AUSSIES TRIUMPH IN 49ER RACE 6
by Ian Grant on 21 Sep 2000
Katrina Butler
Triple World title winning skipper Chris Nicholson handed the Olympic 49er fleet a sailing lesson in the 6th race on Sydney Harbour today.
Nicholson as expected settled into a conservative tactical race plan to suit the unusual soft land breeze building a lead from the start to be 5 seconds ahead of the Dan Slater and Nathan Handley (NZL) with another 13 seconds to 2000 World title winners Santiago Lopez-Vazquez and Javier de la Plaza of Spain when spinnakers were set.
By the end of the run the Australian crew of Nicholson and his equally talented crew mate Daniel Philips had built up a race winning lead and then placed a perfect cover on their nearest rival as they sailed to their third win in six races.
The overnight title leaders Marcus Baur and Philip Barth of Germany struggled to finish 14th and have slipped to fourth place overall behind joint leaders Jonathan and Charlie McKee (USA) and Thomas Johanson/Jyrki Jarvi (Finland) and the Spanish crew of Santiago Lopez-Vazquez/Javier de la Plaza.
RACE 6 (PROVISIONAL) : AUS 1, GBR 2, ESP 3, FIN 4, UKR 5, DEN 6.
Provisional Pts: Race 6 (No Discard) USA 30pts 1, FIN 30pts 2, ESP 35pts 3, GER 38pts 4, GBR 42pts 5, AUS 49pts 6.
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