Belcher and Ryan lead in to Gold Fleet at 470 Europeans

by Australian Sailing Team 11 May 2019 23:14 EST 6-14 May 2019

470 European Championships 2019 © Australian Sailing Team

A second in Saturday's only race to complete the qualification round means Mat Belcher and Will Ryan hold onto their solid margin in the overall Open standings, which includes non-European teams, at the 470 Europeans at San Remo, Italy.

After losing Friday from the schedule due to no wind, Saturday also proved frustrating for organisers and competitors with most of the day spent ashore. Eventually the breeze played ball, reaching 15 knots out of the east, and around 1800hrs the race committee launched the first and only race of the day.

During the long wait on day three, Belcher spoke with Australian Sailing's Iain Murray on their opening three bullets and the turnaround from previous regattas: "We got beaten up at the first couple of events. In saying that we've been trying a few new things at these regattas; they didn't always go to plan. We were happy to start the championship like that, it's nice for confidence and to get us into a good rhythm for the rest of the week.

"For us it's about preparing for next year," the Olympic gold and silver medallist reminded.

Following the long-held Australian 470 men naming their boats after Nicole Kidman movies, Belcher and Ryan's latest boat is called Peacemaker, chosen by coach Victor Kovalenko. "We wanted to keep the theme going, it's brought us pretty good luck," the skipper added.

Chris Charlwood and Josh Dawson managed a 17 across the line, keeping them in the Gold fleet, and in the women's competition Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries scored 13th.

Saturday's single race wrapped up the men's /mixed teams qualification and now the top 35 fight for a medal race position, scheduled for next Tuesday.

Sunday May 12 the first signal is scheduled for 11:00 with a forecast for an intense east/northeasterly.