Aussies ready to roll at 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships

Australian Sailing Team at Volvo 49er, 49erFX and Nacra17 European Championships © Lloyd Images

As an Olympic gold and silver medallist, a world champion and an America's Cup skipper Nathan Outteridge is currently one of the highest profile Australian sailors.

So it seems more than a little weird that as he lines up to contest next week's Nacra 17 Worlds in New Zealand he's referring to himself as being "a local."

But that is in fact the case. Home now is in Devonport on Auckland's North Shore where the 33-year-old lives with Kiwi wife Emma and baby Jack. And his commute to work will be by RIB across the city's Waitemata Harbour to the brand new Hyundai Marine Centre at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club which will play host to next week's all-important 2019 Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championship.

With younger sister Haylee as crew he's hoping to qualify for next year's Olympics in the Nacra 17 and a good result at the Worlds in Auckland is vital.

So far the work-up has not been smooth sailing, the whole family struck down with a gastro bug and Haylee suffering a wrist injury. "Last week we did just three days training and couldn't complete one of the races because of illness," said Outteridge.

They're hoping to be fit and healthy by the start of next week, and they'll have to be to take on their main rivals for Australia's Olympic spot, the in-form Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin.

In this week's Oceania champs, the warmup for the Worlds, Waterhouse and Darmanin finished fourth compared with the Outteridges 21st placing - for which a broken tiller while leading a race was partly responsible.

However Outteridge is confident there's not much between the crews; "It will be a big week, that's for sure."

That's the level of in-house rivalry High Performance Manager Iain Murray would love to see in the other classes racing in Auckland. But while all the Australian sailors are vying for an Olympic spot, those in the FX are still something of a work in progress.

"We've got a lot of young girls aspiring to go to the Olympics and I think it's a test where they work their way up the competitive ladder," said Murray.

To that end Australian Sailing has provided a "progressive environment." The sailors have qualified the class and Murray sees the competition for the Aussie spot as "wide open."

It's much the same in the 49ers with no crew dominating in the way Outteridge and Iain Jensen did with their gold and silver in the last two Olympics.

The battle of the brothers is hotting up though, Will and Sam Phillips pitting themselves against David and Lachy Gilmour.

"Everyone has been pretty close in the last few months," said David Gilmour, who is hoping to find the form that earned the brothers a win in Genoa in April.

The Gilmours have been in Auckland for almost four weeks, revelling in the 20-knot South Westerlies. But the weather now is warming up and the windspeeds are going down.

No worries reckons David. "We won in Genoa in less than 6 knots!"

Iain Murray's advice to his sailors: "Be ready for anything."

Racing starts on Tuesday.

Australian Sailing Team entries:

Nacra 17
Nathan Outteridge and Haylee Outterige
Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin
Paul Darmanin and Lucy Copeland

49er
Will Phillips and Sam Phillips
David Gilmour and Lachy Gilmour
Kurt Hansen and Simon Hoffman
Jim Colley and Shaun Connor
Tom Needham and Joel Turner

49erFX
Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot
Tess Lloyd and Jaime Ryan
Amelia Stabback and Caitlin Elks

For more information visit event website.