London Olympics 2012 - Belcher and Page on hold in Weymouth

by Craig Heydon on 10 Aug 2012 At the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, a lack of breeze in Weymouth has pushed back Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page’s shot at London 2012 gold until Friday. The 470 men’s medal race was scheduled for 1pm on Thursday but light conditions kept the fleet in the boat park until racing was eventually cancelled at 4.30pm.

Belcher and Page will now take on Great Britain’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell for the 470 men’s gold medal on Friday, with the race to take place at 12pm.

Friday will now be a busy day on the Nothe spectator course with the 470 men, women and Women’s Match Racing fleets in action, with Australians racing in all three classes.

After the 470 men’s medal race the 470 women’s fleet will hit the water with Elise Rechichi and Belinda Stowell currently sixth overall.

Rechichi and Stowell have a slim chance of bringing home the bronze medal and will be pushing hard in the 10 boat decider to close the gap.

Immediately after that Australia’s Women’s Match Racing crew of Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty will come up against Finland in a first to three wins semifinal.

Price, Curtis and Whitty have been the standout performers of the regatta, going through the round robin with a perfect 11 wins from 11 starts. The Australians took on the Dutch crew skippered by Renee Groeneveld in the quarterfinal, going through to the semis three wins to one.

The Women’s Match Racing medals will be decided on Saturday.

Current Australian standings:

49er – Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen – Gold Medal Winner
Laser – Tom Slingsby – Gold Medal Winner
470 men – Malcolm Page and Mathew Belcher – first overall
Women’s Match Racing – Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty – qualified for semifinal
470 women – Elise Rechichi and Belinda Stowell – sixth overall
RS:X women – Jessica Crisp – 11th overall - finished
Laser Radial – Krystal Weir – 12th overall – finished
Finn – Brendan Casey – 13th overall - Australian Sailing Team website