Aussies in Miami, Paralympic shock, Sail Port Stephens and Eighteens

by Rob Kothe and the Sail-World Team on 3 Feb 2015 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup - Miami. Australian crews won two silver medals in the Men’s 470 and Men’s 49er skiff as well as two bronze medals in the Laser and Finn class

Men’s 470 World Champions Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD) finished their first international regatta of the 2015 season with a silver. Men’s 49er skiff sailors Joel Turner (QLD) and Iain Jensen (NSW) added another silver after a great week for the pair who has only been sailing together for a few days.

Already yesterday (Friday, 30 January 2015 Miami local time) London 2012 Paralympic gold medallists Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch took home the win in the SKUD 18 with Paralympian Matt Bugg (TAS) finishing the regatta in fifth.

Western Australian Laser sailor Matt Wearn had a strong week which saw him taking the lead on day three and finishing the event with a second place in the medal race and the bronze medal in the high-calibre 126-boat Laser fleet. Laser World #1 Tom Burton (NSW) finished the regatta ranked 18th after a virus had weakened him considerably at the start of the event.

Young Queensland Finn sailor Jake Lilley put in an exceptional performance this week in a tough fleet in Miami and managed to hold onto second place for the first four days, then had a bad light air day and slipped back to fourth but then came out and won the medal race to take Bronze.

ISAF asleep at the wheel? Yachting Australia and the Australian Paralympic Committee as well as U.S. and UK yachting groups have expressed their extreme disappointment about the decision to remove sailing from the sporting program at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, reported first on Sail-World

The fact that two sports would be dropped from the bidding and that Sailing was not in the pre-guaranteed list was well known, so whether ISAF was asleep at the wheel will no doubt be revealed in coming days.

Hardy Cup - Australians Jay Griffin from Sydney’s Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and Sam Gilmour from Perth’s Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, who each came through unbeaten with five wins each on the first day of the prestigious Hardy Cup ISAF under 25, Grade 3 match-racing regatta on Sydney Harbour. New Zealand sailor Chris Steele and his Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron crew started the regatta as favourite after his win last week in the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta.

Sail Port Stephens - Notice of Race is online and entry open to owners of eligible cruising and IRC boats looking for the perfect fusion of sailing and family time at the annual Autumn regatta, Sail Port Stephens, April 13-19, 2015.

The week-long event conducted during the second week of the NSW school term break opens with the Commodores Cup Cruising events, 13th - 15th April, followed by a day’s rest before stage two, the Port Stephens Trophy events and NSW IRC Championship commence on Friday 17th through to Sunday the 19th. The junior off the ROUND One Sail Series runs from 15th - 16th April.

JJ Giltinan 18 footers World Championship - just around the corner. Sat 14th to Sunday 22nd February.
On the weekend the Thurlow Fisher Lawyers team of Michael Coxon, Trent Barnabas and Dave O’Connor won one of the most amazing NSW 18ft Skiff Championships in the 120-year history of the sport following a brilliant finish in today’s last race of the series on Sydney Harbour.

The Clipper Cup and the Micky Ink Port Douglas Race Week
Before it was the Kenwood Cup, the Pan AM Clipper Cup was a significant Pacific sailing event.

The old Clipper Cup trophy home is the Port Douglas Yacht Club, the eastern sea boards northern most yacht club.

As the regions premier sailing event 24th to 29th May 2015, the 2015 Mickey Ink Port Douglas Race Week will again give local and visiting sailors the chance to have their names added to the list of winners of the world famous Clipper Cup.

Lots more news from the Oz scene, we will cover the international scene in detail mid-week but of course all the news on www.sail-world.com