Sail Sydney 2012 Day 2 - Plenty of action in solid breeze

by Andrew Hawkins on 16 Dec 2012 As we head into day three of Sail Sydney 2012 the competitors are tired but happy. The wind gods have been kind bringing 15-20 knots, though the afternoon of day two saw some gusts coming down the harbour up around 25 knots.

Day two - The Laser 4.7s and the 29ers join the fleet on Sydney Harbour and the waters were alive with sails. Commuters making the daily grind back to Manly were treated to a spectacle of coloured spinnakers as over twenty-five 29ers competed with the Opera House as a back drop.

After three races Joel Turner and Florian Hagen (AUS) hold onto the lead in the 29er fleet but not by any margin at all. Henry Makin and Grant Makin (AUS) are on seven points with them and both boats are closely followed by Harry Price and Angus Williams (AUS) on nine points.

The Laser 4.7s are another big fleet of over 25 boats and once again there is not a lot in the point score. With three races down Richard Maher (AUS) holds onto the lead with nine points followed by Brodie Crossman (AUS) on eleven points. Sam Booth (AUS) rounds off the top three but the level of competition suggests there will be changes on the board in coming days.

The 49ers enjoyed every minute of the big breeze though a couple came back early with rig issues. Luke Parkinson and Rhys Mara (AUS) are still in the lead after two days of racing. With four bullets and two seconds out of six races they are the ones to beat.

Peter Kendall and Bryce Waters (AUS) are in second place in the 49er fleet. Waters is obviously enjoying the conditions inside the harbour. After trying his hand at ocean sailing in past months, he has decided the speed and lack of sea sickness is much more preferable. Edward Hackney and Sean O’Rourke (AUS) are in third place on eighteen points.

Alex Maloney and Molly Meech (NZ) are continuing their winning streak in the 49er FX class. Winning down south at Sail Melbourne and now winning all six races so far at Sail Sydney has given them a lot of confidence in the early stages of their campaign.

Ella Giudice and Caitlin Elks (AUS) are holding onto second place after dropping race five and Haylee Outteridge and Alison Dale (AUS) are putting the pressure on in third. Silver medallist from London in the match racing, Olivia Price and her crew Alanna Clancy (AUS) are in fourth.

Olympian Mathew Belcher has taken his new crew Will Ryan and cleaned up winning all seven races so far. With the ten they won in Melbourne, they now hold a winning streak of seventeen races and the grins say it all.

Mathew and Robert Crawford (AUS) are happy to learn from Belcher and Ryan’s tactics but are pushing them hard with five second places already. Alexander and Patrick Conway (AUS) are further back but holding onto third place.

Xavier Winston-Smith and Joshua Dawson are benefiting from the master as they lead the 420 fleet at the end of seven races. They received some tips from dual gold medallist Malcolm Page before he set off to the Olympics and are now showing that their dedication and a few pointers are paying off.

Klaus Lorenz and James Scott (AUS) are second in the 420s but have a bit of catch up to do whilst James Griffin and Tom Milburn (AUS) are glad they can drop their race four to let them still be in contention in third place.

Over thirty Lasers are contesting in the mens class at Sail Sydney and the Kiwi Sam Meech is showing his sailing blood. With six races down he is still in the lead but now that the drop has come into play he may want to watch his back. Tom Burton (AUS) is just three points behind and Ashley Brunning, on the appropriately named I’ve got your back, is only another two behind Burton.

Big fleets of Laser Radials are also at Sail Sydney in a variety of classes. Ashley Stoddart (AUS) and Louise Evans (AUS) sail together up in Queensland and down here they are neck and neck with both of them on seven points. Madison Kennedy (AUS) is third in the women’s fleet behind Stoddart and Evans.

Forty two sailors are competing in the Laser Radial youth fleet and Jon Emmett (AUS) is holding onto the lead going into day three. All states are represented in this popular class and it is state against state as Thomas Vincent (AUS) sits in second place and Louise Evans (AUS) in third.

After five races in the SKUD class it is all Desiree Lim (SIN) with an unbroken record of wins. David Staley (AUS) remains in second and Alan Merry (AUS) in third. The Finn scoreboard is also unchanged after day two with Jake Lilley (AUS) in first, and Dirk Seret (AUS) in second.

A lot of boats and a lot of sailors have made Sail Sydney a very popular regatta for 2012. For all the action and more detailed scoring, see the website at www.sailsydney.org.au