Medal Races on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 December will draw the 2016 Sailing World Cup Melbourne Final to a close. The deciding races will be streamed live on World Sailing’s Facebook page, World Sailing TV on YouTube as well as the Olympic Channel – https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/tv/livestream-4/ Embed codes and racing schedule for both Saturday and […]
Sixty years ago, the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron welcomed the legendary Paul Elvstrom for the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games. At the time the Danish sailor was carving a legacy that included four consecutive Olympic gold medals, numerous world championships and sporting innovations that are now the norm within the sport. Elvstrom claimed his third of […]
via Sailing World Cup Melbourne Pays Tribute To Paul Elvstrom — newfanzoneblog
St Kilda’s usual foreshore and beach buzz on a warm summer Sunday grew louder when the Sailing World Cup Melbourne reached its peak. Eight Olympic classes peeled off their Medal Race one by one straight off the main beach, St Kilda Baths and pier, to the delight of visitors and sailors whose competition had already concluded.
Light morning northerlies moved around to the local sea breeze then tried to settle, swinging between south-east and south. By the time the men’s 49er skiff teams went hunting gold at 14:30, 15 knots was the reading on the track, the most finals day would deliver.
Fast finish in Melbourne
URL – https://youtu.be/ilY9a2NKUD8
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Event director Mark Turnbull OAM and Sydney 2000 sailing gold medallist, dashing between his various responsibilities around the St Kilda sailing precinct, took time to assess the popularity of the final day’s events. “We’ve got big crowds, plus the sailors are really happy, but importantly there are non-sailors everywhere; it’s the general public getting close to the action which is brilliant and one of the reasons why we brought sailing to the people this year.”
World Sailing’s Technical Delegate Antonio González de la Madrid Rodriguez agreed racing out of St Kilda put the sport front and centre. “We saw this today with St Kilda beach packed and the pier bustling. Melbourne is the start of the 2016 Sailing World Cup series and the journey to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is well and truly on!”
Melbourne’s 2015 World Cup, which drew more than 900 competitors representing 23 nations across nine invited, nine Olympic and three Paralympic classes, was the Oceanic qualification event for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. As of this week the Olympic campaign begins for Cook Islands sailors Teau McKenzie (Laser Radial) and Taua Henry (Laser) who gained entry for the Pacific island nation.
The winner of each Olympic class at the World Cup also qualifies for the 2016 Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi in November 2016.
Organisers acknowledge major partners, the state government of Victoria under the Melbourne banner, City of Port Phillip through its St Kilda tourism brand, St Kilda Sea Baths and Mercedes Benz Brighton. Each Sailing World Cup medallist was fortunate enough to be presented with a pair of Bolle sunglasses.
Finn
Josip Olujic (CRO) and Oliver Tweddell (AUS) are close friends, but this didn’t hinder their battle for double points, the series trophy and an invitation to the Sailing World Cup Final. The start of their Medal Race was dramatic with both sailors OCS. Tweddell was first to return, quickly taking and then holding control of the race to finish up on the right side of the series countback split.
“It’s pretty nice to finally win on home waters, I think I’ve come second here four in a row,” Tweddell said. His has a big season ahead starting with the European Championships in March in Barcelona, one of several events that will earn the Melbournian points towards selection to the Australian Team for the Olympic Games.
49erFX
There were three teams in the Medal Race, all equal in skill and determination. When it came to the final double-point race, the dying seconds decided the ultimate victor.
The finish was so tight even Australian’s Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks weren’t sure if it was them or Erica Dawson and Ellie Copeland (NZL) who finished second and therefore top scorer at the end of their gruelling five-day series. The Australian clawback from last secured them the World Cup gold medal and an invitation to next year’s Grand Final.
“At the start we got a little mixed up with what was happening with the wind and didn’t make the best choices on the course. Unfortunately that put us behind on the first leg and it was just catch up from there,” Elks said. “We both said anything can happen and we have lots to play for.”
“The biggest thing was the decision at the end around the bottom mark, whether to hold the kite or drop it,” Lloyd added. “We were behind so it was pretty much the only thing we could do and we just made it.”
Third was Julia Gross and Cecilia Jonsson (SWE).
RS:X
Joanna Sterling won the RS:X gold medal after a near-perfect series. In second overall was Audrey Yong (SIN) who comfortably stayed ahead of Lara O’Brien (AUS).
