Australians maintain grip

Two races left to go at the International 14 Worlds reports Paul Brotherton

If you had any ambition of a top five finish at the Worlds this year, then today was a big day. At the end of the fifth race the discard would come in and only two more races are due to be sailed. The score board becomes much less fluid and time runs out for those not in the chase.

The Westerly flow that has dominated racing so far continued for the all important day five. In the usual fashion, the scrap for supremacy between the Westerly gradient and the NE seabreeze was in full swing at start time. After two general recalls, with the wind breaking up it looked as though we may have missed the chance.

A third start got away with an individual recall and very low wind speeds. When the inevitable rush of westerly came stonking down the track would it be the left or the right that would be basking in their collective strategic brilliance? It was noticeable that many of the guys in the hunt kept themselves towards the middle conscious of being caught out. The left side led by Victor Brellisford and Damian Ash enjoyed a dose of good fortune - flat wiring and pointing at the mark as they tacked on the line of new breeze. The group of boats on the right hand side, by contrast, bounced up and down barely wiring.

The boys in the hunt for the crown covering their options made it round between 10th to 20th. More than adequate on a shifty day.

It was the second upwind leg that defined the race. The left shift was still in. Some attacked the shift and cracked into the left for more. Some took it and cashed it in. A 40 degree reversal half way up the track gave the early starboard tackers a painful smack on the chin. Zach Berkowitz and Steve Bourdow (FD Silver Medallist 1992, sailing with Paul Forester) from the US worked it superbly as did James Fawcett and Dave Dobrijevic. Also delighting in the increased wind speed and sailing the shifts well was Lindsay Irwin and Andrew Perry from Australia.

At the end of the last downwind Irwin and Perry had Berkowitz and Bourdow in the cross hair. A distant Fawcett and Dobrijevic decided to make sure of third and chose to cover Kiwi 49er Olympic reps from 2000 Dan Slater and Nathan Handley.

As the leg developed the breeze eroded and Fawcett and Dobrijevic took huge swathes of distance out of the two lead boats sailed by heavier crews, defence quickly became attack. In the final approach to the finish all three boats had a chance to break the tape. On the last tack in the pressure told on the Americans, a badly fluffed tack and a very near capsize lost them the lead. The Brits nipped in just ahead of the Americans and then the Australians.

The pain didn’t end there for Berkowitz and Bourdow however. Ultimately scoring an OCS for this race to go with their DNF in race 3, the 2002 World Champion will need to wait another year for another chance at the title.

With two races remaining Irwin and Perry will be wanting a 20k NE seabreeze to lean on. Unless the Australians hit the stupid button there is no way that the three Brits stacked up in 2nd, 3rd and 4th will be able to bridge the points gap - 8 points to Morrison and Rhodes and 10 to Fawcett and Dobrijevic and the same for Richardson and Barker.

The Brits will be praying for a bit of light and sniggly. One race in those conditions may be enough. Irwin and Perry recorded a 27th in the only light race in this series and with no more discards a similar score would destroy their chances.

