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News Archive
May, 2011
Nominations for 2011 Australian Yachting Awards now open Nominations are now open for the 2011 Australian Yachting Awards, recognising outstanding achievements in the sport of sailing during the last year. The winners will be announced at the 2011 Australian Yachting Awards dinner to be held at Luna Park in Sydney on Friday October 28. The 2011 Australian Yachting Awards categories are as follows:
- Male Sailor of the Year
- Female Sailor of the Year - Sailor of the Year with a Disability - Youth Sailor of the Year - Sport Promotion Award - Lifetime Achievement Award - Sport Professional Award - Volunteer Award Nominations for the awards can be made by anyone in the sailing community with nomination forms and criteria available on the Yachting Australia website via the following link Yachting Awards Information. Nominations for the awards may be made in respect of achievements during the period 16 August 2010 and 31 August 2011 with clubs, class associations and the general sailing community asked to look closely at who they would like to see nominated for an award.
The 2011 Australian Yachting Awards will be the first that David Gotze attends as President of Yachting Australia since taking on the role in March.
“The annual Yachting Awards provide the ideal opportunity to officially recognise and celebrate those who contribute so much to, and achieve so much in, sailing.
"From athletes competing on the world stage to the vast number of tireless volunteers involved at every level of the sport, sailing relies heavily on the contribution of everyday Australians so I encourage anybody who feels they know of an individual who should be considered for an award to make a nomination," said Gotze.
Gotze will also present the President's Award which recognises outstanding contributions to Australian sailing.
Nominations close on 5 September 2011 with details regarding venue and ticket sales to be announced at a later date.
Fellow windsurfer Annalise Gilbrt finished the week 17th , picking up a 15th in Friday's only race. In the multihull open class Paul Darmanin and Aleks Vucic were 10th, crossing the line in the top 10 in all but one of the regatta's 12 races. Australia's Laser Radial girls and boys representatives, Ashley Stoddart and Matthew Wearn, both finished their tough week on a high in the final race. Stoddart saved her best result until last, winning the 12th and final race of the event to finish 33rd overall. Wearn was second in Friday's race to leave him 25th at his first ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship. "The results from our sailors this week have been positive for the future as they have all gained some invaluable experience," said Stowell. "The entire team is driven to try and qualify to come back for next year's Youth Worlds, they've all gotten so much out of the last week." For more information on the Australian Youth Sailing Team visit www.yachting.org.au and for full results visit www.isafyouthworlds.com.
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Australian sailors win five medals on final day of Sailing World Cup Australian sailors have won five medals on the final day of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Holland, capping off a successful week of racing. Sunday’s medal haul included a Gold medal in the Laser class for Tom Slingsby, Silvers for 49er crew Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen and RS:X sailor Jessica Crisp, and Bronze medals for Brendan Casey in the Finn and Allison Shreeve in the RS:X. The five medals followed Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page’s Gold medal on Saturday evening in the 470 class.
Slingsby’s win made it back-to-back Gold medals in Holland for the reigning ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, with his third position in the final 10 boat medal race giving him a 16 point victory over Bruno Fontes of Brazil.
“Holland’s been a good place for me, it’s windy and wavy and very similar to Weymouth,” said Slingsby. “If I can do well in conditions like this it proves to the other guys that I’m a contender next year, and I’m always happy to do that.”
The triple World Champion had a consistent week on the water, finishing in the top 10 in every race, including six race victories.
“I was sailing quite a low risk strategy all week, had good speed and knew I was fast in the wind so I didn’t have to take much risk, luckily the consistency was there and the results came my way.
“Winning here means I’ve qualified to be nominated for the Australian Olympic team,” said Slingsby. “It’s good to finally get it done, it’s up to the other Australians to try and get another qualifier on the board and catch me.”
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen went into the 49er medal race second overall, eight points behind the leading crew of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes of Great Britain and nine ahead of New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke.
The Australian pair pushed their competition all the way in the gusty conditions and came close to snatching the Gold medal, but in the end was only able to put one boat between themselves and the Brits.
“It was quite an eventful medal race,” said Outteridge. “We had to be mindful of where the Kiwis were throughout the race and at the same time were trying to sail the Brits back through the fleet and then take opportunities to move up ourselves.
“The Kiwis capsized while in the lead but then we were only able to get two spots up on the Brits at the end but it was quite an enjoyable race,” he said.
Outteridge said that he and Jensen enjoyed the one-on-one duel with Morrison and Rhodes which dominated much of the race.
“They knew what was coming and both of us were prepared for a bit of a fight,” he said. “Once the Kiwis capsized it was all on, we didn’t quite get the result today but hopefully next time around it’s us in the lead defending in the medal race.”
Jessica Crisp started the final day of racing third overall, well within reach of the two leading sailors and just one place ahead of fellow Australian Allison Shreeve.
The three-time Olympian had a strong medal race, crossing the line behind the overall winner, Li Ling of China, to win the Silver medal, with Shreeve finishing with Bronze.
Gold Coast sailor Brendan Casey picked up his first medal of this year’s ISAF Sailing World Cup with Bronze in the Finn fleet.
“It was a bit of a relief to hold onto the Bronze medal,” said Casey. “I actually had a capsize on the second downwind which put the pressure on me, I ended up finishing 10th and my competitor in fourth had to finish worse than third which he did and I managed to maintain third overall.