Sterling put her win down to working very hard on her fitness in the lead-up. “I did a month solid of fitness training before this event and this allowed me to work harder.”
Sterling enjoyed the interaction with the public in the St Kilda sailing precinct, the first time in seven years the vibrant suburb has hosted the World Cup on behalf of the governing body, World Sailing. “Everybody has been so much more involved in the racing. It’s been great as an athlete having people come up and ask you questions.”
Sterling is seeking to fill the Olympic spot she secured for Australia when she qualified the country for Rio in the women’s windsurfer class.
470 Men
To the end twin brothers Alexander and Patrick Conway (AUS) remained untouchable, determined to achieve the perfect tally even though their overall win was already locked in.
“We are happy with the result because our series was about being consistent in all conditions,” Patrick said. “The lessons from this event are for us to trust our speed and our decisions on the race course. We know what we are doing is working; now we need to keep the momentum going.”
The Conways will return to training in Sydney for the next two months before they head to Argentina for the 470 World Championships.
Second overall was Thomas Klemens and Timothy Hannah (AUS) and in third, Angus Galloway and Joshua Dawson (AUS).
470 Women
Carrie Smith and Jaime Ryan (AUS) fought hard to keep pace with the leading men’s team in the final mixed fleet race. They finished second over the line, locking in their first Sailing World Cup gold medal and leaving silver to Sasha Ryan and Aurora Paterson (AUS). Third overall went to Pip Pietromonaco and Amelia Catt (AUS).
“Sailing in a small fleet was tricky, you have to work a little bit harder to keep your top position,” Smith said. “We are learning to work at the top of the fleet and being a team, plus risk management.”
“We’ve had a pretty tough year with illness that kept us out of the boat for a while,” Ryan added.
49er
Kiwi’s Logan Dunning Beck and Jack Simpson performed strongly in the “brutally shifty” penultimate day to set them up for the gold medal position and first international team to finish atop the Medal Race podium. “It’s a great feeling sticking it to the Aussies,” Dunning Beck admitted with a cheeky grin.
Brothers Will and Sam Phillips finished second overall and first Australian team, just one point in front of countrymen David Gilmour and Rhys Mara who led the skiff pack early in the week and ended up third in the 10 boat fleet.
Laser
Singapore’s Colin Cheng romping four-day performance pre Medal Race in the biggest Olympic division contesting the World Cup (35 boats) gave him a comfortable 13 point advantage before the fleet lined up this afternoon.
“I didn’t have too much pressure but I still wanted to go out and have a good race, and get the fundamentals right,” Cheng commented. “Everyone had up and down races and I was able to have a good buffer after stringing some good races together. Every single race all week was difficult.”
Second was Thomas Saunders (NZL) and third was Jeremy O’Connell (AUS).
Laser Radial
Australian Sailing’s Ashley Stoddart straightforwardly beat New Zealand’s Susannah Pyatt over the eight race series. “I just came back from our worlds a week ago so I was tired but warmed-up,” the gold medallist said. “I enjoyed the variety of conditions and it’s been cool having the final day where people could have a nosey.”
Third was Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR).
IKA Formula Kite
Like his inaugural Sailing World Cup Melbourne, Florian Gruber’s (GER) fourth time ended with champagne spraying standing taller on the dais than his challengers. “I always enjoy the Australian lifestyle, pretty relaxed and super friendly people and I always have great experience at this event,” the gold medal winner said.
He hopes today’s win will be his last in the race board class and talked openly at the medal presentation of his vision for the foil board. “Foiling is the future; it’s the fastest thing on the water. Let’s see what the decision is for the 2020 Olympics, if it’s the race board I’ll be back in Melbourne on a race board.”
Martin Dolenc (CRO) finished second and Ric Black (AUS) third.
Sailors will now turn their focus to the 2016 Sailing World Cup Miami which takes place at the end of January 2016.
An intense fortnight of competition for an international fleet of Paralympic sailors drew to a close today, Saturday December 12, 2015, with the completion of their Sailing World Cup Melbourne race schedule in light southerly winds at the top end of Port Phillip.
Athletes only had a short break between finishing the Para World Sailing Championships and commencing their World Cup campaign on Wednesday at the same venue, the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.
View highlights of the day below:
URL – https://youtu.be/v9ie2_XA8MU
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Celebrations continue for Damien Seguin of France in the 2.4mR and SKUD18 sailors Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) who added World Cup Melbourne gold to their medal haul, having snapped up the world championship title just over a week ago.
