2015 North American Championship/Midwinters Regatta

El medallista olímpico en Pekín 2008 vuelve a la alta competición en la clase olímpica Nacra 17 junto a la canaria Tara Pacheco © RFEV 

Excelente estreno de Fernando Echávarri en Miami en el Norteamericano de Nacra 17

El medallista olímpico Fernando Echávarri junto a la canaria Tara Pacheco han obtenido una excelente quinta plaza en el Norteamericano de Nacra 17 que se ha celebrado en Miami del 17 al 19 de Enero. En su primera competición conjunta tras solamente tres meses de preparación han superado con creces todas las expectativas, colándose en el quinto puesto de una flota de 37 embarcaciones.

Tras su paso por la clase Star, en la que estuvo muy cerca de clasificarse para los JJ.OO. de Londres 2012 ; y ser entrenador de diferentes equipos de la nueva clase olímpica  Nacra 17, Fernando decidió volver a la alta competición en Octubre de 2014 con un objetivo claro que es conseguir una medalla en los JJ.OO. de Río 2016.

Fernando está contento con el rendimiento pero muy consciente de que todavía tienen que trabajar duro y mejorar mucho para estar en la cita olímpica de Río 2016, tal y como comenta desde el otro lado del Atlántico “Pues cosas buenas pero mucho por mejorar, el resultado la verdad no puede ser realista porque nos faltaba velocidad, pero en general muy contentos, acabamos de empezar”.

El Campeonato Norteamericano, preparatorio para la World Cup Miami.

En este Campeonato Norteamericano contamos con más participación española, con distintos y esperanzadores resultados.  En la clase 470 la pareja formada por Onán Barreiros y Juan Curbelo se colaron en el sexto puesto de la clasificación y el tándem formado por Jordi Xammar y Joan ocuparon el puesto 18. La representación femenina en la clase 470F corrió a cargo de la pareja Bárbara Cornudella y Sara López ocupando el puesto 17 en la clasificación final.

Flota de 470 tomando la baliza de sotavento © Zizi Staniul

En la clase 49er, teníamos a dos tripulaciones en competición. Al final, el equipo mejor situado fue el formado por Diego Botín y el gallego del RCN Portosín Iago López. Iago, que navega como tripulante del cántabro Diego Botín desde hace 2 meses, y tras su debut como pareja en la Christmas Race en Palamós,  siguen acoplándose y han conseguido terminar en la 11ª posición de la exigente flota internacional con 33 tripulaciones en la línea de salida. La otra tripulación inscrita, Carlos Robles y Daniel Cánovas, ocuparon el puesto 30 de la general. Por su parte, Carlos y Antón Paz no han participado en esta prueba pero ya se encuentran en Miami para preparar su primera cita, la World Cup Miami 2015.

En 49er FX, Tamara Echegoyen y Berta Betanzos no han tenido unos buenos resultados pero sin duda no están más que preparando la larga temporada que les espera. Ocuparon el puesto 19 en la clasificación final.

En la clase Nacra 17, además del quinto puesto logrado por Fernando Echávarri y la canaria Tara Pacheco, el tándem formado por Iker Martínez y Marina López, tras una discreta actuación, se situaron en el puesto 22 de la clasificación final.

Por último, en la clase RSX 9.5, el gaditano Juan Manuel Moreno cuajó una excelente actuación en las ocho mangas disputadas lo que le valió el tercer cajón del podio.

Saludos y buenos vientos.

ISAF Sailing World Cup.- Medal Race weather window opens

Grey skies and a strong northerly wind greeted competitors on the final day of the ISAF World Sailing Cup Melbourne 2013.

The winds initially gusting above 30kts, forced officials to hold crews ashore. But a weather window emerged with perfect timing and the winds dropped sufficiently to allow Medals racing to get underway in all five Olympic classes, almost on time at noon.

Principal interest lay in the two new Olympic classes for Rio 2016: The Nacra 17 catamaran with a promising debut of a new, but very experienced, Australian crew combination of Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis. As well as the 49erFX for Women, where the Gold would be separated in the medal race, with just two Medal Race places separating the top two crews, both from Australia.

The winners in the RS:X Men’s and Women’s Windsurfer had been largely decided before the sailing of the Medal races, with Chinese crews taking all three podium places in both events.

In the Men’s 49er, the 2012 Olympic Gold Medalists, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) had a hefty 15 point lead and virtually had only to just complete the course to be assured of the Gold Medal.

Nacra 17 Class.

In the end both the Nacra 17 and 49er FX Races proved to be a battle with the elements for most crews, as winds  gusted above 25kts making for a real test of boat handling.

Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis (AUS) best survived the war of attrition that determined the outcome the Medal Race in the Nacra 17 Multihull class. The New Zealand crew of Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders were clear leaders and the most windward boat as the fleet flew away from the start line. The Kiwis dropped back into second around the first mark and Bundock and Curtis, sailing their first regatta in the class, marched through the fleet.

In the end the experience of the Olympic dual Silver medalist in the Tornado catamaran showed through, as Bundock eased his charge down the final run, whilst the other competitors engaged in various on the water gymnastics – either capsizing, or the catamarans going airborne in the now 25kt breeze.

