Melbourne to launch 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Series

by ISAF on 7 Dec 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne will kick start the 2015 series with racing scheduled to take place from 8-14 December 2014 in Port Phillip Bay.

As the dust settles on the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final that took place in Abu Dhabi from 26-30 November, attentions have turned to the 2015 series. Melbourne will kick start the proceedings before the sailors head to the USA, France, Great Britain and an Asian venue.

2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final Abu Dhabi places will be up for grabs along with the glory of gold and the sweet taste of victory in the ten Olympic events.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne marks the one year anniversary of Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis’ partnership in the Nacra 17. The pair have taken to the mixed multihull exceedingly well, winning the 2013 Melbourne title and picking up bronze at World Cup Mallorca and Hyeres.

'2014 was a huge year for us playing catch up with the fleet,' said Curtis. 'We put in a huge amount of hours training, racing and preparing our equipment. We have another big year planned for 2015 so we are planning on being fresh going into the European season so we can get the most out of the season.'

Bundock and Curtis defeated Euan McNicol and Lucinda Whitty (AUS) and Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS) to take the 2013 Melbourne honours and they will be joined by them again in 2014.

After finishing ninth at the Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds Bundock and Curtis enjoyed some time away from the Nacra 17 to rest up and prepare for another busy season as they aim for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 'Bundy and I are very happy with our preparations looking forward to Rio. While our worlds result wasn't as strong as we hoped we put together a great year of consistently strong results and podium finishes. We have a solid plan in place for what it will take to win a gold medal at Rio and we are very happy with our progress.

'While we will have a small Nacra fleet here (Melbourne) the racing will be fierce and tight, every team turning up is going for the win. It should make for some exciting racing.'

In the internal battle for the single Australian Rio 2016 Nacra 17 spot Waterhouse and Darmanin staked a huge claim by getting the better of Bundock and Curtis at the ISAF Worlds. Waterhouse and Darmanin took bronze in Santander and will use that learning curve throughout 2015, 'Obviously we were really happy with securing a spot on the podium at the worlds this year,' said Darmanin. 'I think it was encouraging to be up there with sailors that are much older and experienced than us.

'I think it proved we can mix it with the best, we still have so much to learn about Olympic racing so I believe we will keep on improving this next year and be a force to be reckoned with come Rio 2016.'

Japan’s Hiroki Goto and Wakako Tabata are the only international competitors in the Nacra 17 fleet but Darmanin is expecting some excellent competition regardless, 'It's great to have a World Cup on Australian shores, we have only one international coming which is unfortunate, as many are in Rio. But we are going down to support the regatta as Sandringham is a great place to sail and we can showcase the Nacra to Australians and hopefully convince more people to come next year.'

Tough competition is expected in the Laser Radial with some strong sailors across the 31-boat fleet. Alison Young (GBR) comes in as favourite following victory at Sail Sydney and a fourth at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi. Further podium hopefuls include defending Melbourne champion Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR), Canada’s Isabella Bertold, home favourite Ashley Stoddart and Turkey’s Nazli Cagla Donertas.

Bjorn Allansson (SWE) makes a Melbourne return to defend the title he picked up in 2013. The Swede, who is World number one in the Finn, will be joined by World number three Jake Lilley (AUS), World number eight Oliver Tweddell (AUS) and 2014 ISAF Worlds bronze medallist Ed Wright (GBR).

The Men’s and Women’s RS:X features some good sail board racers. Cyprus’ Andreas Cariolou will be joined by Juozas Bernotas (LTU) in the Men’s division. Both competitors come in well prepared following racing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final. A string of Russian competitors and Australia’s Jock Calvert will also be in the men’s mix. In the women’s fleet Stefania Elfutina (RUS) and Maria Mollestad (NOR) will be the ones to watch.

Racing is scheduled to commence at 12:00 local time on 8 December 2014.