In the Sonar, Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden (AUS) made up for their disappointment of silver at the Para Worlds to defeat a competitive fleet, walking away with gold.
Meanwhile over on the St Kilda side of the bay, the top ten sailors in each Olympic class qualified themselves for tomorrow’s Medal Races on a cool but magic Melbourne summer’s day, in contrast to yesterday’s cold and ugly blast from the sou’west that blew out racing. The breeze averaged 10-12 knots S-SE and remnant confused 1.5m seas made the going bumpy.
Organisers have the option of utilising two courses for tomorrow’s Medal Races, though the second will only come into play if Mother Nature can’t provide enough reliable wind to roll through eight class finals in quick succession.
Variable 10 knot winds becoming south to south-easterly 10-15 knots in the early afternoon before easing is the forecast for Sunday December 13, 2015.
Finns are due to kick off the Medal Race schedule at 11.50 local time and the kiteboards’ start at 16:30 is the last on the program. All gold Medal Races will be broadcast live to the St Kilda Sailing Precinct stage as well as on World Sailing’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/WorldSailingTV) and there will fantastic spectator viewing opportunities from the end of St Kilda Pier.
Sonar
A relieved Australian team of Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden finished their series with a first place after fighting off challenges from France’s Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flageul and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary, and Norway’s Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen.
The Aussies began the day’s racing after spending last night with Jourdren in the protest room, which resulted in the French team receiving a disqualification. A collision between the two boats required the Australians to patch up some holes with tape in order to race today.
“We put yesterday aside and thought about today as being a new race day,” a beaming Harrison said.
SKUD18
Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) continued their golden world championship form, winning this week’s World Cup. Second was Britain’s Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell and in third, Poland’s Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki.
“In the first race we had to sail for position; we had to beat the British team to win the regatta,” Fitzgibbon said. “In the second race we were out there just have a bit of fun. This win is a vital step for us; we are trying to get in the habit of winning. It’s a really good step to see where we are leading into the Rio games.”
Check out a video of racing today below:
URL – https://youtu.be/jZ8wa7jyqk4
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2.4mR
The wind was softer today but still shifty, forcing France’s Damien Seguin and Australia’s Matt Bugg to fight it out to the end. “We had a great battle,” Seguin admitted.
He’s at the top of his game after this year winning the World Championship and all of his World Cup and EUROSAF events. “With the worlds and this event I have won my qualification to represent France at the Paralympics,” the man with the golden touch added.
Seguin walks away with gold, Matt Bugg silver and Bjornar Erikstad (NOR) completes the podium.
Olympic classes
Kites
Nothing is going to unseat Germany’s Florian Gruber, 21, in his pursuit of a third IKA Formula Kite World Cup Melbourne title. He comfortably leads the series after 15 races.
This is the last event of his racing season before heading back to Europe to join up with Ozone and KiteFoil Australia working on the development of hydrofoils. He hopes the KiteFoil Board will be the equipment choice if kites are included in the 2020 Olympic Games.
“The Formula Board is a great discipline. The foils are the future. They have more speed, more efficient on the upwind and downwind,” Gruber said.
RS:X
Joanna Sterling heads into tomorrow’s Medal Race the top contender for the RS:X women’s windsurfer series after finishing the day off with another two wins to add to her near perfect scoresheet. In second place is Audrey Yong (SIN) and third Lara O’Brien (AUS).
Laser
Six nations feature in the top 10 sailors to move through to the Medal Race. Colin Cheng (SIN) leads the fleet ahead of Mitchell Kennedy (AUS) and Thomas Saunders (NZL). Cheng has a decent lead; behind him the pointscore is tight.
Laser Radial
Ashley Stoddart (AUS) is the top woman moving through to the Medal Race. She leads Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) and Susannah Pyatt (NZL) and all have sailed consistently throughout their seven race World Cup series.
49er/49erFX
Consistent top three results for the Kiwi pair of Logan Dunning-Beck and Jack Simpson has made them 49er front-runners over the first Australian team of Will and Sam Phillips.
It’s a double-bunger for the New Zealanders in the big and smaller rigged skiffs, Erica Dawson and Ellie Copeland winning the final of today’s four 49erFX races to be ahead of Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks (AUS) by a single point.
Finn, 470 Men & Women
Alexander and Patrick Conway’s (AUS) golden run continues, the talented twins winning all eight qualifying races. In second place is Thomas Klemens and Timothy Hannah (AUS).