On the final leg to the finish, in heavy gusts, Bundock and Curtis opted to just sail off a single trapeze and “cruised” through to the finish, without a spinnaker. Following them in a similar mode was second place getter Euan McNicol and Lucinda Whitty (AUS)

“It was great fun out there”, said a beaming Curtis after the race. “We were in third place going around the top mark for the final time. We just backed off a little and it ended up working in our favour. The two boats ahead of us capsized just before the bottom mark – so we were pretty happy with our play it safe decision.”

“We almost nosedived a couple of times on the final run,” she said. “But we gave her a jerk and she came back up, and we got her under control. “These are the strongest winds I have sailed in a Nacra – but it is good, I think I like it!” she exclaimed.

All competitors reported that the newly designed Nacra was taking to the air both up and downwind. “I had to keep walking forwards, which was awkward at times,” Curtis added. “We capsized just before the last mark to the finish,” said Gemma Jones (NZL).

“It was one of the windiest days I have sailed in,” she added. Her crew, 2012 Olympic representative, Jason Saunders, commented that they were lying second overall until just 50 metres before the bottom mark.

“The capsize really set us back obviously. It was very frustrating. But it has been a good regatta, but we have a lot to learn and have taken away a lot of knowledge with us.”

“The Nacra is definitely a hard boat to handle in these conditions, so you have to be on top of it the whole time. But it’s good, brings in a good element and makes it more challenging.”

After the race, winning skipper Darren Bundock said he, “was very happy with the results here.  We would have been happy to be pushing the others around - so in our first regatta, with just a few weeks of training against crews who have been sailing for almost a year, it’s encouraging to walk away with a win. We can see a lot of places for improvement,” he added

“We will now mount a serious Rio campaign.  Nina has an Olympic silver medal, and I´ve got a couple and so we won’t go to Rio to just make up the numbers. We certainly believe we have the experience and the skill to win Olympic Gold in this class.”

“We won today because we sailed conservatively, in tough conditions. We have a handle now on the level of competition in this part of the world. Now it will be interesting racing against another fleet in Miami and then we will head to Palma and race hard on the European circuit. Palma will certainly be the big test as just about everyone in the Nacra 17’s will be there,” he concluded.

RS:X Men and Women Class.

A strong Chinese team turned in an impressive overall result in the regatta, winning all medals in the Men’s and Women’s Windsurfing events.

China has the largest RS:X race squad in the world, with both men and women’s teams training and racing together and the top competitors from that squad are medal material at any event. In the men’s fleet, Chuankun Shi, after dominating the qualifying series with eight wins took second place in the Medal Race and therefore won the Gold Medal.

Fourth in the Medal race was Chunzhuang Lui, who took Silver. He would have had to beat Shi by five places to snatch gold – a huge task in any class.

Zhengnan Fang won the Bronze after finishing fourth in the Medal race, while the leading Australian Patrick Vos won the medal race, to finished fourth overall in the regatta.

An even more predictable result happened in the RS:X Women’s Medal Race with series leader Manjia Zheng, the newly crowned China National Games Champion, making it nine wins from 13 starts.

Qiaoshan Weng, who was second in the series finished in the same place in the Medal Race, as did ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao winner, Peina Chen.

49erFX Class.

The Medal Race in the 49erFX was virtually a replay of what had gone before in the Nacra 17. Except all crews struggled in the conditions despite the wind easing back to 15-18kts with an accompanying reduction of the sea state.

London Olympic Match Racing silver medalist Olivia Price with her crew Eliza Solly won the 49FX after taking second place in the Medal Race.

Medal Race Winner Haylee Outteridge with her new crew, Ella Clark, were an impressive second overall. Clark had won a Youth Worlds in 420 but had just eight days of training in the 49erFX.

Haylee commented “We enjoyed that race. This was our first event together, so we found ways to make new mistakes and we learnt new lessons. We found we are a good combination."

In third place overall were the 18 year old Norwegian twins Ragna and Maia Agerup, who only made the switch from the 29er mid-year.

49er Class.

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen returned to their 2012 winning form in the Men’s 49er skiff, taking the winner’s gun in eight of the 13 races sailed. Nathan was smiling as he hit the beach, “before the start there were some heavy gusts and it was survival time but the wind eased.”

“We had a fast start on the windward end of the line and we covered the fleet. We managed to keep it upright in winds from 12-28kts”.

“It was one of those days where lots of people made mistakes and we did not.”
“Our time back in the 49er before the 2013 Worlds was very limited and we were happy with our result considering that factor. Now we have had more time in the boat and it feels like we’ve not stopped sailing.

“There are America’s Cup decisions to be made before we work out our program from here.”

Iain Jensen chimed in, “but one way or another we will fit in a Rio campaign.”
Second overall, after their third in the medal race, was David Gilmour and Sam Phillips. (AUS)

David Gilmour commented, “this is a class in which we are learning from the best. It’s fast and its fun, though today it was pretty stressful for the whole race. On the second upwind we realised we were well placed and we played it safe from there.”
Third overall were Will Phillips and Rhys Mara (AUS), who were fast today, pushing the Gold medallists all the way around the course.

The new British pairing of Stevie Morrison and Chris (Twiggy) Grube (GBR) had gone into the medal race second overall and were disappointed with the eighth place finish, that resulted from a capsize, dragging them down to fifth place overall.  Morrison said: “It was a little wild out there and our newness found us out.”

