Aussies dominate

All but one class on the opening day of Sail Melbourne

Organiser managed to get just 8 out of a potential 22 races in on Day 1 of the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup-Sail Melbourne today.

Conditions on Port Phillip Bay petered out terribly by mid afternoon when race officials called off the event for the day, with several classes not even getting a single race in.

Of those who managed to get off the line in the 7-8 knot winds, the 470s, Finns and the 49ers all got one race in, with the Laser 4.7 and 2.4metre managing to complete their compliment of races.

However it was the new crew of Beijing Gold Medallist Malcolm Page and skipper Mat Belcher who began their official London 2012 campaign in perfect style.

Belcher/Page crossed the line 40 metres ahead of their nearest rival, the West Australian female crew of Stacey Omay and Chelsea Hall.

US sailors Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl, who finished just out of the top 10 in Beijing, finished third in today’s first race.

“We had a win so we’re happy – we ended up going to the wrong mark on the second beat – so it was close, we got a bit of pressure,” Belcher said. “It’s nice to just get in amongst it and race other boats – it’s been almost a year since I raced 470s, so I’m very pleased to be back in this boat.”

Laser 4.7

Young Victorian sailor Stephen Collings leads the Laser 4.7 class by two points after the completion of two races. Collings, 16, based out of Sorrento Couta Boat Club crossed the line first in position in the first race and second in race two to get off to a solid start to the regatta.

Collings leads Zac Pullen (TAS) and Cameron Parsons (VIC) respectively.

Finn

Victoria’s Warwick Hill was first to salute the judge in race one of the Finn class with Chris Caldecoat and Jake Gunther in second and third place respectively.

Full results after Day 1 of competition:

After 1 race:

470 Class
Mat Belcher/Malcolm Page (AUS) 1
Stacey Omay/Chelsea Hall (AUS) 2
Stuart McNay/Graham Biehl (USA) 3

Finn Class
Warwick Hill (AUS) 1
Chris Caldecoat (AUS) 2
Jake Gunther (AUS) 3

49er Class
Paul Campbell-James/Mark Asquith (GBR) 1
David McDiarmid/Andrew Archibald (NZL) 2
William Phillips/Samuel Phillips (AUS) 3

29er Class
James Sly/Andrew Gillies (AUS) 1
Jack Lloyd/James Lainson (AUS) 2
Bec Tuma/Emma Louise Daly (AUS) 3

After 2 races:

Laser 4.7 Class
Stephen Collings (AUS) 3
Zac Pullen (AUS) 5
Cameron Parsons (AUS) 6

2.4m Class
Michael Leydon (AUS) 2
Peter Russell (AUS) 4
Michael Lemon (AUS) 8