Carrie Smith and Jaime Ryan (AUS) hold the lead ahead of Sasha Ryan and Aurora Paterson (AUS) and Pip Pietromonaco and Amelia Catt (AUS) in third.
Croatia’s Josip Olujic retains the lead ahead of local sailor, Oli Tweddell (AUS).
Invited Classes
The leaders in each of the nine invited classes are: Bob Schahinger (Liberty), Kurt Hansen and Jim Cooley (29er), Alistair Young (Laser Radial Men), Thomas Needham (Laser 4.7), Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith (420), Daniel and Nathan Van Kerckhof (Viper), Tom Wright (Open Bic), Anna O’Brien (Minnow) and Alexander Bijkerk (Optimist).
Racing in the invited classes also concludes tomorrow, Sunday.
Melbourne put the whitest cloth and the best silverware on the table for the 900 plus Victorian, interstate and international sailors on day two of the Sailing World Cup Melbourne, the first stop of the six stage series.
The morning began with the hilarity of the inaugural Opti Olympic challenge when five Australian Olympic gold medallists and other high profile sailors took on some switched on Optimist kids in a novelty race that drew a great crowd at St Kilda sailing precinct for a fun start to the day. Out of the blatant cheating, paddling, tackling on the beach and water pistols, the youth sailors cleaned up the results.
WATCH THE OPTI VIDEO HERE
URL – https://youtu.be/kf3iOLmLEbE
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When the serious competition began, sailors in the Olympic, Paralympic and invited divisions were greeted with light and cool winds and like yesterday the breeze moved into double figures as the day wore on, giving the afternoon session’s competitors 16 knots of cool SSE wind and stunning summer sunshine to play in.
Laser Radial
Susannah Pyatt (NZL) surprised herself when she popped into the overall lead after smashing out two first places in the Laser Radial. “Today was similar to what we had in Oman for the Worlds with a steady breeze and nice waves. I have done a lot of training in similar conditions.”
In equal second on the progressive results sheet after four of eight races in the series is a disappointed Ashley Stoddart (AUS) who scored two seconds on the Port Melbourne course. “I set a goal to chase Susannah down, but she did a good job to cover me on the upwinds,” Stoddart acknowledged.
Third overall is Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR).
A quarter way into their competition Australian sisters Jacinta Ainsworth, 18, and Elyse, 16, are a single point and place apart from a total fleet of 20 sailing in the women’s Olympic class boat.
“It’s good that we are on the same level, over the last 12 months Elyse has really stepped up,” said Jacinta. “Being close is working in our favour.”
Laser
Twenty six year-old Rio contender Colin Cheng (SIN) qualified his country for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games last year and this afternoon he leads the men’s Laser fleet by two points from Thomas Saunders (NZL).
“This is a big year, we are putting a lot of effort into the Olympics,” said Cheng as he approaches selection for the second time having made the London team, finishing 15th. “It’s always a balance trying not to burn out when I’m full time sailing. I’m pretty happy with my fitness, though it could always be better, and it’s at a level I can purely focus on my sailing.”
SKUD18
Current world and Olympic champions Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) continued their dominance on the Hobsons course near the port of Williamstown, winning both of today’s races. Great Britain’s Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell stayed on trend with a 3-2 day to remain second overall. Third is Monika Gibes and Piotr Cichocki (POL).
The Netherland’s Rolf Schrama and Sandra Nap, having qualified their country for the 2016 Paralympic Games at last week’s World Championship out of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, are desperate to achieve top results to go towards their national team selection. Today’s 6-4 results will require discussion with their coach Schrama admitted. “Our downwind wasn’t very good and our upwind were okay. It was great racing, but our results weren’t good.”
Other Olympic class results
Carrie Smith and Jamie Ryan (AUS) are not giving any opportunities away and lead the 470 women’s fleet with a perfect score of four wins from four. It’s the same result in the men’s 470 division that is dominated by the Conway brothers of Alex and Patrick from Australia.
Two more bullets for David Gilmour and Rhys Mara (AUS) keeps them in pole position in the 49er fleet while in the smaller rig 49erFX class Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks (AUS) also hold the top spot.
Josip Olujic (CRO) is proving a thorn in the side of local favourite and event ambassador Oli Tweddell (AUS) in the Finn class, the pair are divided by two points with three days remaining until the Gold Medal showdown on Sunday December 13, 2015.