“We managed to find a combination of a gust and a big wave mid-gybe and we found ourselves upside down. Overall though we are very pleased with the week, we need time in the boat before heading to Miami and we will get that here in Australia.” “It’s been a wild week with every kind of wind and wave combination, in Melbourne. But when it comes down to it, would you be anywhere else?”

Many competitors will now head to Miami to compete in the next leg of the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup, to be held from 25 January – 1 February 2014.

If you want to see the full results please click here
Si quieres ver los resultados completos, haz click aquí 

Best regards and fair winds

ISAF Sailing World Cup.- The streak continues

ISAF World Sailor of the Year, Matt Belcher’s feat of winning his 18th consecutive regatta in the 470 class, has outshone the other results on the penultimate day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

For Belcher’s crew, Will Ryan it was his 10th win, two of which were as a stand-in crew for his predecessor in the boat, Malcolm Page. For the most successful coach in sailing, Victor Kovalenko (AUS), it was another episode in a long successful career.

While the spotlight was firmly on the Men’s 470, today was also a day of personal achievement for Swedish Finn sailor Bjorn Allansson. Allansson exclaimed after the race to the on the water crowd, “I might have a serious face, but I am very happy today. This is my first win in a World Cup event!”.  At which point he leapt out of his Finn and performed a somersault more worthy of an Olympic diving event.

Conditions on Port Phillip were near perfect for Medal Race sailing – which was held directly off the Sandringham Yacht Club balcony, allowing the fans a perfect vantage point to view the five medal races. The remaining five will be sailed tomorrow on the final day of the regatta, which has attracted 580 competitors.

Laser Radial Class.

Medal Racing got underway on time in a light south-westerly breeze in the Laser Radial, the Olympic Women’s Single hander. The Gold medal winner had been virtually decided before race with Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) going into the race with a substantial points lead. The only way she could lose was through a disqualification. She did incur a downwind penalty for an illegal sailing technique, but that was sufficient to only set her back a couple of places to finish fourth. The Medal Race winner was Dongshuang Zhang (CHN), who placed second overall for the Silver Medal, with double Olympic representative Krystal Weir (AUS) finishing second across the line to secure the Bronze medal.

Medal Race, Radial / Kyrstal Weir (AUS), bronze  medal © Sport the library / Jeff Crow

Zhang led first three place getters in the race from start to finish and was never really threatened for first place, maintaining a 50 metre lead over second and third – who again were never seriously questioned by the chasing boats.

“It’s difficult conditions for me today”, said Gold medal winner Tatiana Drozdovskaya. “I did not have a good start, but winning here is a much better feeling after China, where I was beaten in the medal race. I like strong conditions and the results reflected that.”

Australia’s Krystal Weir was a little annoyed with herself, commenting after the race, “I made a mistake at the top mark the first time, I gybed at the top mark to get some extra speed but that did not work out and it cost me dearly.”

Laser Class.

Australia’s Ryan Palk had his turn in the spotlight, winning the Medal Race. But as with the earlier Women’s single-hander, the Gold medal winner had been largely determined on the basis of racing in the qualifying rounds. Racing got underway in a 7-8kts breeze, which had now swung almost due south in direction.

Tom Burton (AUS), who has dominated the regatta all week, struck out strongly at the start of the Medal race. But he fluffed the game-plan coming into the windward mark for the first time, where he came in on port tack, and was required to give way to a group of yachts coming through on starboard, or right of way, tack. Dipping behind that group was a costly exercise and he dropped back into the middle of the fleet.

Burton recovered well to lift back into fourth place at the end of the downwind leg and eventually finished third in the Medal race, making him an easy winner of the Gold medal by a 27-point margin. New Zealand’s Thomas Saunders won the Silver medal, with Matthew Wearn (AUS) taking the Bronze.

A spate of retirements from the final race of the qualifying round played havoc with the overnight points table and cost Ashley Brunning (AUS) a bronze medal. Eight of the 18 competitors voluntarily retired from the final qualifier after they realised they had sailed the wrong course. Most were able to drop that result as their discard, but not Brunning, who had been disqualified from Race 3 of the regatta.

That opened the door for Saunders, who placed a rather leisurely seventh in the Medal race to take the Silver. Wearn also did not make the course error and eighth place in the Medal race was enough for him to take the Bronze.
After the race, Burton said he was disappointed with his 2013 Laser World’s results, “The aim was to get back atop the podium. So I am happy with today’s results. The next stop is Miami, then the European circuit.”

Michael Blackburn, Australian Laser Coach commented, “I’m pleased with Tom and the whole Laser squad. It’s interesting to consider that looking back at the 2009 Laser Worlds our best placed Australian was Tom Slingsby at 17th, so at this stage of the cycle we are well ahead of that.”

Finn Class.

The Medal Race for the Finn class, the Olympic Men’s Heavyweight Single-hander, was the only one of the five Medal races in which the Gold medal was actually determined on the water, today.

Overnight points leader Bjorn Allansson (SWE) made a serious attempt at losing the Gold medal before staging a tremendous recovery to finish second behind Silver medal winner, Oliver Tweddell (AUS).

Allansson dropped his places after hitting a wall of starboard tack yachts on the final approach to the first mark, causing him to drop back down the fleet as he dipped behind the crossing boats. He started his recovery to catch race leader Tweddell by splitting with the fleet and slowly climbed his way back.
However, Tweddell was not finished with the Swede, allowing him to close up on the final leg to the finish, and then initiating a match race. Luffing hard, right on the finish in an attempt to get the on-water judges to penalise Allansson for not keeping clear. The trap failed and Tweddell was forced to cross the finish line in first place, with Allansson content to cruise across for second place, which was sufficient to win the Gold Medal by just one point.

