Sail Sydney entices Olympic Gold medalist

by Jane Gordon on 29 Sep 2016 Rio Olympic Gold Medalist, Tom Burton has confirmed he will be competing at Sail Sydney this December 15 to 18 at Woollahra Sailing Club.

Following his triumphant success at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Burton has returned to Australia and hit the ground running in a whirlwind of athlete appearances including schools visits and Olympian Welcome Home formalities organised by the Australian Olympic Committee.

”The support we’ve had since returning home has been amazing. We’ve been to some fantastic welcome home events, and the enthusiasm we’ve had from the sailing community has been phenomenal,” Tom said.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out to more clubs and events to thank everyone for their support.'

Sail Sydney 2016 is expected to attract over 300 competitors eager to take on and tame the waters of the Sydney Harbour. Burton has competed at the event before and is all praise for the event that he has previously competed at and tasted success.

“Sail Sydney is a big event on the calendar and has had lots of boats attend in previous years. I can remember back to 2008 where the laser fleet was huge and hopefully over the coming years we can get it back to something similar,” Tom added.

Event organisers are expecting this year’s version of Sail Sydney to attract a large contingent of local and international competitors alike. Australian Sailing’s NSW/ACT Regional Manager, Declan Brennan said the inclusion of Tom Burton will be a great draw card to the event.

“Sail Sydney is renowned for attracting high quality fleets and having Tom enter this year’s event is an invitation for all sailors to come to Sydney to sail against the best Laser sailor in the world,” Declan said.

Burton will be sailing in the Laser class that in the past has attracted a high number of entrants. Sail Sydney 2016 will also be offering racing in over 10 classes including Optimists, 49ers, 470 and Finn.

“Sail Sydney is such a great opportunity for everyone, young or old, to compete against some tough competition on the harbour which we (Australian Sailing Team) do so much of our training,” Tom said.

To access the Notice of Race click here.

Enter online now and be a part of Sail Sydney 2016.

Sail Sydney 2016 is proudly supported by the NSW Government through Transport for NSW, Nautilus Marine Boat Insurance, Gill Marine Technical Clothing, Steve Jarvin Motors, Tohatsu Outboards, Lejen Marine and Sydney Harbour Boat Storage.