49er and 49erFX European Championships - Slow penultimate day

by Craig Heydon on 7 Jul 2013 At the 2013 49er and 49erFX European Championships light winds have made for a slow penultimate day in Aarhus Denmark.

The lack of breeze kept the crews on shore on Saturday morning, once racing finally got underway the gold 49er and 49erFX fleets both managed to complete two races.

Olivia Price and Caitlin Elks started the day 12th in the 49erFX fleet, with the top eight to progress to Sunday’s finals.

Price and Elks were 14th in the opening race of the day and 16th in race two, slipping one position to be 13th overall. The pair will contest the petit-final on Sunday, if they come out on top against the boats currently positioned ninth through to 16th they’ll progress to the final.

In the silver fleet Tessa Parkinson and Chelsea Hall narrowly missed out on a position in the petit-final, finish one point behind the leaders. Parkinson and Hall were 11th in race one on Saturday and 12th on race two, with their Spanish opponents progressing to the next stage of the competition.

Fellow Australians Haylee Outteridge and Nina Curtis finished third in the silver fleet after a pair of 13ths, one point behind Parkinson and Hall. Ella Giudice and Kate Lathouras were fourth and eighth in the day’s two races, finishing in seventh position.

In the 49er fleet Will Phillips and Rhys Mara will race in the petit-final on Sunday after finishing in 15th position. The pair moved up one spot from their overnight 16th after a seventh and a 16th in the light conditions.

Queensland pair Joel Turner and Lewis Brake finished the day 30th after a 10th and a 14th. David Gilmour and Sam Phillips are fifth in the silver fleet, two places ahead of fellow Australians Peter Kendall and Harry Bethwaite.

Luke Parkinson and Fang Warren ended the day 20th, while George Davies and Jack Lloyd are fourth in the bronze fleet.

At the 2013 RS:X European Championships in Brest, France, Joanna Sterling is currently in 20th position after four days of racing. West Australian windsurfer Paris Stowell ended the day in 37th overall.

In the youth women’s event Annalise Gilbert is 36th, and in the youth men’s Jock Calvert is 44th. Both Gilbert and Calvert will next head to Cyprus to represent Australia at the 2013 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.

For more on the Australian Sailing Team visit the Team website.