“It’s good to finish on the podium here,” he said. “A real step in the right direction, confidence building, one of a whole lot of things that put the puzzle together.”
Australian Sailing Squad member Ashley Stoddart competed in her first ever medal race in the Laser Radial class, heading into the final race in seventh overall.
The young sailor was certainly not overawed by the situation and sailed exceptionally well to cross the line second overall in the highly competitive final.
Fellow squad member Ryan Palk contested the Laser class medal race alongside Tom Slingsby, with the Queenslander entering the race in seventh overall. Unfortunately Palk broke the start and was excluded from the final results, finishing the regatta 10th overall.
Matt Bugg finished the regatta fourth in the 2.4mR class, following a sixth place finish in the final race.
The Australian Sailing Team now heads to Weymouth, England, for the sixth round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, beginning on June 5.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
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Belcher and Page win Gold at Sailing World Cup in Holland Australian sailors Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page have won the Gold medal in the 470 class at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Holland. The reigning World Champions and current world number ones finished second in the final 10 boat medal race, claiming a 10 point win, their second ISAF Sailing World Cup round for the year. “The medal race was always going to be difficult, we went into it with a 10 point lead but the race was held quite close to shore with winds between five and 25 knots at times and we knew it was about keeping the communications up and racing what we had,” said Belcher. “We wanted to stay close to our competition and it ended up being a very, very difficult race, there were a lot of changes in position, lots of nervous moments and we just tried to keep our calm throughout the race.”
The medal race was a tight affair with the Australians starting strongly but slipping back to sixth at one stage before fighting back in the closing stages to cross the line second.
“There were a few scary moments, we couldn’t let the Croatians get too far ahead as they were our main threats,” said Page. “We got to the first mark ahead and you think that the positions were pretty safe but it all went a little pear shaped on the first run and we took it back to basics, kept doing what were we doing and hopefully that would be good enough to bring us back through and luckily it was.”
The win in Holland was an important one for the pair as they continue to build towards the 2012 London Olympic Games.
“This regatta was key for a number of reasons,” said Page. “Firstly it’s part of the World Cup series and it’s always great to win one of those, but it was also good to come to Europe and win one of the major regatta, that puts some stripes on our shoulders as we know we can match it with any of the guys here.
“We need to keep on developing ourselves as we head towards London 2012 as the Games are now only just less than a year away and we need to keep on chipping away and make ourselves better and better,” he said.
Day five of racing in Holland was again dominated by heavy winds, with gusts up towards 30 knots keeping the majority of fleets on shore.
The 470 fleet managed to complete one race in the morning, with Belcher and Page taking the win, their sixth top three race finish of the regatta. Fellow Australians Sam Kivell and Will Ryan finished 12th in the early race, qualifying for their first European medal race, where they went on to finish eighth and eighth overall in the competitive fleet.
Tom Slingsby continued his dominance of the Laser fleet with another two races wins in the heavy breeze.
The triple World Champion has won six of the nine races contested so far at this regatta and heads into the final medal race with an 18 point lead over Bruno Fontes of Brazil.
Slingsby is guaranteed at least a Silver medal and will be keen to take his form from the fleet races into the medal race and win back-to-back Delta Lloyd Holland Regattas.
The current world number one will be joined in the medal race by Australian Sailing Squad member Ryan Palk who is currently eighth overall.
Squad member Ashley Brunning ended the day 12th in the Laser fleet, ahead of Tom Burton in 19th, Jared West in 26th, James Burman in 41st, Ki-Raphael Sulkowski in 50th and Mark Whittington in 76th.
Young Queensland sailor Ashley Stoddart will head into her first medal race on Sunday, after finishing seventh in the Laser Radial fleet.
Stoddart continued her good run on Saturday with an eighth and a ninth to cement her spot in the top 10.
Gabrielle King finished the day 11th in the same fleet.
The 49er, Finn, RS:X and 2.4mR fleets did not get a chance to race today due to the strong winds with a number of Australian crews in good positions heading into the medal races.
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are second in the 49er class, eight points behind first with just the double-point final race remaining. The pair has finished in the top three in seven of the nine races so far this regatta as they aim for their third straight victory in Holland.
Brendan Casey is third in the Finn class, just six points behind the Silver medal position and 16 clear of fourth.
In the RS:X class Jessica Crisp is third overall well within reach of the regatta win, with fellow Australian Allison Shreeve just four points behind in fourth.
Matt Bugg sits fourth in the 2.4mR class, tied on points with third with just a race left to contest.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
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Yachting Australia National Instructor Conference 2011 For the last few months Yachting Australia has been promoting the Yachting Australia Instructor conference and workshops. With nearly 50 people enrolled already, this should be a good opportunity to network with other instructors and share tips and tricks. **Online entry is about to close** The finishing touches are being put on the schedules and we have already confirmed a great number of speakers and presenters for the various subjects. We look forward to seeing you there
Venue: Woollahra Sailing Club, Sydney
Dates: 23rd- 25th June, 2011
Please click here to enrol
1 Day $100
2 Days $140 (a 30% discount!)
3 Days $170 (a 43% discount!)
(Price includes lunch and evening BBQ).
