ISAF World Cup Weymouth - Day 3
by Pippa Phillips 12 Jun 2015 13:32 PDT
10-14 June 2015
Mischievous breeze dances across the bay
It was a frustrating day for the competitors at ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland with a mischievous breeze dancing across the British waters.
Constantly changing, a sailable breeze never truly materialised. The Race Committee team on the Men's 470 and Men's RS:X race courses managed to get one race apiece away but the remaining classes were left frustrated with no racing.
The young French team of Guillaume Pirouelle and Valentin Sipan managed to take the Men's 470 race victory with an astute performance. They took the lead from the off and at one point had opened up a lead in excess of two minutes.
A chasing pack closed the gap and passed the French team but they held on tight to seal the bullet. "It was quite light and shifty," explained Pirouelle. "We didn't know what would happen but we managed to get a few things right. We had quite a good start. We tacked immediately to take a right shift and after that we stayed focus on the race.
"It's quite complicated for us because it's only our third year in the 470. It's a big event for us as well because we're racing against the big sailors and we have to sail well at all times."
Taking a bullet in a fleet that features the world's leading Men's 470 sailors such as Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS), Luke Patience and Elliot Willis (GBR) and Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) does not come around that often.
Pirouelle was pleased to finish ahead of them but knows there are a lot of hours of hard work ahead to reach their level, "It's amazing to see them and sail with them. They are very good and I hope we will be like them in the next few years. Tomorrow I think it will be more windy. We are quite good in strong wind. We have to sail fast and we will see what happens in the different conditions."
The French team sit 16th overall and just ten points off the Medal Race positions. Three Men's 470 are scheduled for Saturday 13 June with plenty of points to play for.
New Zealand's Paul Snow Hansen and Daniel Willcox followed behind the French pair by 38 seconds to take second and remain in the hunt for top honours. They sit second, nine points off leaders Stu McNay and Dave Hughes (USA).
Those around them used up their drop but for the Kiwis, a disastrous result on the third day of competition could have dented their chances as Willcox explained following a large bite of a fully loaded chicken wrap after racing, "The first race of the regatta we were black flagged so since then we used our discard up and have had to keep our consistency and keep some good results under our belt. We've managed to do that and we look to do that going forward as well."
The Kiwis worked their way up the fleet throughout the race, moving up the ranks from 12th to second. Willcox continued, "It was a pretty tricky race and very changeable from the start to finish. We kind of had a trend to the right, like the forecast model said and we had to deal with the right shift with the pressure as well.
"We did a pretty good job. There were lots of snakes and ladders throughout the race so we were keeping our boat point towards the mark and doing the simple things right and it paid off quite well so we're happy."
Americans McNay and Hughes recorded a 17th, which they use as their drop. They continue to lead on nine points followed by the Kiwis on 16 and Mat Belcher and Will Ryan on 20.
Nick Dempsey (GBR) took the bullet in the Men's RS:X race and as a result moves up to top spot. Tom Squires drops down from first overall to second following a sixth, which he discards.
Mattia Camboni (ITA) retains third overall but Brazil's Ricardo Santos remains hot on his heels and is just two points off.
Three Men's RS:X races are scheduled for the penultimate day of competition.
The action is scheduled to commence at 10:30 local time on Saturday 13 June for the penultimate day of the competition.
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A waiting game on day three in Weymouth and Portland (from Lindsey Bell, RYA)
After two days of superb racing conditions, it turned into a waiting game at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland on Friday (12 June) as light and unstable winds upset the day's schedule.
The RS:X Men's windsurfers managed one race of their planned three, with Nick Dempsey mastering the light wind conditions to take the race win and with it the overall lead over teammate and training partner Tom Squires.
The 49er class managed one lap of their opening race of the day before the light and shifty winds forced it to be abandoned. Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign, currently the leading British crew in fourth overall, were in a strong position in the race at the time, but Fletcher admitted it was the right decision to call a halt.
"We were doing alright at the time but I doubt we would have made it to the end of the race," Fletcher explained.
"It was pretty light and variable. We knew the wind was going to go right at some point, we were a bit back at the first windward mark but looked like it was a no brainer to gybe set and that put us into the lead. But then the wind died out and they abandoned it, which was a bit annoying for us but that is the way it goes."
In spite of their lack of racing today, the duo are happy with their progress this week.
"I think it's starting to come together. We have put a lot of effort into equipment this year and we've just got a new boat we are trialling here which seems to be going quite well," Fletcher continued.
"We're having a good time on the water and racing quite well, so we are happy."
The 470 Men's class completed one testing, shifty race which concluded in a decaying breeze just before the 75 minute time limit set for the fleet.
It proved a frustrating outing for Luke Patience and Elliot Willis, who were 25th, with a number of other big names struggling in the pack today.