	Nat	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	AUS	Lindsay Irwin	Andrew Perry	2	1	1	27	2	6
2nd	GBR	Stevie Morrison	Ben Rhodes	3	7	4	1	6	14
3rd	GBR	James Fawcett	Dave Dobrijevic	DNF	8	5	2	1	16
4th	GBR	Alister Richardson	Ian Barker	7	2	3	4	9	16
5th	NZL	Dan Slater	Nathan Handley	4	14	8	10	3	25
6th	AUS	Grant Geddes	Dan Wilsdon	1	3	9	29	13	26
7th	AUS	Brad Devine	Denis Jones	10	12	2	3	21	27
8th	AUS	Jason Beebe	Tim Berg	8	9	13	7	18	37
9th	AUS	Alan Vickery	Andrew Wilson	9	4	DNF	8	19	40
10th	AUS	Roger Blasse	Andrew Gilligan	12	13	17	6	11	42
11th	GBR	Ian Pinnell	Richard Kent	15	17	7	18	14	53
12th	CAN	Peter Hayward	Norm Pavey	19	18	14	14	8	54
13th	AUS	David Hayter	Alan Pollitt	DNF	5	11	22	26	64
14th	CAN	Dick Parker	David Cunningham	17	28	32	13	12	70
15th	GBR	Andrew Partington	Ben Vernieres	20	26	DNF	9	17	72
16th	GBR	Archie Massey	George Nurton	DNF	10	18	20	28	76
17th	CAN	Kris Bundy	Jamie Hanseler	18	19	16	39	23	76
18th	AUS	Mark Krstic	Rob Oshlack	13	16	26	25	31	80
19th	AUS	Warren Sare	Rob Murdoch	28	11	10	32	35	81
20th	AUS	Dave Alexander	Allan Blenkle	6	DNF	6	21	50	83
21st	CAN	Ian Teasdale	John Vincze	31	DNS	51	5	5	92
22nd	GBR	Victor Brellisford	Damian Ash	35	21	20	31	20	92
23rd	GBR	Andrew Penman	Tim Bastow	16	20	35	23	40	94
24th	GBR	Charles Duchesne	Will Boone	26	DNF	22	19	27	94
25th	GBR	Julian A Pearson	Louise Hickey	30	DNF	27	15	30	102
26th	CAN	Andrew Yates	Gordon Cook	38	31	31	24	16	102
27th	AUS	Paul O'Malley Jones	Carlos Steenland	25	29	19	53	33	106
28th	USA	Zach Berkowitz	Steve Bordow	5	6	DNF	12	OCS	107
29th	AUS	Stewart Vickery	Tim Withal	24	32	24	30	46	110
30th	CAN	Dan Cunningham	Rob Paterson	37	15	30	37	32	114
31st	GBR	Rollo Pyper	Chris Kitchen	DNF	24	15	52	24	115
32nd	GBR	Chris Turner	Peter Bagwell	DNF	DNF	12	11	10	117
33rd	GBR	Matthew Larkin	Geoff Larkin	34	36	36	33	15	118
34th	AUS	James McDonald	Jason King	DNS	25	28	35	36	124
35th	AUS	Grant Rollerson	Dave Bramley	DNF	35	40	28	34	137
36th	USA	Ron Boehm	Peter Mohler	22	DNF	38	34	44	138
37th	AUS	Glenn Beebe	Trevor Mon	DNF	23	23	44	48	138
38th	GER	Bjorn Frasch	Oliver Peter	21	41	37	41	OCS	140
39th	AUS	Stephen Edmunds	Michael Woodroff	23	37	49	50	38	147
40th	AUS	Josh Mortensen	Jake Mortensen	36	34	43	36	42	148
41st	GBR	Martin Pascal	Robin Pascal	32	49	34	46	39	151
42nd	USA	Ted Rogers	Tim Burks	39	30	48	42	41	152
43rd	NZL	Grant Bourke	Luke Gower	DNF	40	21	45	49	155
44th	AUS	Luke Devine	Adam Green	33	50	25	54	47	155
45th	GBR	Jarrod Simpson	Bunny Warren	DNF	22	DNF	26	25	157
46th	AUS	Robert Vickery	Criss Vaughan	14	43	46	55	64	158
47th	AUS	Ray Hancock	Daryl Everett	11	38	DNC	59	57	165
48th	USA	Brad Ruetenik	Todd Czarnecki	29	39	52	49	56	169
49th	GBR	Doug Walker	Nick Martin	41	42	42	DNF	45	170
50th	AUS	Stuart Sloss	Justin Walford	DNF	44	29	57	43	173
51st	CAN	Fred Eaton	Jason Lemieux	27	DNF	OCS	43	29	183
52nd	GBR	Douglas Pattison	Daniel Ayton	DNF	48	50	48	37	183
53rd	GBR	Katie Nurton	Nigel Ash	44	47	DNF	40	54	185
54th	USA	Paul Bieker	Guillaume Vernaise	DNS	DNF	DNC	16	7	191
55th	GER	Peter Roocks	Ole Klingner	DNF	53	39	17	DNF	193
56th	AUS	Mat Low	Derek Layfield	DNF	27	DNF	38	52	201
57th	NZL	Matthew Smith	Tony Smith	42	51	45	64	71	202
58th	AUS	David Lugg	Garry Goodall	DNF	33	33	70	68	204
59th	GBR	Mark Upton-Brown	Nick Taylor	DNF	DNF	44	DNC	4	216
60th	AUS	Graeme Everett	Gary Sloss	DNF	52	41	66	58	217
61st	USA	Andrew Bates	Maureen Bates	43	55	56	78	69	223
62nd	JPN	Kensuke Kita	Takao Washino	DNF	60	55	61	62	238
63rd	AUS	Brec Mitton	Russell Keal	DNF	DNF	DNS	51	22	241
64th	AUS	Sean Stevens	Brian Long	DNF	61	47	72	63	243
65th	JPN	Ryo Nishima	Yasunobu Yanagisawa	DNF	56	54	67	67	244
66th	AUS	Philip Strong	Jeffre Klemm	DNF	45	53	77	70	245
67th	Aus	Andrew Low	Marcus Hamilton	DNF	46	DNF	69	53	252
68th	NZL	Selby Howard	Karl Banks	DNF	58	DNS	58	59	259
69th	GBR	David Spragg	Scott Anderson	DNF	59	DNF	60	61	264
70th	GBR	Paul Ravenhill	Caroline Gosford	DNF	DNF	OCS	47	51	266
71st	NZL	Phil Coveny	Grant Hartley	DNS	62	58	74	74	268
72nd	GER	Lutz Scheulen	Stephan Koch	DNF	57	DNS	63	65	269
73rd	NZL	Matt Balmer	David Tucker	DNS	54	DNF	56	77	271
74th	USA	Alan Laflin	Eric Arens	DNF	63	DNF	73	66	286
75th	NZL	Matt Nolan	John Thorman	DNF	DNF	DNF	65	55	288
76th	GBR	Chris lewns	Simon Nearn	40	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	292
77th	JPN	Takashi Shimozato	Hiroshi Aoki	DNF	DNF	57	75	76	292
78th	AUS	Rick De Jong	Darren Upton	DNF	DNF	DNC	68	60	296
79th	JPN	Yasutaka Uto	Takehide Takase	DNF	DNS	59	79	75	297
80th	USA	Harold von Sydow	Tom Pochereva	DNF	DNF	DNC	62	79	309
81st	NZL	Jack Price	Peter Hunter	DNS	DNF	DNC	71	72	311
82nd	GBR	James Middleton-Stewart	Alan Beeton	DNS	DNF	DNC	76	73	317
83rd	USA	Jack Salerno	Reiko Tani	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	78	330