Phillips Ready to Fire - Honeymoon Crew to Knot It Together in Sydney
by Nick Vindin 20 Mar 2018 15:01 PDT
23-25 March 2018
Record Point flying along the Gold Coast © Andrea Francolini
Australian Sailing Champion Sam Phillips acknowledges his multinational crew on Record Point form an unlikely trio but the Victorian is still eyeing off glory at the Expr3ss SuperFoiler Grand Final this weekend in Sydney. “We are well and truly in the honeymoon period at the moment,” said Sam Phillips. “We only really met each other a few weeks ago so we are still getting to know each other, I guess you could say the relationships are still new, it is still fresh. We are really happy and are looking to get good results here.”
The decorated skiff sailor was drafted onto World Match Racing Champion Phil Robertson’s SuperFoiler Record Point as a replacement for two crew members who were injured in the opening event in Adelaide – though Phillips wasn’t nervous about the boats shaky start and has quickly found his groove. “I guess you could say we are the dark horse. I came in late in the second event in Geelong. I’ve been trying to learn as quickly as I can so we will just have to see where we get to,” said Record Point’s mainsheet hand who minted his role on home shores in Victoria.
Though Phillips hasn’t completely filled the void left by the man he replaced James Wierzbowski, who has been aiding Record Point at every turn – still eager to see his team succeed in the crowning of a debut SuperFoiler Grand Prix Champion. “Wiz is always around and is constantly chucking us a few hints and a few pointers from what he can see in the commentary box so he is well and truly in our corner so he is great to have,” said Phillips.
For the final event of the nation-wide breakthrough series the Australian Phillips will again link with Scottish America’s Cup sailor Neil Hunter and New Zealand helmsman Phil Robertson – who decided to tune up for the SuperFoiler Grand Prix’s pinnacle event by clocking up a podium finish in Oman for the opening leg of the Extreme Sailing Series. “Phil is a competitive bloke so he is always looking to go one better,” said Phillips, “I caught up with him after he landed in Sydney and we laid out a plan, we are all really excited for the final event in Sydney. Double points up for grabs so it is all on the line.”
Record Point is just eight points off the SuperFoiler series lead, and with 12 points on offer for the winning crew in Sydney they are still in contention to claim the Ben Lexcen trophy. Although Phillips knows they will have to improve their finesse with the unique challenges in play around Sydney’s Shark Island. “Something we will look to this week is our light wind sailing. There is definitely room for improvement there,” said Phillips, “It is a really tricky waterway with a lot of boats and a chopped-up sea-state so it will make for some interesting racing.”
The Expr3ss! SuperFoiler Grand Final - Sydney will reach its epic conclusion on Sydney Harbour across Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th of March 2018.
Championship Standings heading into the Final Regatta - Euroflex (19), tech2 (17), Pavement (16), Record Point (12), iD Intranet (11) and Kleenmaid (10).