Then the Swede cut loose shouting for joy at his first ISAF Sailing World Cup win, punching the air, calling on nearby photographers to get his moment of ecstasy and then performed the somersault off the side deck of his Finn. After the race, Allansson said he tried to focus on wind shifts, “The wind is always the biggest competitor out there, especially when it’s light and shifty.”

“I managed to make a big gain on the second beat. I have good downwind speed and I have good balance on the boat, so I was in control of the situation,” he added.

One of the future hopes of Australian Finn sailing, Jake Lilley (20) won the Bronze after placing third in the medal race.  He had led the points-table for much of the regatta and is definitely a sailor to watch.

470W Class.

Shasha Chen and Haiyan Gao (CHN) were on course to win the Gold medal, after topping the points table following the Qualification rounds. Uncharacteristically, they trailed the fleet around the first mark, but in a remarkable display of sailing, they had worked their way through the fleet on the next leg to lead and were never headed.

Medal Race, 470W / Nan ZHANG & Yixiao LV (CHN), bronze medal © Sport the library / Jeff Crow

Second on the water and also winners of the Silver medal, were sisters Sasha and Jaime Ryan (AUS) with a second Chinese, crew Nan Zhang and Yixiao Lv, finishing in fifth place in the medal race and missed winning the Silver by just two points.
Zhang and Lv had been lying second on the points-table throughout the series and had won three consecutive races prior to the Medal Race day.

470M Class.

The Croatian crew of Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic, had the chance to cause a major upset in the 470 sailing world by preventing crack Australian crew of Mat Belcher and Will Ryan, from winning Belcher’s 18th consecutive 470 regatta.  They got off to a good start and had sailed Belcher and Ryan back into the fleet, but broke away first to head for the windward mark on port tack, only to come across a wall of starboard tack boats heading for the mark.

Medal Race, 470M / Mathew Belcher & Will Ryan (AUS), gold medal  © Sport the library / Jeff Crow

In a deft move, seeing the Croatian crew forced to dip behind numerous boats, Belcher and Ryan picked their course perfectly and were able to cross ahead of the group and the Gold medal and 18th win was largely secured.

The Croatians, who were the 2009 World Champions in the 470 class and have medalled in three World Championships, finished in seventh place in the double points scoring Medal race.  A second Australian, crew Angus Galloway and Tim Hannah won the Bronze medal.  After the race, Matt Belcher commented: “It’s good to finish as we started. It’s pretty special the last 12 months.”

“Today’s medal race was a difficult race, the Croatians are tough competitors. They and all our competitors are getting closer. It’s been an amazing year for myself. We have won every regatta - then having a son; completing three quarter of a Master’s degree; and then becoming ISAF World Sailor of the Year.

“We are expecting to see much more competition next year, with the top 25 sailors likely to be here in Melbourne with the revised World Cup format. A lot of countries are investing in 470, we don’t have anywhere near the funding, and the Chinese have. There are other countries doing well, including the Spanish, French, and British. So we will have our work cut out keeping up this winning sequence,” he concluded.

Team China’s 470 coach Kevin Burnham, multiple Olympic medallist, (Gold Medallist, Athens 2004 and Silver Medallist, Barcelona 1992) and 28-year veteran of the class commented, “Belcher is on fire. I’ve always had admiration for his work ethics. He is winner, a winner. I don’t think people realise how strong the competition is in the 470 class - it’s strong and deep.

“The 470 class is very competitive in China, we have 40 boats training at Hainan Island with an elite squad of seven, racing twice a week against the fleet.  “We started with my Athens rig and sail setting and that has pushed them up the results already.”

RS:X Men: Class.

Chuakun Shi (CHN) leads by and eight-point margin over Chunzhuang Liu (CHN), with another Chinese sailor Zhennan Fang in third place overall, five points behind Liu. They sailed four races today and Liu has only an outside chance tomorrow of winning the Gold medal,  needing to beat Shi by five places to win the Gold.

RS:X Women Class.

Manja Zheng (CHN) has an 11-point lead in the Olympic Women’s Windsurfing event ahead of Qiaoshan Weng (CHN) with Peina Chen (CHN) third, a further eight points behind. Those places are expected to be the final result for the event.

Nacra 17 Class.

Australian crew of Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis have just a two point lead in the Olympic Multihull. They are expected to have a tight tussle with second placed crew, Euan McNicol and Lucinda Whitty (AUS), with just two points or one place in the double scoring medal race separating the two crews. The New Zealand crew of Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders are third overall, six points behind McNicol-Whitty. The Kiwis will be more concerned about the fourth placed crew of Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) who are just three points behind, or two places in a Medal race – to protect their chances of winning Bronze.

49er Class.

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) have a health 15-point lead in the 49er Mens skiff class, ahead of Stevie Morrison and Chris Grube (GBR), who are the fast improvers in this regatta – notwithstanding that Morrison is a former World Champion in the class. The have a four-point margin over David Gilmour and Sam Phillips (AUS) and the battle is expected to be for Silver and Bronze tomorrow.

49erFX Class.

The points-table in the Women’s 49erFX is the tightest of all the classes with four crews being separated by just seven points, ahead of the Medal race tomorrow. Three Australian crews will take on Ragna and Maia Agerup (NOR) for the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.

