Aussies excel in high winds

The latest from the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta/Olympic test event

Blustery winds ranging from 19-24 knots and numerous capsizes welcomed the sailors on the sixth day of sailing at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, the Olympic Test Event.

It was the Australians that excelled throughout the day as Tom Slingsby took the lead in the Laser, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen went ahead in the 49er and Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page notched up double bullets.

Belcher and Page put their poor start to the regatta behind them as they won both of their races to move up to second overall in the Men’s 470. After the first four races of the regatta the Men’s 470 ISAF Sailing World Cup title holders had a card of 12-11-10-2 and were down by a considerable margin to leaders Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA). But they found their way on the third day of 470 sailing to stay in contention. Belcher said, “It was nice to be racing inside the harbour and to have that experience again. It felt more like our boat today. It felt normal. We settled down a little bit and we are getting used to the Olympic course.”

Overnight leaders Leboucher and Garos (FRA) remain in the lead after they maintained their consistency from the opening two days of racing. They came second in Race 5 and discarded their ninth in Race 6. They lead on 13 points with the Australians in second on 25 points and Japan’s Tetsuya Matsunaga and Kimihiko Imamura are third on 28 points.

After a difficult Saturday, Britain's Nick Rogers and Chris Grube bounced back with 3,6 from their two races to move them into fifth place overall after six races. “It was physical [today] because the chop was so on and off, especially down by the [harbour] wall it was a real mess,” said helmsman Rogers. “I feel like I’ve had a fire hose in my eyes all day! But it was a really good, fun day and I’m glad to have got some good results out of it.”

In the Women’s 470 Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) continue to lead after a steady day on the water. The Brits discarded their eighth in Race 5 before coming second in Race 6 to end the day on 14 points. Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JPN) won Race 5 and came fourth in Race 6 to move from fifth to second overall on 24 points. Gil Cohen and Vered Bouskila (ISR) won Race 6 and jump up to third place.

“We’re really pleased with our day on the water today,” said Clark. “When Hannah and I teamed up in February, one of our areas of concern was how we’d perform in the big breeze so we’re definitely pleased to have come off the water with a second and an eighth. A few people have got a better day than us, but not many, so we’re pleased. I feel pretty knackered! We’re doing shorter courses with lots of laps so It does change the game a bit. I’m a bit more exhausted with those extra few hoists and drops that we do and I think Hannah’s feeling pretty battered as well, but luckily we’re scheduled for a day off tomorrow so time to recover.”

Outteridge and Jensen (AUS) swapped places with Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez (ESP) in the 49er, racing on the Nothe course, after the Australians recorded their third bullet of the regatta in Race 6. The Australians came fifth in Race 4 and seventh in Race 5 before winning Race 6 by six seconds ahead of Gianfranco Sibello and Pietro Sibello (ITA). On their day Outteridge said, “It was really good for us today. It was really windy and a bit shifty but the flat water was great. We had a shocker in Race 4 but that was down to me as I had a swim. We ended fifth because of that. But it didn’t hurt us too much as the Spanish had two swims.”

Outteridge and Jensen lead on 15 points with the Spaniards, who won Race 4, second on 18 points. Race 5 winners Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) are third on 21 points after finishing third in the days other two races.

Britain's Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes made some good recoveries, finishing second in the first of their day’s three races, but a capsize in race two in the gusting conditions them finish 16th. They capsized again while leading in race three, but recovered well to post a sixth and end the day in fifth overall on what Morrison described as a “missed opportunity day”.

“The windward mark was right in under the wall of the Nothe, so you can’t actually see the wind coming,” the Exmouth sailor explained. “It looks like it’s glassy-flat. I imagine if you were a kite-surfer or a wakeboarder you’d think it was absolutely perfect, but in a 49er it just meant there were big lumps of wind coming at you that you couldn’t see – somewhat like sailing blindfolded I guess! We’ll see at the end of the week how bad a day it is in terms of the score. It’s certainly not disastrous but very frustrating.”

Australia were once again at the top of the podium in the Laser as ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Tom Slingsby (AUS) put in another strong performance. The World #1 came ahead of Rutger Van Schaardenburg (NED) by six seconds in Race 5 but the Dutchman hit back in Race 6 taking a comfortable 31 second victory. Overnight leader Andrew Murdoch (NZL) went 11-4 to slip to second trailing Slingsby by eight points and Van Schaardenburg’s 2-1 moved him from eighth to third overall on 25 points.

World #1 Laser Radial sailor Marit Bouwmeester (NED) continued her fantastic regatta with her third race win and a second. With eight points she leads Annalise Murphy, in second on 26 points, and Krystal Weir (AUS), on 27 points, in third.

Pieter Jan Postma (NED) relished the windy conditions on the Weymouth Bay West course to pick up two convincing race wins in the Finn. The Dutchman won Race 3 by 52 seconds and Race 4 by 16 seconds and is third overall on 17 points. Ben Ainslie (GBR) continues to lead on 14 points despite a 6-5 with Jonathan Lobert (FRA) in second on 14 points. Ainslie maintains his lead after his win in Race 2 but with the discard coming into play tomorrow there may well be changes.

Ainslie had to recover from an uncharacteristic capsize in the second race which left him in 18th place at the third turning mark. But the triple Olympic gold medallist picked his way back through the fleet to finish in fifth. “I made a few mistakes today so it wasn’t the best day I’ve ever sailed in my life, but sometimes that happens,” he admitted. “I had to sort few things out – obviously it’s not great capsizing and I was right at the back of the fleet but I was glad to be able to catch up. You have to be able to cope with all the conditions, so it’s a challenge. It wasn’t so fun for me today as I was making it hard for myself but it was a relatively good day.”

ISAF Sailing World Cup Star title holders Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) once again showed they are the team to beat in the 21-boat Star fleet. The Brazilians went 1-2 to lead on five points. Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih (USA) won Race 4 but are seventh overall on 31 points.

The Brazilians nearest rivals are Poland’s Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki. The Polish Star sailors are on 19 points and have a long way to go to catch up with the Brazilians.

Frustrating was Iain Percy’s description of his and Andrew Simpson's day in the Star, picking up a fifth in the first race and were then in a strong position in the second when a fault with the running backstay saw their mast come crashing down, forcing them to retire for the day (their second dismasting this year...) “It’s a rope that’s good for two tonnes and it just clean snapped,” said the bemused double Olympic gold medallist Percy. “You can imagine the speed that the mast comes down in that wind when it hasn’t got the boat holding it up any more. It’s just a bit frustrating when we went back to re-start the race yesterday when we weren’t actually over. With sailing you’ve got to avoid having more than one bad [race]. We were first or second in that race today and the rig came down, so it’s all a bit frustrating at the moment – I’m glad it’s this year and not next!"

Percy and Simpson are in 11th overall, with their discard still to take effect.

The Laser, Laser Radial and 470 enjoy a reserve day tomorrow but the 49er, Finn, RS:X and Stars continue racing. Places 5-8 in the Women’s Match Racing will also be decided tomorrow before Tuesday’s Semi Finals.