Belcher and Page lead the way on day one of Sail Melbourne

by Craig Heydon on 13 Dec 2010 Light winds and a lack of racing has dominated proceedings on day one of Sail Melbourne with Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page leading the way for the Australian Sailing Team in the men’s 470 fleet.

After delays for much of the day racing finally got underway late in the afternoon with just one race for the 470, 49er and Laser fleets while the Skud 18 and 2.4mR fared better with two races completed.

Belcher and Page kicked off their 2010/2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup in style winning the opening race ahead of Australian Sailing Development Squad members Sam Kivell and Will Ryan.

'It was a good way to start our regatta today, and nice to finally get onto the water after sitting around all day,' said Belcher. 'While the conditions were light it was definitely sailable and if it wasn’t 7pm I’m sure we would have got another race in.'

'The race management were patient and waited for the conditions to settle and we were able to go racing when many others didn’t.'

The pair didn’t have it all their own way and were pushed the whole way to the finish by the Austrian women’s crew skippered by Sylvia Vogl.

'While we don’t get scored with the women’s fleet it’s always nice to get a win overall,' said Page. 'They were quicker upwind but we had the edge downwind and luckily it was a downwind finish.'

'It’s great to see such close racing between the men’s and women’s fleets,' he said. 'There aren’t many classes in sailing where you’ll see that.'

In the Skud 18 class 2011 Australian Sailing Team members Ame Barnbrook and Lindsay Mason finished the day second behind Great Britain’s Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell after picking up two second place finishes with fellow AST crew Daniel Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox third.

'It was very light and patchy today making it a little frustrating on the water,' said Cox. 'We’re slowly getting back into it and coming to terms with racing in an old boat as we’ve sent our new boat to Miami already.'
'We were searching for pressure wherever we could find it today,' she said.

In the Laser fleet ASDS member Tom Burton won the opening race with three-time World Champion Tom Slingsby 12th.

The ASDS was well represented with Ryan Palk eighth, ahead of Jared West in 10th, James Burman in 11th Ashley Brunning in 19th and Klade Hauschildt in 29th.

49er crew Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen had a tough opening race in the light conditions and after leading into the top mark for the first time slipped backwards after being caught out at the side of the fleet to eventually finish 15th.

In the 2.4mR class ASDS member Greg Hyde is third following a seventh and a first while Matthew Bugg recorded a third and a fifth to be fourth overall.

The Laser Radial and Finn fleets were unable to complete a race while the RS:X athletes didn’t even leave the shore on the opening day.

For regatta results visit www.sailmelbourne.com.au.

For more information on the Australian Sailing Team visit www.australiansailingteam.com.au.