2016 Rio Olympic Games - Australian Sailing Team warming up in Rio

by Cora Zillich on 5 Aug 2014 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games - With two years to go to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, selected crews of the Australian Sailing Team are currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Olympic Sailing venue of Guanabara Bay for Rio’s first Olympic test event. Officially titled 'Aquece Rio – International Sailing Regatta 2014', the regatta is the first of all Olympic test events and the first of two 'Test Events' for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition. The regatta, held from three - nine August, is the largest Olympic class sailing competition ever held in Brazil.

Racing was supposed to kick-off for the Australia Crews yesterday, Monday, August four Rio time, but unfortunately, for the 324 sailors from 34 countries it was not perfect conditions for sailboat racing as light winds forced the Race Committee to cancel all the day's racing by 16:00. With a cold front forecast to pass through Rio de Janeiro that will bring showers, stronger breeze and an increase in wave size, racing is now scheduled to start for the Australian Sailing Team on Tuesday, August five from 11:00 local time (midnight AEST).

With Nathan Outteridge (NSW) and Iain Jensen (NSW) racing in the 49er fleet and Mat Belcher contesting in the Men’s 470 fleet, Australia is represented in Rio with no less than three London 2012 Olympic gold medallists.

New in the Olympic program in 2016 will be the Nacra17, the mixed-gender multi-hull class, and Australia has four Olympic silver medallists in this Rio test event fleet: dual Olympic Silver Medallist Darren Bundock is teamed up with London Olympic Silver Medallist Nina Curtis (NSW), while Curtis’ Women’s Match Racing Silver winning crew mate Lucinday Whitty (NSW) is sailing the Nacra17 together with Silver winning coach-turned-athlete Euan McNicol (NSW). In the 49erFX, which is also a new addition to the 2016 Olympic program, London Women’s Match Racing Olympic Silver medallist Olivia Price will test the Rio waters together with crew Eliza Solly (VIC).

At a press briefing for the opening of the regatta Olympic gold medallist Mat Belcher said: 'We're really excited to be here. It's the first time we've been here and we're really impressed with the venue, the organisers and what sort of event we can expect for our class. It's a big opportunity for the athletes to enjoy the environment, get an understanding as to what we can expect in a few years' time, the currents, geographical effects and what type of wind we can expect.'

The ISAF Sailing World Championships coming up in Santander, Spain in September (12-21 September 2014) are the main focus for the Australian Sailing Team from a performance point of view this year as well as an Olympic qualifying event. Nevertheless Aquece Rio provides the perfect opportunity to get to know the area and venue and test the Olympic waters.

Two years out of the Olympic Games the Australian Sailing Team has embraced Rio as well as some of the challenges of the course and are excited for the road ahead:



Racing for Tuesday, five August is set to commence at 11:00 local time (24:00 AEST). Having lost a day of racing all of the fleets will sail three races on Tuesday.

Medal racing will take place local time on Friday, eight August (49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17) and Saturday, nine August (470 Men, Laser, Laser Radial).

For more information visit website.

Australian Sailing’s Athletes racing at the 2014 Rio Test Event:

49er:
Nathan Outteridge (NSW) / Iain Jensen (NSW)
Steve Thomas / Rhys Mara (NSW)

49erFX:
Olivia Price (NSW) / Eliza Solly (VIC)

470M:
Mat Belcher (QLD) / Will Ryan (QLD)
Angus Galloway (QLD) / Rob Crawford (NSW)

Nacra17:
Darren Bundock (NSW) / Nina Curtis (NSW)
Euan McNicol (NSW) / Lucinda Whitty (NSW)

Laser
Tom Burton (NSW)
Matt Wearn (WA)

Laser Radial:
Ashley Stoddart (QLD)

 The Racing Schedule with Australian Participation:

Event	Racing dates	Number of scheduled races
Laser (Men’s one person dinghy)	4-9 August	10 + Medal Race
Laser Radial (Women’s one person dinghy)	4-9 August	10 + Medal Race
Men’s 470 (Two person dinghy)	4-9 August	10 + Medal Race
49er (Men’s skiff)	4-8 August	12 + Medal Race
49erFX (Women’s skiff)	4-8 August	12 + Medal Race
Nacra17 (Mixed multihull)	4-8 August	12 + Medal Race