Racing is scheduled to be held in five events tomorrow – the 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17, RS:X Men and Women.

If you want to see the full results please click here
Si quieres ver los resultados completos, haz click aquí 

Best regards and fair winds

ISAF Sailing World Cup.- Melbourne a Corker

Despite some bleak weather expectations for Day 5 of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne 2013, Port Phillip turned on a corker day.

The grey skies and big seas of the morning eased as the day progressed. The sun shone brightly and all appeared to be well with the world – today was just the second of sunshine and summer warmth. The south westerly which had given Port Phillip a hammering for a day and most of the night, eased as the day unfolded. In its place came an oscillating breeze with plenty of variations in pressure and direction.

Nacra 17 class.

The Australian Nacra 17 combination of Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis has taken a one-point lead after 10 races, in the new Olympic multihull class. However, as Bundock noted, they have already used their discard so with three races and a medal race to go, leaving the series still wide open.

“The first two races were really good for us,” Bundock commented when reflecting on their two wins. “The wind was really shifty and patchy. In the third race we struggled a little. I was being too patient and sitting in bad spots waiting for the breeze line to arrive. We were just getting hammered. In the start of the third race, we just sat there for a very long time before we got across to the breeze.

“Today we got the shifts right, in the first two races. We got a bit lost on the first upwind in the third race. In the last race, we were back at the top mark but on the first downwind we made good gains.

“We are learning the boat, not being fast enough changing gears upwind is our greatest weakness. Every now and then we get it right and the boats takes off.”

Consistency was the game of the day in the Nacra 17s, with Bundock and Curtis picking up just 10 points under the low-points system used for scoring.

Second overall, Euan McNicoll and Lucinda Whitty (AUS), were even more consistent scoring just nine points. Overnight leaders Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders (NZ) picked up 18pts from the day causing them to drop to third overall, despite winning the final race of the day.

"It was a tough day, we had the dying gradient breeze, then the tiny bubbling thermal breezes. We were consistent, so that was pleasing” said McNicoll. "We are learning a lot this week, the variety of conditions here in Melbourne enables rapid progress,” he said.

The NZ coach, five times America’s Cup winner, Murray Jones said, “Boats could be a few hundred metres apart and some would be sitting inside and the others would be full trapezing.”

49er Men class.

It was similar story in the 49er with damage control on the points table being the order of the day. The new British crew of Stevie Morrison and Chris Grube gave the fleet a master class in this facet of the regatta, by accumulating only seven points in the four races sailed. This was a substantially better achievement than those ahead of him in the 12-boat fleet allowing them to jump into third place – a position more in keeping with Morrison’s pedigree in the 49er, as a past World Champion and double British Olympic representative.

“There was some steep chop left around, it showed the benefit of being lighter than the fleet,” Morrison explained. “We are 8kgs lighter than most in the fleet, so we kept going when the others stopped. Looking ahead to Rio, there might be some dieting going on to get down to our weight. Our crew-work is far from slick, but the sun shone on us a little more than anyone else day,” he added.

Australian Olympic Gold medal winning crew, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, were seen more often down the back of the fleet than at the front. They started the day well with a win, but then returned a ninth place in the second race sailed, then finished off with a seventh and a third.  Outteridge commented, "No excuses today. It was shifty, we were trying to predict the wind and it was not moving, but it was dropping the sky a bit, a bit like our results today.

"This just shows the quality of this fleet. The Australian squad is getting stronger. Make a mistake and you will get mowed down."

49er FX class.

Australian crew of Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks have taken the lead in the new Olympic Women’s skiff, winning two races and placing second and fourth in the other two today.

Overnight leaders, 18year old Norwegian twins, Ragna and Maia Agerup, struggled to cope with the light and shifting winds, placing sixth, sixth and seventh in the eight boat fleet, before halting the point score damage with a second place in the final race of the day. They now lie in third place overall having led all series.

RS:X Men class.

Chinese competitors hold the top three places overall, with Chuankun Shi having an outstanding day with three wins from three races sailed. He now has an 11 point lead over compatriot Chunzhuang Liu, with Zhengnan Fang (CHN) a further two points behind.

RS:X Women class.

Manija Zheng (CHN) retains her lead in the Women’s RS: X after scoring two, three and three for the day. She is now seven points clear of Qiaoshan Weng (CHN), who is six points ahead of Peina Chen (CHN). Chen had a good day in the lighter winds placing first in the final two races of the day.

Laser class.

Tom Burton (AUS) won all three races sailed in the Men’s Laser and extends to a 17-point lead over Ashley Brunning (AUS). New Zealand’s Thomas Saunders is close behind in third. Burton will take an unassailable lead into Saturday’s Medal race.

Laser Radial class.

In the Laser Radial women’s single hander, 2013 Qingdao Sailing World Cup Silver medallist, Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR), has broken well clear of the fleet. Currently second is the ISAF Sailing World Cup Qingdao Gold Medallist, Dongshuang Zhang (CHN) and the 2012 World Cup Melbourne winner Krystal Weir (AUS) is third.

“I’m pleasantly surprised with my results so far,” said Weir after today’s racing. “I’m looking forward to the Australian Championships in a few weeks, then we will decide where to from there."