The schedule of events will be as follows:
Thursday 23rd June: RYA YA Yachtmaster Instructor Conference – Note that this is only available to RYA YA Yachtmaster Instructors
– Emerging technology for communications at sea, with particular reference to AIS and 3G
– Navigating the North West Passage
– Discussion topics- E learning and the importance of Shore based training
– Updates from Yachting Australia and the RYA
Friday 24th June: SSSC and Keelboat Instructor Conference and Workshops – these will run concurrently and attendees can decide which workshops they attend. Open to all Instructors
– Yachting Australia Update
– Keelboat Training: How to teach Asymmetric Spinnaker
– Keelboat Training: How to teach Sailing figure of 8 rudderless
– Keelboat Training: Teaching in-house Keelboat Instructor training
– SSSC Training: Cold Water Shock
– SSSC Training: Dismasting –lessons learnt and effectiveness of Cutting devices
– SSSC Training: How do we make the Training more interactive
Late Afternoon/ Evening: BBQ & Drinks
Saturday 25th June: Powerboat and GISBS Scheme Instructor Workshops - these will run concurrently and attendees can decide which workshops they attend Open to all Instructors
– Yachting Australia Update
– General – Effective de-briefing
– General - Weather
– Powerboat Training: Teaching Pilotage or Basic Navigation
– Powerboat Training: Modern Engine Fault Finding
– Powerboat Training: recovering High performance dinghies and Kite Surfers
– GISBS: Teaching Asymmetric Spinnakers
– GISBS: Teaching the basics of Trapezing
– GISBS: Teaching onshore when sailing is not possible
– GISBS: Group Management Techniques
Late Afternoon/ Evening: BBQ & Drinks
The information above is an indication of the topics that will be covered, though they are subject to change dependent upon numbers of attendees. For more information please contact Ali Sutherland at Training@yachting.org.au
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Update from Yachting Australia on chartering boats Yachting Australia is aware that many of our members charter boats to go sailing as this offers a less expensive and often easier option than transporting your own boat around the country. Please be aware that there are laws that govern this type of activity and it is wise to check that the vessel chartered meets legislative requirements in the relevant State. Charter vessel regulations vary from State to State, however a consistent theme is that they must be in commercial survey of some description. For more information please contact the State Maritime Agency for the area where you are chartering and using the vessel.
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Two Ashleys lead the way for Australian Sailing Squad on day four in Holland As the action at the fifth round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Holland heats up a number of Australian Sailing Squad crews have put in strong performances on day four. In the Laser classes the two Ashleys were the standout performers with Ashley Brunning having two good races in the Laser fleet while Ashley Stoddart moved up the ladder in the Laser Radials. Brunning had his best day of the regatta with a sixth and then a race win jumping him up to ninth overall, joining fellow Australians Tom Slingsby and Ryan Palk in the top 10.
“Today I really got in phase with the shifts and picked some really good weather systems which worked out really well,” said Brunning. “I picked up 11 spots today, moving back into the top 10, the plan is for another good day tomorrow to get into the medal race and then have a go at getting onto the podium on Sunday.”
The Delta Lloyd Holland Regatta is Brunning’s third in Europe this year following the two World Cup rounds in Spain and France last month.
“I started quite well in Palma, then did a light air event in Hyeres where I had a new boat and new equipment which didn’t quite go so well but I’m using the same gear here and it’s going quite well now,” he said.
Squad sailor Ryan Palk ended day four sixth in the Laser fleet, ahead of Jared West in 24th who is continuing his strong run at this event, James Burman in 43rd, Ki-Raphael Sulkowski in 56th and Mark Whittington in 79th.
Young Queensland sailor Ashley Stoddart had a great day on the water with a fifth and a 13th moving her from her overnight 13th to be seventh overall.
“I had an awesome day with two really good races and had a lot of fun out there,” said Stoddart. “I’m keeping things exactly the same and going through the processes and just enjoying myself. The chop here is pretty similar to Moreton Bay in Queensland where I train so that’s helping a bit.
“This is the first of four regattas overseas for me this year,” she said. “After this I head across to Weymouth for Sail for Gold, then the final World Cup round in Kiel and after that I go to the Youth World Championships in Croatia, where it’s going to be a little warmer than it is here.”
Gabrielle King has moved up to 13th in the Laser Radial fleet, and with two more races left before the final medal race is within reach of a top 10 finish.
Jessica Crisp is the leading Australian in the RS:X women’s class in third overall, one place ahead of Allison Shreeve with Joanna Sterling in 17th.
Sam Kivell and Will Ryan continue to hold down their eighth position in the 470 men’s fleet, ahead of Alexander and Patrick Conway in 39th, who had a race win in the Silver fleet.
In the 49er fleet Squad sailors Will and Sam Phillips are 12th overall after an OCS, fourth and a 27th, while Steven Thomas and Nick Brownie have moved up to 22nd with a DNF and two fifths, one place ahead of Tom Johnson and Rhys Mara.
Matt Bugg ended the day fourth in the 2.4mR class after a fourth and an OCS, but is tied on points with third.
Rob McMillan has moved up to 13th in the Finn fleet, with West Australian Tim Castles 20th, Oliver Tweddell 29th and Shaun Wells 40th.
In the RS:X men’s class Tim Gourlay and Jimmy Levy are 31st and 32nd respectively, with Luke Baillie 35th and Patrick Vos 45th.
