International 14 World Championship - Crucial day for all top teams

by Tracey Johnstone on 15 Jan 2015 On the penultimate day of the 2015 International 14 World Championship today’s forecast of a 10 to 15 knot south-westerly and a flat Corio Bay, will eminently suit the fast teams competing in Geelong.

It’s a crucial day for all the top teams looking to secure their place in the class World Championship history book. If the breeze settles into a steady direction, the difference between those teams will come down to boat speed.

Now that five races have been completed, the only drop available has come into play. Glen Truswell and Sam Pascoe (GBR) are on four points from a scorecard of 1/2/1/1/1. They just need to sail clean, smart and fast today to cement their hold on the overall top place.

Luckily for Truswell and Pascoe they were in the boat park yesterday for a quick check over the boat. They found they had a major problem at the lower shroud attachment points. 'They were ripping out of the boat and they were just put in. Just showed us we could have lost our rig really easily the day before.

'It just proves how fickle it can be trying to win this type of event,' Truswell said.

'The forecast today looks really good. Not too light or fickle, nor too much wind. The difference today will be pure boat speed,' Truswell added.

In second place and champing at the bit to move up to first is Ben McGrane and James Hughes (GBR). They are on nine points from a scorecard of 3/1/2/3/68. After breaking their mast in Race five, their replacement mast is now in place and they are ready to race with the pressure fully on for them to make no mistakes in the remaining two races.
'It’s a new wind direction which we haven’t raced as yet. It will be flat out there. Boat speed, yes, that’s going to be key. Until we broke the mast we hadn’t scored outside the top three. This mast is the same as the other one so it should be a case of taking up where we left off,' McGrane said.

'Hopefully the others won’t come hunting for us too much. Those three boats should be worrying about each other so hopefully they will leave us alone for a bit,' McGrane added.

The battle between the three teams holding equal third place – Brad Devine and Ian Furlong (AUS), Archie Massey and Harvey Hillary (GBR), and Andy and Tom Partington (GBR) – will be fascinating to watch.

It’s been great racing between them. But, three may quickly become two before the day is over. Yesterday Devine found himself in considerable pain with a recurring lower back problem. This morning he is still in enough discomfort that his back is likely to impact on his performance around today’s track. Devine is disappointed and frustrated. He is so close to a podium place at the end of the regatta and successfully defending his Australian Championship title.

Today’s race is scheduled to start at 2pm.