Casey closes in on lead at Kiel Week

by Brendan Casey on 19 Jun 2012 Australian Finn sailor Brendan Casey has had a great day on the water at the ISAF Sailing World Cup round in Kiel, Germany. After a pair of race wins Casey is closing the gap to the regatta leader.

Severe storm warnings made for a disjointed day three of racing in Kiel but Casey made the most of the tricky conditions to win both Finn races to hold down his second position, and is now just three points behind Estonia’s Deniss Karpak.

Casey will make his Olympic debut this year with the ISAF Sailing World Cup event his final hit out before London 2012.

'Day three in Kiel was full of weather surprises,' said Casey. 'I’m happy with my performance today, closing the points gap to the leader and extending on balance of the fleet.

'We’ve got three races scheduled for Tuesday with the medal race planned for Wednesday so there’s lots of sailing still to come,' he said. 'It’s also great to see the younger guys mixing it up here in Kiel in the Laser and Laser Radial fleets. Ryan Palk, Ashley Stoddart, Jake Lilley and Mitch Kennedy all performed well today.'

In the Laser class Ryan Palk has moved up from his overnight sixth to be fifth overall after the first two gold fleet races. Palk finished the day with an eighth and a fifth to be 11 points off the podium with two days of racing remaining.

Jake Lilley had two strong races with a 10th and a third shooting him up from his overnight 18th to be 11th overall amongst a tight group of sailors. Mitchell Kennedy also moved his way up the ladder on day three, going from 24th to 20th with fellow Australian Ki-Raphael Sulkowski 66th.

In the Laser Radial fleet Ashley Stoddart continues to hold down her sixth position after another consistent day of racing. Stoddart crossed the line fourth in race one and seventh in race two to be within striking distance of the podium with three fleet races and the medal race remaining. Angus Galloway and Tim Hannah remain 12th in the 470 men’s fleet with just one race possible on Monday.

Full results here