Racing continues in Holland on Saturday with the final medal races on Sunday.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Squad visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the Squad on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
Video highlights from day four can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/Ag7WULiyWAs
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Strong day on the water for Australian Sailing Team at Sailing World Cup Australian Sailing Team crew have continued their strong performances as the fifth round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup heads towards the business end in Holland with the first day of finals racing. After the opening four days of racing two Tom Slingsby leads the Laser class, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page are first in the 470 fleet, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have taken second in the 49ers and Brendan Casey is third in the Finn class. The heavy winds that kept the majority of fleets on shore on day three abated slightly today but with gusts above 20 knots all of the sailors were kept on their toes.
Triple World Champion Tom Slingsby continued his winning ways in the Laser class, taking out the first race of the day convincingly, before finishing second in race two to end the day with a nine point lead over Bruno Fontes of Brazil.
“The conditions today were very windy and very tricky, it was a cloud orientated day and you really had to go to the clouds and extend into them, tacking on the edges didn’t really work,” said Slingsby. “It was pretty self explanatory in theory but tricky when you had to do it.
“I need to have a good day tomorrow, it’s always nice going into the medal race with a lead but if I have a tough day I’ll go in behind as there are a lot of guys right on my heels so it should be two good races,” he said. “There’s still plenty to go in this regatta, two races in the gold fleet can sort out anyone in the Laser class and it’s very easy to have to 30’s in a Laser fleet so I just need to keep my head on and have a good day.”
Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page started the day second in the 470 men’s fleet but the reigning World Champions had a solid day on the water with a third and a first to jump into the lead, four points ahead of Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia.
“The first day of the finals is where you can win or lose a lot of points and today we came away with a third and a first,” said Belcher. “We had a lot of breeze again but not as much as yesterday so we could actually race, tomorrow we’re expecting even more so we’ll see what happens.”
The pair enjoyed the chance to race against all of the top crews for the first time this regatta.
“There’s nothing like getting to race against your direct competition, not just watch them race in the other fleet,” said Page. “Once you get to the finals the place you finish is reflected directly on the scoreboard which is what you want.”
The 470 fleet finish their regatta on Saturday, with two races in the morning before the medal race at 6.30pm.
“We’ll try and conserve a bit of energy early in the day if we’re in a position to do so, we’re sailing the medal race 200 metres off shore in 30 knots so it’s going to be entertaining,” said Belcher.
After not getting onto the water at all yesterday Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen went into day four in third position in the 49er class, with a first, third and a first moving them to second overall.
“In the first race we started quite a way back and made our way through the fleet, ending up getting the win on the last run,” said Jensen. “In the middle race we were in third the whole way around, the Kiwis were way out in front and then in the last race we were third for most of the way around and on the last run got the crew from Great Britain and then the Kiwis cart wheeled at the bottom of the run which was a bit of good fortune for us.”
With three fleet races remaining before the medal race the top three are all within striking distance of each other, with Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes eight points clear of the Australians with New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke nine points further back in third.
“It’s really close at the top, we pulled three points back on the Poms today and extended one point on the Kiwis,” said Outteridge. “The guys who were second going into today didn’t have a great one so the three of us are now ahead of the group.”
“Most of today the top three crews were out in front battling, it was good fun racing, blowing somewhere between 15 and 22 knots,” he said. “We also had a mean chop out there, there were plenty of cart wheels and we avoided the carnage and made it around unscathed.”
In the Finn class Brendan Casey jumped from his overnight ninth to be third overall, six points off first and just a further three off second.
“Today was a very good day and I finished with a third and a first,” said Casey. “We were delayed a bit on the water before our first start but when we got going it was good sailing.”
“I’ve been working a lot on starting and I had two very good starts today which set the race up and then moved on from there,” he said.
In the Laser class the Australian Sailing Team’s Tom Burton ended the day in 19th, following a 26th and a DNF.
In the Women’s Match Racing competition Australian’s Katie Spithill, Jessica Eastwell and Lucinda Whitty raced in the repechage round robin for a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The Aussie trio had three wins and two losses, finishing in a three-way tie for the final quarter-final position. Late in the day Spithill and crew returned to the water for a tie-breaker race-off but were unsuccessful.
Fellow Australians Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Rayshele Martin raced in the silver fleet, winning both of their races on day four.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
Video highlights from day four can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/MvhJne8-L4M.
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Slingsby takes Laser class lead as heavy winds dominate Sailing World Cup Heavy winds have been the story of day three of the fifth round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Holland with gusts above 30 knots keeping the majority of the fleets on shore. Out on the water the Australian Sailing Team’s Tom Slingsby has taken the overall lead in the Laser class after taking the win in the fleet’s one and only race of the day. Slingsby’s race win saw him jump from third to first, opening up a four point lead over Brazil’s Bruno Fontes in second.
“It was a good race, very windy and I had one capsize today but luckily I had a big enough lead to hold on for the win,” said Slingsby. “Even for me it was a bit too windy, I was actually surprised that they kept the race going as we had big gusts of over 30 knots.
“Going downwind today with your vang on, cunningham on and centerboard board down you know it’s pretty windy,” he said. “At times today I was holding on and trying to get through the gusts, the waves were big and short and sharp, I was going downwind trying to find the flat spots so I didn’t run into the back of the waves, it was a challenging day but I enjoyed it.
“We’ve had a mix of conditions here which is good, I had a month out of the boat heading into this regatta so I’m trying to tick all of the boxes before heading to Weymouth,” he said.
