Return to Qingdao

Racing gets underway in light winds and strong tide at the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championships

After a first day lost initially to too little wind and then too much, it was with considerable relief that three races for the Men and two for the Women could be held off the Hague today at the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championship. But with breeze that ranged from 4-8 knots and shut down altogether at the start of the third race for the men, and the north-flowing tide building to 2-3 knots over the course of the afternoon, conditions were highly challenging.

Class act of the day was certainly Beijing Gold medallist Malcolm Page (AUS) and his new (since 2009) helm Matt Belcher, who scored a perfect 1-1-1 to take the lead in the Men's class. “It was tricky conditions," commented Belcher. 'We were lucky at certain times, but we are starting quite well, with good judgement, sailing smart and putting the boat in the right position."

Belcher acknowledged that good fortune particularly smiled on them in the final race when there was a pile up as two fleets converged at the final mark. Keeping clear enabled them to leap from third place into first for the final run into the finish. Belcher: “The only time we were first were at the last mark!” Page: “We timed it just right!”

Page and Belcher reckon they have trained less off the Hague than other top teams, but, while they deny it, they are riding the crest of a wave coming straight from victory at Kieler Wocher, following on from second places at the Delta Lloyd Regatta and Rolex Miami OCR - a set of results enabling them to walk away with this year's Sailing World Cup win in the 470 Men, with a regatta to spare.

Page compared today’s racing with what he and others experienced in Qingdao. “Especially when we first arrived here. It is a construction site, the seaweed smell, heaps of current and we even had a couple of days of fog – it was China all again.”

Double World Champions, Skandia Team GBR's Nic Asher and Elliot Willis won the first two races in their group, but posted an 11th in the third, leaving them third overall, six points adrift of France's highly consistent Nicolas Charbonnier and Baptiste Meyer Dieu.

Skandia Team GBR’s 470 sailors took part in two training camps in the Hague prior to this World Championships. According to Nick Asher the key to success in today's races with the powerful tide intent on taking the boats across the line, was starting well as this would launch you up the beat with the favourable tide. 'There wasn't much going on shift-wise. It was mostly downwind, because then we were into the tide so if you were quick downwind, you could get away.

“Once you were round the top mark it was quite an easy race after that. And in the third race the wind shut off at the start - there was no wind at all, so it was a bit of a lottery and very patchy. We rounded the top mark in the top 10, but everyone arrived at the same time and then there was a big split downwind. We were on an edge and did okay, we got around the leeward mark in the top 10 again and then we just stayed around there the whole race. We lost a little on the last reach and run because we got caught under a French dude who was going really slow. So not a bad day. It could have been worse.”

In the Women's 470, American 2008 World Champions Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar matched the Australian men with a perfect scoreline. 'The current definitely helped us," said Maxwell. 'Where we grew up, there's a lot of current between Long Island and the mainland coast." Her crew reckoned that they had done well upwind, tacking into good lanes with clean air enabling them to make fewer tacks.

At the end of play today the Americans are followed closely by New Zealanders Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie who posted two seconds and the Netherland's Margriet Fokkema and Marieke Jongens on five points, the highly rated Dutch defending World Champions Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout having finished a disappointing 19th in the first race, after they were forced to recover from an OCS.

Like Malcolm Page, Jo Aleh, who finished seventh in the Laser Radial at the 2008 Olympic Games, compared today's conditions off the Hague to racing in Qingdao. “The current was the funny bit. There was over two knots. It was cranking in the second race. We were just holding going downwind into it.

“It was crazy, some of the starts - it was China all over again! Light wind, everyone sailing downwind with a minute to go." In such strong tide Aleh advises it is essential to play safe and make as few mistakes as possible, for the penalty for errors is much more costly. “You can't get away from it - you just have to not make mistakes. I don't think we did that much right, I just think we didn't do too much wrong. It was just simple stuff - we didn't freak out too much!"

In such conditions the general consensus is that the 2010 Delta Lloyd 470 World Championships will be a high scoring regatta. Fortunately the forecast shows the wind building over the course of the week, peaking at 18 knots on Thursday afternoon.

Hannah Mills - currently 31st after a fourth in race one, a 19th and then leading the final race before it was abandoned... This is her third World Championship following on from Cascais in 2007 and last year in Denmark.

"The tide was a pretty major thing - probably the biggest factor today."

Heading downwind with 30 seconds to go to the start? "Yes, there was a little bit of that which makes it quite exciting."

"I think balancing the influence of the tide with the shifts - because there were still shifts to be had - but the tides were the biggest factor. I think a lot of people on the first day didn’t quite get their heads around it and it meant there were a lot of opportunities to make quite big gains.

"So it is about the tide and there are a lot of good people - so keeping calm when things don’t quite go your own way. In the second race on the start line the top of our jib came undone and fell down! We spent half the beat dropping the jib and putting it back in again. Then the last race we were winning and when we got to the last gate it got abandoned – so a bit disappointing, but at least we have gained confidence in the fact that we can be up there and not let the stupid things happen."

Hannah has been sailing with a new crew since the start of this season in Claire Cumming. "We started sailing together in Palma. Claire is still at work part time, so we are training when we can. It is all coming together and we are getting better and better. We learned a lot from Palma having not done any training or sailing together before and we have built on that and we are improving."

The duo are currently in Skandia Team GBR's Development Squad, "so hopefully we’ll get a result here and then see."

It will be a high scoring regatta? "I think it probably will be. It is pretty close racing, so one small mistake means you can lose a lot."

Results: Men (top 50)

Women (top 50):