Tomorrow’s medal race will determine the silver and bronze medals only, with Ashley Stoddart (AUS) who is currently lying fourth overall, a reasonable chance of.

470 Men class.

Matthew Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) lead the nine boat 470 Men’s fleet, with Croatia’s Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic second, three points in arrears. There is a big 17-point gap back to the third placed crew of Angus Galloway and Tim Hannah (AUS).

The Brazilian crew of Geison Mendes and Gustavo Thiesen are two points behind Galloway and Hannah and still in contention for the Bronze medal, after a better today, winning Race eight.

“Today was very shifty, light wind conditions, and we are pleased with how we sailed,” said Thiesen.  “The first upwind legs were very good for us in the first and second races. We were first to the first mark in both races. In the last race we did not have a good starting plan and we didn’t get as good a start as we did in the other races,” added Mendes.

Finn class.

John Bertrand, the Australian Squad Finn coach, summed up the day for the 14 strong Finn fleet, "Today was a great day.  Light and shifty, choppy and swelly. In Europe you see these conditions all the time. So it was great experience for all the sailors.”

Overall Sweden’s Bjoern Allansson scored two wins from three races and leads by three points from Australian Oliver Tweddell.  Allansson enjoyed the conditions today, his two firsts and a second, placing him atop the leader board.

"It was just like home only warmer", he smiled. “It was light and shifty all day,” said second placed, Tweddell. “There were 20-30 degree shifts for all three races. The breeze felt like it was trying to die off, but it kept filling in from the right hand (westerly) side. I had a good battle with Bjorn all day long.”

Tweddell scored a first second and third placing for the day. “Bjorn took me on a couple of the downwinds, to stop me getting a few more wins,” Tweddell added. “It was a good fun day.”

The medal race will be sailed in the Finn tomorrow, which will is expected to determine the Gold and Silver medals between Allansson and Tweddell. Jake Lilley (AUS) and Brendan Casey (AUS) who are currently locked on 23 points are expected to contest the Bronze.

Medal races in the 470 men, 470 Women, Finn, Laser and Laser Radial classes, will be sailed on the Stadium course directly off the Sandringham Yacht Club breakwater.  Fleet racing will be sailed in the other classes, who will have their Medal races on Sunday.

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Best regards and fair winds

ISAF Sailing World Cup.- Day 4, Melbourne: ¡strong wind, no race!

The westerlies gusting in excess of 35 knots howled across Port Phillip.

Unfortunately today competitors from 24 countries in the Olympic classes had to sit out racing due to the westerlies gusting in excess of 35 knots that howled across Port Phillip, causing massive seas to build and pound the Sandringham rock wall.

The fleet moored in the docks of Port Phillip © Sport the library/Jeff Crow

World Sailor of the Year Mat Belcher and partner Will Ryan, who are tracking towards another consecutive 470 class regatta win at the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne, spent some time discussing their regatta to date and the varied conditions that Melbourne has produced.

“There is too much wind today, so it was a good call by Principal Race officer Ross Wilson to abandon racing for the day, but we enjoyed yesterday. It was challenging but nice to be out there.  It was perfect for our class in terms of big waves, a bit of wind and really being able to drive the boat pretty hard,” said skipper Belcher.

“But we still have a bit on for the week, with the Croatians leading for the first two days. They were the 2009 World Champions and four time worlds medallists. They are an extremely strong team, its tough racing. We have seen that so far and expect to see that throughout the week.

“We have always said we are going to focus on our performance and each day think we did a little bit better and yesterday we managed two firsts and that has put us into the lead.” alking of his amazing recent success, that sees Belcher undefeated in the past 17 consecutive regattas, “It’s been a great streak and we are aiming for 18 in a row here. But realistically it will come to an end at some stage.

“People underestimate how hard it is.  I have heard some pretty optimistic statements, like, ‘Oh yes they can go unbeaten all the way to Rio’. But we can’t keep this up, there is no way.  The talent in the fleet is just too good.  We have done something quite extraordinary and have really amazed ourselves in our performance and from a psychological point of view, how we have been able to win those past regattas. But we know that one mistake and that’s it.

“I have to say Will Ryan my crew is doing amazingly well.  This is still a new partnership and to have the results that we have had, it’s phenomenal and a real credit to Will.  It’s a high-pressured situation, he is coming in replacing Mal and he is finding his way. I am honoured to sail with him and looking forward to where we can take our partnership”.

Both sailors took part in the annual ISAF Sailing World Cup Dinner earlier this week (Tuesday 3 December), which celebrated Belcher’s award a Rolex Male Sailor of the year and their current winning streak. The audience of over 300 was entertained as Australian Yachting legend John Bertrand interviewed the pair on the night looking to uncover their tightly guarded secrets and has also been a source of outside support.

“The ISAF dinner was great fun.  It is pretty cool when you have got someone like John Bertrand interviewing you and having coffee with him the other day.

“What a privilege really to have access and to be able to talk to him and use his experience.  He wants to take the interest and his questions are always hard.  He really thinks about what you are saying and he is obviously a very smart guy and wants you to tell you exactly how it is.

The 24-year old Will Ryan chimed in, “John Bertrand honed in on the fact that we don’t give too much away and that is the fact we want to keep to our advantage.  A lot people have done a lot of hard work in the Australian 470 squad and there is a lot of intellectual property.  Our coach Victor Kovalenko has ten medals and I don’t have any yet, so I certainly want to keep the knowledge advantage a bit longer if we can.”