While Slingsby was leading the way at the front of the fleet a number of his fellow Australian’s also had a good race, working their way up the leader board.
Fellow Australian Sailing Team member Tom Burton finished seventh to move himself up to fourth overall and is currently just three points off the podium.
“I had a bit of a shocker yesterday with a 46th but dropped that after today’s race and have shot back up to fourth,” said Burton. “I finished with a seventh, rounding the top mark in fourth so I dropped a few up the second beat after a couple of mistakes, it was really breezy so I was trying to minimise tacks and mistakes.”
Burton is new to the Australian Sailing Team, having qualified for the team following his second place finish at Sail Melbourne last December.
“My year with the Australian Sailing Team is going pretty well,” he said. “There’s a little bit of pressure trying to get some good results but I feel like I’m a part of the team now which is good.”
The Australian Sailing Squad’s Ryan Palk finished the race fifth, moving the Queenslander up to sixth overall after the opening five races.
Ashley Brunning ended the day 20th, one place ahead of fellow Australian Jared West with James Burman 50th and Ki-Raphael Sulkowski 52nd.
The Laser Radial fleet also completed one race on Thursday with Australian Sailing Squad sailors Ashley Stoddart and Gabrielle King both have good races.
Stoddart, who will represent Australia at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Croatia in July, finished eighth to move up to 13th overall, while King’s 10th pushed her up to 18th.
The 470 fleet headed out to try and complete their two scheduled races but midway through the first race the sailors were sent back to shore as the wind continued to increase.
Australian’s Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page had made a great start to the day and were leading as the race was abandoned, fellow Australian’s Sam Kivell and Will Ryan had also gotten away well and were fourth in their fleet.
Belcher and Page are currently second overall, with Kivell and Ryan following closely behind in fifth. Brothers Alexander and Patrick Conway are 35th.
The RS:X men’s fleet completed one race with Jimmy Levy the best placed Australian in 29th, while Luke Baillie is 41st, Tim Gourlay 42nd and Patrick Vos 49th.
Australia’s 49er, Finn, Women’s Match Racing and RS:X women’s competitors did not get the chance to complete a race on day three in Holland.
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen now head into day four third in the 49er fleet, ahead of Squad members Will and Sam Phillips in sixth, with Tom Johnson and Rhys Mara 25th and Steven Thomas and Nick Brownie one further back in 26th.
Brendan Casey is the best placed Australian in the Finn fleet in ninth, with Tim Castles 15th, Rob McMillan 18th, Shaun Wells 30th and Oliver Tweddell 37th.
The Australian Women’s Match Racing Team crew of Katie Spithill, Jessica Eastwell and Lucinda Whitty are set to race in the repechage round robin while Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Rayshele Martin will enter the silver fleet
In the RS:X women’s class Jessica Crisp is second overall, following a first and a fifth on day two, ahead of Allison Shreeve in ninth and Joanna Sterling in 21st.
Tasmanian sailor Matt Bugg continues to hold down third position in the 2.4mR class.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
Video highlights from day three can be found at: http://youtu.be/AmW0gOf3N7U | ||||||
Australian crews push forward on testing day at Sailing World CupAustralian sailors have built on their strong starts to the fifth round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup with a number of good performances on day two in Holland sending crews up the leader board. Competitors were faced with conditions far removed from those on day one, with light breeze delaying racing and then testing the sailors once the action got underway. In the 470 fleet reigning World Champions Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page had a consistent day with two third place finishes moving them from their overnight fifth to second overall, just three points off the lead.
“The conditions were incredibly variable today and to come away from that being consistent was a good day’s racing,” said Belcher. “We had a better day than a lot of those around us and are up to second now so there’s plenty to fight for tomorrow.
“The depth of the 470 class is so strong that if you have a good day you can move up but if not you will lose out very quickly, the fleet is close with numbers one, two and four in the world here, so we’ll aim to put in another solid day tomorrow and see where we end up,” he said.
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen had a mixed day in the 49er fleet, starting with a 22nd before claiming a race win and a third to move up from 12th to third overall.
“It was a bit up and down today and the 22nd hurt us as we only get to drop one race at this regatta and we were disqualified from the first race yesterday,” said Jensen. “Saying that there’s a lot of racing still to go this week, it’s still early days and hopefully we can come through and win again.”
This regatta is the pair’s first together since the opening round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Melbourne last December.
“It’s good to be back in the boat,” said Outteridge. “We’ve done a lot of training back home in Australia with our training partners but it’s good to get back to Europe and go racing, this event is a great lead in to Sail for Gold in Weymouth next week.”
Tom Slingsby ended the day third in the Laser class after a 10th and a race win on day two.
“It was a very tricky day today, we had one race called off and the other two could very easily have gone the same way with big wind shifts,” said the reigning Laser World Champion. “First and second are equal on points after the first four races and we’re expecting a bit more breeze from now on so scoring will even out and hopefully I’ll knock a few points off them each day.”
The Australian Women’s Match Racing Team crew of Katie Spithill, Jessica Eastwell and Lucinda Whitty has qualified for the repechage round robin and a shot at the quarter-finals after a hard fought five races on day two.
Fellow match racers Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Rayshele Martin will race in the silver fleet on day three after finishing seventh in the opening round robin.