Germany’s Florian Gruber is making merry in the consistent winds in the IKA Formula Kite division, posting another day of back to back wins in four of the six races to be leading the series by eight points.
Invited classes
The fluttering of 102 tiny white mainsails as the eager Optimist sailors headed away from St Kilda Beach heralded the start of the Invited classes section of the annual summertime regatta Melbourne has hosted for seven years. Drawn from clubs across Australia and New Zealand, the junior sailors completed two opening races in perfect conditions.
Both New Zealand’s Yachting Trust Youth Team and the Australian Youth Sailing Team are among the sailors utilising the Laser Radial (men’s and women’s), RS:X, 29er and large 420 fleet competition to prepare for the Youth Sailing World Championships in Malaysia later this month.
In the background, the silky Viper catamaran fleet of Australian, New Zealand and New Caledonian entries were enjoying reasonably smooth bay conditions and low flying their way around the course with plenty of pace and salt spray flying to the delight of the photographers.
The Open Bic’s 28-boat fleet and the Minnows shared a course area, showing off to their fellow French competitors in the ideal conditions and this afternoon the 29ers, Laser Radials, Laser 4.7s and Liberty classes had their turn.
Full divisional results at http://www.sailingresults.net/site/event/143/default.html
A strong wind warning is in place for Friday for Port Phillip with forecast westerly winds increasing to 20-25 knots in the morning and by midday they could be as strong as 20-30 knots out of the west to south-west.
Check out some Adventures of a Sailor Girl from the second day of Sailing World Cup Melbourne below:
Sailing World Cup Melbourne Day 2: Hansen & Colley
Kurt Hansen and Jim Colley are using Sailing World Cup Melbourne and Sail Sydney as preparation events for the World Sailing Youth Championships. Was great to chat to them about pathways, training in their backyard at events like the Sailing World Cup, and what we can expect from the next generation.
URL – https://youtu.be/CL1u2yDA0BA
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The midday activation of four course areas signaled the start of the Sailing World Cup Melbourne for the seventh time. With the last of the humidity and smog blown off by yesterday afternoon’s strong sou’westerly change, the major international city by the bay put on a cool day with ample wind for Olympic class competitors to kick off their points chase.
Racing between today, Wednesday December 9, and Saturday, will be divided into two sessions starting daily at 12 noon and 14:30 local time. Big crowds are expected on the weekend when St Kilda turns into a massive stage for the sailing unfolding along the foreshore, in particular Sunday’s Medal Races.
Olympic and Paralympic classes opened Melbourne’s World Cup program in fickle southerly winds and easy-going seas. By the afternoon session 22 knot sou’easters and white capped waves had whipped up Port Phillip and turned the outing into a challenging physical contest at the upper wind limit for some classes.
When the invited and youth classes begin their competition tomorrow, 900 plus competitors racing across the full nine courses mean the World Cup is in full swing along the bay’s eastern shoreline. Breezes are forecast to be south to south-easterly 10-15 knots ahead of another strong sou’wester on Friday with predictions of 20-30 knots in the afternoon.
<strong>Optimist vs Olympic Challenge</strong>
Tomorrow morning there’s a unique opportunity for those on holidays or out exercising on the waterfront when five Australian Olympic gold medallists and a number of Sailing World Cup ambassadors are pitted against a fleet of junior Optimist sailors off the front of the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron at 09:30.
A mini race course will be set up and afterwards the Optimist sailors and future champions on the path to the sport’s highest level later, and schools students involved with the Discover Sailing program will have the opportunity to meet and chat with the sporting greats. The public is welcome to attend.
Results
470
The Conway twins of Alex and Patrick made their finals plans known from the outset, banking two bullets from two races to be leading the early pointscore from two more Australian pairs, Angus Galloway and Josh Dawson (AUS) and Chris Charlwood and Seamus Mullholand-Patterson (AUS), after two races.
“That was an ideal start to the regatta,” Patrick acknowledged. “We had a comfortable speed and a good handle on the breeze.”
49er
Two bullets for David Gilmour and crewman, Rhys Mara, was plenty to give them an early break on the quality 49er fleet before the wind strengthened to the point some crews struggled to stay upright.
