belcher (QLD) and crew Will Ryan (QLD) sit in fifth place after finishing the first two races in tenth and seventh. Australian Sailing Squad’s Alexander and Patrick Conway (NSW) follow in tenth.
In the Nacra 17 it was the Australian Sailing Team youngsters of Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) who finished the day best of the Australians and in overall third. Australian Sailing Team’s second crew of Darren Bundock (NSW) and Nina Curtis (NSW) follow ten points back in eighth. Australian Sailing Squad’s Euan McNicol (NSW) and Lucinda Whitty, who won the second race of the day, sit in overall 14th.
“It was a good first day here in Weymouth, typical windy and wavy,” Jason Waterhouse said. We had three races today and with a fourth, second and 20th it wasn’t the most consistent day for us. We were leading after the first two races, but dropped down a couple spots after the last race. But we’re pretty happy as this is our first regatta since the World Cup in Hyères and it was just good to get the feet wet and we’re quite happy with the results.”
In the Laser the internal Australian battle is on with 19-year old Matt Wearn (WA) finishing the day in fifth and one point ahead of World #1 Tom Burton (NSW). In the Finn class the first day was a bit more clear-cut between Australian Sailing Squad’s two sailors after an eighth place for Jake Lilley (QLD) and Oliver Tweddell (VIC) following in 23rd after two races.
In other results, Australian Sailing Squad’s Joanna Sterling (QLD) won the first of three races to be in overall seventh place in the RS:X, while fellow Queenslander and Laser Radial sailor Ashley Stoddart had a couple of solid races to sit in tenth on her birthday. Three races were sailed in the 49erFX with Haylee Outteridge (NSW) and Sarah Cook (NSW) moving into 13th after a second place in the last race of the day and Tess Lloyd (VIC) and Caitlin Elks (WA) following in 22nd. Women’s 470 sailors Sasha Ryan (QLD) and Amelia Catt (TAS) are ranked 21st.
Weymouth is the second time the Australian Sailing Team is racing in the new ISAF Sailing World Cup format. The ISAF Sailing World Cup changes were introduced at the last World Cup regatta in Hyères, France where Australia came away with three medals, one gold for Tom Burton in the Laser, silver for Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen in the 49er as well as for Mat Belcher and Will Ryan in the Men’s 470.
This ISAF Sailing World Cup is the second major event for Australia’s sailors on the road to Rio 2016 selection and the third of five 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup series events that lead up to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi later this year.
Top results at the key international regattas are required to be named in the Australian Sailing Team and to be nominated for the 2016 Olympic team and Weymouth and Portland will be a good opportunity for final preparations before heading into the major class Championships coming up in 2015 as well as the Rio Test event (August 15-24).
Also, ISAF Sailing World Cup glory and a share of the €78,000 prize fund are on offer with racing commencing on Wednesday, 10 June with a four-day series building up to the live Medal Races on Sunday 14 June.
2015 Australian Sailing Team & Australian Sailing Squad at Weymouth
SAILING AUSTRALIA
