Brits continue their winning ways

Campbell-James and Asquith lead in the 49er at Sail Melbourne

Conditions on Port Phillip Bay were far more conducive to Olympic class sailing and it was a couple of Beijing Olympians who led the 470 fleet in Day 3 action of the ISAF Sailing World Cup - Sail Melbourne today.

In stronger 10-15 knot winds on Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay, Olympic Gold Medallist Malcolm Page and skipper Mat Belcher continue to dominate proceedings adding another couple of regatta victories to their credit.

In what they classed as the best racing so far this week, Belcher/Page managed to hold out US Olympic representatives Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl, who claim they are just starting to put things together.

“We did have a couple of soggy sail incidents out there today but overall we had much better boat speed today … we can go faster, but overall it was pretty good racing today,” Page said with a grin.

Belcher/Page are sitting on top of the leader board on 7 points, 3 clear of the Americans who experienced some boat trouble in the race three, and 11 points clear of two young Australian crews - Sam Kivell/Max Taylor and Shane Hughes/Felix Paterson.

“Our trap wires kept coming untied and we lost a lot of distance fixing those in the first race today,” Biehl said. “We’re just trying to get in as many good finishes as we can – for the first day or two we were a little bit out of it but after that it seems like it’s just clicked again."

However it was a nightmare day on the water for Sandringham Yacht Club youngsters Kivell and Taylor.

Instead of cementing their place in the top 3, the pair has managed to lose a bit of ground on the leaders after an unfortunate run of events.

“We had a horrible day out on the water … in our first race Max’s trapeze broke off on the first beat, he fell in the water and lost a bootie and a fingernail but we managed to claw our way back into fifth place,” a disappointed Kivell said. “But we topped it off with an altercation with another boat in the second race and got disqualified … what probably should have been two top three finishes for us, ended up pretty ordinary.”

49er Class

GBR 49er pairing Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith are enjoying an impressive hot streak downunder.

Campbell-James/Asquith, hot off their win at the Sydney International Regatta last week where they didn’t finish any worse than second, are backing it up with another impressive performance at Sail Melbourne.

After the completion of nine races, the pair has opened up a commanding 9 point lead, maintaining their form and yet to finish worse than second. “We came down here to specifically get some time in the water,” Asquith said.

Campbell-James/Asquith have dedicated the next four years to fulfilling a lifetime ambition of representing their country at a home Olympic Games. They are determined to remain fully focused on that one goal and are determined to get the jump on their counterparts who have failed to enter the first round of the World Cup series.

“We are trying to keep a consistent series of finishes going while we are down here – before SIR’s last week, we spent of couple of weeks at Sorrento training in preparation,” Campbell-James said. “We are excited about the World Cup series because it will keep us fully focused on our goal from one regatta to the next."

Trailing 9 points behind the Brits, is Aussie pair Will and Sam Phillips, with Kiwi’s David McDiarmid and Andrew Archibald a further 4 points back.

Other progressive results:

After 6 races:

Finn Class
Warwick Hill (AUS) 6
James Paterson (AUS) 9
Jake Gunther (AUS) 14

29er Class
James Sly/Andrew Gillies (AUS) 5
Bec Tuma/Emma Louise Daly (AUS) 10
Jack Lloyd/James Lainson (AUS) 16

Laser 4.7 Class
Stephen Collings (AUS) 5
Alison Dale (AUS) 12
Zac Pullen (AUS) 13


2.4m Class
Michael Leydon (AUS) 6
Peter Russell (AUS) 9
Joshua McKenzie-Brown (AUS) 16

After 4 races:

Skud
Duncan McGregor/Andrew Cook (AUS) 6
Chris Riordan/Robert Schahinger (AUS) 7
David Staley/Bruce James (AUS) 11

After 5 races:

Laser
Mike Bullot (NZL) 7
Matias Del Solar (CHI) 10
Milan Vujasinovic (CRO) 22

Laser Radial
Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) 5
Gabrielle King (AUS) 15
Tina Mihelic (CRO) 15

RS:X Women and Youth
Alistair Masters (GBR) 7
Blanca Manchon (ESP) 7
Leung Ho Tsung (HKG) 10

RS:X Men
Nicolas Le Gal (FRA) 4
Antonio Cozzolino (NZL) 9
Benjamin Tillier (FRA)