Perth International Regatta - Slingsby wins Gold in tricky conditions

by Craig Heydon on 21 Nov 2010 Perth International Regatta - Tom Slingsby has picked up the Australian Sailing Team’s first medal at the Perth International Regatta, winning Gold in the Laser class on Saturday.

Light winds again played havoc with racing with just the 49er and RS:X classes able to complete racing in the morning while the Lasers were the only ones to finish a medal race with the Finn and Laser Radial races abandoned.

Slingsby headed into the final double point medal race in second position, just two points behind Tonci Stipanovic of Croatia with Germany’s Simon Grotelueschen 10 points further adrift.

In a tight race in shifty conditions Slingsby crossed the line in second position to take the overall win, Stipanovic was seventh and won the Silver medal while Great Britain’s Paul Goodison crossed the line first in the medal race to finish with the Bronze.

'The conditions were really tricky for the medal race as we were really close to shore with a breakwall on one side kicking up some waves and it was quite shifty,' said Slingsby. 'Stipanovic and I both had to be in the top five and no one else could catch us but then it came down to who beat who.

Off the start I sort of wanted to gut up to him a bit and sail around him just to put a bit of pressure on him at the start, I didn’t plan on a match race but I wanted to put some pressure on him and then sail my own race.'

'It probably worked because he ended up over the line without any pressure on him and then I just had to ensure I got a top five which I did,' he said.

It’s been a big few months for Slingsby with a win at the final round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in England, then his third Laser World Championship in four years and finally being crowned ISAF World Sailor of the Year last week.

'I had a good break since the worlds back in August,' said Slingsby. 'It was really good to have some time off and sail some other classes and I just jumped back into the Laser and did some training before this week and I feel really good and refreshed and looking forward to the next two regattas in Sydney and Melbourne.'

While Slingsby has already won his Gold medal this week 49er crew Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have one hand on their medals, needing just to sail Sunday’s medal race to win the regatta.

The pair finished with a third and a second on Saturday morning to open up a 20 point lead over Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign for Great Britain with French sailors Emmanuel Dyen and Stephane Christidis six points further back in third.

'Today was the first day of Gold fleet race and the conditions were incredibly tricky with us racing just off the shore,' said Outteridge. 'In the first race we were in the front group the whole way around and ended third and then in the second race the breeze started to die out and swung right around to the opposite direction.'

'We saw a good puff out on the right hand side and took advantage of it and were second at the first mark and had a little battle with a few boats and dropped a few spots but climbed back up to second in what ended up being a really good day,' he said.

Jensen said that the conditions continued to test out the entire fleet on the penultimate day of racing.

'It was tricky as always in Fremantle with light breeze that was shifting all over the shop but Nathan did a great job working out where the pressure was in the last race while in the first we fought hard to stay in there,' said Jensen.

While the 2009 49er World Champions may already have the regatta win tied up they’ll still be putting everything into Sunday’s medal race.

'We still want to get out there and put in for the medal race,' said Jensen. 'Tomorrow’s a great training opportunity for us, it’s not too often that you get the chance to race against the top 20 in the world.'

Outteridge was pleased with their performance over the last five days in the challenging conditions.

'20 points is the ideal number you’re looking for before the medal race because it doesn’t really matter what happens,' he said. 'To lose a day of racing and then to only get two races in today it’s pretty good to be able to get a 20 point lead in only eight races, we’ve sailed well all week and are very happy with it.'

The RS:X fleet managed to complete one race on Saturday morning with Australian sailor Jessica Crisp continuing her strong run with a fourth place finish cementing her in second overall.

Crisp heads into the medal race seven points behind leader Marina Alabau of Spain and 10 ahead of Italy’s Flavia Tartaglini and Great Britain’s Bryony Shaw, meaning there is plenty still to play for.

While Slingsby, Outteridge, Jensen and Crisp managed to get in some racing it was a frustrating day the Australian Sailing Team’s 470 men’s crew of Malcolm Page and Mathew Belcher who spent the afternoon afloat attempting to get a race started.

Unfortunately the light conditions meant that the 470 fleet were unable to complete a race and after just three races in four days Belcher and Page sit in ninth position.

Sunday looks set to be a busy day on the water with medal races scheduled for the 49er, RS:X men and open and 470 men and women’s fleets.

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