Mat nodded, “It’s probably more us than Victor, because we are the ones that are sailing the boat and we are really conscious about what we do, where we going, all we need to do and where we are at.

“We know that people just want to know what we are doing. We are just trying to prepare and keeping an eye on the prize.  That’s just what we are doing.

“It’s just all about Rio and whether we win more events or not, we will keep doing the same thing. Obviously the World Championship is a key event, so it’s the one we want to perform at our best.  But  at some stages experimenting is more important than winning.”

Belcher summed up “We have got a pretty good understanding about where we want to go and what we want to do.  We are just ticking the boxes to keep developing as a team and the rest will take care of itself.”

Racing in the Men’s 470 class at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne, is schedule to continue from 14:00 on Friday 6 December 2013.

Best regards and fair winds

ISAF Sailing World Cup.- Day 3, Melbourne: A challenging day

Strong winds, grey skies and steep confused seas were the signature line for day three of racing in the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

After a morning of heavy rain, racing was postponed for an hour due to reduced visibility. When the seven Olympic classes due to race in the first session of the day left the shelter of the harbour at Sandringham Yacht Club, it was still raining and it was evident that the sea was running at a direction that was not consistent with the wind angle.

The early sea state was testing for the fleet, with two boats breaking masts, one in the 49er class and the other a 470.

Finn Class.

“It was very tough”, said Oliver Tweddell, winner of both races in the Finn class. “Big waves, a lot of wind and some seriously big shifts. It was a day that kept us on our toes, that’s for sure,” he added.

“The breeze had been coming from the west since early this morning and the wave size picks up really quickly here on Port Phillip. There were a lot of rain clouds coming through, bringing a lot of breeze with them and they just kept feeding the breeze all day,” Tweddell explained.

There was close racing at the head of the Finn fleet with Tweddell fending off 2012 Olympic representative, Brendan Casey (AUS), by just a boat length in the two races sailed.

After one drop, 20 year old Jake Lilley continues to lead the Finn class. The 2 metre (6’ 7”) top ranked Junior World Finn sailor, who came out of elite junior triathlon and cycling, has been just one year in the Olympic Heavweight Singlehander. “It was a tricky day today, with plenty of bump,” he said. “There were 30 degree shifts and big waves, so it was a lot of fun.”

Surprisingly the big-framed Lilley did not thrive in today’s conditions placing fourth and fifth in the two races sailed.

Equal on points, after a pair of thirds today, is Bjorn Allansson (SWE), who was ranked third in the world back in April and is in good form. ‘‘Today I sailed really good upwind, but was having trouble getting a flow on the downwind legs and Tweddell sailed through us.”

M470 Class.

Matthew Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) continued their march towards 18 consecutive regatta wins, with two wins from today’s racing.  “We had good conditions for the 470's today,” said Belcher. “Great racing, we had two good starts and two good results.”

Their rivals, Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) lacked the dominance of the Australians finishing with second and third places from the two races sailed.

“We could have done a little bit better in the last one”, said Igor Marenic. “The wind was really strong with big waves, we were struggling a little in the big waves. We needed to find good trimming. But all in all, the regatta is going very well, we are close to the Australians.

“We were on our last gear, we had winds gusting 20 sometimes a little more. A nice breeze, and we enjoy the surfing on the big waves. It was good sailing.”

The Brazilian team were tested by the challenging conditions; skipper, Geison Mendes said of their performance, “It is difficult for us with the big waves. We have to train more in these conditions, with the strong winds.”

49er Class.

Only one race was sailed in the 49er and 49erFX with the Olympic skiffs struggling in the fresh winds and sea state that saw only six boats finish the race. Four races are scheduled tomorrow starting at 11.00am.

 

49er/Nathan OUTTERIDGE & Iain JENSEN (AUS) © Sport the library/Jeff Crow

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen won the fourth race and posted their third win of the series. The young New Zealand crew of Logan Dunning-Beck and Jack Simpson did their regatta chances no harm, with a fourth place lifting them to fourth place overall in the regatta.

The new British pairing of Stevie Morrison and Chris Grube were the last recorded finisher today and lie in seventh place overall. Morrison is a former world champion in the class and double Olympic representative. Grube comes to the 49er from the 470 class, with some notable performances in the build up for the 2012 Olympics in Weymouth.

49erFX Class.

The Norwegian crew of Ragna and Maia Agerup enjoy a six-point lead at the top of the points table after just one race was sailed today, in which they placed third.  The 18year old twins started sailing at the age of 8yrs old in the Optimist, 29er and now 49erFX. They are the youngest crew in the class at Melbourne and placed 26th at the only World Championship sailed to date for the new 49erFX class.

Second overall is the Australian crew of Olivia Price and Eliza Solly, who won today’s race. Price was a Silver medallist in the Women’s Match Racing event at the 2012 London Olympics and placed ninth overall in the 49erFX Worlds sailed at Marseille, France in September this year.

Hayley Outteridge, sister of 49er Gold Medallist, Nathan Outteridge, suffered a knee injury in today’s racing and had to be assisted from the course aboard a support vessel.

Laser Class.

Tom Burton (AUS) continued his stream of success notching his fourth win in six races and has established a seven-point lead over compatriot Ashley Brunning; with Thomas Saunders a further three points back.