On their Sailing World Cup day one Mara said, “It’s really good to be back in Australia and sailing in some really good conditions. The first two races were in moderate conditions, shifty as the wind tried to go to a sea breeze. Then it picked up significantly and we got some true Melbourne conditions. There were a few capsizes by the other boys, thankfully not us. It’s good to get back to the front of the fleet and back to our winning ways after a slightly disappointing worlds.”
On the leap of faith to the new St Kilda venue there is good feedback from competitors. “We’re rigging right on the beach and launching into calm waters, and it’s good to enjoy some of St Kilda and some of typical Melbourne.”
2.4mR
Not unexpectedly, France’s Para World Sailing 2.4mR champion Damien Seguin began his World Cup strongly posting a second and a first to Norway’s Bjornar Erikstad third and second in the 2.4mR Paralympic class racing off Williamstown. Australian Mark Durnan broke his rudder during racing and overnight will fit a replacement.
Laser
The Laser class completed two races, Luke Elliott (AUS) surfing the swell to finish race one well ahead of Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy (MAS) with Mark Spearman (AUS) squeezing in front of Anders Karlsson (SWE) to take third.
Race two was “super windy with steep waves” according to winner Mitch Kennedy (AUS). “It was Luke and I neck and neck the whole race. We popped clear and had our own race at the front. Colin Cheng (SIN) caught up a bit and then it was all on around the top mark.”
Overall Elliott holds first, Kennedy is second and Karlsson third.
Laser Radial
Consistency is the name of the game and Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) and Ashley Stoddart (AUS) showed the way in the Laser Radial.
Drozdovskaya won the first race by just four seconds from Stoddart then found herself on the back foot for the second race start. “We were to-ing and froing, one of us would pass the other and then vice versa. It was good fun,” said Stoddart who has just returned from the Laser Radial World Championships in Oman where the conditions were significantly lighter than today.
RS:X Women
Joanna Sterling (AUS) was on fire in the fresh Port Phillip breeze, winning three from three races. Hot on her tail is Lauren Mackenzie (NZL), another young sailor using the Sailing World Cup Melbourne to help prepare for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Malaysia later this month. Mackenzie finished second in all three races and Singapore’s Audrey Yong completed two of the races to be third equal overall with Lara O’Brien (AUS).
SKUD18
The Para World Sailing Championship finished last week but the on-water rivalry between 2015 world champions Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) and second placegetter, Great Britain’s Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell continues in the SKUD18.
Fitzgibbon and Tesch let their guard down in race one today allowing Rickham and Birrell to score a first in the gusty conditions off Williamstown. By race two, Fitzgibbon and Tesch had returned to form, taking the win from the British team.
Sitting in third overall is Rolf Schrama and Sandra Nap (NED).
Sonar
With John Robertson’s (GBR) world championship winning team off the water today, the door opened for France’s Bruno Jourdren, Eric Flageul and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary to take two firsts.
As the breeze kicked up to 18 and then 20 plus knots, Jourdren had tight racing with New Zealand’s Richard Dodson, Andrew May and Chris Sharp in race one and then had to keep World Championship silver medallists, Australia’s Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden, at bay in race two.
At the end of today just one point separates Harrison from the third place Kiwis.
Open Kiteboarding
The Kites offered the best spectator action, roaring around the course set just off St Kilda Beach in the day’s strongest conditions.
Florian Gruber (GER) finished with the perfect scorecard, six from six, and Croatia’s Martin Dolenc followed closely behind Gruber, placing second in all six races. Third overall is Australia’ Ric Black.
49erFX
The small fleet of women in the 49erFX Olympic class demonstrated early they are going to push each other hard for the entire series. New Zealanders Ellie Copeland and Erica Dawson at the helm finished a point off Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks after three races.
“It was a reasonable first day, we felt like our speed was really good,” Copeland said. “We are trying to learn a lot while we are here. It would be awesome to win, I love it here, it’s closer to the city and I really like the sailing waters, I feel like there are good courses.”
Finn
Croatian Finn sailor Josip Olujic and Oli Tweddell (AUS) went head to head to finish first and second on equal points. Tweddell is a World Cup ambassador and though the fleet is small he anticipates good racing over the five day series.
“The Croatian is a really good sailor and I reckon in light winds Nick [Kennedy] will stick it to us. It will be tight racing and definitely different to sailing at the Finn Worlds when we had 75 boats in the fleet. This will be short, sharp and intense racing.”
More than 900 sailors of all ages will be on Port Phillip tomorrow as the invited classes commence competition but it’s business as usual for the Olympic guys who start at 12:00 local time.
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