Patience admitted he and Willis, currently 12th overall after five races, have had a tough week so far amid an otherwise impressive season, but vowed to coming out fighting for the medal race spots when racing resumes tomorrow.
"Elliot and I have had a fantastic season so far, we've had a great year together in the boat and we've been fortunate enough and worked hard enough that we've stood on the podium a lot," Patience explained.
"This week we are more challenged so it's an interesting dynamic for us – it's good for us. It's a nice bit of adversity for us to deal with. We go into tomorrow's last fleet race day with no pressure and absolutely nothing to lose.
"We'll go and regroup tonight and come out tomorrow, try and find our form which we know has been great in the past, and make sure we're a boat which is hard to beat on the track."
Racing proved impossible across all other fleets on Friday, but with 15-20kts forecast for Saturday, the sailors and race teams should expect a full day of action for the conclusion of Paralympic classes racing and the final fleet racing day for the Olympic classes ahead of their medal race deciders on Sunday.
The ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland is part of UK Sport's #EveryRoadtoRio events series, which will feature over 30 world class sports events the length and breadth of the UK, with over 900,000 tickets available to the British public to support their athletes.
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No wind on day three of ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth/Portland puts the pressure on for penultimate day of racing (from Cora Zillich, Australian Sailing)
On day three of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth and Portland the fleets headed out with a good breeze on shore, but it was soon clear that it was different story offshore, where the wind was dying quickly.
Only the men's 470 got one race in – a race World Champions Mat Belcher (QLD) and Will Ryan (QLD) could have done without after posting a 14th, which let them drop one place into overall third. They will have three races on Saturday to make up points ahead of Sunday's top ten medal race.
A race was attempted in the 49er, but was abandoned before the finish. This was especially unfortunate for Australian Sailing Team's David Gilmour (WA) and Rhys Mara (VIC) who were leading at the top mark. With all four Australian 49er teams not having had the best day yesterday and ranking in-between 15th (Outteridge/Jensen) and 28th (Turner/Brake), this will put the pressure on for the four races scheduled for Saturday and to get much needed points in order to get into the medal race.
"We went out in a breeze of ten knots and when we were out there the wind was slowly dying. We started one race and when we got around the top mark we were in a pretty good position and leading at the top, but with the wind dying by bottom mark the race was cancelled and it was all over from there. Five minutes later there was absolutely no wind," David Gilmour described the events of the day.
Currently sitting in 17th they have their task for Saturday mapped out as he explains: "We didn't have the best day yesterday and with our goal to make the top ten medal race it would have been good to race today. The more races we get in the more chances we have to better our position. Now we got to do it all in the four races tomorrow. And we'll need a good day to gain around 20 points to our competitors to make it into the top ten."
All other fleets were sent home with no racing done and Thursday's results standing.
The Nacra 17 fleet, including current leaders Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW), will kick-off Saturday's last day of the four-day fleet racing series before Sunday's top ten medal race.
"We were blessed with some beautiful UK weather today, the rain came and the wind didn't. We ended up sitting out there for a few hours with no wind. So there was no racing for us today but we'll have four races tomorrow. So they've chucked in an extra race for the last day of fleet racing. We'll kick-off at 10:30 UK time and hopefully it will be a good day for us," Lisa Darmanin said.
Fickle winds and only one race today at 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth (from Jodie Bakewell-White, Yachting New Zealand)
Fickle and changing winds at the 2012 Olympic venue hampered racing on day three of 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and only one NZL Sailing Team added a countable race to their results.
Paul Snow Hansen and Daniel Willcox (pictured © onEdition) above managed a 2nd place in the only race of the day for the Men's 470 class and as a result they are now lying 2nd overall.
They are now nine points back from the event leaders Stuart Mcnay and David Hughes (USA) and were pleased to come away from today with a countable result in the challenging conditions.
Daniel Willcox explains, "The first race of the regatta we were black flagged so since then we used our discard up and have had to keep our consistency and keep some good results under our belt. We've managed to do that and we look to do that going forward as well."
The Kiwis worked their way up the fleet throughout the race, moving up the ranks from 12th to 2nd. Willcox continued, "It was a pretty tricky race and very changeable from the start to finish. We kind of had a trend to the right, like the forecast model said and we had to deal with the right shift with the pressure as well."
"We did a pretty good job. There were lots of snakes and ladders throughout the race so we were keeping our boat point towards the mark and doing the simple things right and it paid off quite well so we're happy."
For the remainder of the NZL Sailing Team no racing was possible and consequently eight kiwi crews hold their place in the top five going into the penultimate day of the regatta.
Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (Women's 470), Andy Maloney (Laser) and Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech (49erFX) all lead their events. Daniel Willcox and Paul Snow-Hansen (Men's 470) and Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski (49er) are laying 2nd overall, while Josh Junior (Finn) and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49erFX) are 3rd.