SB20 Australian women take on the World
by Jane Austin 19 Oct 2019 21:53 PDT
19-25 October 2019
Essence of Athena L to R Anna Reid, Emily Nicholson, Meg Goodfellow, Issi Declerck - 2019 SB20 World Championship © Jane Austin
The 2019 SB20 World Championship starts in Hyeres on Monday and Tasmanian women's and youth team, Essence of Athena, is ready to take on the world's best SB20 sailors. The team of Anna Reid (16) from The Friends' School, Meg Goodfellow (18), Issi Declerck (18) and Emily Nicholson (16) from Fahan School, has been training in Hobart but hasn't competed in any of the lead-up events to the championship. While skipper Reid notes the excitement within the team, she is realistic about what's ahead. "The Athena team is really excited for a new adventure in Hyeres. It's going to be a major learning experience for us which we are thrilled about. In the recent French Grand Slam, the Australian teams were strong and achieved big goals, which is encouraging for us," said Reid.
The team has been warned of the infamous mistral wind, a seasonal, cold north-westerly wind, which can cause havoc on the course. "From what we heard, the wind seemed to be tricky with big shifts and differences in pressure over the race course, which is something we will have to keep a close eye on, but we're going into the Worlds with an open mind, and plan to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible," said Reid.
The 2019 SB20 World Championship is the first for Reid and Nicholson, but Goodfellow and Declerck sailed in the Worlds in Hobart in 2018. Nicholson, Declerck and Goodfellow also competed in the Australia versus New Zealand 2018 Interdominion Schools Team Sailing Championship.
The decision to enter the event was driven by Goodfellow and Declerck who were keen to do some international sailing in their gap years. The sailors have all progressed through the ranks of the Sandy Bay Sailing Club to the Athena Sailing Program run by the Derwent Sailing Squadron.
The other Australian crews competing are The Imp (Andrew Smith, Lewis Noye and David Chapman), Porco Rosso (Paul McCartney, Elliott Noye and Ed Snowball), and Aeolus (Brett Cooper, Darren Jones and Jock Calvert).
The championship is sailed from the COYCH in Hyeres and concludes on 25 October 2019.
For more information visit www.sb20hyeres2019.com.