Gold Coast sailors have high hopes

by Ian Grant on 26 Sep 2006 Super fit Gold Coast aquatic athlete Brendan Casey has the personal physique and determination to achieve his goal as a major contender to win Olympic representative honours in the physically demanding Finn dinghy.

Casey ranked as the 8th best in the smaller Olympic Laser class remains unranked in the Finn behind fellow Australians Anthony Nossiter (20), Josh Beaver (50) and Ricky Ironmonger (112).

However the ranking’s mean very little with a little less than two years to go before the sails are tensioned for tactical combat for the 2008 Olympic medals in China.

Casey is the first to admit that he is very much in catch up mode but will never give up hope until the final selection race for the 2008 Australian Olympic team is decided.

The Finn first introduced into Olympic yachting at Helsinki in 1952 has a proud Australian history with the Americas Cup winning skipper John Bertrand scoring the nations best Olympic Finn result with a Bronze Medal in Montreal.

Tactically Casey is well suited for racing in the Finn having spent three physically tough campaigns to finish as the shadow selection behind Sydney skipper Michael Blackburn for Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).

He is also well suited physically having been conditioned to hang for long periods in the hiking straps.

Casey hopes that his personal challenge to race for Australian in Beijing will take on a new meaning when he contests the Australian circuit of international regattas starting with the 2006 Sail Brisbane series on Waterloo Bay in December.

Meanwhile he will be building on his stamina to sail his Finn flat and fast in all wind conditions before contesting his first Australian title against Nossiter, Beaver and Ironmonger in January.

Former Australian Sabot and 420 champion Shane Smith will represent the Southport Yacht Club in the International 29er class Sail Brisbane series.

Smith ranked as one of the smartest young skippers to emerge from Sabot class racing on the Southport Broadwater will test his speed against the Gold Coast father and son racing team of Phil and Andrew Kellond Knight on Waterloo Bay this weekend.

Both combinations will continue with racing in Brisbane on Saturdays and on the Broadwater on Sundays to ensure they are race prepared to go head to head with the competitively strong New South Wales team for the prestigious National title trophy later this year.

Mathew Belcher and Nick Behrens have returned from the World championship in China with the knowledge to become more consistent in the complete range of winds.

They are both exceptionally talented young sailors however their result in China did not reflect the quality of their skill.

A top result in the Sail Brisbane Regatta will go a long way to restore their confidence for the Australian championship match race against Athens Olympians Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page.

Belcher and Behrens won the 2005 Sail Brisbane title and they are expected to win again before they head south for another tactical joust against Wilmot and Page for the 2006-7 Australian championship.