Olympics- 470 Fightback

by Bob Ross on 16 Aug 2004 Australia’s top performers on the second day of the Olympic sailing were Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page, the men’s 470 team, with two third placings -- a solid bounce back from a bad first day when they were disqualified for a port-starboard breach in race two and finished 12th in race one.

Today, in marked contrast to yesterday’s very light sea breeze, the famous Meltemi wind blew in from the north-east, freshening to 25 knots in the second race of the day.

Wilmot and Page came from well behind in both races. In the first, they rounded the top mark seventh. But on the second upwind leg, a jib sheet got caught in a tack, again putting them in a port-starboard crossing situation so they did a 720 penalty turn. ‘Then we just slowly chipped our way back through the fleet again,’ said Page.

In the second race, they were 22nd around the first mark and steadily gained places over the remaining six legs. ‘We just got the first beat completely wrong on the wrong side of a shift and were fifth last at the top mark. We just slowly chipped our way through again.’

Page said of the protest decision of the first day, ‘The protest did hurt us and that was a stupid thing, we got our just deserts, we learned the hard way.”

He said conditions in race four yesterday, with the Meltemi between 18-25 knots, were very difficult. ‘It was very fresh,’ said Page. ‘We had a lot on in the downwinds, cavitating most of the way, just praying for a safe exit.’

Wilmot/Page were the most consistent in the men’s 470 on the day and their two thirds lifted them from 21st overnight to ninth on the overall scoreboard with worst placing still to be discarded.

Leading are Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield (Great Britain) with 18 points from the Americans Paul Foerster/Kevin Burnham 26 and the Greeks Andreas Kosmtopoulus/Kotantinos Trigkonis, 36.

Australia’s Jenny Armstrong and Belinda Stowell, improving from 12th at the first mark finished a handy sixth in heat three today. But a capsize on the first downind leg left them in 17th place; they finished 14th.

‘The last two days have been tough,’ said Armstrong. ‘It is probably not the start we would have liked, but there are still seven races. Providing we remain in the right frame of mind and put in some good sailing, who knows what we can do.’

The Greek world champions Sofia Bekatorou/Aimilia Tsoufla, back in 13th place in race four after finishing second in race three, are still one point ahead of Susanne Ward/Michaela Meehan (Denmark) at the top of the scoreboard with the Australians 14th.

One of Australia’s first-time Olympians Sarah Blanck began her regatta in the Europe class with a third and a seventh today. Leading on points is Siren Sundby (Norway) from 3-7 placings for 4 points, from Serena Amato (Argentina) 7, with Blanck on ten.

In race one, Blanck led just after the first mark when the leader, Min Dezilie (Belgium) touched the mark and had to execute a 360-degree penalty turn. Blanck dropped back to fifth on the second upwind leg, picked up to second on the two reaching legs of the trapezoid course but was over run for second place by Joana Pratas (Portugal) on the short reaching dash to the finish.

In race two, Blanck steadily improved from 12th at the first mark for a useful seventh place.

Her coach, Erik Stibbe explained: ‘Our goal was to get a solid day in, nothing spectacular, so she sailed very conservatively. She took a lot of sterns in the second race but got back up. She is confident in her speed and she’s good in her head.’

Michael Blackburn is ninth overall after 18-2 placings in the first two races in the Laser class. Blackburn was on the wrong side of a major wind shift to the right on the first beat that greatly favoured boats that tacked off onto port soon after clearing the starting line. But he improved from 28th at the first mark to 18th. In the second race, he improved from sixth at the first mark for his second.

Points leader is Andreas Geritzer (Austria) on five points from 4-1 placings from Robert Scheidt (Brazil) 3-8 placings, 11 points and Philippe Bergmans (Belgium), 9-4, 13. Blackburn is ninth on 20 points.

Australia’s Mistral windsurfer sailors Jessica Crisp and Lars Kleppich are both in eighth place in their respective classes.

Leading the women’s class is Alessandra Sensini of Italy with eight points from 3-1 placings. Olga Maslivets (Ukraine) is second on nine points (5-4 placings) and New Zealand veteran Barbara Kendall ten points (1-9). Crisp has 15 points (4-11).

First in the men is Przemyslaw Miarczynski (Poland), 4-1, 5 points; from Joao Rodrigues (Portugal), 3-2, 5 and local hero Nikos Kaklamanakis (Greece), 1-5, 6. Kleppich has 21 points (8-13).

Australian Anthony (‘Nocka’) Nossiter had a good day in the Finns with a fourth and a seventh to sit in ninth place overall. Mateusz Kusznierewicz (Poland) leads on 14 points from Rafael Truijillo (Spain) 20, Kuret Karlo (Croatia) 26 and New Zealander Dean Barker 33.

Nicky Bethwaite’s Australian crew is 15th in the women’s Yngling keelboat class after 12 and 11 placings today. Shirley Roberson’s British crew, with two wins today, has a 13-point lead over Ekaterina Skudnia’s Russians with Dorte Jensen’s Danish team third.