Both Brunning and Burton filed their worst placings of the today, with Burton finishing fourth in the first race of the day.  Brunning seemed determined not be outdone and placed sixth in the final race of the day. Saunders was more consistent placing second and third today.

Laser Radial Class.

Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) is easing away to a big lead in the women’s singlehander, scoring a fourth and first placing in today’s races. The Belarusian is enjoying a run of recent success having won the previous ISAF World sailing Cup event in Qingdao, China.

Krystal Weir, who placed 12th in the 2012 Olympics and won the 2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne, scored two second placings today to move into second place overall ahead of China’s Dongshuang Zhang.

Nacra 17 Class.

There is a tie on the top of the points table in the Nacra 17 event. With New Zealand’s Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders scoring two wins from three races. They would have made it a hat-trick but for a rudder popping up 200 metres from the finish whilst leading and the subsequent capsize dropped them back to seventh place.

Nacra17/Euan MCNICOL & Lucinda WHITTY (AUS) © Sport the library/Jeff Crow

“We had a nice breeze with good waves,” said Gemma Jones. “But it was really shifty out there. We won the first two races, which was good considering the shifty conditions. In the last one we were leading, but the rudder popped up and we capsized, so it didn’t end as well as we hoped. But it was still a good day.

“We had good starts and good speed, particularly downwind, which helped as well.  We were completely comfortable in the conditions which made it easier to win, I guess. We overlaid a few marks in the first race, which made the racing closer than we would have liked.  I really enjoy the Nacra. I guess it suits my type of sailing. The new rig has made the boat more fun. The loads are a little heavier on the mainsheet, but it helps downwind and you don’t nosedive so much.”

One of those crews is Olympic Silver Medallists Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis, who are laying second overall in their first Nacra 17 regatta.

“The Kiwis went for a swim in the last downwind which was nice of the them,” Bundock quipped after the racing today.  “It’s taken us a little while to get going. But we are steadily improving, by the last race today, we were very happy with our speed,” he added.

Paralympic Classes.

Racing was abandoned today for the Paralympic classes due to the sea-state on Port Phillip.

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Best regards and fair winds

ISAF Sailing World Cup - Summer Blast

Summer arrived in Melbourne for the first day of racing in the ISAF Sailing World Cup 2013.

Overall leader of the Men’s 470 after the first two races is the 2009 World Champion Croatian crew of Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic, who had a first and second place in the two races sailed. They are tied on the same points as second placed crew of Mathew Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS). On the overall points table, the Croatians, who are the current European Champions in the 470, lead by virtue of a count-back, having beaten the Australians in the last race of the day.

470mens, sime FANTELA & Igor MARENIC (CRO) © Sport the library/Jeff Crow

“It’s been a great opening day for us', said Sime Fantela.  'We placed second in the first and the other one we won. In the first race it was gusty to around 15kts and then it dropped to around 8-10kts.

“In the second race we had a really good start, and played the shifts well upwind, the upwind leg was long and it paid to go for the shore. We extended our lead on the second reach after the Australians (Belcher and Ryan) became stuck in the pack.

“This is our second time in Melbourne, we were here five years ago. It is still the same – we love to be here, the weather is always nice, and it is much better than in Croatia, now,”' he grinned.

The Australian crew of Angus Galloway and Tim Hannah are third overall but are in a group of three who are locked on 9 points. Australia’s Crawford brothers are in fifth overall, with the Chinese crew of Hao Lan and Chao Wang positioned in fourth overall.

Winner of the ISAF Youth Girls World Championship, Carrie Smith (AUS) has teamed up one of the top ten 470 crews, Sarah Cook to compete in the Women’s 470 event at the ISAF Sailing World Cup, Melbourne.

Smith and Cook placed first and second in the two races sailed today, and are three points ahead of a second Australian crew Jacqui Gurr and Amelia Catt.

In third and fourth place overall is the Chinese crews, Shasha Chen and Haiyan Gao, who placed sixth in the first race of the day and then came through to win in the second, sailed in lighter, probably more challenging conditions.

They are only one point out of second overall, and one point behind is a second Chinese crew, Nan Zhang and Yixiao Lv.

Tall timber populates the Finn class at the top level, and young Australian 20 year old Jake Lilley is two metres tall, but is still a growing boy, having elevated his height by six centimetres in course of the last sailing season.

Lilley, who is also the world number ranked Junior, is obviously a rising talent. Today he secured two race wins over Swede Bjorn Alansson and defending ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne champion, Brendan Casey who has ranked as high as third and first on the ISAF ranking scale.

‘I'm very pleased with today,' Lilley reflected,' but the conditions suited me today, down wind is my strength.'

ISAF World Ranked number one Laser sailor Tom Burton (AUS) was impressive today with two wins ahead of Ryan Palk (AUS) and Tom Saunders from New Zealand.

Just back from the World Championship in Oman, Burton said ‘The emphasis for me is more speed. So it was good sailing today.

Radial Womens, Tatiana DROZDOVSKAYA (BLR)  © Sport the library/Jeff Crow

In the Laser Radial classes, the World Sailing Cup battle of the 2013-2014 season continued with Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) scoring two wins over Dongshuang Zhang (CHN), and the Belarusian enjoys a handy five point margin at the end of the first day's racing.  Last year’s Regatta winner London Olympian Krystal Weir (AUS) also sits on 7pts tied with the Chinese sailor, but drops back to third on a countback.


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Best regards and fair winds