49er
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) enjoyed a positive return to the 49er at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne showing the expertise and precision that won than a comprehensive Olympic gold over a year ago. In a 12-boat fleet the Australians were dominant and opened up their first ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta of the 2013-14 series with double bullets and a third. After racing Outteridge said, “It’s nice to be back sailing the 49er. We’ve only really done one event, which is the worlds, since the Olympics so it’s really good to sailing in Melbourne and it was a good day for us.
“It was a tricky day and one of those Melbourne days where it wasn’t quite a sea breeze day. A puff would come in when the sun came out and you would get 10 knots and then it would shift 50 degrees left. It was a day where you had to sort of watch the sky to see what was happening.”
Outteridge and Jensen have a narrow one point lead over Will Phillips and Rhys Mara who placed second in all three races. Nath is wary of the threat their counterparts across the fleet pose, “Will is sailing really well and really consistent. Dave Gilmour and Sam Phillips won the other race so those two teams are pushing us a lot. The difference between first and eighth round the first mark is less than 20 seconds so it’s tight racing and everyone’s very close.”
Gilmour and Phillips sit in third three points off the London 2012 Olympic gold medallists whilst further back British duo Stevie Morrison and Chris Grube, trialling out at Melbourne, occupy seventh place.
49erFX
Norwegian twins Ragna and Maia Agerup took an early lead in the 49erFX but were fortunate after some errors from their opponents. “We won the first race but it was a bit of a coincidence because the people in front of us did the wrong course so didn’t finish properly,” commented Maia after racing.
With a surprise opening bullet the Norwegians continued their good form to put together some consistent results on a changeable race course. A fifth followed before they ended their day with a second and Maia was happy with the way things went, “Racing was pretty good. We had pretty good conditions. The wind picked up quite a lot in the last one so we’re quite happy.”
The Norwegian twins lead on eight points followed by Tessa Parkinson and Chelsea Hall (AUS), Haylee Outteridge and Ella Clark (AUS) and Caitlin Elks and Tess Lloyd (AUS) all tied on 11 points.
Daniel Smith
Website and Media Co-ordinator
Website and Media Co-ordinator
ISAF Secretariat
