Sail Sydney Rolls the Welcome Mat Out for International Fleet
17 December 2015
Woollahra Sailing Club has rolled the welcome mat out for more than 400 competitors representing 11 nations at the annual Sail Sydney regatta, Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 December, 2015.
Australian sailors are competing alongside a raft of internationals from Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, Italy and India across 17 classes on various Sydney Harbour courses over four days.
Korea’s youth team of 13 sailors are spread over the Laser Men’s, Laser Radial and RS:X windsurfer fleets. Youth national team coach Song Myungkeun has been in Sydney for two weeks and says in his best English, “I come 14 days ago we look at Opera House and city…very beautiful. Everyday good wind. We are youth team; Korean sailing team is back home training for Olympics.”
Scott Sydney, representing the host club, has taken command of the outstanding Laser Standard men’s fleet and Italy’s Giovanni Coccoluto is second with the same points as the early local leader. Given home is in the depths of winter the Italian is pretty happy with himself for arranging a summer “down under tour”, including the Sailing World Cup Melbourne and Sail Sydney, as he chases an outside opening for 2016 Rio Olympics selection.
“The Olympics are still open but another guy sailing for Italy is at the Rio test event and if he’s top in that regatta they will stop the selection,” Coccoluto said after racing. “If not there are Europeans and worlds to come; there is still a chance. It’s my first time in Australia; I’m really enjoying it.”
West Australian 29er pair of Annabelle Davies and Hayley Clark are familiarising themselves with Sydney Harbour prior to the Australian Youth Championships WSC is hosting January 10-14, 2016.
“It’s much choppier here compared to where we sail out of Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perth,” said Clark. “We aren’t used to cruise ships or Manly Ferries and there’s much more land everywhere, which influences the breeze.”
“We learnt a lot today and will come back tomorrow with a new head space,” Davies added.
Sail Sydney’s opening day was blessed with classic Sydney summer conditions of variable morning winds becoming NE - ENE at an average nine knots.
The rest of the annual series that was established in 1994 to serve as a training regatta for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games is expected to be under the influence of a lingering high pressure system over the Tasman Sea which is extending a ridge towards the NSW coast. Stronger winds, 15 knots possibly as high as 25 are forecast for tomorrow when the Optimist fleets join the on-water program.
A number of high profile Sydney Hobart line honours contenders were out training on the harbour today, the likes of Comanche, Ragamuffin 100 and Maserati dwarfing the tiny one and two person dinghies and skiffs.
Progressive pointscores for all divisions racing at Sail Sydney are available here.
This evening Kurt Hansen and Jim Colley (NSW) lead the 29er fleet, Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith (WA) lead the 420s after four races, Joel Turner and Tom Siganto (QLD) are the leading 49er duo, Rob McMillan (NSW) is the early Finn top scorer, Finn O’Dea (WA) the best placed Laser 4.7 sailor after day one and Finn Alexander (NSW) the leading Laser Radial sailor.
Sydney’s waterfront suburb of Rose Bay was slammed by yesterday’s freak tornado that hit the city’s southern parts and WSC club staff and officials worked late into the evening to have the premises ready for the early morning arrival of cars, trailers and competitors.
The NSW Government through Transport for NSW is Sail Sydney’s safety partner and supporters Nautilus Marine, Gill Lejen Marine and NBsailsports have made generous contributions to the successful staging of the Yachting NSW event.
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by Lisa Ratcliff, Sail Sydney media
Prominent 49erFX combination reunites at Sail Sydney
18 December 2015
With an international Sail Sydney fleet of more than 400 competitors racing out of Rose Bay there are a multitude of stories worth telling. One of the more high profile is the reunion of 49erFX combination Haylee Outteridge and 2012 London Games silver medallist Nina Curtis fresh from her Nacra 17 Olympic qualification tilt with Darren Bundock.
