420 Junior European Championship – Aussies take the lead in first race

by Peter Campbell on 10 Aug 2011 420 Junior European Championship, organised by Royal Yacht Club Nieuwpoort, Belgium is being held from 7 to 15 August 2011.

The only two Australian crews contesting the European junior championship for the International 420 class notched up a first and second in the opening heat.

Queenslanders Angus Galloway and Alexander Gough won the opening race, sailed in strong winds and rough seas, and followed this with a second in heat two to lead the series after day one.

Tasmanians Alec Bailey and Doug Shephard finished second in heat one but dropped to an 18th in heat two, which placed them 24th overall in the 101 boat fleet.

Galloway and Gough are experienced 420 sailors and were ISAF Youth bronze medallists earlier this year.

Bailey (17) and Shephard (18) are competing in a regatta together as a crew for the first time, having paired up only two months ago.

They are both former International Cadet champions at Sandy Bay Sailing Club, but now sail out of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.

Galloway and Gough lead the overall standings on three points, just one point ahead of Youth gold medallists Jordi Xammar and Alex Claville (ESP) and Guillaume Pirquelle and Valentin Sipan (Fra) who are both four points. Only four points separate the top 10 in standings with the fleet racing in two divisions.

All the competitors represent European nations, except for the two Australians and a crew from Singapore.

At the end of the day world class coach Jim Saltinstall gave the competitors a post-race briefing, complimenting them on their boat-handling techniques, particularly tacking the boat, hoisting the spinnaker and gybing in the strong winds.

Commenting on starting techniques, he said: 'Starting techniques and starting ability had to really focus on the use of the tide on the starting… for this reason there were quite a few black flags especially at the starboard end of the line.

Whenever you cannot get a transit on the starting line under a black flag start, make sure you focus on starting out one end or other, enabling you to accurately judge the line,' he advised them.

He added that physical fitness was a key factor…'the front end of the fleet were working very hard and the fitness differences could be seen as you looked down the 420 Junior European Championships website