Day 2 SIRs- Light airs reward Norwegians

by Di Pearson on 16 Dec 2007 Wafting breezes early in the afternoon shook up the scoreboard at the Sydney International Regatta as the light air specialists came into their own, the good all-rounders became evident and Norway ran away with a few victories.

Racing at the host venue Woollahra Sailing Club started later than anticipated. Race officials opted to hold only one Laser race instead of the planned two. A few new names in the top three places, including two Norwegian Olympic hopefuls, who scored wins in their respective groups.

Following a win in Race 3 yesterday, Kristian Ruth pulled out the stops to take today’s Race 4 in his group as well. Teammate Stian Tuv won the other group. While Ruth 22, 'I’m the oldie' and Tuv 20, will have to sail of against each other for the Norwegian place into the 2008 Olympic Games, the two are good friends.

Ruth said the key to winning today’s shifty light weather race 'was reading the wind shifts correctly – and I did.'

'We won because it was so light,' Tuv laughed. The pair has been in Sydney for the past month training for SIRs. 'We’ve had only windy conditions in training, this was the first light winds we’ve sailed in Sydney,' Tuv said.

Whilst others vying for one vital place in their Olympic squads are not always so friendly, Ruth says: 'It’s better to be friends than not be.' Tuv explained: 'It’s better to train together and help each other to get better, and it will help which ever one gets the Olympic place, which is better for Norway in the long run.' Both declared it was good to win a race, 'for sure.'

Ruth’s result today has lifted him up into fifth place overall and Tuv moves into 19th place.

New Zealand rivals Andrew Murdoch and Mike Bullot remain at the top of the pointscore, but a lone point away are Andrew Campbell (USA) and Michael Leigh (CAN). Australia’s Tom Slingsby finished 11th for 14th place in the standings; a big lift from the 37th place he found himself in this morning after being disqualified from a win in Race 1 yesterday.

Roelof Bouwmeester (NED) came up trumps today too. Scoring a win yesterday, the Dutchman had a momentary lapse in Races 2 and 3 to drop well down the scoreboard, but a second place today moves him up into seventh in the series, but he cannot afford any more ‘oops’ results.

'Today I got a good start. That’s what I am practicing at SIRs, my starts. While I am reasonably happy with my sailing yesterday, I did make mistakes. Today was better,' Bouwmeester commented after racing.

'I like to think I am a good all-round sailor, not guided by whether the wind is more or less. I’m still getting my head into gear here in Sydney, but my main goal is getting the good starting practice.' All three sailors will next travel to Sail Melbourne for the Laser Asia Pacific's, and then it’s back into NSW for the Laser Worlds at Terrigal.

In the small entry RS:X today, Jannicke Stalstrom (NOR) overcame Jessica Crisp (AUS) in both races to maintain her lead of the Olympic class sailboard. An Athens Olympian, the Norwegian finished the day with a bullet and a second, Crisp placed third in both races to continue in second place overall.

The 49ers completed two of their scheduled three races today too. Sailed right in front of Woollahra Sailing Club in teeming rain, the colourful Olympic skiffs found an exclusive piece of breeze.

With five races away, the Portuguese crew of Jorge Lima/Francisco Andrade came good scoring victory in both races to lead the series by seven points from Nathan Outteridge/Ben Austin and third placed Tomasz Stanczyk/Pawel Kuzmicki (POL), with a race drop in place.

In the Tornado catamaran, Darren Bundock/Glenn Ashby’s (AUS) 5-3 results were enough to keep them in front of the game. Just two points behind, the British pair of Leigh McMillan/Will Howden are second overall following their first win of the series in the earlier Race 4. Germany’s Johannes Polgar/Florian Spalteholz are third.

All racing started much later than anticipated today and all other classes were still on the water as at 5.30pm.

Rain started pelting down on the course at 4.15pm, thunder striking at 4.50pm, heralding the start of the cold southerly change which is bringing more breeze to the course areas.

Hosted by Woollahra Sailing Club, the ISAF Grade 1 Olympic and Youth classes event is organised by Yachting NSW and features top sailors from around the world. In total there are a massive 378 entries.