Team selection for Australia’s 49erFX position at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is still up for grabs. Outteridge and Curtis know the status quo, and they are well aware they’ve left their run late so their immediate focus is on the Australian nationals, North American championships and Sailing World Cup Miami in January, then the skiff class’ world championship in February.
When Bundock and Curtis missed out selection to the Australian team she took some time to gather her thoughts before approaching Outteridge, her former sailing partner, who happened to be ready to go with a boat for the worlds. “She was like a coiled spring,” Curtis laughed.
It’s been two years since the women paired up in the newest women’s Olympic skiff class and at Sail Sydney Curtis says her execution is coming back faster than anticipated. “Sail Sydney came at a great time for us; to run-through getting around a race course before the nationals at the same venue but without the pressure. Our main goal is a good result at the world championship next February.
“I’ve learnt a lot sailing with Darren [Bundock] and I feel really lucky that while I’ll be behind on a lot of the FX aspects, being quite raw in the boat, maybe I can bring some new knowledge. I feel like I’ve learnt so much and am excited to transfer this to the new boat.”
“We are just trying to learn together as fast as possible,” Outteridge added. “We feel no pressure because we’ve come together so late. We are going to enjoy the process and see how far we can take it.”
Current Laser Radial youth world champion Conor Nicholas from West Australia leads the pack and is one of a strong west coast showing at the top of the results sheet. “We get these conditions all the time back home, nice and windy,” he said of today’s ample sea breeze.
“We have a really strong training group and we are coached by some of the best in the world in Arthur Brett and Tristan Brown. Having good depth in the squad is showing in our development, and the results reflect across all classes, not just in the Lasers.”
Third from a sizeable Radial fleet of 42 is WA teammate Alistair Young who is on his way to World Sailing’s Youth World Championships in Malaysia at the end of this month.
“Doing these regattas gets your mind-set into gear,” Young says. “Normal training isn’t enough; you need to get your head switched on for starts and playing the fleet. The field is super tough here, if you miss one little wind shift or make a mistake you can lose heaps of places.”
Laser Radial fleet in front of South Head - photo by Robin Evans
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Intermediate Optimist sailor Olivia Williams had a great opening day and sits second among a hefty starting list of 42 of the popular one design dinghies. On handling the afternoon’s gusty winds she said: “I managed OK…. I like the big winds. This regatta last year was my first. Sailing in Pittwater it’s really flat; here you get a chance to get on the waves!” Next for Williams is the AIODA Optimist Australian Championships at Georges River in January where she says a top three placing is not out of the question.
Forecast winds eventuated on day two of the four-day Sail Sydney series; 10kts NNE to kick-off the morning session and up over 20 knots for the afternoon’s closing races. There was plenty of wave action for the Laser fleets on their track between Sydney Heads, where the swell is often punishing. The consolation was surfing downwind with pace and getting up close to the gigantic Rolex Sydney Hobart big boats leaving the harbour for offshore training.
Leading scorers in each division are: Joel Turner and Tom Siganto (QLD) in the 49er skiff, Hong Kong 29er team of Yann D’Argenlieu and Nathan Bradley, Rome Featherstone (WA) in the Laser 4.7s, Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith (WA) in the 420s, Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA) in the Laser Standard, Rob McMillan (NSW) in the Finns, Nate Brown (NSW) in the Optimist Intermediate fleet and Ryan Littlechild (NSW) in the Optimist Open fleet.
Tomorrow’s forecast is for more of the same - nor’easters 15-25 knots. Sunday, December 20, could bring 30 knots to the racetrack. Joining the action tomorrow are the RS:Xs, Formula boards, Sabots, Tasars and Vipers.
The progressive pointscores for all divisions racing at Sail Sydney are available here.
The NSW Government is Sail Sydney’s safety partner. Supporters Nautilus Marine, Gill, Lejen Marine, Tohatsu Motors and NBsailsports have also generously contributed to the annual multi-class event hosted by Woollahra Sailing Club December 17-20.
By Lisa Ratcliff, Sail Sydney media
