ISAF Sailing World Cup - Five Australian crews advance to Medal Race

by Cora Zillich on 30 Jan 2016 2016 ISAF Sailing World Cup - Miami - Australian Sailing Team’s Colin Harrison (WA), Jonathan Harris (NSW) and Russell Boaden (WA) have wrapped up their first international regatta of the year with a silver medal in the Paralympic Sonar class. Nine months out from the Paralympic Games in Rio the team is looking strong after having finished on the podium at every international regatta since the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

While the Paralympic boat classes finished in Miami on Friday, 29 January 2016 local time, it was the last day of fleet racing in the Olympic classes with five Australian Sailing crews advancing to the Medal races on Saturday, January 30, 2016 local time.

Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) continue to be the top ranked Australian crew and will wear the yellow leaders jersey into the final Nacra 17 medal race.

Nathan Outteridge (NSW) and Iain Jensen (NSW) climbed up into fifth on the last day of Gold fleet racing in the 49er and teammates David Gilmour (WA) and Lewis Brake (QLD) will go into the final day ranked seventh.

Jake Lilley (QLD) advanced to the medal race in the Finn class in fourth, while Matt Wearn (WA) completes the Australian contingent in the medal races with a seventh place in the Laser.

Medal Races on Saturday 30 January local time will bring the Sailing World Cup Miami to a close with races to be broadcast live and viewavle here on Sail-World.com from 11:00 EST (AEST +16hrs)

Paralympic class – Sonar

The silver medal for Australian Sailing Team’s Sonar crew of Colin Harrison (WA), Jonathan Harris (NSW) and Russell Boaden (WA) wraps up a couple of eventful months for Australian Sailing’s Paralympic sailors including the Para World Sailing Championships and the Sailing World Cup Melbourne in December.

The silver medal adds to a string of successful regattas with the team having finished on the podium at every event since the London 2012 Paralympic Games and after winning World Championship silver and World Cup gold in December.

“It was a tough week with tight racing and close finishes, but to come away with a silver is a great result. With such close racing it’s great to stay up the front and on the podium,” Colin Harrison said.

The team posted a strong two – two - three series on the final day, which moved them up into the Silver spot.

The Sonar was won by Canada with France following in third and World Champion Great Britain in fourth.

And looking ahead Colin added, “following on from Miami it’s important to keep to the front end of the fleet and just to keep looking for ways to improve ourselves, to get better on the race track and making smarter decisions.”

Paralympic racers have a relatively quiet period before it gets busy again in April and May with the Sailing World Cups Hyeres and Weymouth and Portland as well as the Para World Sailing Championships in Medemblik, the Netherlands.

Nacra 17

It will be a three way shootout for the Nacra 17 honors with the top three teams holding unassailable advantages over the fourth placed team.

Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin successfully defended the yellow leaders jersey on the last day of fleet racing and have a medal secured going into Saturday’s medal race.

Eight points separate the top three in what has been a high scoring week in the Nacra 17 with every team surpassing 100 net points.

Australia’s Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin have remained the most consistent racers over the 15-race series. Going into the Medal Race the Australians have a six point advantage over Switzerland’s Matias Buhler and Nathalie Brugger.

“Such a tricky day today! Miami was throwing everything at us, which meant a lot of tacking especially for a catamaran”, Lisa Darmanin said. “There was a lot of picking the right thing to do and it helped if luck was on your side. Obviously we’re happy to be leading going into medal race and we can't lose a medal, we just want to make sure it's the right colour.”

Australian Sailing Squad’s Euan McNicol (NSW) and Lucinda Whitty (NSW) finish the regatta in 24th.

49er

After jumping up the ranks and into the top ten on his birthday on Thursday (local time), Nathan Outteridge and crew Iain Jensen continued the upward trend on the last day of Gold fleet racing posting a three – ten – eight - thirteen series which moved them into sixth place ahead of the final Medal Race.

Teammates David Gilmour (WA) and Lewis Brake (QLD), who were the top ranked Australian Team throughout the week, also qualified for the medal race ranked seventh after a thirteen – twenty two – six - seven series.

Australian Sailing’s third crew of Queenslanders Joel Turner and Tom Siganto started the last day of fleet racing strongly by posting a fourth and seventh place, followed by a 26th and 23rd. This moved them up four places to finish the regatta in 24th in the 61-boat fleet.

49erFX

In the women’s skiff Haylee Outteridge (NSW) and Olympic silver medallist Nina Curtis (NSW) just missed out of the medal race ranked 13th but finished their first international regatta back together as the highest ranked 49erFX crew.

“The last day here was pretty difficult. It was really shifty and the breeze was coming sort of out of the buildings in the city. Also, the breeze was dying, which made it quite tricky with a couple of races abandoned and postponed because of huge wind shifts.

We didn’t have quite as good a day as we had hoped but everyone’s results were quite mixed.

This event was our first taste of where we sit internationally. We didn’t really know where we’d be coming into this. But we’re really happy with how we’re going and racing against some of the best in the world here. That’s been quite exciting for us.”

Olympic silver medallist Olivia Price (NSW) and crew Eliza Solly (VIC) started the last day of fleet racing strongly with a tenth place, followed by a 21st and 26th to finish the regatta in 28th.

“It was really tricky today and a whole bunch of shifts going on and a whole lot of pressure changes. We struggled in a bit in the lighter stuff, handling unknown equipment. We were just trying to figure out throughout the day what sort of settings to use and what would be the most beneficial way to go,” Olivia Price said.

Australian Sailing Squad’s third 49erFX crew of Tess Lloyd (VIC) and Caitlin Elks (WA) finished the regatta in 23rd.