Price and crew, competing in the first ISAF Sailing World Cup event together, had three wins and five losses, narrowly missing out on a spot in the repechage after losing to their fellow Australians in a must win final race.
Finn sailor Brendan Casey is ninth after a mixed day, with a 34th in race one before finishing off with his best race of the regatta so far, a third.
Australian Sailing Squad crews also continued to impress in Holland, with RS:X competitor Jessica Crisp the best placed in second overall, winning the opening race of day two and then backing the result up with a fifth.
470 sailors Sam Kivell and Will Ryan ended the day in a hard fought fifth position after a fourth and a second in the light conditions.
The pair is well within reach of the leaders, including Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page.
In the 49er class Victorian brothers Will and Sam Phillips have also continued their good run and are currently sixth overall, ahead of Tom Johnson and Rhys Mara in 25th and Steven Thomas and Nick Brownie in 26th.
Ryan Palk moved his way up to eighth in the Laser fleet with a race win and a 19th, with Australian Sailing Team member Tom Burton 15th and Ashley Brunning 20th. Jared West is 33rd after a third in the first race of the day, while James Burman is 41st, Mark Whittington 61st and Ki-Raphael Sulkowski is 78th.
Tasmanian Matthew Bugg continued his good form in the 2.4mR class with a seventh and a fourth in the two races late on Wednesday afternoon keeping him third overall.
Queenslander Ashley Stoddart is 19th in the Laser Radial class, six places ahead of fellow Aussie Gabrielle King.
New South Wales brothers Alexander and Patrick Conway are 35th in the 470, while in the Finn class Tim Castles is 15th, Rob McMillan 18th, Shaun Wells 30th and Oliver Tweddell is 37th.
In the RS:X women’s class Allison Shreeve is ninth and Joanna Sterling 21st, while in the RS:X men’s class Jimmy Levy is the best placed Australian in 25th, ahead of Luke Baillie in 39th, Tim Gourlay in 44th and Patrick Vos in 47th.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
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Aussies start strongly at Sailing World Cup in Holland Australian sailors have made a positive start to the fifth round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Holland, with strong first day performances in all classes. Competitors were challenged all day by the strong breeze, which spent most of the day above 20 knots, with gusts up towards 30 knots at times. A number of Australian Sailing Team crews reveled in the heavy breeze, with Laser sailor Tom Slingsby the best positioned, in second overall after the opening two races.
The reigning Laser World Champion and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year finished the day with a third and a race win to be just two points off the lead.
“I made a good start to my regatta with a third and a first, it was definitely my conditions today,” said Slingsby. “In the first race I was doing well with a nice big lead and I capsized, I was still leading around the bottom mark but couldn’t quite get into phase on the second beat and lost a few positions.
“In the second race I led to the top mark and had learnt from my mistakes from race one and went on to win it from there,” he said. “After capsizing in race one my boat handling isn’t quite there, so I need to improve that each day, tomorrow it’s going to be a bit lighter which will mix up the points a bit and hopefully I can get through there and build.”
Fellow Australian Sailing Team member Tom Burton also had a strong start in the Laser fleet with a second and a fourth leaving him fourth overall.
“It was surprisingly shifty for how strong the breeze was,” said Burton. “It was pretty tricky and the heavy breeze always mixes things up in the top bunch, there were a few swims thrown in there as well today.”
2010 470 World Champions and current world number ones Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page are currently in fifth position after opening their regatta with a race win and a seventh.
“It wasn’t too bad of a first day for Mal and I,” said Belcher. “We had a good first race and won it by a little bit, our speed was quite good in the up and down conditions. In the second race we thought we were over the line early so went back and then managed to fight our way up to seventh, we felt we lost a few opportunities in that one but managed to finish the day with an ok score.”
The pair are currently second placed in the 470 class in the overall ISAF Sailing World Cup standings, following a first, a second, a sixth and a seventh in the opening four rounds.
“It’s good to be back racing after a couple of weeks break,” said Page. “We felt that we had good speed, it was good to tick that box after trying a few things, developing, playing with things over the last few months.”
In the Women’s Match Racing competition Australian’s Katie Spithill, Jessica Eastwell and Lucinda Whitty ended day one with two wins and one loss in the opening round robin.
“It was a busy day for us today with two wins and one loss,” said skipper Spithill. “Boat handling was the issue in our loss which was a bit frustrating but we’ve recognised the mistake and are moving on for tomorrow. Every win today was hard work, it was almost survival conditions at times but definitely fine for racing.”
Fellow Australians Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Rayshele Martin had a mixed day in their first ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta together, with one win and three losses.
Both Australian crews will hit the water again on Wednesday morning to complete the opening round robin.
Brendan Casey is currently third overall in the Finn fleet after a sixth and a fourth on day one.
“Today was a positive start to the regatta, overall a pretty consistent day,” said Casey. “I’m aiming to go out and do the same again tomorrow, the breeze will be lighter which is good, as we want to get an all-round range of conditions by the time we get to Weymouth in a couple of weeks.”
In the 49er fleet Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are the best placed Australians after the opening three races, sitting 12th overall.
The 2009 World Champions were unlucky to not be leading the regatta after being disqualified from the opening race of the day this evening, having been adjudged to have sailed the incorrect course. Outteridge and Jensen went on to finish third and first in the day’s final two races.
