Belcher and Page clinch 470 World Championship

by Lynn Fitzpatrick on 18 Jul 2010 Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) have mathematically clinched the Gold Medal at the 2010 Delta Lloyd 470 World Championship by extending their lead during the last day of fleet racing to 20 points in the Gold Fleet.

As long as they sail a clean race in tomorrow's Medal Race they will be crowned 2010 World Champions in the Men's 470 Class, which is the Men's Olympic sailing centerboard discipline. The next six teams in the standings are within 18 points of one another, making tomorrow's Medal Race an out and out scramble for the Silver and Bronze medals.

A victory tomorrow will mean Page will have one ISAF 470 ISAF World Championship and four 470 World Championship titles to his name, having won the 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010 470 World Championships and the 2006 ISAF World Championship title. Belcher will claim his first 470 World Championship title and Coach Victor Kovalenko will have 13 World Championship titles to his credit.

Australia's Golden Boys will return to their homeland as World Champions and World Cup Champions. They plan to compete in the Sail for Gold Regatta at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth, England in August.

Today's victory will make tomorrow's medal race similar to the 2008 Olympics in which Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page sewed up the Olympic gold medal before going into the Medal Race. The Olympians not only sailed the final race of the 2008 Olympics, they won it. Belcher and Page have been sailing as a team for the past year, and both are intent on achieving Page's goal of becoming the first Australian sailor to earn two Olympic gold medals.

Malcolm Page said dockside today 'The fleet was so compressed in points that we didn't expect to have such a point advantage when we finished the last race. We were shocked when we found out.'

'We're really stoked. Mat is super talented and has been working very hard and has grown into the part this past year.'

'We knew that we would have to sail the first two races as regular races and would have to play all of the variables in the last race. It's a shame that Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR) broke down in today's second race and were not able to sail the final race. I think it would have been close.'

'We (Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm) won the San Francisco World Championship with two races to spare. This one required more hard work and calculation.'

'Nathan and I entered the 470 Class and proved ourselves together. In this case, Mat and I have proven ourselves individually and came together as a team. It's very rewarding.'

Mat Belcher - 'It's great. It's a great feeling and a reward for working so hard. Today was a test. We could have lost the momentum that we had for the last week. We were lucky in certain areas and performed well when we had to.'

Coach Victor Kovalenko - About this 470 World Championship victory, the 13th to his credit -

'It was the hardest championship yet because Mat and Mal got the yellow dot on the first day and kept it throughout every day of the regatta. They had four bullets, a second in the series and sailed hard until the end.'

'The first race today was difficult because there was a big cloud on the right hand side of the course and they got in a tangle. The second race was classic. The third race, they could have won, but they were conservative.'

Talking about Malcolm Page, Kovelenko said 'He is really an outstanding sailor and an incredible talent. He is on ISAF's Athletes Commission, the Australian Sports Commission and a number of committees. He gives back to the sport and has a lot of respect.'

'He won the 420 World Championship, four 470 World Championships, the ISAF World Championship in the 470, this year's ISAF World Cup, an Olympic gold medal and hopefully he will return to Australia later this season ranked as #1. He should be World Sailor of the Year. He is very talented; very talented.'