Laser

In the Laser, World number one Tom Burton missed out of the top-ten medal race after a challenging last day with a high-score series of 18-26-27. This saw him drop from eighth to 13th and thus outside the medal race ranks.

“I finished a day earlier than I would have liked and in 13th. The day was super tough, pretty shifty and nothing really went right. The last few events have been a little like that for me, which is a frustrating and it’s hard to link things together. So it’s back to the drawing board I think.”

Teammate and World number two Matt Wearn also had an up and down day, which started with a black flag, but recovered with a third and eleventh place. This qualified the Western Australian for the medal race in seventh.

“It was a tricky day with a north westerly and three races. The first race was a bit more stressful than I was hoping. But at the end of the day I finished off with a three and eleven, which sees me through to the medal race, which I’m happy about and the points are pretty close,” Matt Wearn said.

Finn

Australian Sailing’s Finn sailor Jake Lilley (QLD) goes into the medal race ranked fourth after a sixth, second and 18th in the last three races.

470M/W

Both Australian Sailing men and women 470 crews competing at Miami missed out of the medal race after finishing the regatta in 13th and 14th respectively.

In the Women’s 470 Carrie Smith (WA) and Jaime Ryan (QLD) had an up and down event but finished the last two races with a top five result in the 18-boat fleet.

They will be aiming to build on this for the 470 World Championships coming up in Argentina at the end of February (20-27 February 2016).

“The week was tricky for us and we learnt a lot. We’ve been trying to work on a few different things including our starting and it showed in our results that we were pushing them pretty hard,” Carrie Smith said.

But we made some really big gains in the areas we wanted to improve in, while in the fleet and racing against the best, including the current World Champions. It was a bit of a mix in the fleet but the good guys who were here are definitely the best in our fleet and it was great to be racing against them.”

“We had a few experiences that we needed to have. And now it’s about putting those together for the regattas, which will really count for us and our long term goals versus our short term goals here in Miami.”

The pair only recently qualified for the Australian Sailing Team after finishing ninth at the 470 World Champs in Israel at the end of October last year. They also qualified the boat class for Rio at the World Champs and are aiming for selection over the next few months.

In the men’s 470 Australian Sailing Squad’s youngsters from Victoria Tom Klemens and Tim Hannah kicked-off the regatta strongly with a third place, but had to settle with a 13th in the 21 boat fleet in the end. They will also compete at the World Championships in Argentina next.

World Champions and World number one Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD), who have already been selected on to the Olympic Team, did not contest Miami, but will start their 2016 international season at the 470 World Championships in Argentina.

Australian Sailing Team and Squad athletes at Sailing World Cup Miami

Olympic Classes

Mixed Multi-hull – Nacra 17

- Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) – AST: 19, 3, 3, 4, 3, 11, 2, (22), 8, 11, 4, 10, 5, 15, 7 – first
- Euan McNicol (NSW) and Lucinda Whitty (NSW) – ASS: 8, 37, 24, 21, (44), 12, 31, 8, 6, 17, 15, 34, 26, 31, 29 – 24th

Men’s Skiff – 49er

- Nathan Outteridge (NSW) and Iain Jensen (NSW) – AST: 24, 10, 9, 12, 3, 5, 2, (32 BFD), 10, 2, 3, 10, 8, 13 – sixth
- David Gilmour (WA/WAIS/AST) and Lewis Brake (QLD/QAS/ASS): 11, 1, 7, 7, (21), 9, 10, 2, 13, 12, 13, 22, 6, 7 – seventh
- Joel Turner (QLD/QAS/AST) and Tom Siganto (QLD/QAS/ASS): 8, 17, 14, 15, 6, 15, 20, 18, 15, (25), 4, 7, (26), 23 – 24th

Women's Skiff – 49erFX

- Haylee Outteridge (NSW/ASS) and Nina Curtis (NSW/AST): 6, (18 STP), 8, 16, 15, 13, 2, (34), 21, 13, 13, 14, 16 – 13th
- Olivia Price (NSW) and Eliza Solly (VIC/VIS) – ASS: 9, 25, 29, 18, 31, 30, (33), 33, 27, 10, 10, 21, 16 – 28th t
- Tess Lloyd (VIC/VIS) and Caitlin Elks (WA/WAIS) – ASS: 18, 20, 15, 28, 6, 35 (DNF), 28, 18, 19, 35 DNS, 15, 28, 12 – 24th

Men's One Person Dinghy – Laser

- Tom Burton (NSW) – AST: 34, 4, 2, 12, 9, 3, 14, 18, 26, 27 – 13th
- Matt Wearn (WA/WAIS) – AST: 2, 23, 20, 1, 3, 12, 9, 50 BFD, 3, 11 – seventh

Men's Two Person Dinghy – 470M

- Tom Klemens (VIC/VIS) and Tim Hannah (VIC/VIS) – ASS: 3, 8, 12, 9, 16, (17), 12, 16, 8 ,16 – 13th

Women's Two Person Dinghy – 470W

- Carrie Smith (WA/WAIS) and Jaime Ryan (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 10, (18 BFD), 18 OCS, 18 DSQ, 11, 13, 9, 18 BFD, 4, 5 – 14th

Men's One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight) – Finn

- Jake Lilley (QLD/QAS) – ASS: 9, 47 (BFD), 1, 2, 5, 6, 2, 18 – fourth

Paralympic Boat Classes

Three-Person keelboat – Sonar

- Colin Harrison (WA/WAIS), Jonathan Harris (NSW/NSWIS), Russell Boaden (WA/WAIS) – AST: 6, 3, 2, 2,2, (7),3, 2, 3, 3 – second