Australian Sailing Squad members also had a good start to the regatta, with Paralympic sailor Matt Bugg the best placed, third overall in the 2.4mR. Bugg, from Tasmania, finished third in both of Tuesday’s races to be four points off the lead.
In the RS:X women’s class Squad member Jessica Crisp is fifth overall following a pair of fourths, with fellow Australian’s Allison Shreeve and Joanna Sterling fourth and 21st respectively.
470 sailors and Squad members Sam Kivell and Will Ryan ended the day ninth after a third and a ninth and Alexander and Patrick Conway are 26th.
Ashley Stoddart is 11th and Gabrielle King is 14th in Laser Radial fleet while in the Laser class Ashley Brunning is 10th, one place ahead of Ryan Palk, with Jared West 28th, including a third in race two, Mark Whittington is 30th, James Burman 31st and Ki-Raphael Sulkowski 32nd.
In the 49er class Squad members Will and Sam Phillips are 16th, ahead of Tom Johnson and Rhys Mara in 24th and Steven Thomas and Nick Brownie are 28th, all suffering the same fate as Outteridge & Jensen in race 1.
Rob McMillan is 17th in the Finn fleet, with Tim Castles 19th, Oliver Tweddell 31st and Shaun Wells 38th. In the RS:X men’s class Jimmy Levy is the best placed Aussie in 26th, with Luke Baillie 29th, Tim Gourlay 39th and Patrick Vos is 55th.
Racing continues in Holland on Wednesday with the regatta finishing on Sunday.
Day one video highlights can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xWperWP05A and embedded via http://youtu.be/7xWperWP05A.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
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Australian sailors ready for action at World Cup in Holland Australian sailors are preparing for the fifth round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Medemblik, Holland, with the regatta being the first time that the entire team has competed together this year. Racing is set to get underway on Tuesday with Australian crews represented in nine of the classes competing. The Australian Sailing Team had a successful Delta Lloyd Holland Regatta in 2010 with the team bringing home two Golds and a Silver medal, with Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen standing on the top step of the Laser and 49er classes respectively while Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page were second in the 470s.
Reigning Laser World Champion and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Tom Slingsby heads into the event with an impressive run of seven straight medal finishes in ISAF Sailing World Cup events.
“I’ve been out of the boat for the last month sailing in other classes and am looking forward to getting back in to racing here,” said Slingsby. “For me the next event in Weymouth is a peak event so this week is about continuing to improve and spend time in the boat.
“We’re missing a few of the top guys in our fleet and some people have been saying that it will be easier to win but that’s never the case in the Laser class, anybody can win on their day and the competition will still be tough no matter who is racing,” he said.
49er sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen will be aiming for their third straight victory in Holland, with this regatta being their first since Sail Melbourne last December.
“While we didn’t travel to the last three World Cup events, we’ve been doing a lot of training at home and are feeling pretty good heading into the regatta,” said Outteridge. “We’ve done a lot of preparation over the last few months with a new boat, new mast and new sails and are keen to tune up against an international fleet before we head to Weymouth.”
In the 470 men’s class 2010 World Champions Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page have had a mixed start to this year’s World Cup with a Gold and Silver medal in the first two rounds and then a seventh and a sixth in rounds three and four.
“After our first two regattas in Europe this year we found that we weren’t at the same level as the other top guys after taking time off in February and March,” said Page. “After some more time in the boat we feel we’re getting back up there now.
“We’re using these regattas to develop in other areas, taking a long-term approach, but it’s sometimes hard to take when you’re not winning all the time,” he said. “In the last two regattas we found that we started well but weren’t delivering when it mattered so here we’ll be working on our final series approach.”
In the Women’s Match Racing competition Australia has two entries with Olivia Price making her World Cup debut as a skipper, alongside Nina Curtis and Rayshele Martin, while Katie Spithill, Jessica Eastwell and Lucinda Whitty will sail together.
Price is enjoying the opportunity to steer the Elliott 6 in the World Cup after making a great start to skippering in Match Racing at a high level with a win in the ISAF Nations Cup Oceania Qualifier in Sydney earlier this month.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity and we should be able to take a lot of what we learnt in the Nations Cup a couple of weeks back and put it into practice,” said Price. “We feel that we’re ticking the boxes everyday in training and are looking forward to seeing what we can do once racing begins.
“First off we want to achieve all of our goals in executing what we want on the water,” she said. “It’s about winning races as well but this is our first regatta in these boats and we’re a new team so we’ll be learning in every race.”
Spithill, Eastwell and Whitty are also continuing to develop as a crew and head into this regatta on the back of a good win at the European Championship qualifiers in Finland last week.
“The win in Finland was good but we can’t look at the past heading into this event, we’re focused on the week ahead,” said Spithill. “Our results are continuing in the right direction, we’re getting Lucinda settled into the bow and are working well as a combination, every regatta is a great chance to learn.”
Brendan Casey heads into racing in the Finn class after spending time training in Weymouth after the last round on the World Cup in France.
“It was good to spend time training in Weymouth, racing against all of the top guys between regattas,” said Casey. “At this stage it’s a benefit to sail there a lot, it’s what we’re all training for and focused on.
“This week I’m aiming to build on the last few events, as I look for a top performance at Sail for Gold next month,” he said.
The Laser class includes Australian Sailing Team member Tom Burton and Australian Sailing Squad members Ashley Brunning, James Burman, Ryan Palk, Jared West and Mark Whittington.
