International stars shine

While Page and Belcher come out on top in the 470 at the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup - Sail Melbourne

Australian crews continued the tradition of outstanding success on the world stage for those involved in the 470 Class, taking out both the men and women’s inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup - Sail Melbourne titles today.

In shifty winds on Port Phillip Bay, Olympic Gold Medallist Malcolm Page and his new skipper Mat Belcher, combined with young West Australian teenagers Stacey Omay and Chelsea Hall to bring home the double on their home soil.

In what is Australia’s most important Olympic class regatta, Page/Belcher, who could not be beaten for the first 470 World Cup title on offer at the completion of Day 5, used today’s final race as more of a training run in what proved to be more great sailing conditions for the fleet.

“We went back again (after their individual recall of the regatta for a false start) and still managed to finish second,” skipper Mat Belcher said.

“It has just been a fantastic regatta - we’ve had a great cross section of conditions to sail in and we are very pleased with the result,” Belcher added.

Belcher/Page finished an impressive 8 points clear of USA Olympic representatives Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl, with outstanding young Sandringham Yacht Club prospects Sam Kivell and Max Taylor in third place.

Belcher/Page, who will not contest all legs of the World Cup season in 2009, are still very excited about opening their campaign with maximum points.

“It’s a nice way to start the World Cup and it’s always nice to do it your home country – Mat and I are gelling really well and looking forward to the next 3½ years to London,” Page said. “It’s funny, every first tack and every first jibe and every first leg is probably our worst and we’ve been learning quick and by the last race of each day it felt so much better ... I suppose the process has begun - we’re not in any rush – it’s a long time (to the next Olympics) and we want to be peaking at the right time in London but it does feel great.".

McNay/Biehl were thrilled with their result this week, considering the equipment they were using was all borrowed except for their sails.

“We’ve had a great time down here - we’ll definitely be back again next year - the conditions really kept us on our toes and we managed to get some great sailing in,” Biehl said.

Meanwhile Omay/Hall completely dominated the small women’s 470 fleet while enjoying racing in amongst the men’s fleet.

Omay said it gave them more of an opportunity to enjoy racing in a stronger fleet and capped off what has been an outstanding regatta for the pair. “We just love racing here – it’s always great racing close to shore, varied conditions and it’s always pretty close to schedule,” Omay said.

Amy Kivell/Alexandra Ward (AUS) finished second on 25 points, 5 points clear of Laura Baldwin and Michelle Muller (AUS).

49er Class

GBR London 2012 hopefuls Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith can’t wait to get back to Australia next year following an overwhelmingly successful month in the country, culminating with a resounding victory in the 49er Class at Sail Melbourne.

Across two weeks of international class sailing, Campbell-James/Asquith have not finished worse than second and in a relatively small, yet competitive fleet this week, to win by 21 points was even better than they expected.

“Obviously we are really, really pleased with our sailing...after we won SIRs (Sydney International Regatta) last week, we just wanted to come here and keep the momentum going,” skipper Campbell-James said. “We aimed to not finish worse than second again this week, however we our week finished even better than even we expected.".

Will and Sam Phillips trailed behind the English in second place on 41 points, with Kiwi crew David McDiarmid and Andrew Archibald third on 54 points.

Finn Class

Outstanding young Sandringham Finn sailor Warwick Hill will reassess his assault on the inaugural World Cup tour following his perfect start to the circuit. Hill has enjoyed the high class sailing among the small fleet this week and his rivalry with fellow Aussie James Paterson continues.

“I would really like to go to the next round in Miami but at the minute I can’t afford it, having just finished studying and with work commitments as well,” Hill said. “If I could get a sponsor to jump on board I would certainly go – I will have to reassess a few things now after this week,” he admitted with a grin.

Paterson on 18 points, four points 4 points behind Hill, with Chris Caldecoat (AUS) well out of contention in third place on 29 points.

Laser Radial Women’s Class

USA Olympic Laser Radial Gold Medallist Anna Tunnicliffe has opened her World Cup account with maximum points this week.

Tunnicliffe, who has battled ill health in the latter stage of the week, managed to hold it together to clearly win her class on 25 points, 9 points clear of rising Aussie star Gabrielle King, with Andrea Brewster (GBR) third with 40 points.

The world No.1 ranked Radial sailor dominated racing with 5 wins from her 11 starts.

Laser Full Rig Class

Chile’s Matias De Solar dominated proceedings in the Laser Class, leading for much of the week, winning with 30 points, an impressive 17 points clear of second place getter, Kiwi Mike Bullot and Milan Vujasinovic of Croatia, third on 54 points.

RS:X Class

Spain’s Blanca Manchon was well ahead of the fleet in the women’s RS:X class, crossing the line first in seven of her 11 starts, well ahead of dual Australian Olympian Jessica Crisp in second place on 26 points and Kate Ellingham (NZL) in third place, four points back.

The men’s RS:X was one of the closest fleets of the regatta, with Nicolas Le Gal of France, taking until the final race today to shake off New Zealander Antonio Cozzolino for first round World Cup points.

Le Gal finished two point clear of Cozzolino on 18 points and Kiwi Josh Nixon finished third on 31 points.

Other final results:

Laser Radial Men
Klade Hauschildt (AUS) 18
Chris Jones (AUS) 36
Tim Coltman (NZL) 39

29er Class
James Sly/Andrew Gillies (AUS) 10
Bec Tuma/Emma Louise Daly (AUS) 21
Jack Lloyd/James Lainson (AUS) 30

Laser 4.7 Class
Stephen Collings (AUS) 14
Alison Dale (AUS) 22
Zac Pullen (AUS) 27

2.4m Class
Michael Leydon (AUS) 14
Peter Russell (AUS) 24
Joshua McKenzie-Brown (NZL) 34

Skud
Duncan McGregor/Andrew Cook (AUS) 16
Chris Riordan/Robert Schahinger (AUS) 17
David Staley/Bruce James (AUS) 18

International Moth
Andrew Brown (NZL) 7
Robert Gough (AUS) 10
Lochlin Byrne (AUS) 10

International Cadet
Isabella Say/Benjamin Brill (AUS) 5
Marcus Sasson/Angus Rae (AUS) 13
Jacqueline Stokes/Joshua Dierickx (AUS) 16

Optimist
Milly Bennett (AUS) 12
Lloyd Collings (AUS) 13
Louise Evans (AUS) 14

OK Dinghy
Andre Blasse (AUS) 6
Robert Davis (AUS) 12
Mark Jackson (AUS) 13

Tasar
John Gibson/Monica Tonner (AUS) 11
Chris Payne/Heather MacFarlane (AUS) 12
Megan Ridgeway/Bronwyn Ridgeway (AUS) 18