Jessica Crisp will compete in her first European regatta for the year in the RS:X women’s class while Ashley Stoddart and Gabrielle King will compete in the Laser Radials.
The 470 men’s fleet will feature Squad crew Sam Kivell and Will Ryan and in the 49ers the Squad will be represented by Will and Sam Phillips, Steven Thomas and Nick Brownie, and Tom Johnson and Rhys Mara.
Matthew Bugg will compete in the 2.4mR class, beginning a busy few months where he will contest this regatta, Skandia Sail for Gold, Kiel Week and then the IFDS World Championships.
Other Australians competing in Holland include Alexander and Patrick Conway in the 470s, RS:X women’s sailor Allison Shreeve and RS:X men’s competitors Tim Gourlay, Jimmy Levy and Patrick Vos. Ki-Raphael Sulkowski will race in the Laser fleet and Tim Castles, Oliver Tweddell, Rob McMillan and Shaun Wells in the Finn.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam. Video highlights will be available throughout the week.
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Australian match racers pick up double win half a world away from each other The Australian Women’s Match Racing Team has had a successful weekend on the water on opposite sides of the globe, with one crew racing on Sydney harbour and the other in Helsinki, Finland. On home waters team members Olivia Price and Nina Curtis, sailing alongside Rayshele Martin and Sophie Lahey, won the Oceania Regional Finals for the ISAF Nations Cup while in Helsinki Katie Spithill, Jessica Eastwell and Lucinda Whitty won the Women’s Match Racing 2011 European Championship Qualification Event. | ||||||
Olympic champions team up to campaign for London Gold Two of Australia's most successful female sailors have teamed up for a shot at Gold at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Tessa Parkinson, who won Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and Belinda Stowell, 2000 Sydney Olympic Games champion have set their sights on the 470 class in London in 14 months time. The pair, both based in Western Australia, have a long history together, originally training alongside one another when Stowell sailed with Jenny Armstrong and Parkinson with Elise Rechichi, with Stowell moving into a coaching and mentoring role for the Parkinson and Rechichi in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
“Sailing alongside Belinda towards London 2012 is a great opportunity, but time is certainly ticking towards the Games,” said Parkinson. “Out on the water it feels right, we’re improving a lot in each session and are both looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.
“Belinda has been a close part of my team for a long time,” she said. “Her Gold medal in Sydney with Jenny Armstrong was an inspiration for both Elise and I on the way to Beijing and along the way she’s been a great training partner, mentor, coach and friend, and we’ve got a very strong relationship.”
Following her Gold medal in 2008 Parkinson took some time away from the sport but the challenge of competing for a second Olympic medal drew her back to sailing a few months ago.
Parkinson competed in the last round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup with Dutch crew Marieke Jongens but the pair decided to part ways post event, with Parkinson gaining valuable experience.
When Parkinson and Rechichi won Gold in 2008 Parkinson was crew on the boat but for her 2012 campaign she will be helming the 470.
“I’ve now spent a bit of time skippering and I’m really loving it,” she said. “For Belinda and I the key for the next few months will be time on the water, we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us but we’re constantly improving.”
Since stepping back from elite level competition following her 14th the 2004 Athens Olympic Games Stowell has been working extensively as a coach, heading up the West Australian Institute of Sport sailing program and in July will lead the Australian Youth Sailing Team at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Croatia.
“This is a terrific opportunity for me and is something that is pretty special,” said Stowell. “I always dreamt of going to the Olympics again and challenging for a Gold medal. Athens really hurt me, it probably still does now, to not perform at our potential was tough and the opportunity to go to the Games again doesn’t come along very often.
“Tessa and I know that this is a huge challenge, Jenny and I only had three years together before the Sydney Games and every training session our coach Victor Kovalenko said we needed more time training, so to have only 14 and a half months together will be tough,” she said.
Stowell is also relishing the chance of competing at the Perth 2011 World Championships in December, an event which she was integral in bringing to Western Australia.
“Getting the chance to compete at Perth 2011 will be terrific,” said Stowell. “I’ve been heavily involved in the event from the beginning and to say that I’m a competitor there is a great motivator, there is nothing like a home event.”
The pair will travel to Europe in the coming weeks to compete at the final three rounds of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, in Holland, England and Germany.
For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au and follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AusSailingTeam.
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Big names enter Australian Team Racing Championship this weekend 18 teams have entered the 2011 Australian Team Racing Championship to be held at Woollahra Sailing Club this weekend. The Australian Team Racing Championship, which sees the best team racing teams from each state and territory of Australia competing for the national title, will be held from the 7-8 May 2011. Hosted by the Woollahra Sailing Club, the event will be raced on Sydney Harbour. With 18 teams having entered the 2011 edition of the championships, the event has experienced a growth in numbers not seen since the late 90s, with the weekend format proving popular amongst sailors not needing to take leave to attend the event. Amongst those entered is the recently crowned JJ Giltinan Champion Seve Jarvin, and a team representing the obscure & mysterious Imperial Poona Yacht Club. Not only will teams be competing for the national title, the results of the Championship will be used to select the teams to represent Australia at the 2011 ISAF World Team Racign Championship in Ireland from 27 August - 4 September. The forecast for the weekend is for wind and rain, which should make for an challenging battle for the 2011 trophy.
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